Last weekend, Mariana, Sarah and I decided to take one last outing to two little towns in central Italy, Ferrara and Ravenna. We left Friday for Ferrara and checked into this adorable little hostel. The hostel was in this old building and our room actually had an original fresco on the ceiling! After settling in, we went to explore Ferrara! We walked around for a while getting a feel of the city and evetually decided it was time for lunch. We had quite a collection of red tickets (meal vouchers provided by Gtown) and do went searching for a place that accepted them. The only places we could find were non-Italian restaurants, so we chose Indian! It was actually a fantastic meal, very tasty, and almost free for us!Ferrara is famous for it's medieval castle that has a preserved moat. We didn't go into the castle, but instead, spent time acting out a little montage story about a Princess (me) and a dragon (Sarah). It was a funny way to spend part of the afternoon, childish, but hey, we were in a castle!
We enjoyed he sun and wandered out to a few churches and other sites with some famous frescoes. Nothing particularly exciting, but it was a nice leisurely walk. We even stumbled upon a fair with different rides etc. After killing some time, we went to a fantastic dinner in this little place that was packed! We all shared a lot of wine, and some pizza and just enjoyed the atmosphere and the weather! That night, we crashed early to get up in time for our morning train to Ravenna!
Ravenna is famous for having some of the best preserved early Christian mosaics, most famously in San Vitale. The weather could not have been more gorgeous and we ended up spending half of the day just sitting in piazza's and people watching/talking, etc. Anyway our first stop was of course, San Vitale, which was by far one of my favorite places in Italy! I was in awe by the stunning colors of the mosaics, some of the blues and greens look like they were created yesterday! The church is also a strange juxtapositions of early Christian and 18th/19th century decor. The mosaics lead right up to a dome that is decorated in a later fresco technique with more pastel colors and more realism. I spent most of my time just staring in awe at the mosaics that were at the high altar, some photos below.
We spent the rest of the day hopping from church to baptistery, all of which, appear to be humble brick buildings from the outside , but when you go in, the ceilings are covered with brilliant little stones that create this awesome picture. It was such a wonderful day just spent strolling, eating, watching the Italians and somehow always finding something to talk about.
Our train ride back was interesting as well. To go from Ravenna to Firenze, there is only one train and it is a slow train of only two carriages that goes through the mountains. The entire ride we had these amazing views and got to come into Firenze from a direction we'd never seen before. Overall, it was the perfect end to my adventures in Italy.
I enter my last two weeks in Firenze with a heavy load of work. Between papers, final exams, and oral presentations I won't have time to travel in Italy any more. It's so sad that it went by so quickly! Thankfully, my adventures in Europe are not over yet! Once I am done with finals (on the 25th) I am traveling to Greece for a week to visit my Gtown roomie! More stories then!
We enjoyed he sun and wandered out to a few churches and other sites with some famous frescoes. Nothing particularly exciting, but it was a nice leisurely walk. We even stumbled upon a fair with different rides etc. After killing some time, we went to a fantastic dinner in this little place that was packed! We all shared a lot of wine, and some pizza and just enjoyed the atmosphere and the weather! That night, we crashed early to get up in time for our morning train to Ravenna!
Ravenna is famous for having some of the best preserved early Christian mosaics, most famously in San Vitale. The weather could not have been more gorgeous and we ended up spending half of the day just sitting in piazza's and people watching/talking, etc. Anyway our first stop was of course, San Vitale, which was by far one of my favorite places in Italy! I was in awe by the stunning colors of the mosaics, some of the blues and greens look like they were created yesterday! The church is also a strange juxtapositions of early Christian and 18th/19th century decor. The mosaics lead right up to a dome that is decorated in a later fresco technique with more pastel colors and more realism. I spent most of my time just staring in awe at the mosaics that were at the high altar, some photos below.
We spent the rest of the day hopping from church to baptistery, all of which, appear to be humble brick buildings from the outside , but when you go in, the ceilings are covered with brilliant little stones that create this awesome picture. It was such a wonderful day just spent strolling, eating, watching the Italians and somehow always finding something to talk about.
Our train ride back was interesting as well. To go from Ravenna to Firenze, there is only one train and it is a slow train of only two carriages that goes through the mountains. The entire ride we had these amazing views and got to come into Firenze from a direction we'd never seen before. Overall, it was the perfect end to my adventures in Italy.
I enter my last two weeks in Firenze with a heavy load of work. Between papers, final exams, and oral presentations I won't have time to travel in Italy any more. It's so sad that it went by so quickly! Thankfully, my adventures in Europe are not over yet! Once I am done with finals (on the 25th) I am traveling to Greece for a week to visit my Gtown roomie! More stories then!