This is a poem i wrote before i left to rome last week. I will write one more at the conclusion of my trip.
Walking between the sea and streets of cobble stone.
Thinking of all i can be, while gazing at remains and marble thrones.
I have never been to a place so diverse and grand.
Never had i had the same joy to traverse sand and land.
Im dreaming with my eyes open, i hate to ever close them.
Sun beaming on the beach as my soul lies open, hopin' this stays in reach,
Stuck in moments wishing god had froze them.
Walking here has me feeling roman. Walking by their theaters and on top of castles where once stood some bow-men, as i read the omens. I love the culture and the history, buried in time among myths and mysteries. The weather is rarely bad and a pessamist barely sad. It seems god smiles brightly on this land and sea. Doors to paradise are all around it seems, and in our hands, the keys. This land has all you could ever ask for, nobody to hide behind a mask for. Only moments that take your breath and you have to stop and gasp for. Its something you'll always long for, long after you leave. Something you'll always remain strong for, even when it seems impossible to conceive. Of course, this is through my eyes only. Some walk by me and misjudge and think, "that guys lonely". But if only they seen the world as i seen things, they would realize that most problems in life are but like bee stings...
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Roma and experiencing my other heritage...
For the past 4 days, i have been in rome italy. It was quite an extraordinary trip. I think i seen just about all there was to see almost here in rome. On thursdsay i flew from malaga at around one and got to fiumucino airport at around five. I took a train, albeit the wrong one, from the airport to what was supposed to be rome. Then i figured through the gps on my ipad that it had taken me quite a bit further north of rome and i soon realized it was the wrong train. Luckily i had bought a week pass on the metro for unlimited use so i got off and went on the other side and headed back. I got off on tiburtina and a nice italian man gave me directions to the metro. I thought i would be too late for check in at my hostel but i made it and just settled in and slept that night.
Friday i spent the whole day in rome. It was amazing. My dutch friend from the hostel accompanied me most of the day and at first i didnt want him to come but he grew on me and we spent most of the day walking. The first thing i wanted to see was the colisseum, so that is where we went. It was an awesome structure and there was so much happening around it. Near by was an arc of someone i know but forgot the name. I love all the arcs around europe. Not far was the roman forum where over 2000 years ago, the roman empire held a lot of its activities. So i hung around a lot by these spots for a little bit. Then we began to walk and i ran into a massive structure with horses and winged men riding them on top of what turned out to be the victor emmanuelle. It was a beautiful structure and i couldnt take enough pictures of it. Then i figured out entry was free so we went inside and it was equally impressive in as out. It had the eternal burning flame with two italian soldiers (alive) guarding it and i guess it was also "the tomb of the unknown soldier". I lateround victor emanuelle was king of italy. Inside was a lot of his history as well as the history of the unification of italy. The city is spectacular.
Then i got hungry and decided to search for a pizza place. We found a pizzeria and come to find it didnt even sell pizza. So i still think pizza is different here, just like tortillas in spain are different than what we know in the US. So i had a calzone and a coke, which was a great meal. We continued to walk and i wanted to go to the castle of st amgelo so we walked along the river trying to get there. Then my dutch friend said the fountain of trevi was close by. So we took a detour and headed there. It didnt turn out to be so close but we eventually found it. It too was a beautiful structure it had huge statues and horses coming out of marble and a massive fountain. Hundreds of people are always around there. So then we proceeded to the castle of st angelo and on the way passed the palace of something called corte di cassazione. It too was quite a beautiful structure. Then we found the castle of st angelo nearby. I wanted to go in but it costed like 10€ so i just took pics and appreciated it from outside.
The next destination was the vatican and st peters basilica. Now for me being a catholic, this was equal to a pilgrimage to mecca for muslims. It was amazing. My dutch friend had to leave and meet someone at this point so i enoyed the moment alone. It was a deep moment of reflection, appreciation and a reaffirmation of my belief in god. I was dazzled by what seemed like a hundred statues i was surrounded by in almost a full circle and the basilica itself was beautiful. It also had a huge oblisk in front as well. I proceeded to go in and seem they have metal detectos and security to make sure no radicals are trying to bring snything crazy in. Assoon as i walked in i could feel something. I cant explain yet what it was, but was certainly something. The structure was amazing inside and out. I cant describe it much, you just have to see it for yourself because its nearly indescribable.
So i left and wanted to try some gelati at a cool hang out and thought what better spot than the fountain of trevi. So i returned there and got the best tasting desert i have ever had in my life. I enjoyed it while looking at the fountain and admiring everything about it as well as basking in the ambience. So after that i decided to walk back to the colisseum and return to my hostel because my feet were killing me and i must have lost 10 pounds walking around rome with my backpack full of souveniers that day. So i did just that and hung out at the roman forum and colisseum atnight for a little while. Then hopped on the metro and made it back to my hostel. I tried a pizza place around the corner for dinner and skyped and went to sleep.
Saturday was another fun filled full day. What ididnt see friday i wanted to see saurday. So i took the metro and wound up at the main station of termini which is basically in the iddle of rome and began my journey. First on my list was the spanish steps. I seen many cool things along the way on the walk like piazza republica and cool structures everywhere. The spanish steps were quite awesome. On top of the steps was another beautiful church. There was many people there as well and on the bottom was one of the more well known streets in rome. On it was another oblisk as well as the spanish embassy, for which the stairs are named after. I then proceeded to the piazza del poppolo. It was amazing with tourists and locals alike basking in the music of a local street band playing an accordion and base and what not. More amazing architecture and cathedrals and there was also a wedding going on. I decided to eat and had the best lasagna ever. So then i headed to the pantheon. I definitely walked literally probably all over rome and it was a good feeling because it wasnt so bad. I felt healthy. So after about another hour of walking, i found the pantheon. I went inside and it was breathtaking with its natural lighting mechanism in the middle of the domed roof. The crown of king umberto was there as well as some things of victor emanuelle. Its weird because my great uncle manuel had the full name of victor emanuelle and now i may see the correlation because his father, my great great grandpa francesco albi was from italy. So then after hanging out there for awhile i wanted to see the basilica of giovanni laterno. So i headed back toward the colisseum and then toward that basilica from there. I tried to see circus massimo but it began to rain and i had no umbrella so i hung out under a tree until it stopped and headed to the other basilica. I saw a structure that i thought was it but it didnt look like what i seen on the map and i almost turned around and headed back. Good thing i didnt.
I wentaround front and there was another structure that rivaled that of the vatican. Huge statues of saints and angels atop the building as if they were oberlooking rome and keeping upon it a watchful eye. So i took my pictures and went in. It was amazing inside as out and i got to attend a little part of a mass there as well. I walked around some more after and returned to the colisseum where there was a metro station and headed back to the spanish steps on a premonition because i wanted to eat and hang out some more. To my surpise there was a ceremony going on on the spanish steps and a band playing so it was great. I then went and ate at a restaurant nearby and had the best spaghetti ever with a glass of wine. I then had a craving for gelati and returned to fontana di trevi and tried a different flavor. Yummy. So then i concluded my 2nd day and committed to make it to mass in the morning at st peters basilica.
I woke the next day and got ready and took the metro to termini again. From there i walked to st peters basilica seeing a lot of the sights i had seen previously like the spanish steps and piazza del poppolo. It was a nice walk and before i got too far i decided to have a coffee and a piece of breakfast cake. I had some baileys added to what seemed like merely a shot of coffee. It wasnt much but it was quite strong. So i enjoyed the hour to two hour stroll through rome and wound up at st peters basilica around one, just in tme for mass. I sat in on it and it was a blessing even though it was all in italian. I even received communion. It was great. So i ate after mass nearby an awesome but expensive panini and headed back to the hostel for thr day to get situated and not spend anymore money that i really didnt have. My roomates were awesome. I spoke mainly with a man from lebanon who knew 8 different languages and a fellow sicilian who informed me of an important discovery of an earthquake that wiped the town of messina sicily clean and killed nearly 200000 sicilians in 1908. My great grandpa antonino bettini was born there and i wonder if it had something to do with his migration to america in the early 1900s. Life is crazy. I am glad to have been able to see the lands where my ancestors, near and far in time used to roam, both hin italy and spain. It has been generations since anyone in my 2 massive families have been able to say the same. I now truly know what it is to be of spanish and italian decent and most of all, what it is to be an american as well. I never thought about what it was to be american until i crossed the atlantic and seen all these places. I definitely share many of the cultural and religious aspects of both italy and spain, but i am no doubt an american because i have been able to see what an american is from an outsiders perspective. For this i am greatful. But all in all, it was an amazing trip and the last i have on my own in europe until i fly back to the states in 3 weeks. I have one more trip to sevilla spain next weekend and that concludes my journeys. I hope you have enjoyed my writings of my travels as much as i have enjoyed writing them and hope if you havent got to see these things for yourself, you will one day.
Friday i spent the whole day in rome. It was amazing. My dutch friend from the hostel accompanied me most of the day and at first i didnt want him to come but he grew on me and we spent most of the day walking. The first thing i wanted to see was the colisseum, so that is where we went. It was an awesome structure and there was so much happening around it. Near by was an arc of someone i know but forgot the name. I love all the arcs around europe. Not far was the roman forum where over 2000 years ago, the roman empire held a lot of its activities. So i hung around a lot by these spots for a little bit. Then we began to walk and i ran into a massive structure with horses and winged men riding them on top of what turned out to be the victor emmanuelle. It was a beautiful structure and i couldnt take enough pictures of it. Then i figured out entry was free so we went inside and it was equally impressive in as out. It had the eternal burning flame with two italian soldiers (alive) guarding it and i guess it was also "the tomb of the unknown soldier". I lateround victor emanuelle was king of italy. Inside was a lot of his history as well as the history of the unification of italy. The city is spectacular.
Then i got hungry and decided to search for a pizza place. We found a pizzeria and come to find it didnt even sell pizza. So i still think pizza is different here, just like tortillas in spain are different than what we know in the US. So i had a calzone and a coke, which was a great meal. We continued to walk and i wanted to go to the castle of st amgelo so we walked along the river trying to get there. Then my dutch friend said the fountain of trevi was close by. So we took a detour and headed there. It didnt turn out to be so close but we eventually found it. It too was a beautiful structure it had huge statues and horses coming out of marble and a massive fountain. Hundreds of people are always around there. So then we proceeded to the castle of st angelo and on the way passed the palace of something called corte di cassazione. It too was quite a beautiful structure. Then we found the castle of st angelo nearby. I wanted to go in but it costed like 10€ so i just took pics and appreciated it from outside.
The next destination was the vatican and st peters basilica. Now for me being a catholic, this was equal to a pilgrimage to mecca for muslims. It was amazing. My dutch friend had to leave and meet someone at this point so i enoyed the moment alone. It was a deep moment of reflection, appreciation and a reaffirmation of my belief in god. I was dazzled by what seemed like a hundred statues i was surrounded by in almost a full circle and the basilica itself was beautiful. It also had a huge oblisk in front as well. I proceeded to go in and seem they have metal detectos and security to make sure no radicals are trying to bring snything crazy in. Assoon as i walked in i could feel something. I cant explain yet what it was, but was certainly something. The structure was amazing inside and out. I cant describe it much, you just have to see it for yourself because its nearly indescribable.
So i left and wanted to try some gelati at a cool hang out and thought what better spot than the fountain of trevi. So i returned there and got the best tasting desert i have ever had in my life. I enjoyed it while looking at the fountain and admiring everything about it as well as basking in the ambience. So after that i decided to walk back to the colisseum and return to my hostel because my feet were killing me and i must have lost 10 pounds walking around rome with my backpack full of souveniers that day. So i did just that and hung out at the roman forum and colisseum atnight for a little while. Then hopped on the metro and made it back to my hostel. I tried a pizza place around the corner for dinner and skyped and went to sleep.
Saturday was another fun filled full day. What ididnt see friday i wanted to see saurday. So i took the metro and wound up at the main station of termini which is basically in the iddle of rome and began my journey. First on my list was the spanish steps. I seen many cool things along the way on the walk like piazza republica and cool structures everywhere. The spanish steps were quite awesome. On top of the steps was another beautiful church. There was many people there as well and on the bottom was one of the more well known streets in rome. On it was another oblisk as well as the spanish embassy, for which the stairs are named after. I then proceeded to the piazza del poppolo. It was amazing with tourists and locals alike basking in the music of a local street band playing an accordion and base and what not. More amazing architecture and cathedrals and there was also a wedding going on. I decided to eat and had the best lasagna ever. So then i headed to the pantheon. I definitely walked literally probably all over rome and it was a good feeling because it wasnt so bad. I felt healthy. So after about another hour of walking, i found the pantheon. I went inside and it was breathtaking with its natural lighting mechanism in the middle of the domed roof. The crown of king umberto was there as well as some things of victor emanuelle. Its weird because my great uncle manuel had the full name of victor emanuelle and now i may see the correlation because his father, my great great grandpa francesco albi was from italy. So then after hanging out there for awhile i wanted to see the basilica of giovanni laterno. So i headed back toward the colisseum and then toward that basilica from there. I tried to see circus massimo but it began to rain and i had no umbrella so i hung out under a tree until it stopped and headed to the other basilica. I saw a structure that i thought was it but it didnt look like what i seen on the map and i almost turned around and headed back. Good thing i didnt.
I wentaround front and there was another structure that rivaled that of the vatican. Huge statues of saints and angels atop the building as if they were oberlooking rome and keeping upon it a watchful eye. So i took my pictures and went in. It was amazing inside as out and i got to attend a little part of a mass there as well. I walked around some more after and returned to the colisseum where there was a metro station and headed back to the spanish steps on a premonition because i wanted to eat and hang out some more. To my surpise there was a ceremony going on on the spanish steps and a band playing so it was great. I then went and ate at a restaurant nearby and had the best spaghetti ever with a glass of wine. I then had a craving for gelati and returned to fontana di trevi and tried a different flavor. Yummy. So then i concluded my 2nd day and committed to make it to mass in the morning at st peters basilica.
I woke the next day and got ready and took the metro to termini again. From there i walked to st peters basilica seeing a lot of the sights i had seen previously like the spanish steps and piazza del poppolo. It was a nice walk and before i got too far i decided to have a coffee and a piece of breakfast cake. I had some baileys added to what seemed like merely a shot of coffee. It wasnt much but it was quite strong. So i enjoyed the hour to two hour stroll through rome and wound up at st peters basilica around one, just in tme for mass. I sat in on it and it was a blessing even though it was all in italian. I even received communion. It was great. So i ate after mass nearby an awesome but expensive panini and headed back to the hostel for thr day to get situated and not spend anymore money that i really didnt have. My roomates were awesome. I spoke mainly with a man from lebanon who knew 8 different languages and a fellow sicilian who informed me of an important discovery of an earthquake that wiped the town of messina sicily clean and killed nearly 200000 sicilians in 1908. My great grandpa antonino bettini was born there and i wonder if it had something to do with his migration to america in the early 1900s. Life is crazy. I am glad to have been able to see the lands where my ancestors, near and far in time used to roam, both hin italy and spain. It has been generations since anyone in my 2 massive families have been able to say the same. I now truly know what it is to be of spanish and italian decent and most of all, what it is to be an american as well. I never thought about what it was to be american until i crossed the atlantic and seen all these places. I definitely share many of the cultural and religious aspects of both italy and spain, but i am no doubt an american because i have been able to see what an american is from an outsiders perspective. For this i am greatful. But all in all, it was an amazing trip and the last i have on my own in europe until i fly back to the states in 3 weeks. I have one more trip to sevilla spain next weekend and that concludes my journeys. I hope you have enjoyed my writings of my travels as much as i have enjoyed writing them and hope if you havent got to see these things for yourself, you will one day.
Cordoba and the mesquita
I was in cordoba spain with my isa group for a day. It was a nice trip. The highlight of the trip was seeing the mesquita, or mosque that was a mix between both muslim mosque and catholic cathedral. It was built inside walls similar to the layout of ba boujloud in fez morocco. Except there didnt appear to be an entire town inside, just some fountains they used to wash in long ago, many orange trees and the mosque. Seeing the mosque was quite extraordinary. When you first walk into the gates of the square, you can easily see the moorish influence and architecture. It even smelled eerily familiar to fes morocco. The structure was grand in scale and took several centuries to finish it. Thére were four parts to the mesquita and they were each built separately in the 8th, 9th and 10th centuries. There was a mix of pillars and columns used to erect the structure which is a mix of 2 different architectual styles and you could see it. There was some red brick over all the double arches inside and it only added to the beauty of the structure. We wandered around the four different parts from each century as we were given a tour from a friendly spanish man who knew everything about its history and was sure to keep us all paying attention. There was certainly arches and architectual design of the moorish era everywhere outside of the cathedral, which we saw last. There were whole walls and arches of gold and glass preserved perfectly as if it was recently comsyructed, yet was over 1000 years old. It was amazing seeing some of the walls with muslim altars and then on other walls seeing catholic chapels. You can clearly see that the spanish catholic kings felt very strongly about making their prescence known and felt and it has resonated throughout history for hundreds of years. Inside of the structure was a massive and beautiful catholic cathedral. It appeared guarded by st michael, the archangel himself as his statue overlooked it fro, atop. Its mindboggling to think these intricate and impeccable structures were created somehow by the hands of man to me. After the tour of the cathedral and mosque, we were given a few hours of free time in which we ate and walked around the city and saw a nearby bridge with a moorish castle on the other side and an arc built by the spanish i believe. We then returned to malaga to see the christmas lights of the city lit all throughout the city and the nativity scene and christmas trees on each end of calle marques de larios. Just another amazing education and blessed day and trip in españa.
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