The Most Random Spring Break Ever

While I was really tired on the night of my return to Rome following our week and a half field trip to the south of Italy, there was no time to rest. I had to get ready for a five day spring break trip that I would be leaving for before sunrise. I was traveling to three rather random places, Pisa, Dublin, and Frankfurt. None of them are within 1000 kilometers of each other, but the way airfare prices work in Europe they were some of the cheaper places to go. Three different cities, three different languages, three different cultures. It promised to be a very fun and interesting five days.

After a long train ride from Rome, we arrived in the city of Pisa. Everyone goes to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower, but the main reason we were going was actually was to catch a flight to Dublin. The flights out of Pisa were much cheaper than the flights from Rome, and hopping from Rome to Pisa would also mean we'd get time to see one of the world's most famous architectural mess ups. Not a bad way to save some money if you ask me. We arrived with hoards of tourists making the trip up from Rome, walked from the train station to the center of town, and were greeted by even more tourists all ready there doing interpretive dance and mime all over the place.

See?

Just kidding. We all knew they weren't practicing their miming techniques. Rather, they were all taking the stereotypical "Look ma, I'm holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa!" picture. Up and down the main street there were dozens of people all posing at once. It's kind of funny to watch, that is, until you cave into peer pressure and end up taking one yourself out of fear that your mother will be mad when she finds out you didn't get a picture of you holding up the Leaning Tower when you went to Pisa.

Besides the Leaning Tower, the beautiful Duomo next door, and the Baptistry in front of the Duomo, there really wasn't all that much to see in Pisa. Sure, it had the standard beautiful architecture of most traditional Italian cities, but there wasn't anything else there we just had to see. We ended up wandering around the city for a while, bought lunch at a nearby supermarket, and then walked back to the grassy area in front of the Duomo where we ate our lunch and proceeded to take a nap under a beautiful, clear blue sky. It was spring break after all. Why not take a couple hours to just relax and enjoy your surroundings?

Pretty nice surroundings if you ask me.

Following an enjoyable and relaxing day in Pisa, we spent the night at a cheap but comfortable hostel in town, and then made our way to the airport to catch our early morning flight to Dublin. We actually walked to the airport. It was conveniently located right on the edge of town a couple of minutes walk from the hostel. Still tired, we boarded a plane comforted by the fact that in a few short hours we would be in Ireland.

We landed in Dublin after a relatively bumpy flight, and were greeted by chilly gusts and a cold rain as soon as we stepped outside the terminal. Typical weather in Ireland. It ended up raining plenty while we were in Dublin but that didn't stop us from having a good time. After the bus ride from the airport into the city center, we got situated in our hostel and ended up making it to a pub for a full Irish breakfast and our first pint of Guinness before noon. There is something special about having a Guinness in Dublin. It's hard to describe but it just feels right.

Enjoying a pint at the Guinness Storehouse

The architecture varied throughout the city, and if I could compare it to any place I had been before I'd say was very similar to a lot of the stuff I had seen when I was in England. There was a mixture of Gothic, Neoclassical, Modern, and everything in between. Lots of brick buildings and lots of framed window panes. The one that that sets Dublin apart, through, are its brightly colored doors. While many of the rowhouses along the various streets were very similar in design and articulation, their front doors are painted every color under the sun from bright reds and yellows to deep, bold blues and greens.

In the two days we were in Dublin we explored much of the city and saw many of its most famous sights. We sipped on a pint or two of Guinness at a couple of different pubs, toured the Guinness factory, ate Beef and Guinness Stew, and did other Guinness related activities. We walked around the famed Trinity College that educated the likes of Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett, saw a couple of churches, and took a stroll along the River Liffey. We also took time to visit one of Dublin's most famous landmarks, Leo Burdock's Fish and Chips. It was one of the largest, most delicious meals I had eaten in a long, long time. They give you the biggest piece of fried cod you've ever seen along with a couple big handfulls of thick cut french fries, wrap it up in butcher paper, and send you on your way. We walked out of there, each with a football sized package of steaming hot food, and went across the street where we found some benches. We then proceeded to devour our food in about 10 seconds.

So delicious...

Although I certainly would not have minded staying in Dublin a little while longer to enjoy more of its delicious food and culture, we had to leave and catch a flight to Frankfurt, Germany, the last stop on our odd and seemingly circuitous spring break. We ended up spending the night in the brand new Dublin airport in another attempt to save a little bit of cash. It was actually a pretty comfortable night as we were able to find some couches we could sleep on. In the wee morning hours we got on an Aer Lingus flight bound for Frankfurt. I was returning to Germany for the third time since coming to Europe.

The incredible skyline of Frankfurt

I had originally planned on traveling to Frankfurt over Christmas Break, but I did not get the rail passes I was to receive in the mail on time and had to scrap half of my planned trip to Germany, including a day or two in Frankfurt. Luckily I was able to work a trip to Frankfurt into my spring break itinerary. I was really excited to see the city, not only for the many incredible skyscrapers that dominate its skyline but also because it is the largest city in my favorite German state, Hessen. I'm sure you can put two and two together and figure out the reason why.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Frankfurt. The architecture was awesome, the weather was perfect, and to top it all off I got to again enjoy bratwurst, frankfurters, and all the other German foods I had come to know and love during my earlier travels of the Fatherland. One of the coolest experiences I had in Frankfurt was going up to the outdoor observation deck on top of the Main Tower (pronounced 'mine' for you non-German speakers), a 200 meter tall skyscraper. On that bright and sunny afternoon you could see for miles in every direction. It was truly and incredible sight to behold.

Standing 200m above Frankfurt with the Commerzbank Tower in the background

I enjoyed plenty of brats, drank some good beer, and saw some incedible buildings while in Frankfurt, but when Sunday afternoon rolled around it was time to get packed up and head back to Rome. Before catching the bus to the airport, I grabbed a pair of huge bratwursts at a stand by the train station. It was sad realizing that I might not get to have another brat in Germany for quite some time. Hopefully, it won't to too long before I go back to Germany sometime in the future.

In all, I traveled almost 2500 miles on my spring break, saw three very different cities, and saw some great architecture along the way. The food wasn't too shabby either. The only thing more I could have wanted was a long spring break. If I had a couple of extra days I would have loved to explore other parts of Ireland outside of Dublin or maybe the Black Forest south of Frankfurt. I'll save those for another adventure, though, and for the time being just think about bratwurst, fish and chips, delicious pizza, and all the randomness that created a unique and fascinating spring break experience I'll never forget.

Spring Field Trip: Journeys in Sicily and Southern Italy

The strokes of my brush moved rapidly over the surface of the paper in swathes of pigment. Why won't you dry? The sun was setting, colors were blending together all over the page, time was short, and I needed to get this watercolor finished before they closed the site for the day. At this time the day before I had been back in Rome sitting through eight hours of projects reviews, but now I found myself sitting on an ancient wall frantically working on a watercolor of the ancient Greek temples at Paestum, a couple hours south of my adoptive home. Although I was stressing over the watercolor on my lap, it wasn't going to get me down. I was encouraged by the fact that Paestum was only the first stop on a long journey across land, air, and sea that would let me see even more of the beauty Italy has to offer.

Now if only my watercolor looked like this picture...

After spending a day exploring the various temples and the museum at Paestum we moved towards Naples and took a day to visit the incredible an ancient city of Pompeii. It was simply amazing to explore the huge collection of artwork, architecture, and general culture that has been preserved there following the tragic eruption of nearby Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. As we walked along the original cobblestone streets amongst the remains of row after row of ancient homes and shops, one couldn't get a real sense of what it was like to live in an ancient Roman city. The homes, in many cases, were preserved to the point that the frescoes on the walls looked like they were freshly painted. Today, many of the artifacts have been moved to various museums, but I can only imagine what it would like to uncovered so many incredible pieces of history untouched since the were buried thousands of years ago.

One of the more interesting things about Pompeii is that today its only full time residents are the dogs. Where Rome has temple cats, Pompeii has dogs. Everywhere you go there are dogs lounging about, walking along side you playing the role of Man's Best Friend, or running around barking up a storm. While working on a sketching assignment in the Forum, there was a group of three of four dogs that just wouldn't leave me alone. They kept barking and walking around me the entire time I sat there. I realized later the reason for this was because they probably wanted the sandwich I had left in my backpack with the intention of eating later. One of my friends made the mistake of eating a sandwich in front of them and ended up losing half of his sandwich and his watercolor assignment to a hungry dog. It has to be one of the few time the "my dog ate my homework" line was actually applicable.

Me and a couple of my dog friends

From Pompeii we traveled to Naples and were greeted almost immediately by two of its most famous features: beautiful churches and lots of trash. I haven't quite figured out the reasoning for the trash but according to our professors and other sources, the piles of garbage all over the place can be blamed on plenty of sanitation worker's strikes and insider mafia deals with sanitation departments in northern cities. Naples was definitely a bit grungier than most of the places I have been this year but the beautiful architecture of its churches and other important buildings more than made up for the dirt and grime. Many of the churches, such as Gesu Nuovo and the Sansevero Chapel (look it up, you won't be disappointed) rival the architecture and sculpture of even the most famous churches in Rome. Although there was a persistent cold rain during most of our visit, walking through Naples and seeing its wonderful interiors, artwork, and museums was well worth it.

San Domenico, another beautiful Neapolitan church

After completing our tours of Naples we headed to the port to catch a boat to Sicily. It was a fun evening of rocking back and forth across the Mediterranean aboard the large ferry. We stayed up on the deck until the lights from the mainland fell out of our view and a cold rain began to fall. So, we retreated to our rooms below and lay in our bunks chatting and eating cookies until we eventually fell asleep. The next morning, I awoke to brilliant sunshine pouring in through the porthole of our room. The clouds, rain, and wind of the night before had moved on, leaving a bright sunny morning to welcome us to Sicily, where we would be for the rest of the trip.

After a long time waiting in the corridor on the ship, they let everyone walk down the gangplank and we stepped foot into the city of Palermo where we spent the day exploring its various architectural sites including its beautiful cathedral and a wonderful 19th century theater called Teatro Massimo. Although Palermo is a very historical city with architecture dating back hundreds of years, it was heavily bombed during World War II causing much of the city to rebuilt in a less architecturally pleasing style during the 50s and 60s. It would have been nice to see Palermo the way it looked a hundred years ago, but even the various pockets of architecture spread throughout the modern fabric were pleasant surprises to stumble upon.

The Sicily leg of our trip found us walking up our fair share of hills, and this was very true of our next two stops at Segesta and the hill town of Erice. Segesta was an ancient Greek settlement similar to Paestum other than the fact that was set on top of a hill a couple miles inland from the sea. After a pleasant walk up the entrance, you are greeted by one of the most well preserved temples anywhere. Its surprising to think a building could stay in such great shape even after a couple of thousand years. The just don't build 'em like that nowadays. We also took a hike up to the top of the hill were the old fortifications and theater stand. It wasn't an easy hike but we all made it to the top without incident. The views from the top of the hill to the valley and ocean beyond were epic. I thought it was one of the most beautiful views I'd ever see, but I was proved wrong when we arrived at the top of the mountain that Erice is located on later that day.

The beautiful temple at Segesta

The theater at Segesta

The bus ride up the side of the mountain towards Erice seemed to go on forever. The road continued to climb and climb along the edge of the mountain, and the towns and homes beside the ocean below continued to grow smaller and smaller. The bus finally pulled into the little parking lot at the entrance of the town, and upon getting off the bus we noticed it was much colder. Erice, because of its location on top of a mountain, has a micro-climate different than the rest of Sicily. Its one of the few places on the island were pine tree forests grow naturally. We also had the experience of having a sunny day turn into completely foggy when a low lying cloud decided to run into the mountain late in the afternoon. Besides interesting weather, Erice had beautiful architecture and even more stunning views. We got lucky and arrived when the weather was clear, affording us great views of the ocean and the rolling green hills of Sicily has far as the eye could see. We spent the night in that wonderful town and even got a free dinner at the hotel. A pleasant experience to say the least.

A view of the Mediterranean from Erice. Now, that's a view.

Although we didn't want to leave the beauty of the secluded mountaintop, there was still plenty of Sicily left to see. So, we piled back into the bus and headed back down the mountain to see some of the towns in the southern and central parts of the island. Our first stop was in Salinute were we saw more temples, completed another watercolor, and took a plunge (at least I did) in the still cold Mediterranean. The weather was spotty at best. It was chilly, windy, and cloudy for most of the day, but at least the sun came out when it was time to watercolor.

Besides the temples, the thing I will remember most about Salinute was getting directions from a sheep herder. There are a bunch of different temples at Salinute organized in two different areas about half a mile apart, one area is in the ancient town center near the sea and the other is across a deep gully that was once an ancient riverbed that has long been silted up. We had to walk across the gully to get between the two areas, and to be blunt the paths didn't really take you where you needed to go. We found this out the hard way as the path we were on suddenly veered off in the wrong direction leaving us to trudge through a bunch of nearly impassible bushes and trees in search of the temples that lay somewhere beyond. I'm sure 44 architecture students trudging through the brush was quite a sight to behold, especially if you're a simple sheep herder. There was a guy herding sheep (yes, people still do that) down into the gully, and I'm sure he had a good laugh watching us try and find a way through the bushes. I remember looking over and seeing him wave his arms in our general direction and point to a little break in the undergrowth up ahead where we found a narrow dirt path led all the way the the ancient town and its temples. The sheep herder ended up doing double duty that day as he not only herded his sheep but also a lost group of lost architecture students.

We spent the next couple of days exploring the rest of Sicily, seeing Enna, the highest elevated city in Sicily, more temples in Agrigento, the lovely town of Taormina, and even the Carnevale parade in the city of Acireale. Those towns were great to visit, but what put the icing on the cake was the day we spent in Catania. Catania is one of Sicily's largest cities and is nestled beneath one of the most beautiful natural features in Sicily, the snow covered peak of the volcanically active Mount Etna. We had a wonderful time in Catania exploring its wide variety of religious and secular baroque architecture. We were all care free and just enjoyed each others company and the architecture as we walked up and down the streets and alleys. While it was a sunny and warm day, it was kind of bittersweet because it was the nicest day on our entire trip. I finished the afternoon by sketching the cathedral and playing some hackysack in the piazza in front of the cathedral. A good way to end a great week in Sicily.

The cathedral in Catania

Later in the afternoon we boarded a plane bound for Rome and that was the end of our field trip. In all, we had visited a dozen or so different towns and cities in a week and a half. While it was great to see all the great architecture throughout Sicily and southern Italy what I'll always remember are the interesting, odd, and funny things that happened along the way. I'll always remember sampling octopus in Salinute and actually liking it and watching a friend accidentally kick a soccer ball onto a hotel roof and then climb over a balcony railing to retrieve it. I'll never forget getting lost in the wrong part of Acireale looking for the train station or exploring an abandoned castle perched on the edge of a cliff with some of the guys. It's not everyday that you can do stuff like that. That is what made my trip to Sicily, like this whole year, something I'll treasure for a long, long time to come.