Florence was great. It rained often enough to where I always had my raincoat on my person. I was growing tired of my classmates and so I did a lot of wandering on my own. I think I've already told you but I went up to San Minato, Sienna, etc.
I left Florence early on the 13th and took the train to Ravenna, with stops in Faenza and Lugo. When I first arrived in Ravenna it was raining. But I slogged my way to my hostel, about 15 minutes outside of the old town. Once I checked in, the weather cleared up, and I made my way to the old city, stopping to get shat on by a Pigeon (I nearly wiped out every Pigeon after that, Ornicide). Anyways I wandered around, went into the free churches, and then walked through the Venetian fortress to Theodoric's mausoleum where I spent the remainder of the afternoon.
The next day I bought the combined ticket to all of the major religious sites and set out from my hostel bright and early at 9 AM to beat the tourists. Before going any further, I'm pretty sure I can use the same words to describe every church: exquisite, amazing, beautiful, awe-inspiring, amusing, gorgeous, etc. First up was the Neon Baptistry, a gorgeous structure whose interior was covered in mosaic from floor to the center of the dome. I sat in one of the chairs on the perimeter of the interior until a school group packed in and I left. Next up was S. Apollinare Nuovo, famous for its tower and the mosaics lining the chapel. I wandered around the chapel for a while before heading to St. Andrew's chapel of which I took a grand picture of before being sternly reprimanded by the gallery attendent. I wandered around a bit before coming across the Bassilica Metropolitana and had another near encounter with pigeon feces. Naturally I left the area in search of greener pastures- The basilica of San Vitale. This was truly an awe inspiring sight. I spent much of an hour lying in the ground in one of the corners staring upwards at the dome, almost as if I was in a trance. The crypt nearby was nearly as gorgeous, its windows made of a translucent amber-clouded stone.
Anyways... Where was I.
So the night of the 14th was the Liars concert. You may laugh at me for going to see an American band while in Italy, but I've been listening to these guys since the beginning of High School and never found the opportunity to see them. I quickly found that the busses stop running at 8:00 and the venue is 6km outside of Ravenna in the middle of nowhere. Did I end up going? Of course I did. I decided on making my way home an adventure. I got to Bronson (concert venue) with a baguette and a salami and set up shop outside the door reading Farenheit 451 and gorging myself on delicious locally produced fare. I had been communicating with the owner (Chris) of Bronson, and I suppose word got around that a crazy American was picnicking outside. Chris came out as the opening band was soundchecking and we chatted for a while before he had to head inside. I sat there for a half hour more before Chris pops his head out the door and invites me inside. Inside there was a long table with none other than Liars sitting around it eating. I was offered a chair next to the guitar player and ended up chatting with them for a bit. I think they were excited to speak to someone not on tour with them who is fluent in English. Anyways, they put on a great show and it was well worth the trip out. Chris got me a ride back into town with two of his friends and all was right with the world.
The next day I resumed my travels and caught the train to Bologna. Naturally with my luck my hostel was situated rather far outside of town in the middle of a field. It also was raining. I spent a good hour or so sitting in my room with a dark cloud over my head before rallying myself to stick my stinky feet into my even more stinky rotting hole-developing shoes (bad choice on footwear, these shoes are toast!). I walked towards town because, like in Ravenna, the buses stop running awfully early, and being in the sticks it becomes difficult to find any food worth digesting. I made it almost to Porta San Domino before finding a Pizzeria where I ate a huge salad and an entire Pizza. The owner stared at me for sometime as I also finished a half liter of wine, but I was in no mood to leave anything incomplete on my table.
The next day the weather, and my attitude had magically cleared and I set out towards the city center, on foot again. I could have caught a bus, but it was too nice. I climbed the Aniselli tower and found myself alone on top of Bologna. I folded myself onto a ledge and read a bit before I heard the grunts of tourists and began my descent. I walked around a bit and made my way to the main plaza where I found a table and resumed my reading, basking in the Sunday morning sunlight. I wandered around the rest of the day, stopping by the churches of San Giacomo Maggiore, San Pietro, San Giovanni in Monte and the Bassilica de Stephano before catching the bus back to the hostel and my well-deserved bed. I should add that there was an attempted detour to the showers, but not having any hot water this detour was quickly aborted.
The next day I caught a series of trains to where I am now, Genoa. I wish I could spend more time here! The city is surrounded on one side by a few large hills, on top of which is situated my hostel. From my window I can see the town unfolding beneath me. I didn't spend a whole lot of time dawdling seeing as I only had less than a day to enjoy the city. The interiors of the churches here are decorated to the nth degree. Every surface is painted or covered in gold leaf. I managed san Lorenzo, Chiesa del Gesu, and Chiessa di San Siro, as well as Piazza de Ferrari before grabbing a kebab and heading back to catch the sunset over the town from my hostel's terrace.
And now, here I am! I have greatly enjoyed the places I have visited, though since about halfway through Florence I was ready to come home, now more than ever. The incessant moving around has really gotten to me, aside from Florence I haven't spent more than 3 nights in one place! Tomorrow I take another series of trains across the French border to Marseille to visit Chateau d'If and the ghost of the Count of Monte Cristo!
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