Myron Liu — Florence to Beaucaire

So far this trip has been amazing. We have seen some pretty awesome sights all around Europe at this point and I think I have learnt a lot about the Western world and how it came to be.

For me, the place I was most looking forward to visiting was Rome. With its ancient, fascinating origins and the ruins left behind by one of the greatest empires ever existing, it promised to be the most interesting experience in my life. It did not disappoint. Coming off our ferry at Ancona, it was noticeable different from Greece. There was less graffiti and the air felt a bit cleaner. On reaching the heart of Rome after getting off our long train ride at Termini, I was very excited for the exploration of such a richly cultured society.

Some of the amazing monuments we saw were: Trajan’s Column which has surprisingly stood for such a long time despite its massive height, the Vittorio Emmanuele Monument which despite being considered an obnoxious obscenity by many of the countrymen was very impressive in its size, the Arch of Titus and the Arch of Constantine which both were immense in size with very intricately made figures carved into them as to promote the skill at engineering and at art of the ancient Roman society, the Colosseum which was simply colossal with its vast array of arches and numerous other monuments.

The four maiores: the four major churches of Rome: the Santa Maria Maggiore, St John Lateran, St Peter’s Basilica and St Paul’s without the Walls. These churches were truly amazing. They are a testament to the hard work and brilliance of men attempting to recreate in some form the glory of God on Earth. The Santa Maria Maggiore was the first church we visited. I remember being quite stunned at the interior with its vast space littered with biblical paintings. St John Lateran was my favourite of the churches with its spacious interior along with the statues of the apostles placed around the church. St Peter’s Basilica felt too overwhelming to fully comprehend. Being the largest church in the world, even the outside of the church felt imposing. The endless array of columns circled outside the church along with the statues above them was incredible. Inside, besides the enormity of the nave and transepts, were some of the most amazing paintings and a crypt for many of the famous popes. St Paul’s without the Walls was less impressive than St Peter’s but was also a very great church. Although we visited an innumerable number of churches another stand out church was the II Gesu, which had a roof with spectacular artwork. The artist, whom I am forgetting the name of, had a very great understanding of perception and it looked as though people fell from the skies as we stared in amazement at the roof.

The Vatican museum along with the Capitoline museum and the Naples National Archaeological Museum all contained priceless works of art and Western artefacts. Seeing some of the greatest works of art (along with the very very very very very amazing Sistine Chapels) is truly a privilege.

One of my favourite days in Rome was surprisingly the day trip to Ostia. It was a very fun action packed day of ruin climbing, jumping and running. Unlike the more controlled Pompeii, Ostia gave us the freedom to explore the ruins. It was a fascinating and eye-opening experience. It gave us a view of how society was like 2000 years ago and the organisation of the society. We even had a quest to find as many ancient toilets as possible.

   Florence was a very great change of pace after Rome. It is an extremely romantic city and has a very different atmosphere than Greece or Rome. More of a medieval city, Florence was quiet with very ancient looking buildings. The trip has inspired me to hopefully one day revisit Florence to truly get a better understanding of such a beautiful city.

Highlights of Florence were: the Uffizi Gallery, II Duomo and the very cheap but good Florentine markets.

Brunelleschi’s most famous dome, II Duomo, was wonderful. It is a reminder of the Renaissance, a time of genii and blooming of ideas. Florence may be seen as the best place to see the remains of such a great time. The Uffizi gallery contained some of the greatest works of art in the history of man. I particularly liked Leonardo Da Vinci’s Annunciation. It stood out to me because of the noticeable detail Leonardo placed within the work and the strangeness of Gabriel’s wings compared to other examples of art depicting the Annunciation.

The afternoon at Pisa also remained an interesting experience. The Leaning Tower of Pisa did not lean as much as I expected unfortunately.

Venice was an interesting city to experience. The city on water is a bustling town with many shops and markets. I enjoyed our day in Venice because once again we were given free rein to explore the city to our hearts content. The Rialto Bridge was quite a sight to see. The Piazza San Marco and the church of San Marco was an amazingly made Romanesque church. It had amazing bronze horse sculptures and very interestingly enough an undulated floor due to the ground sinking into the ground at different points.

That finally leads me onto Beaucaire. A wonderfully romantic and beautiful place like Florence, Beaucaire; however, is more countryside based and there are more open fields (basically none in Florence). It has been an awesome place to simply unwind and relax. Our day trips were far less demanding with a casual visit of castle or two in the morning and a leisurely tour of a medieval city like Avignon in the afternoon and ended with a swim in the afternoon at the wonderful Robinson Hotel and a delicious dinner at night. Highlights from Beaucaire so far have been the visit to the Pont du Garde and a splash in the river there, the Tarascon Castle which is the first castle I have ever been into and fired imaginary arrows in and Avignon which a very interesting history behind it with the schism of the Popes.