Venice: Day 6

Ah, Venice!

Early Saturday morning, Trevor and I said goodbye to the Lukes and caught a train to Venice. Since we were so close, we wanted to go see it for ourselves!

And... I have mixed feelings about it. I expected it to be completely magical, but to me it felt like more of a tourist trap (more on that later). Still, I'm glad we went to see it. Most people I know who have visited loved it... Don't let me scare you away!

It is very pretty there.

I was tempted by the Venetian masks! It's almost Halloween after all.

We didn't take a Gondola ride--it turns out those are fairly pricey. Instead we opted for riding the water bus around the island. We were lucky and managed to get close to the railing, so we had some pretty great views! That's all we needed.





I know for some the Gondola ride is the most magical part of their trip. Maybe it is romantic gliding through some of the smoother canals. Our main exposure to them though was on the Grand Canal, which was a bit choppy. Just watching the people bounce around in the gondolas made me feel seasick--that part of the experience I wouldn't wish for! And to me, the gondolas just looked like gussied up canoes--that's when I realized I wasn't feeling the magic of Venice. 😅

The food in Venice was good though! We found a little restaurant where we could get a plate of Venetian finger foods. We didn't know exactly what all of it was, besides some calamari, but it tasted great!

We made sure to check out some of the most famous sites in Venice, like the Doge's Palace.

It was incredibly opulent--the pictures don't do it justice!

Then we ventured to St. Mark's Basilica.

It was gorgeous inside, although having seen St. Peter's Basilica, we weren't as amazed as we would have been beforehand.

Sometime in between the Doge's Palace and St. Peter's Basilica, this happened:

This is my Travelon anti-theft purse that I first bought for my trip to Europe with Hayley. It's lined with iron mesh so no one can cut through it and steal it. All of a sudden I noticed that both straps were coming off the purse, exposing the metal mesh. I don't think that was a coincidence or an accident... I think someone tried to slice it off me. And I didn't even feel anything! That's the creepiest part.

I think that's part of why Venice came off as a tourist trap to me--I didn't feel entirely safe there. The street vendors were the most aggressive in Venice as opposed to anywhere else we went! Before we went to Rome, my sister-in-law Amber warned us about flower vendors. They pretend they are giving you a flower for free, or they'll drop it to try to get you to pick it up, and then they charge you for it. We didn't encounter any in Rome, but SO MANY in Venice. They would come right up to me offering a rose with a big smile, and when I said no, they would still try to put it in my pockets. I had to jump back so they couldn't reach and yell "No!" again. Ugh.

Oh well. I'm still grateful I can say that I've seen Venice, but I don't feel a huge drive to go back again.

That night we got on a plane and headed for Paris.

Assisi and Civita di Bagnoregio: Day 5

On day 5, we ventured to the cities of Assisi and Civita di Bagnoregio.

Since I'm not Catholic, I didn't know much about Assisi before we went. I learned that Assisi is the birthplace of St. Francis, and a popular place for pilgrims to visit. We had a tour guide for our visit who taught us more about St. Francis and his life.

The entrance to St. Francis's birth place. It's said that he was born in a stable like the Savior. Apparently when he was born it wasn't uncommon for women to choose to give birth in stables to emulate Mary. Personally I will stick to a hospital!

We visited many churches in his honor, and we even got to visit his burial site. Since these sites are sacred in the Catholic faith, we were asked not to take pictures while we were there.

I didn't know anything about St. Francis beyond there being a hospital named after him in my hometown. It was interesting to learn more about him and the stories around his life. For the rest of the trip, I noticed he was featured in a lot of the artwork we saw--in particular, in image of him receiving the stigmata--identical wounds to Christ.

Later that day we ventured to Civita di Bagnoregio, which might be my favorite place we visited. Here's a distant shot of the city:

It's another hilltop town, but the hill is very steep, and the only way to reach it is to hike up the bridge:

At 6 months pregnant... this was a feat. I was dragging by the end, but I did make it up there! The city really is like something out of a fairy tale, or at least out of history. These days, only 10 or so people are permanent residents. But over a million tourists visit each year, so there were other people around. There's still restaurants and shops operating inside. Mostly we just wandered around marveling, but we also made time to stop for gelato (of course.) I think I had gelato everyday I was in Italy except the day we toured the Vatican.

Civita is incredibly photogenic. Here's some of the pictures we got while we were there:

Montpulciano and Pienza: Day 4

On October 10, we headed out to visit some nearby towns: Montpulciano and Pienza! Both are beautiful hilltop villages similar to Orvieto. We spent some time in each just wandering the streets and the shops. I can't get over how gorgeous these little towns are. They are like something out of a fairy tale!

One key feature of Montpulciano is the city clock with a Pulcinella figure on the top.

And Pienza is where they filmed part of the original Romeo and Juliet movie, which was fun to see.

Some of our pictures:

Orvieto: Day 3

On October 9, we took a taxi van over to Civitavecchia (I will never learn to say that right!) to meet Eric and Kathy for the next part of our adventure. We ventured on to the Tuscany area, to a beautiful little town called Orvieto.

Here's a view of the town from a distance:

How is that for picturesque? It's like something out of a fairy tale!

The most beautiful part of Orvieto is the gorgeous duomo there. Here's a few pictures of it in all its glory. Just look at those colors!

We stayed at a beautiful Airbnb in the town with room enough for all of us that looked like it came out of a fairy tale itself.

Driving through the streets of Orvieto and the other little Italian towns was an interesting experience. There's essentially only one lane, and it's also where people walk around--there's no separate sidewalk or anything. The drivers and pedestrians there are unphased by it. Here's a video I took:

We started our time in Orvieto with a delicious lunch at Trattoria Vinosus. I tried the cabonara and thought it was delicious. Genuine Italian pasta is amazing.

On our first day, we took a tour of the caves beneath the city. Orvieto sits on a hill, but there is an entire network of caves underneath, all man-made. In the earliest days of the city, people dug the caves to access water. Many people still have a cave cellar in their home today. Our tour took us through some of the largest caves. We also went through some caves that used to house pigeons! Pigeon meat was popular and people would raise the birds for their meat.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the caves. (I was a little jumpy and afraid I would pass out again... The cave floors didn't look like a soft landing space. But everything was fine.)

Then we spent some time inside the duomo, which is lovely inside as well as out.

I really loved this statue. The emotions captured are very lifelike.

I don't remember the name of the restaurant where we went to dinner... but it was great. I opted for a traditional Orvieto dish, wild boar cooked in a dark chocolate sauce. As Amber said, it was basically a pregnant woman's dream. I think we should cook all meat in chocolate sauce!

That night I got the best sleep I'd had since we landed. Jet lag gone, finally! It also helped that the window shutters blocked out 100% of the light. The only downside was that it was so dark when we woke up, we assumed it was still early morning and went back to sleep. We woke up very late for our adventures the next day (but well rested and happy!)

Bedrest

Today I had a bit of a scare.

Trevor and I were in charge of planning the Stake Youth Conference, which happened today. Poor Trevor is sick with a nasty cough, so he stayed home to rest while I went to the conference. And... I guess I pushed too hard. I've been pushing too hard for the last month or so, to be honest... My job is project based, so in order to take time off for the Europe trip I had to finish some things up early and get ahead on other projects. So work was a bit stressful, and at home I was spending every minute preparing for Europe or making sure the youth conference was ready to go, since we would get back just a couple days before it happened. And honestly... Europe was wonderful, but it was hard on me too. The jet lag, the amount of walking, the occasional 2 or 3 pm lunch because we were just too busy to eat before...

Anyway, it all added up, and towards the end of the conference, I started having short, sharp uterine pains. I wasn't too alarmed at first. But 3 hours later, they still hadn't gone away. I was back at home trying to take care of Trevor, but things got bad enough that I decided I'd chat with Kaiser's free online doctor service to see if I needed to go in. The doctor immediately transferred me to the 24/7 Nurse advice line. And after asking a few questions, the nurse arranged for me to go in for a labor and delivery triage at my local hospital.

I was pretty much freaking out. I'm only 26 weeks along. Baby is viable but he isn't supposed to come anytime soon. I felt bad dragging Trevor out of bed, so I had my dad come pick me up and take me to the hospital.

In the end, I am okay. They think I am having something called round ligament pain from too much walking and probably from some dehydration too. The doctor recommended a few days of bedrest. Only a few days, so I'm not one of those people who will be in bed for weeks. Still... this was a bit of a wake up call. I've been pushing myself pretty hard, but I need to take it easy for the rest of my pregnancy. That means cutting back on a lot of things. Maybe giving up my temple shift, maybe... I don't know. Going slower, taking on less volunteer things, letting the housework go.

I feel guilty slowing down but I need to let that go and just focus on protecting my baby.

Rome: Day 2

Our second day in Rome did not go according to plan.

It started out okay. We went on a City Wonders tour of the Vatican.

Our tour guide, Gio, was amazing. Very animated, very familiar with everything we saw, and 100% ready to defend her clients. Trevor had some trouble going through security because somehow he kept setting off the metal detector, and she was ready to jump in to help out (but didn't have to in the end).

The Vatican is filled with beautiful artwork everywhere you go.

It was also packed with people! I think it was the most crowded place I visited during the whole trip. It was hot too, since there is no air conditioning in there. Trevor and I brought a water bottle to share between the two of us, but pretty soon we were almost out of water, and I decided I better save the last bit for later on.

And then we were in one of the Rafael rooms (I think that's what they are called?), crammed into a corner surrounded by other tourists. I started not feeling so good. I had shooting pains in my legs that made it very uncomfortable to stand. (Thank you, pregnancy?). And then I started feeling very light headed. Oh dear, I thought, I'm not going to pass out, am I? That's when everything went very dark. I could still see, but it was like I was looking through dark glass. Oh no. I am not going to pass out. I will not I will not I will not... Should I say something to someone? Trevor was just in front of me, and I tried to lean my head on his shoulder.

Then I passed out.

I've only passed out a couple times in my life, both for hardly any time at all. It's crazy how being unconscious for such a short amount of time still resets your brain. I swear both times I've had short dreams as my brain tries to make sense of what just happened to me. This time I opened my eyes to Trevor and Amber leaning over me, helping me up, and the rest of the tour group looking down. I thought, oh, I must be having a dream that I am visiting Europe. It'd be really cool if I were really there. It took me a little while to remember that I actually was in Europe. I was pretty out of it at first. Everyone was asking me if I was okay, because of course that's what you ask in that situation. I thought this was hilarious (I was out of it, remember?) because clearly I had just passed out, so... I probably wasn't okay, but I had no more idea what was going on than anybody else. How should I know if I was okay?

A very nice British guy from our group gave me his water bottle and let me have some water. Gio found me a security guard who escorted me to sit on a window ledge. She asked me if I wanted to see the medical team but my brain was too fuzzy to come up with an answer. I tried asking Trevor what to do but he couldn't answer either--maybe he was in shock. Finally I asked her if seeing the doctor would cost money, and when she said no, I agreed to it. Gio strongly recommended that I stop the tour and go back to my hotel to get some rest. Another guard showed up and asked me in Italian, with gestures, if I'd hit my head. I didn't understand him, but Gio came back over to translate for me and get everything taken care of. The second guard brought me a wheelchair and whisked me off to the medical room. He gave me a bottle of water to drink that I guzzled down. I got to lay down on an examination table. Trevor stayed right with me, of course.

I was lucky. I landed on my side when I fell, so I didn't hit my head or the baby. My arm took the brunt of it, but the pain went away very quickly. The only other time I'd passed out, I'd hit my head and it had hurt for hours, so this seemed like a great sign to me.

Three very kind female paramedics came to look at me. They suggested I'd collapsed either due to the heat or to exhaustion. They offered to take me in a wheelchair straight out to a taxi. I really considered it. During their examination, they had me sit up, and all of a sudden I felt very hot and dizzy again. But at the same time, I didn't want to leave the Vatican without at least seeing the Sistine Chapel. And, I didn't want Trevor to miss out on everything. So I asked if there was any way they could take me to see the Sistine Chapel before I went, and they agreed to set that up.

Somehow, they found Gio again. She came to visit me with a map of the Sistine Chapel. She told us she'd meet us in about 10 minutes under the section featuring Noah. Gio was amazing.

Then the medical team escorted us straight to the chapel.

And... I mean, people have great stories about their experiences in the Sistine Chapel. For me, I just sat down and worried about whether I was going to pass out again and how we would rejoin our tour group. I guess someday I'll have to go back and try again.

The good news was our tour group did find us again! And Heather gave me her bottle of Sprite to keep me hydrated, which I thought was really sweet.

After the Sistine Chapel, we ventured to St. Peter's Basilica.

I think that blond guy is the one who shared his water bottle with me. Not sure since I was really out of it!

It is so big!! And so sparkly--there is real gold everywhere.

Gio says they believe it is really built on St. Peter's tomb. In the 1960s or so, they excavated and found a tomb underneath with a man inside who was in his 60s when he died, and who had no feet. Since Peter was crucified upside down, it's likely they cut off his feet to take him off the cross.

I wish I could share more than that, but... unfortunately I was still really out of it and scared and freaking out. Gio gave us a brief explanation, and then turned people loose to explore. But I needed to just go back to the hotel and rest. Fortunately Doug wanted to go back to the hotel too, and so I asked if I could go with him.

Trevor worried about me being alone at the hotel ("What if you pass out again?") but he had spent so much time planning the perfect Rome itinerary. I knew he'd be devastated if he had to miss out on it, so I convinced him to stay with his sisters and keep touring.

The walk out of the basilica to the taxi stand was SO LONG. I regretted not taking a wheelchair out there a little bit. But eventually we found a taxi and got back to the hotel. I collapsed on the bed for several hours, only taking a couple breaks to order lunch from room service (some guilt about this, but the cost wasn't too bad at our hotel and I wasn't up for leaving the room) and to maturely... call my mother crying and wishing she was there to take care of me. I was pretty shaken up and scared for the baby. Trevor tried to call me on Amber's phone to check on me, but their cell reception was bad and it didn't go through.

So yes. This was probably the worst day of the trip for me.

We had an appointment to go see the Borghese Gallery at 5 pm, and I did make it to that. Doug and I met back up with everyone else at the Gallery. I really loved seeing the art there. I am a major Greek and Roman myths fan, and I loved recognizing the stories in a lot of the art displayed.

We also got to see one of my favorite sculptures in person: Daphne and Apollo.

In the ancient myth, Apollo picks on Cupid, and in revenge, Cupid makes Apollo fall madly in love with Daphne... and makes Daphne completely loathe Apollo. Apollo tries to chase her down. When he comes close to catching her, she calls out to her father (a River god of some kind, I think?) for help, and her dad turns her into a tree so Apollo can't have her. It's hard to create a realistic sculpture of a woman turning into a tree, but I think Bernini did an amazing job! The sculpture is absolutely beautiful.

After the Borghese Gallery, we took a taxi to the new LDS temple in Rome, which just opened last year. It was closed for cleaning so we couldn't go inside, but we did get some amazing pictures of the outside and we got to go inside the visitors' center too.

It is so gorgeous. I loved the visitors' center too. Besides the usual Christus statue that is in most visitors' centers, there are also statues of the original 12 apostles (well, with Paul in place of Judas). These statues are copies of the originals, but it was still really cool to see them in person for myself.

At the end of the day... I certainly didn't see as much in day 2 as day 1, but I took stock and decided I'd seen the most important things. I got to see the Vatican, even if I missed a few parts of it. I got to go to the Borghese Gallery, and I got to see the Rome temple. I fainted, but I didn't hurt myself or the baby. It was a difficult day, but I decided to call it a win.