More of everything seemed to be the theme of the week with my mom and aunt, and if you've seen Sex and the City 2, then you recognize the "shoes for everyone!" reference :) More food, more walking, more museums, did I mention more food? We ate our way through Florence. Eat, Pray, Love turned into Eat, Walk, Eat. But anyways, we had a BLAST the whole time, so no complaints!
(Side note, pictures from my aunt's camera are to come soon, my camera has decided to retire in Assisi.)
I took my mom and aunt to my favorite places around the city (there is a bird cooing in my window right now, how cute!) on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Monday we were in Assisi as I wrote earlier, and Thursday we took a day trip to Venice. They loved shopping through the San Lorenzo leather market where oddly we ended up with scarves every time, not leather goods... but we also visited the church of San Lorenzo (the church of the Medici Family) and saw both the Old Sacristy and New Sacristy chapels (New done by Michelangelo). I gave them a guided tour of the Uffizi Gallery and Acedamia (where the David is located) which took up the better part of Tuesday, but Wednesday was our favorite. I took them to Pitti Palace first thing in the morning to see the royal apartments and Boboli gardens. The apartments are a section of the palace still decorated and filled with original furnishings from the 1500s up to the 1800s, and they are spectacular. We also lucked out because right as we were entering, an older male employee was offering a free tour of the King's apartments that are not open to the public, and we were the only participants! So my mom, aunt and I were privately taken into the kings apartments for a tour, and it was very cool! I kept asking the guide very sweetly if we could use one of the doors to the MANY hidden passage ways, and three times a charm! He let us walk across the room through the original passage door into a large bathing room, which he said he had never let anyone do before :) We also walked around the Boboli gardens, a huge area behind the palace that is completely green and great for exploring. I actually went on a cardio workout there yesterday because it is so large and beautiful. Anyways, all in all I think Pitti Palace was everyone's favorite stop.
After Pitti we tried a restaurant for lunch sitting over the Arno river by Ponte Vechio that my Aunt Linda had found in a Rick Steves book. It had yummy salads and wine with a perfect view of the river! We drank a lot of wine on this trip... like a lot of wine, between lunch, hotel happy hour and dinner, but we were on vacation so we didn't care! It was all fun.
Thursday we woke up bright and early and caught a train to Venice! This was also about the time that the hotel maids realized I was sleeping on the extra couch in the hotel room and finally made me a bed with sheets on it, so thanks maids at Hotel Davenzanti! But back to Venice, we hopped on the 2 hour train ride and had the entire day to explore and walk along the water. It was a beautiful day, and we got to go on a gondola ride on the grand canal! We ate lunch at a restaurant overlooking the open body of water as well in the sun and I can't imagine a more beautiful time. The best part of the trip was out last stop for a drink next to the Rialto Bridge before we left to go back to Florence. We were sitting next to the water, and all was beautiful, so when we asked for some bread and the waiter pointed to something on the menu with no price, we were in our happy place and said sure! That sounds great! An entire cheese, olives and meat plate with bread came out, and we knew it was going to be pricey, but whatever! We're in Venice! Yeah, 30 euro that freaking meat plate cost us! Thanks a lot waiter! But it was worth the relaxing view for an hour. As my aunt says, "Oh well! It's just money!". I think that's another phrase we should add that sums up our week. Ha!
Friday I took them to the huge food market so they could experience something local. They loved it, and we all ended up with different food items (lots of dried fruit for me!). We also visited the two main churches of Florence, Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce, where Michelangelo and Galileo are buried. This was also a beautiful sunny day. We were blessed with great weather this week. For our last dinner, we ended with another visit to Dante's, my favorite restaurant, which ended with lots of wine and very happy packing back in the hotel room, haha! It was a great week that flew by, and I miss my mom and aunt already :(
Yesterday I worked out for a bit in the Boboli gardens and then took a nap because my family wore me out big time. Today I ventured to the outskirts of Florence to visit a mall with a place called Media World. I bough a new camera because as you've noticed from the lack of pictures, mine is gone in Assisi somewhere. Hopefully this one will last a lot longer than the last! I had to take the tram for the first time, but luckily I got off at the right stop and didn't get lost. On the tram ride back, a woman photographer was sitting across from me and asked if I had ever been a model, and If I would like to be one of her models! She was very sweet, and gave me her website and information to contact her. We'll see if it ever happens! I could use the extra money!
Ciao!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
My Mom and Aunt have made the trip to Florence!
I know I know, I haven't updated in a week! I have been occupied entertaining my mom and aunt Linda here in Florence and we have had a blast so far. They both arrived at around 1pm on Friday morning but surprise! Their luggage decided to vacation in Paris during their layover. Ha. So they had no luggage for the majority of the day, but luckily it arrived in the evening so it wasn't so bad! I was excited to show them around Florence so first things first, there was no way I was letting them "take a nap" after their travels :) I told them they needed to get on the right sleeping schedule, so we checked into the Davenzanti Hotel and off we went to explore the city! I gave them a quick walking tour of my area, apartment (they weren't happy about the 80 stairs) and across the river, and we grabbed a glass of wine in the Piazza della Signoria to enjoy the scenery.
Luckily by the time our hotel's lovely free happy hour arrived at 6:30, their bags were just making their way to the hotel in time for them to freshen up for dinner at my favorite restaurant, Dante's. We all had amazing pasta dishes with red wine and bread, but after dinner we called it an early night because we had to wake up at 6:30 the next morning for our tour of Tuscany!
First let me start off by saying what a great hotel they are staying at. Free happy hour a night, huge breakfast with cappuccinos, tons of free movies, very nice rooms, free wifi with a computer in the room to use, and a very very helpful staff to make any sort of reservations you need. We have been spoiled. But moving on, Saturday we woke up at the crack of dawn to make our "Best of Tuscany" guided tour trip which includes two wine tastings, 3 towns and a tour of the Brunello winery. It was the best tour I have experienced so far! We had so much fun, the day was packed. There was only about 15 people in our group so it was a great size, and the first town we arrived at was Montepulciano. If you have seen New Moon, or like Twilight at ALL, this is where all of the "Volturi" scene was filmed at the end of New Moon. Yes. I stood where Edward/Rob stood. The Doorway. The elevator. The building. It was so cool! My mom and I were a little excited if you can't tell. They even played the New Moon movie on the bus ride up - ha! But this was definitely not all there was to the town (as excited as I was). It is a beautiful hill town with much to explore, including one of the oldest wineries. Here we also had a wine tasting at a local winery (not the oldest one) where we tasted 3 types of Montepulciano wines with bread and olive oil in a cellar. It was also 10:30 in the morning. Welcome to Italy! We stayed and explored the town for a few hours after and eventually made it back to the bus to head to Pienza. Pienza was smaller than Montepulciano and offered a cheese tasting, which I took no part in. I don't like cheese. And the smell of the great Italian cheeses almost made me sick on the spot, so I have to say I passed on this little tasting, but my mom and aunt enjoyed it!
Edward stood here!!!
After Pienza we were supposed to head straight to the Brunello winery, but since our old yet enthusiastic tour guide Francesco said we had 30 extra minutes, he wanted to take us to his favorite Tuscan church. It was beautiful. We drove for 20 minutes into the Tuscan hills which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, nothing but scenery around, and then there it was! A huge white church in the middle of the countryside. What a bonus! The only downside was it had gotten very cold, almost rainy. But we got to go inside a look around for a bit before heading to the Brunello winery. This is where the fun really began. Brunello wine is prided as the best, or one of the best, in Italy, and most of it is pretty expensive. Lucky for us, the very old owner, Mario, loved our group and all of the blondes, and we earned some special treatment! We began with a tour showing how the wine is made and stored, and what goes into making Brunello wine. Then we were taken down to a room with a long dinning table for our testing. Between wines we had never ending meats, cheeses, bread and oil, and we enjoyed glasses of the three wines we were mean't to taste. But no! Mario loved us all, and at this point everyone had been drinking all day and we were all in a great mood, so he brought us another wine to taste! Enough? No! Free grappa shots for everyone! (Grappa is somewhere around 60% alcohol). The end? NO! Another wine to taste for everyone! At this point, everyone was taking silly pictures and Francesco reminded us that we were about 40 minutes past when we were supposed to head back to Florence, so we should leave this kind family and their winery... but not before they handed out the ordering forms for wine. And it was delicious so we all bought some. What a great day!
The next day I took my mom and aunt around to my favorite cafe, the San Lorenzo leather market and church, and a visit to the exhibition visiting of Dali, Picasso and Miro. We then hit up happy hour at the hotel, and went to dinner at a restaurant recommended by the hotel where Maddy met up with us to eat. The restaurant was not the best and over priced, so we decided to stick with my favorite places from now on. But overall, a very good day!
Today we visited Assisi, which is in the region of Umbria, not Toscana. I had been but they had not, and sadly there was pretty much an arctic wind all day, but we did not let it ruin our day! It actually turned out to be my aunts favorite small town we visited, and if you haven't been there you should visit it sometime! It's beautiful, and the church of St. Francis is still my favorite. We had a great lunch at a cute restaurant and went about visiting churches and ruins without other tourists getting in the way - we were some of the only few there. The whole town along with the surrounding country is breathtaking and fun to explore. I love Assisi, so I'm glad they did too!
Last, when we returned to Florence, we realized my camera had vanished. I am still very upset about this!! I'll have to get another soon. I'm so mad! We have no clue where it could have gone, and I was never irresponsible about my things, so I think it evaporated. Whatever the case, I'm down one camera and will have to go buy a new one. Awweessommee. :(
Luckily by the time our hotel's lovely free happy hour arrived at 6:30, their bags were just making their way to the hotel in time for them to freshen up for dinner at my favorite restaurant, Dante's. We all had amazing pasta dishes with red wine and bread, but after dinner we called it an early night because we had to wake up at 6:30 the next morning for our tour of Tuscany!
First let me start off by saying what a great hotel they are staying at. Free happy hour a night, huge breakfast with cappuccinos, tons of free movies, very nice rooms, free wifi with a computer in the room to use, and a very very helpful staff to make any sort of reservations you need. We have been spoiled. But moving on, Saturday we woke up at the crack of dawn to make our "Best of Tuscany" guided tour trip which includes two wine tastings, 3 towns and a tour of the Brunello winery. It was the best tour I have experienced so far! We had so much fun, the day was packed. There was only about 15 people in our group so it was a great size, and the first town we arrived at was Montepulciano. If you have seen New Moon, or like Twilight at ALL, this is where all of the "Volturi" scene was filmed at the end of New Moon. Yes. I stood where Edward/Rob stood. The Doorway. The elevator. The building. It was so cool! My mom and I were a little excited if you can't tell. They even played the New Moon movie on the bus ride up - ha! But this was definitely not all there was to the town (as excited as I was). It is a beautiful hill town with much to explore, including one of the oldest wineries. Here we also had a wine tasting at a local winery (not the oldest one) where we tasted 3 types of Montepulciano wines with bread and olive oil in a cellar. It was also 10:30 in the morning. Welcome to Italy! We stayed and explored the town for a few hours after and eventually made it back to the bus to head to Pienza. Pienza was smaller than Montepulciano and offered a cheese tasting, which I took no part in. I don't like cheese. And the smell of the great Italian cheeses almost made me sick on the spot, so I have to say I passed on this little tasting, but my mom and aunt enjoyed it!
First wine tasting
New Moon!!
After Pienza we were supposed to head straight to the Brunello winery, but since our old yet enthusiastic tour guide Francesco said we had 30 extra minutes, he wanted to take us to his favorite Tuscan church. It was beautiful. We drove for 20 minutes into the Tuscan hills which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, nothing but scenery around, and then there it was! A huge white church in the middle of the countryside. What a bonus! The only downside was it had gotten very cold, almost rainy. But we got to go inside a look around for a bit before heading to the Brunello winery. This is where the fun really began. Brunello wine is prided as the best, or one of the best, in Italy, and most of it is pretty expensive. Lucky for us, the very old owner, Mario, loved our group and all of the blondes, and we earned some special treatment! We began with a tour showing how the wine is made and stored, and what goes into making Brunello wine. Then we were taken down to a room with a long dinning table for our testing. Between wines we had never ending meats, cheeses, bread and oil, and we enjoyed glasses of the three wines we were mean't to taste. But no! Mario loved us all, and at this point everyone had been drinking all day and we were all in a great mood, so he brought us another wine to taste! Enough? No! Free grappa shots for everyone! (Grappa is somewhere around 60% alcohol). The end? NO! Another wine to taste for everyone! At this point, everyone was taking silly pictures and Francesco reminded us that we were about 40 minutes past when we were supposed to head back to Florence, so we should leave this kind family and their winery... but not before they handed out the ordering forms for wine. And it was delicious so we all bought some. What a great day!
Church in the middle of the country
Brunello tasting!!
The next day I took my mom and aunt around to my favorite cafe, the San Lorenzo leather market and church, and a visit to the exhibition visiting of Dali, Picasso and Miro. We then hit up happy hour at the hotel, and went to dinner at a restaurant recommended by the hotel where Maddy met up with us to eat. The restaurant was not the best and over priced, so we decided to stick with my favorite places from now on. But overall, a very good day!
Mom and I in front of Duomo
Today we visited Assisi, which is in the region of Umbria, not Toscana. I had been but they had not, and sadly there was pretty much an arctic wind all day, but we did not let it ruin our day! It actually turned out to be my aunts favorite small town we visited, and if you haven't been there you should visit it sometime! It's beautiful, and the church of St. Francis is still my favorite. We had a great lunch at a cute restaurant and went about visiting churches and ruins without other tourists getting in the way - we were some of the only few there. The whole town along with the surrounding country is breathtaking and fun to explore. I love Assisi, so I'm glad they did too!
Last, when we returned to Florence, we realized my camera had vanished. I am still very upset about this!! I'll have to get another soon. I'm so mad! We have no clue where it could have gone, and I was never irresponsible about my things, so I think it evaporated. Whatever the case, I'm down one camera and will have to go buy a new one. Awweessommee. :(
Monday, March 14, 2011
Tate and I in Cinque Terre!
Well Tate and I woke up at 4:20 am today to get him to the airport on time - it was an early morning to say the least but he made it on his flight. It was sad saying goodbye again until May, but a little bit easier than the first time because next time I see him it will be summer. But still, a sad early morning.
Our week together was filled with travel and experiences and we loved every minute of it. It felt like I was on some dream vacation all week rather than in school, but it flew by pretty quickly. As I updated before, we saw Bologna and Venice the first weekend! It was a blast, but during the week I had class and we tried to plan around it. Because Tate had been to Florence before we didn't go to the museums he had seen, but explored the city instead. I took him to the San Lorenzo leather market and we spent a few hours shopping and looking on Thurday. He ended up with leather gloves (which he never took off the rest of the trip, literally.) and a leather briefcase for work which he wanted to take everywhere (like a girl with a new purse she never wants to put down, ha!). He even took the briefcase (and gloves) to Cinque Terre, it was really cute :) We also climbed the tower next to the Duomo (420 stairs...) and saw a beautiful view of Florence on a beautifully sunny day. We also ate at Dante's, my favorite "free student wine" restaurant on Tuesday night. It was actually National Women's Day (who knew we had our own day??) and I recieved free flowers and no service charge! Yes! Wednesday night we ate at the American diner here that serves REAL hamburgers, because they don't have American food in Thailand either. So that was a nice change in pace for both of us. Okay okay now on to Cinque Terre...
Friday morning we woke up and caught a 10am train to Monterosso! Monterosso is the first, or Northern most, of the 5 towns of Cinque Terre (literally meaning "five lands") and has direct beach access. We had a room right off the beach and main road there for Friday and Saturday night, and we are SO glad we stayed that long because it would have been too short otherwise! Literally, most the towns are on the cliffs of mountains over the Mediterranean and even when it's still chilly in March it's spectacular. Most people spend multiple days in the Cinque Terre towns because the most popular thing to do is hike between towns on the mountains overlooking the sea. When we first arrived on Friday I was sick and really not feeling well, so we walked down the coast, hunted for our hotel, grabbed some lunch and went back to nap. Luckily I felt somewhat better when I woke up that evening and we ventured out to dinner at a restaurant called Belvedere. It was so good we went there both nights! Also, before I go on, Cinque Terre is know for three things locally: Pesto, white wine, and fresh seafood. Now, I don't like seafood, but Tate does, and I was hesitant to order the white wine because I LOVE red, but oh my goodness. Get the white wine. Just get it. Dad, when we visit, you will suck it up and order white wine because it is the best I have ever had. And the pesto! Wow. Don't worry, I have pictures. And back to the seafood, I obviously ordered pasta dishes without seafood both nights but there is a house dish Belvedere is famous for. It cost 45 euro and is all of the fresh seafood caught from the day cooked in a big earth-clay jar thing that is a foot and a half tall or more and is steaming, and they just dump it all in a huge bowl on your table. I mean whole lobsters, octopus, crab, mussels, fish, everything. Any seafood lover's dream in a bowl. Literally everyone was ordering it, but poor Tate didn't get to because I don't like it :( Sorry Tate!
The next day we ate a big breakfast and headed for the hiking trail to Vernazza, the town after Monterosso that is supposedly a great one to hike to. We climbed this huge rock formation on the beach in the water of Monterosso on our way to the trail, so even though I didn't get to swim, we were close! We headed out on the right track of the trail, but after about an hour we realized the trail was getting pretty hard. I mean, some parts were so slanted you could take one wrong step and fly off the cliff into the sea and rocks below. But we kept going because the view was to die for and we kept seeing other people. There were also places where you had about 6 inches between the side of the mountain and plunging to your death to walk, but we made it :) so then about 2 hours in, we keep seeing people turn back because the trail was impossible (which it was) and so I convince Tate to give up, turn back and take the train. I don't want to die, and we gave it a good solid effort. He gave in, though defeated, and right as we make our back to the start, I notice another path of stairs. No. You have got to be kidding me. Yes. This is the REAL path to Vernazza. Awesome. Lets start all over again! So we excitedly start our new path (because we don't have to give up and take a train) and hike for 2 more hours to Vernazza. The hike was amazing, and a good leg workout! The views were unreal and romantic and we enjoyed the time together. Here it is...
We ate a late lunch in Vernazza, explored the little sea town, and hopped on the quick train back to Monterosso. There was no way we would make the hike back after all that! We ate at Belvedere again in the evening and called it a night :)
The next day it rained, and I was sick again from doing too much the day before, so we walked around in the rain for a while and then got on a train to Corniglia, the third town. There we ate lunch, seriously the best pasta I have had yet, some kind of garlic oil on it, and headed back for Florence. It was a long weekend and we were exhausted. This morning as I said before Tate left very early on his flight back to Bangkok and it was sad :( I miss him again already. I have had to study all day for 2 midterms tomorrow and am about to start studying again. My mom and Aunt come on Friday though so I am already looking forward to spending spring break with them. That's all I have for now! Ciao!
Our week together was filled with travel and experiences and we loved every minute of it. It felt like I was on some dream vacation all week rather than in school, but it flew by pretty quickly. As I updated before, we saw Bologna and Venice the first weekend! It was a blast, but during the week I had class and we tried to plan around it. Because Tate had been to Florence before we didn't go to the museums he had seen, but explored the city instead. I took him to the San Lorenzo leather market and we spent a few hours shopping and looking on Thurday. He ended up with leather gloves (which he never took off the rest of the trip, literally.) and a leather briefcase for work which he wanted to take everywhere (like a girl with a new purse she never wants to put down, ha!). He even took the briefcase (and gloves) to Cinque Terre, it was really cute :) We also climbed the tower next to the Duomo (420 stairs...) and saw a beautiful view of Florence on a beautifully sunny day. We also ate at Dante's, my favorite "free student wine" restaurant on Tuesday night. It was actually National Women's Day (who knew we had our own day??) and I recieved free flowers and no service charge! Yes! Wednesday night we ate at the American diner here that serves REAL hamburgers, because they don't have American food in Thailand either. So that was a nice change in pace for both of us. Okay okay now on to Cinque Terre...
I live here!
Friday morning we woke up and caught a 10am train to Monterosso! Monterosso is the first, or Northern most, of the 5 towns of Cinque Terre (literally meaning "five lands") and has direct beach access. We had a room right off the beach and main road there for Friday and Saturday night, and we are SO glad we stayed that long because it would have been too short otherwise! Literally, most the towns are on the cliffs of mountains over the Mediterranean and even when it's still chilly in March it's spectacular. Most people spend multiple days in the Cinque Terre towns because the most popular thing to do is hike between towns on the mountains overlooking the sea. When we first arrived on Friday I was sick and really not feeling well, so we walked down the coast, hunted for our hotel, grabbed some lunch and went back to nap. Luckily I felt somewhat better when I woke up that evening and we ventured out to dinner at a restaurant called Belvedere. It was so good we went there both nights! Also, before I go on, Cinque Terre is know for three things locally: Pesto, white wine, and fresh seafood. Now, I don't like seafood, but Tate does, and I was hesitant to order the white wine because I LOVE red, but oh my goodness. Get the white wine. Just get it. Dad, when we visit, you will suck it up and order white wine because it is the best I have ever had. And the pesto! Wow. Don't worry, I have pictures. And back to the seafood, I obviously ordered pasta dishes without seafood both nights but there is a house dish Belvedere is famous for. It cost 45 euro and is all of the fresh seafood caught from the day cooked in a big earth-clay jar thing that is a foot and a half tall or more and is steaming, and they just dump it all in a huge bowl on your table. I mean whole lobsters, octopus, crab, mussels, fish, everything. Any seafood lover's dream in a bowl. Literally everyone was ordering it, but poor Tate didn't get to because I don't like it :( Sorry Tate!
On the beach at night!
Monterosso...
The next day we ate a big breakfast and headed for the hiking trail to Vernazza, the town after Monterosso that is supposedly a great one to hike to. We climbed this huge rock formation on the beach in the water of Monterosso on our way to the trail, so even though I didn't get to swim, we were close! We headed out on the right track of the trail, but after about an hour we realized the trail was getting pretty hard. I mean, some parts were so slanted you could take one wrong step and fly off the cliff into the sea and rocks below. But we kept going because the view was to die for and we kept seeing other people. There were also places where you had about 6 inches between the side of the mountain and plunging to your death to walk, but we made it :) so then about 2 hours in, we keep seeing people turn back because the trail was impossible (which it was) and so I convince Tate to give up, turn back and take the train. I don't want to die, and we gave it a good solid effort. He gave in, though defeated, and right as we make our back to the start, I notice another path of stairs. No. You have got to be kidding me. Yes. This is the REAL path to Vernazza. Awesome. Lets start all over again! So we excitedly start our new path (because we don't have to give up and take a train) and hike for 2 more hours to Vernazza. The hike was amazing, and a good leg workout! The views were unreal and romantic and we enjoyed the time together. Here it is...
Monterosso - where we stayed
We ate a late lunch in Vernazza, explored the little sea town, and hopped on the quick train back to Monterosso. There was no way we would make the hike back after all that! We ate at Belvedere again in the evening and called it a night :)
I made friends with this kitty! He loved me so much... I miss him :(
With our Gelato!
The next day it rained, and I was sick again from doing too much the day before, so we walked around in the rain for a while and then got on a train to Corniglia, the third town. There we ate lunch, seriously the best pasta I have had yet, some kind of garlic oil on it, and headed back for Florence. It was a long weekend and we were exhausted. This morning as I said before Tate left very early on his flight back to Bangkok and it was sad :( I miss him again already. I have had to study all day for 2 midterms tomorrow and am about to start studying again. My mom and Aunt come on Friday though so I am already looking forward to spending spring break with them. That's all I have for now! Ciao!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Venice Carnivale and Bologna with Tate!
So I have a lot to tell and a lot of pictures for this post!
Thursday was an extremely long and freezing day for me, but Friday was a relief because I got to hop on a train to Venice for Carnivale and meet Tate there!! I was so excited! Maddy and I woke up early and caught an 8:30am train and arrived at 10:30. We somehow found our way onto a water taxi (our first ride on the water, we loved it!) that took us to a stop near our hostel/apartment (so we thought?) and after about 30 minutes of wandering the tiny confusing streets we arrived at the front door to where we were staying - I'm surprised we found it at all. But it was a cute little apartment with a small courtyard area, kitchen and a bedroom which Maddy, Tate and I all shared (Tate had not arrived yet). After this, Maddy and I were on the hunt for the perfect mask to wear. Carnivale is one huge masquerade festival so about ever single store in the city sells them. Maddy and I shopped around for an hour or two and finally found ours (made in Venice, not china!). We headed out to St. Marco's Square where the majority of the people were at and wandered and enjoyed all of the costumed Venetians and the BEAUTIFUL city on water! Let me just take a minute to explain how beautiful this city is, I am in love! The water, the boats everywhere, the scenery, you just want to sit back and stare for hours on end and enjoy the beauty. And you want to ride on a speed boat like Angelina in The Tourist. Jealous.
Later in the day Tate arrived straight off his plane from Bangkok and I met him at where the water taxi drops you off. I cannot explain how excited we were, it was the best! We were so happy :) It had been so long since I'd seen him. Enjoying Venice with him made the trip perfect. The rest of the night we ate dinner and called it an early night, we were all exhausted, but in the middle of the night I woke up absolutely positive someone was in the other room and I was about to die. This turned into a 30 minute fiasco involving Maddy and then us trying to wake up Tate across the room without making noise because we were terrified. Tate woke up and searched the place and all was fine haha but man I was scared until then!
The next morning we started off the day with a gondola ride! It was a little expensive but come on, we're in Venice, you have to ride in a gondola. And it was SO worth it. We saw parts of the city we never would have seen, and rode under the little bridges... it was beautiful. We also walked around the separate island parts of Venice and saw different cathedrals and piazzas, and took a long walk along the grand canal which felt like a walk along an Italian beach. I love Venice. I'm going back.
This last picture is Maddy and I with a group of Kayakers that went down the Grand Canal, ha! At around 5:00 Tate and I got on our train to Bologna to start an adventure in another city together. Bologna, known for its amazing food and meat sauce (ragu) is also a place where no one speaks English and no tourists are found (as we discovered immediately). I can say we attempted to find our hotel at 7pm from the train station, but we pretty much wandered in a circle and made friends with an Spanish guy from Spain who we tried speaking Spanish to to find our hotel, but in the end we took a cab and it cost us 5 euro. It was close haha and so nice! The staff was very friendly and helpful and it was very cheap to stay in. And it had a huge breakfast! But Tate and I stayed in Bologna Saturday and Sunday night and had a leisurely time wandering and exploring the city. One of the sites we visited were these two towers, one is tilted like the leaning tower of Pisa, and the other is extremely high - 500 steps to be exact - but we climbed to the very top and it was well worth the effort! The view of the city was perfect and peaceful and seeing the tower inside was cool in itself. There were some very steep steps, more like ladders than steps, and some tilted steps as well... it was just old to say the least, and I would do the climb again in a heartbeat!
So steep!
There was also Bologna's own little Carnivale going on in the main square with some interesting floats and tons of kids... imagine every Disney song playing over loud speakers but sung by children in Italian, haha. Interesting... and a little creepy. We ate at two very good restaurants while we were there as well, and it was sooo good and pretty inexpensive which was nice. I had pasta with meat sauce the first night (tagliatelli al ragu I think it was called) and lasagne verdi alla bolognese (green lasagna noodles with meat sauce) the second day. Yum! We also gained a very useful skill in Bologna - (free) city bus hopping. You just wait for the bus, jump on through the back doors when it stops, ride in the back, then get off at your stop, and whala! It's free! It's like we were never there... well, it's technically supposed to cost like one euro to ride the bus but psh, I'm not made of money, and no one really cares. So we bus hop :) Overall, we had a very fun time spending time together and exploring.
Now we are back in Firenze (and going to class...) but I am excited to show him my favorite spots around the city. This weekend we are going to go visit Cinque Terre (5 cities bundled together on the coast over looking the water!) so it should be a fun week! Ciao for now!
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