Falling behind...

Well we are in Prague... and the last blog post I gave you was... Rome/Cortona. The places we've been in between:

• Florence
• Cinque Terre
• Verona
• Venice
• Vienna

Now do you REALLY want me to try to catch up on that?!? I could give you a quick overview, but that's what I did on the last post about Rome/Cortona! And I'm starting to get too lazy to add pictures, but the posts really are much nicer when there are pictures. Oh my. I've been pretty good at keeping pictures up to date (somewhat) on Facebook, but to sit down and write about everything seems like so much work. On the contrast, I've been journalling regularly...

Okay fine. A quick overview. Just because I like to share our adventures. I'll even post a picture of each :)

• Florence - The whole renting a car bit was a good idea until we reached Florence. Then it proved to be a pain. We were so happy to be rid of the crazy thing. Highlight of Florence - shopping way more than we should have. Mom bought a leather jacket, we both bought shoes, presents, etc.
• Cinque Terre - Round two for me. Equally as stunning the second time around. We lucked out with a gorgeous day, and basked in the sunshine as much as possible. One thing I noticed is that as we are much closer to tourist season, a lot more shops have opened up. Despite this, we went to the same restaurant that I had gone to the last time, and ate the same dish that I ate the last time - penne with crab flesh! Amazing and delish! Finished off the day wading in the Mediterranean Sea in Monterosso.
• Verona - Finally a new city for me. Not that I don't enjoy all parts of Italy, but it was nice to have a chance to explore somewhere new. Here we saw the Verona Arena, Juliet's House and Balcony, and the Castle Bridge. Beautiful, beautiful city. Ate out in a cute, classy little restaurant tucked away in a side street called "La Groccia".
• Venice - Last stop in Italy! Turns out our hostel was a much longer walk away from the train station than we anticipated, and we were exhausted by the time we arrived. Not so much fun to walk with those big packs after all the shopping we did in Florence! Venice was as charming as always, but it was nice to see it slightly quieter than it was during Carnevale. Here we took the water bus to tour the grand canal, and saw NB (A friend and Cortona Alumni) relaxing on the side of the canal! Small world! We also started getting creative with our less-expensive meals, and bought all kinds of ingredients for a salad. Lettuce, peppers, zucchini, ham, mozzarella cheese, and a mediterranean dressing... very yummy!
• Vienna - Pictures aren't up from this one yet, so you won't get a preview on here. Sorry! To get to Vienna we had to take a three hour intercity bus from Venice to Villach - right across the border into Austria. We got to sit at the very front on the upper level of a double decker bus! Cool!! After the bus ride it was another 5 hours by train to Vienna. Long, long day of travel. The first full day in Vienna we bought concert tickets to a show in the hall where Mozart performed at the young age of six. It was an incredible concert - Mom said she almost teared up it was so beautiful. There were three violinists, one cellist, one pianist, one opera singer, and two ballerina's. So worth it. We also toured the State Opera House, which was really cool as well. Afterwards we went out to eat a typical Austrian meal at a restaurant recommended to us by the receptionist at the hostel. It was a small, intimate setting with live music and amazing food at reasonable prices. Perfect way to end a perfect evening. Day two in Vienna - we toured the Schoenbrunn Palace and Gardens. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about some of the history of the Hofburg Dynasty. And palaces are just plain cool. Afterwards we toured the MozartHaus - one of the apartments where Mozart lived during his stay in Vienna. Also the apartment he was living in when he wrote "The Marriage of Figaro". Not as cool as I'd expected, but still fun to visit. In the evening we bought standing room tickets for the Opera "Elektra". Standing room is exactly that... standing... for the entire performance. And we were silly enough to wear dress shoes. Silly girls. Regardless, it was a worthwhile experience.

Now lets all cross our fingers that it doesn't take me so long to post about Prague. Which, by the way, we've fallen in love with already. It is beautiful!!

Long Weekend in Florence

Thursday was a national holiday, and we never have class on Fridays... so that meant a very long weekend here in Cortona. I'd say about eighty percent of the students here decided to head up to Florence for the weekend, and we all ended up staying in the same hostel again! I guess we just can't get enough of each other. We took the train Thursday afternoon - it is approximately a 1 1/2 hour train ride, and headed out to wander the streets once we arrived. Florence is filled with awesome locations to shop, so that was the primary mission for most people this weekend. I bought a toque, although I don't have any pictures of it... yet... to put on here.

Friday was mostly spent shopping in the market and in all the leather shops. If you want a leather jacket while in Italy, Florence is the place to look. The selection is outstanding, and usually you can get a pretty good deal for what you want. I'd say it was a successful day.... I bought a leather purse, a leather jacket, some jewelry, and a scarf. I had wanted a purse that was big enough to fit my camera along with my wallet etc, so that I didn't need to carry my camera bag every time I went out. The key point of all the selection, is that you wait for the PERFECT item before you buy. A picture of one of my purchases below....

Friday evening we went to the Duomo, which is the religious heart of Florence. I had seen the outside on the last trip, and it is gorgeous, but this time I wanted to go inside. Pretty typical cathedral, but the inside of the dome was incredible. Afterwards we walked over to Ponte Vecchio, took some pictures and bought some gelato. I don't think I'll ever get sick of gelato.

The duomo at night

Ponte Vecchio

Mmmmm Gelato

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and hiked up to the top of the Duomo. Steep spiralling staircases, and minimal headroom (good thing I'm tiny)... and so worth it. Left us out of breath, from climb AND the view.

After the duomo we grabbed breakfast and took a train to Pisa. We spent a few hours taking silly (and classical tourist) pictures. Once we had our fill we decided to take a different route back to the train station. And got lost. Of course. BUT! Getting lost did result in our discovery of a charming park inside an old stone fortress. Sometimes getting lost is worth it.

Sunday was check out day, so after we packed our bags we decided to do a little bit of last minute shopping. Breakfast was.... wait for it.... WAFFLES topped with GELATO. Be jealous. It really doesn't get better than that. Unfortunately the shopping excursion was not fruitful for me, as I am still on the hunt for the perfect pair of leather boots. Oh well, I am sure there will be more trips to Florence in the future.

Lemon Trees (Florence)

This city seems more relaxed than Rome was. Probably because we didn't know as much history about the landmarks here as we did in Rome. When we figured out the train system, and found our way to our hostel, we discovered the most wonderful place to rest our head. Especially in comparison to the last place we stayed, this hostel seems more like a hotel (except for its extrodinarily low price) and I know that I'm clean after showering. There is even a pool and sauna!! I noticed on facebook that many Devonians are still complaining about the weather...with mornings at -5, and the possibility of snow. I just figured I should let you know that the temperature here is about 26 degrees...and that isn't nearly as hot as it could be. We still see people in sweaters and pants!

So most days we've simply wandered around, found what we found, saw what we saw. The highlight of this city? Gelato. Tons and tons of gelato. There are NO WORDS to describe my intense love for gelato. I don't know if I will ever be able to eat ice cream again! Winning combinations include hazelnut & strawberry, and pineapple & coconut (pina colada!)

Our second day started off with an all you can eat buffet for breakfast - a huge step up from the croissant and juice we received at the last hostel. Then we met in the common room for a Open Market Tour. This tour included a wine & cheese tasting portion - the part that caught our eyes. I feel so cultured!!! I would love to find a wine that I actually enjoy - that way I could order a glass of wine with dinner instead of the oh-so-boring Coca-Cola. Yes, Coca-Cola in Europe. We also see McDonalds everywhere - but thats a different story. And it would be so cool to be able to bring home an Italian bottle of wine - or maybe one from France.

Still working on finding a pair of Italian shoes. So far, everytime I find a pair I fall in love with, they don't have my size. I've noticed that even in Canada. I am the smallest size that an adult shoe store will carry... and sometimes they don't even carry my size! Not everyone is 5'6" so would they PLEASE make more shoes in my size?

Later we went to the Accademia Gallery and saw the original David by Michaelangelo. We were blown away by the detailing! His hands and feet looked real, with knuckles and toenails! Also, his arm was flexed and you could see the veins! Incredible! He was also very naked...but we won't go there. :) Later we walked up the other side of the river to Michaelangelo's Piazza, where we got a panoramic view of Florence. Breathtaking! This city is so beautiful! It is situated in a valley, so it is competely surrounded by the greenest trees and bushes I have ever seen. On the way back down we found a quaint little rose garden. We found our artsy side and took some pretty flower pictures. Also in this rose garden, were lemon trees. I didn't know what lemon trees looked like - but now I do - and they are cool! I wish they had been ripe so that I could pick one off its branches. We wandered our way back to the train station where we boarded a bus for a nearby hillside town for supper. Another gorgeous view, and some fabulous pasta.

We finished each day off with a swim in the very cold pool -we're estimating about 25 degrees - and a warm up in the sauna. (So the pool felt good after sweating bullets in the sauna!)

Niki is my hero at the moment, as she managed to fix the comments feed on my blog. So feel free to comment on anything and everything...even the posts from way back! I'm going to try and post a bunch of pics from each city on facebook in the next few days, so check that out as well!