Ciao, Bella!

So here's Italy. I just want to say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Italy. I am pretty sure it is my favorite country that I have visited on this trip. So beautiful, so much to see, so stylish, and the food is to die for.

SUNDAY, MARCH 16:
Palm Sunday! Travel to Venice.

MONDAY, MARCH 17:
VENICE--  From my diary: "Happy St. Patrick's Day! I am on a train now from Venice to Florence. Venice was absolutely wonderful. We had a few minor setbacks, but they ended up adding to the excitement. Our plane left Prague at 10:30 and we got to the airport before 8. They weren't even letting people check in yet, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I requested a window seat and for some reason got split up from the group and got a seat in the back of the plane in the middle of a group of Italian high school boys. I sat next to a bou named Mirko who spoke some English. He taught me some words in Italian. It's similar to Spanish sometimes.
"When we arrived in Venice, we were quick to notice all of the water. You could see it from the plane. We also flew over a mountain topped with snow. It was a great view. Our plane was supposed to make a stop in Treviso, but weather conditions were unsafe for landing, so we flew on into Venice. This was convenient for us, though, and saved us from a long bus ride. The airline lost our luggage. how you misplace an entire plane's luggage, I don't know, but it meant sitting by the conveyor belt for about an hour. Oh yeah-- we got off the plane about an hour later than we had anticipated. The Italians have no concept of time in transportation. We were all just laughing through it all, so it wasn't that bad. We commented on how this would never happen in the States without someone throwing a fit, but in due time, we heard some nice yelling in Italian. We were finally reunited with our bags, and we caught buses into town. Grace, Hayley, and I were on the first bus, and when we got off we roamed around looking for the train station. We bought our tickets to Florence. The streets in Venice are basically a connection of alleys and squares. There are no cars; the main passageways are canals.
Our room (mine and Grace's, that is) was AMAZING. We felt like princesses. Everything was a gorgeous ivory and it was so luxurious. We unpacked and when to the square to catch a gondola ride. The man driving our baot was nice but had some trouble with English. He was funny. We saw the smaller canals as well as part of the Grand Canal. We went down one canal where a scene of The Italian Job was filmed. Our gondola's name was 'Federico.' After the ride we went to the Piazza de San Marco to see the basilica and clock tower. On our way to dinner we passed Georgio Armani, Versace, and Dolce and Gabbana. Nice. Venice is so romantic. I believe it is more romantic than Paris. At dinner, my food came to the table long before anyone else's. In most places in Europe, they bring food out as it is ready rather than bringing the whole table's at the same time." 

FLORENCE--  From my diary: "What a day! I pity the people who have not been born yet who did not get to experience this day! Our train ride was nice, aside from some girls talking really loudly in Spanish. We found our hotel, the Bellevue House, and met the innkeeper, Antonio. He is so incredibly friendly, and I kind of feel as if we are staying with a friend in Florence. He gave us a map and showed us some places to check out. We went to the San Lorenzo markets for shopping. I bought some souvenirs. We had sandwicheds on the steps of a church. It was fun bargaining with the owners of the shops. We took a nap in the hotel before going out for gelato! [We had gelato at least once a day while in Italy!] I got tiramasu and walnut flavored. Way better than regular ice cream. We found a coffee shop as well and got iced coffees to go. No kidding-- it was like a shot glass of coffee. Completely tiny. It looked like and espresso, but was supposed to be a full-sized coffee. One more adventure!"

TUESDAY, MARCH 18:
FLORENCE-- From my diary: "Today we got up and went to the Uffizi gallery. Grace already had a reservation, but Hayley and I had to wait in line-- a very LONG line. We waited for two and a half hours standing outside in the cold to spend 20 minutes in the gallery. We saw some famous paintings, though, including Boticelli's Birth of Venus. After the Uffizi we had lunch (pasta) in a cafe. We went to a coffee shop before going to the Accademia. I accidently ordered a coffee with liquor because I didn't understand the menu, but the lady corrected my mistake in time and I changed my order to a simple 'Americano.' It was very good and I had two cups. We went to the gallery and saw David. He was amazing. He was so big and detailed! I think it's the coolest piece of art we have see thus far. We went back to the markets and I bought a pair of leather sandals. Florence is famous for its leather. We are back at the hotel now and are getting ready to go out for gelato... again!"

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19:
PISA-- From my diary: "I am now on a train from Pisa to Rome. We got up before dawn this morning so we could visit Pisa. We took a leisurely walk through the town from the train station to the Field of Miracles. We saw the Leaning Tower, made some silly, cliche pictures, saw the Duomo (Cathedral), and had coffee before catching this train. Now we're off to Roma!"

ROME-- From my diary: "When we arrived in Rome we dropped off our bags at the E&S House (our hostel) and got some gelato. We caught a bus to the Colosseum and went inside. IT was so massive! I was reminded of all the terrible things that happened there but was also really impressed that the building had lasted so long. We saw Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, Trajan's Forum and Column, Capitol Hill, and the Pantheon. For dinner we went to a place called Miscellanea. Our waiter was from LA, but my salami and mozzerella pizza was very Italian."

THURSDAY, MARCH 20:
VATICAN CITY-- From my diary: "I am sitting in the Sistene Chapel as I write. We arrived in the Vatican around nine this morning, and after waiting in a line for two hours, we were granted entrance into the museum. There are many rooms here full of religious art. We walked through the different galleries and the Hall of Constantine to get to the Sistene Chapel. I am sitting here now on a bench, admiring the beautiful Michaelangelo ceiling and waiting on the rest of my group. (I must have been so excited to see the chapel that I rushed through the other rooms!) The guards are very tough. They keep shouting, 'Silencio!' and 'Shhh!' and they even escorted a woman out for taking a picture! The painting in the chapel is quite a sight! I am having difficulty determining what is actual architecture and what is merely part of the painting. It kind of gives me a headache. The center is the famous image of Adam and God reaching out to each other with their fingers almost touching. There is so much detail; I bet Michaelangelo got tired of painting so many muscles!"

FRIDAY, MARCH 21:
ROME-- From my diary: "I am on my plane from Rome to London now. It has been a great break, and I have gotten to see so much, but I am anxious to get back into London and quit being such a tourist. Today we went to Palatine Hill and walked around the Roman Forum. I can only imagine what the city looked like in all its splendor and glory; the ruins are spectacular on their own! We had lunch at a great family-owned restaurant near the Pantheon. I ordered spaghetti and Grace got the ravioli, and we shared with each other. It was such a good meal, and something about spaghetti in Italy just seemed right!"

Now it is 6:38 AM. I have had an impressive ONE hour of sleep tonight. I am going to meet Mom and Grandmother at the Victoria Station in about two hours and I am so excited to see them! I hope they were able to sleep on the flight, but I am sure we will take it easy today since we are all going to be running on little sleep!