Veiw from Fiesole

Pisa, Fiesole, Firenze and Brie!

Last weekend Brie came in from London to visit us Florence people! Friday we took a bus into Pisa to pick her up. Since we were going to Pisa we figured that we needed to see the Leaning Tower. Friday wasn't the nicest of days, it was rainy and windy so it was not fun walking around. Our bus dropped us off at Pisa airport and we pretty much hiked to the Leaning Tower which was very far from the airport. We didn't really know how to get to the Tower so we would just ask and they would point us in the general direction because no one in Italy gives you all of the directions to get to a certain place. We stopped at one corner to read a sign and some really nice Italian man who was driving by in his car yelled out the window and told us where we needed to go. He basically stopped traffic to give us directions, it was so nice. I still don't know how he knew where we were going haha. Anyway, we walked a while and finally came up upon the Leaning Tower!Other than the Leaning Tower, there is much in Pisa. So we got to the Tower took our pictures with the tower and rushed back to the airport to get brie...after we got a kebab of course. We had a minor panic attacked when Brie's flight came in later than we expected, but we were all happy when we saw her come out! Later that night we went to ZaZa's which is a really good resturant down the street from my house and had an amazing dinner. And of course we got gelato after! Saturday, we took brie to the market to get all of our ingredients to make our dinner that night. After an afternoon of shopping and touring florence we came back to my place to make a gnocchi dinner from scratch! ( it's easier to just cook the premade ones, but it was fun making the dinner together. My roommates also joined in on the meal. The gnocchi was a bit lumpy because the potatoes didn't mash all the way, but it was still good. We also made eggplant parm and some other pasta and tiramasu for desert! It was also Anna's birthday celebration night! On sunday we made a trip to Fiesole which is just outside the city and it has some great veiws of florence. The weather was so nice on the ride up there but quickly changed to windy and rainy, but we got to see the city and it was so nice!

Monday I pretty much spent the day with Brie wandering Florence. We were planning on going to see The David, but the lady said that "The David happens tomorrow", so after we finished laughing about that we decided to go climb the Duomo. The Duomo is the big cathedral here in Florence. It was a hike to get to the top of the Duomo, but once we got up there it was so worth it. Plus it was the first time I have been really hot in Florence, but thats only cause I felt like I got a work out haha. On top of the dome you can see all of Florence, it was awesome. After the Duomo Brie got a chance to taste some italian hot chocolate and experience appertivo's along with gelato...again. Brie had to leave this morning but we will see her again soon!!

sunset in venice
Burano

Glass Horse

Crowded San Marco Square

Flooded San Marco Square

You can see the crowds from the boat!

Venice!

So this weekend I went to Venice, which is one of four API trips that we have this semester. First off I would just like to say that Venice is not what I had expected. I thought it would be nice, but it turned out to be amazing. We had to get up super early on Saturday morning to take a bus to Venice. We got to Venice around 10 in the morning and immediately got on a boat to take us over to the city. The boat ride itself was nice. So many old building and churches to look at as we sailed over. We went to Venice for their Carnivale. I don't think I was quite prepared for this Carnivale before I got there. You could see the massive amounts of people in San Marco square before we even pulled up to the dock. Once we got off the boat we were broken up into smaller groups and we were lead by a tour guide through the city. We pretty much had to fight our way through the crowds and it was really hard at times to follow our tour guide. She had this long stick with a blue flag on the end of it and that was the only way we could spot her in the crowds. We went through San Marco square, which at the time was flooded becuase it was high tide at that time. People had plastic bags tied around their feet so that they could walk through the water. Our tour guide took us down many side streets, most of which were crowded, but not all. I feel like at the end of every street we would just end up at some small square, but I had no idea where I was half the time I was there. During the tour we got to see a ton of gondolas, boats, and crazy costumes. For the Carnivale everyone dresses up in crazy, elaborate costumes. Some of which are the traditional costumes and masks, but others are just random. We saw people in animal costumes, guys dressed as girls, scary costumes, etc. Basically it was like their Halloween. It was really funny. And of course being there I had to buy a mask to fit in haha. Once our tour was done our tour guide left us in some square in the middle of the city, so that was fun trying to get back through the crowds. Although I didn't care becuase I had just eaten a plate of fried seafood and had a glass of champagne so I was good. We had to leave the city by 4 to go check into our hotel, which was a 4 star hotel. Very nice. After we showered and got some rest we went back into the city on the train and really got a taste of Carnivale. That night I went to dinner with two of my housemates at some small italian resturant in the city. I think we stayed there for about 2 and a half hours and we racked up quite a bill, but it was worth it. Once we got some energy we went out to explore again. There were so many lights, so much music, and so many people. Everyone was having so much fun. We were basically walking through the streets of Venice singing for hours. We some how made it through the crowds and confetti and got back to San Marco square where they had almost like a concert set up. We weren't there long before we decided that we should probably make our way back to the train becuase we needed to catch the 1230 bus back to the hotel. We gave ourselves about an hour to get to the train and we used every second of it. Venice is really just one big floating maze. We got so lost and I don't even think that the people that live there really know there way around. We kept asking people how to get to the train and the would just laugh and say "you are going by foot?" That's how we knew we were no where near the train station. So we went in the complete opposite direction and walked and kept asking people and we felt much more confident in our direction when people didn't laugh at us when we asked. I think we walked through the whole city in that hour and I have never been so happy to see a train station in my life. It was about 1215 and we got to the train station, ran in, struggled with the ticket machines, but were able to get our tickets and we sprinted to the train. I have no idea how we even made it back to that train, but it was a lot of fun getting there haha. The next morning we went to explore some of the other islands. First we went to Murano, which is famous for their glass making. We go to see them blow glass and the man made a horse out of the hot glass in about 30 seconds. Apparently it took him 20 years to master that and he has been working with glass for 40 years. After we saw the glass show we had a chance to go walk around in the store and look at all the glass, it was so nice. The next stop on the trip was Burano. I have never seen so many colored houses in one area before. It looked like a fake town from a movie or something. Burano was much less crowded and it was nice to just walk around at a nice pace. It was definately what you think of when you think of a small italian village. Overall I would say the two days we spent in Venice felt like a week. We saw so much in such a short period of time and I love it all. I just wish that Venice was an easier place to get around, but in the end that was half the fun!

Switzerland!

We left Florence Thursday night (2/4) and traveled about 7 hours on a bus to Interlaken. Three movies later we arrived in Switzerland at the Funny Farm Hotel (which is called something completely different there). We were able to get a few hours sleep that night, but we wanted to wake up early so that we could go visit Bern. The Hostel that we were staying at provided a free breakfast, which was basically just bread, water, and coffee. This was enough to fill me up...atleast until lunch. We took the train from Interlaken Ost to Bern. There weren't too many people out and about in Interlaken when we went to the train, very different from Florence. The train ride to bern was just under an hour and the scenery was amazing. If it wasn't for some clouds it would have been a beautiful day. The mountains surrounded us and the water was the bluest water I have ever seen, it was unreal. A little side note, the train station at Bern was like a small city. As soon as we entered Bern the snow began and pretty much continued the whole day. In Bern was popped in and out of many shops, one of which was this great chocolate shop. I wanted to buy everything in there, but nothing is cheap in switzerland. That afternoon we trekked over the bridge to go to the Einstein Museum and the Bern Historical Museum (we figured that it would be a good idea to get some of the cultural aspect while we were there). The museum was nice; we spent a good amount of time there. I ended up stopping at a McDonald's for some food because I was starving and thought that would be cheap...that was not the case. But what are you going to do. That night we just hung out in the lounge in the hostel. Saturday was the big ski day! We got up a 7 and we were at the rental place by 730ish. It took us about 2 and a half hours to rent stuff and get up to the mountain. The views going up on the train were unbelievable, but the veiws from the top were 10 times better. The train stopped at Kleine Scheidegg which was at the top of this side of the mountain. There were several different mountains. We didn't stray too far from this area because the maps were a little confusing and there were no real trail markings. Everything was just so wide open, not a lot of trees at all. My favorite trail was at the top. it was very long, but it was all powder which made it so much fun to ski in. By this time the sun was beginning to set and I had to take some pictures while I was at the top. When you are at the top you realize that you are in one giant snow bowl. I could have sat up there for hours. Instead of taking the train back down, we decided to take trail 22 down which is about a 30-40 mins trail that takes you all the way to the bottom. The trail was almost unreal. The sun was setting here and there were so many great sites, but I didn't want to stop to take pictures because I figured that it wouldn't be good to be stuck on the Alps after dark. After another short train ride, a trip to the rental shop, and a short walk, we were back at the hostel. WE went to a place called happy Endings (I think), for dinner. It was a nice little Swiss pub/ resturant. Sunday was spent walking around Interlaken, however, there is much open on Sunday except for the tourist shops (which of course we went to). We left Interlaken around 4 and got back to Florence around midnight. Overall I would say this was a great first trip and I definitely need to go back in the future to ski again! The Swiss people were very nice; we didn't run into one mean person the whole time we were there. The other thing that I thought was funny was that they always stopped for you if you wanted to cross the street. This doesn't happen that often in Florence hahaha. if all my trips are like this I will have a great semester! **fingers crossed**