ciao bella!

Hello again! It's Guy Fawkes Day right now, and I just got back from watching fireworks on the Chelsea Bridge! :D SO PRETTY! And it was extra cool, since we got to see the fireworks right on the Thames! People were blowing up fireworks right on the banks of the river, shooting them right on the bridge, which made us all scream-y and jumpy! YIKES! We didn't get to see any bonfires or burning effigies, since we got back from Stratford so late :( Anyways more on this later... I'm so behind in my blogging! :/

So back to Italia... now we're on Day 4: Firenze!

• Galleria dell'Accademia- We got to see Michelangelo's David, which was HUGE and soooo beautiful. He is the perfect man <3_<3. style="text-decoration: underline;">.
• Coolest hostel ever- so if you're ever in going to stay in Firenze, the Emerald Fields hostel is amazing. They have free internet use, play jazz music 24/7, and have lots of AWESOME people staying there. It's mostly Americans, which sucks, but it was still fun. Marco is the best guide ever! We shared a room with Carlos, this guy from Colombia, who had been traveling for the past month. He was so charming and had the cutest smile! He had more clothes than me though lol. This other girl (forget her name now) and I totally bonded over David Sedaris books! She was reading Naked- imagine finding that in Italy, in ENGLISH!?
• Galleria delgi Uffizi- Like the Louvre of Italy for me at least. It took like 3 hours (not kidding) to get in! The set of the museum was pretty bad, but there were still some good exhibits. The Boticelli was great- more enjoyable than the Mona Lisa. One of the coolest parts was going out onto the terrace right before sunset and the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit! He was a genius.
• Kebab- the BEST food while you're traveling. It's warm, cheap, and is stuffed with meat! :9 I'm sad I won't be eating much of this back in the states. We went to the same place both nights in Firenze... the guy was so nice to us!

Day 5:

• Duomo- So after Mr. Cooper's classs in 7th grade about the Duomo, this was on my MUST-SEE list for Europe. It was one of the postcard moments again :) We got to climb to the top (435 steps baby!) and looked at the ceiling painted by Donatello (I think). The views were amazing- all of the roofs in Firenze seem to be terra cotta orange, and I love how all the houses are painted with warm colors. OH, Tuscany how I love thee!

The AMAZING ceiling!

• Ponte Vecchio- Postcard moment again! The bridge is full of jewelry shops (and tourists). There were people rowing boats on the Arno, which was really cute. The gelato fell off my cone! (saddest moment of the trip :( :( )

Minutes before the tragedy
View of the Arno :)

• Piazza de Michelangelo- Hiked up to this mountain for great views of Florence. We saw the sunset over the city, but it was cloudy. There were replicas of David everywhere lol.

Ahh, be still my heart!
Great Wall of China?

Wandering- The piazzas are so CUTE! They really feel Italian (how stupid does that sound), since there's music all the time and merry-go-rounds too. We saw a leather market and a bunch of little markets!! I had pizza for the first time too!Really groovy music
New fashion trend? Hairy purses (I saw LOTS of these in Italy!)
Market shopping/bargain hunting's always fun!
Italian police do it best... on segways baby!
No hot Italian man, but I snuck a ride on one anyways :)

Day 6: Venezia!

• Arriving/Vaporettos- We crossed the bridge onto the the island, which was being transported into another planet. Seriously, Venice is like another planet, where else are the streets water?!? We took the water bus on the Grand Canal, which was pretty cool and exciting. Like a tour boat for us giddy girls!
• Piazza San Marco- AT HIGH TIDE! To get the real Venice experience, we rolled up our jeans and waded in the sea to see the piazza. Otherwise, you'd have to walk on these boards, single file with the GROWN-UPS! LOL... you're only young once, and it was quite fabulous. We got to sit in these chairs in the piazza and listen to a string quartet! It was SO SUNNY and beautiful... the weather report said it was going to rain! :D Basilica di San Marco is so beautiful; I think it's my favorite big church in Italy.
  

It's waterworld!
The British lady who took this for us said it was "SO FAB!"

• Wandering- Crossed the Rialto, which was right near our hostel! Funny story: When we got to the train station, we had to call the hostel so someone would greet us. When we got to the actual place, the maid was there and she gave us the phone. It was the guy who I called at the train station! He gave us instructions to come back at 2. Never got to meet the guy... such a Charlie's Angel's moment!!! Also, more outdoor markets! I picked up some more presents, which was fun. We also looked at this cool art gallery, where the artist makes sculptures out of WOOD, glass, and metal. So cool! But basically, we wandered and got lost around the Venetian streets.
  

The coconut pieces that were everywhere in Italy... we finally bought some, but they weren't that good!

View from the hostel room!

Day 7: Milano!

• Cathedral Duomo- Another pretty church. The outside would have been gorgeous, if not for the construction. OH, there's LOTS of construction everywhere throughout Italy. It makes me a little sad to see scaffolding around all these famous places. :(

• Window shopping- Walked around all the fancy Italian designers: D&G, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, Versace, Gucci, etc. Ahhh it was such a dream. A lot of Asian tourists I saw had fancy bags from these places though! O_O
  

My favorite: Moschino!

• SUPERMODELS!!!! So Shelley's goal was to see a supermodel in Milan, and WE DID. Well, we saw one model on the street (her legs went for miles and she dressed the part). And we saw Elizabeth Hurley in one of the department stores! It was really crowded on the second floor, and there was parazzi everywhere. (Signal: someone famous!) I recognized her first- she's so pretty! Very supermodel-y.
  

Fabulous.

• Wandering- We did a little more wandering and saw this old fortress (can't remember the name right now) and this shopping galleria. The roofs are made of glass and go up so high! It's like one of those fancy shopping arcades in London, but an extreme version! There's also a McCafe inside, which is like the Starbucks of McDonalds inside. We tried to go back to this store called Carpisa, which had really cheap bags. But after checking them around for the second time, they weren't that great. I've been looking for a bag since Paris, and it's SO hard to find! Shelley says it's harder to find than a guy. (true) I won't give into the Longchamp trend though!The gates to the fortress
  

So it's getting pretty late, and I still have the South of France to cover. I think I'll save that for the next entry... it was one of my favorite parts of the trip, partly since it was so relaxing after rushing around for so many days. :) See you later folks! and Happy Guy Fawkes Day again! ^_^