The Weekend of Venice, Florence, and Pisa

This post has the possibility to be very long. I never know how long it will be, but so much happened I feel it's only right to warn all of you potential readers. Once again, good luck.

This weekend I visited Venice, Florence, and Pisa. That's a lot for one weekend, yes, but definitely worth it! I planned a trip out, on our own, for me, my roommates, and matt and brad. I had accidentally booked two extra beds so my friend AnneGray and her roommate joined too. They only went to Venice though. It turned out that everyone had the same idea about this weekend so about 20 John Cabot students ended up going too. In their own groups but it was fun to see them everywhere. Thursday night I went with AnneGray to see Harry Potter. That has nothing to do with the story, I was just excited to see a movie in English. Anyway. We left Friday morning at 6:50. It was much easier to get around the train station this time since we had some practice with Cinque Terre. My roommates bought their tickets that morning and had standing room only seats. So not only did we end up being separated but they sat in the club car for most of it. Trains themselves will have to be a blog on their own. It's a whole other experience. I keep getting off the subject, I'll try to focus more.

Okay so we got to Venice around 12:30 I think. We were all pretty tired and it was SO hot so we decided to go to our hostel first. Alright, when I booked this hostel it didn't say a specific location. We found out at the bus station we had to take a bus about 20 minutes out of Venice though. THAT was a little rough hahahaha. Luckily though the hostel was BEAUTIFUL! I can't even begin to describe. It's a bed and breakfast so that might help with some of the mental image. It had a gate that did that 'open sesame' thing which was a little creepy. Basically though it was a huge garden. It had ivy, fountains, a small bridge, flowers everywhere. The hostels were so clean and modern. Other than the location it really was awesome. Hahaha, my roommates thought we would for sure be murdered there because of the gate hahaha, but we're still alive so the gate is okay. We changed and rode the bus back into Venice. I can't describe Venice, or any of this trip really, in a way it deserves to be described. It has it's own feel and look. Just like the pictures but when you're there it feels so much different. Aside from the heat it was truely beautiful and so romantic. We got a big lunch at this cute restaurant where the waiter kept yelling at us for different reasons which was so funny. Then we all kind of split up to do our own thing. It was a pretty big group and it's easier in small groups.

The girls at the hostel

AnneGray and I went shopping for a while and ended up in San Marco Square. That was one of those surreal places that I keep talking about. It's the famous square in Venice where (if any of you have seen it) The Italian Job starts out. There are pigeons EVERYWHERE and people play with them like they are puppies. I still don't quite get that hahaha but it was fun to watch. AnneGray and I got a water and people watched for a long time. Little kids chasing pigeons, dancers, musicians. It was just. Awesome. 

San Marco's Square....amazing.

We got up to head to the train station to meet the group but ended up back at San Marco Square. I have no idea how. Venice is so far the most confusing place to get around in. We called the rest of the group to have them meet there because that's where the Gondolas were anyway. Because of how confusing Venice is we waited about 2 hours. Again, we didn't mind, people watching is fantastic. Unfortunately, by the time they got there it started POURING rain. Like huge hail and wind and craziness. We all sat and watched for a while. Then we made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe and got dinner. It's been a while since we've had more than just pasta so that was nice. We never did end up getting to ride a gondola, but it was okay. The storm was pretty amazing itself. After that we met Justyna to go home and she bought me a birthday drink hahaha. We went back to the hostels and instantly crashed.

The Storm

The next morning we got up and had a free breakfast. It was delicious breads, meats, and juice. Italian breakfasts are different than American. It's more like sandwhiches than sweets. We went back to Venice and really didn't have time for much else, our train for Florence left at 10:44. I wish we would have had a little more time in Venice, but what we saw was amazing. The train ride to Florence was a lot shorter so we got there around 1 and checked into our hostel. This one was PERFECT. It's called Luna Rossa and was right by the train station. Florence is smaller so it also happens to be right by everything too. Our room was right by the main office and we got free internet, free satellite tv, and free CALLS to the united states!! Francesca and Justyna took a nap and Jessica, Matt, Brad, and I went to get some lunch. After we picked up Francesca and Justyna and went shopping at the open markets. These places are so fun! It's pretty overwhelming because there's so much stuff, a lot looks the same, and EVERY vendor wants you to buy from him. They were all willing to bargain so if you were skilled you could get really good quality things for cheap. Of course Florence leather is what it's about so that's mainly what we bought. I can't belive I just said 'what it's all about.' I apologize for that. Anyway we finished shopping and went back to the room. My phone hasn't worked in a while so I could only call phone numbers I had memorized. I called Elise at Christmas and talked to her, mom, dad, aunt kate, and my cousin pat. They all sang Happy Birthday and I ended up REALLLLLY missing Christmas. I can't explain how much I can't wait for next year. It was great to get to talk to them. I also called Megan and talked to her for a long time. I hung up and yes I missed them all, but I was just so happy to be able to talk to them I was in a great mood.

We all changed into nicer clothes and went out to dinner. We found this amazing little restaurant that not only looked very Italian, had old Italian music playing (like dean martin and every other cliche' Italian song you know), candles at every table, and a singing waitress. It was just perfect. Jerry, Rigo, Alexis, and Tony joined us so we had a party of 10. The dinner was perfect. We had some wine, and they sang Happy Birthday to me over a candle and Jerry bought me a birthday rose hahaha. The waitress heard and brought over a free desert that I don't know the name of but was SO good (like flan I guess? I've never had flan but that's what Jessica said). They also gave everyone a glass of champagne and they sang again. We left the restaurant and headed out to the bars and clubs. From there I'll stop the story hahaha (if you really want to hear it you can always ask), but it was a great night and I had an awesome birthday.

Birthday Drinks!!

The next day I woke up at 8:30 in the morning and joined matt and brad in line to see the David. We waited about an hour with a couple from Chicago and two girls from New York. The wait was so worth it. The statue is MUCH bigger than I thought it would be. Probably something like 20 feet. I think. I suck at that type of guess. Everyone around the statue stood staring up at it with their mouths hanging open. It's great to see something like that and have everyone else be in just as much awe as you are. We left after looking around for a little longer and met up with the roommates and crew to wait in line to see the Duomo. It's this HUGE dome that I guess was the first dome ever built. We waited for about an hour and went it. That's where we found out the dome is closed on Sundays. Bummer. Matt, Brad, and I left and walked to where Galileo and Michealangelo are buried but again couldn't get in because we weren't in church attire (they take that VERY seriously). After that we went to Piazza Michelangelo. It's on the top of this huge hill that overlooks florence. It's a breathtaking view. We took goofy pictures and enjoyed the view for a while. Then headed down the hill.


Waiting in line for The David


Florence

I split off from here and met Justyna and Francesca at the train station. From there we paid 6 euros each way and went to Pisa. Yes. We saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa!! That's really the only thing that's there but to me it was so worth it. For some reason it was the craziest thing to see the tower up close like that!! To be so close to something you've seen hundreds of pictures of. To see how it actually looks. It's...so...yeah. I have no idea why this was such a surreal moment. We took about a half an hour of funny pictures and realized what time it was. We were running late and had to run to our train. I do mean run. It was a long run/walk/jog/sprint. We made it though!!! I'm so so glad we decided to randomly do that.


If you're there you have to take the tourist picture

We got back and I hadn't really gotten to eat a lot so I gave in and got some McDonalds for the train. I got too much and gave my chicken nuggets to a french woman next to me. She was the most greatful person!!! She lovedddd them. I never knew how valuable some nuggets were hahaha. It was a nice ride back.

When we got back we were obviously exhausted but it was such a great trip I didn't really care. It was such a great trip. It's odd to think of how much we saw in one weekend. I FINALLY, FINALLY got my phone charger!!!!!!!!!!! Yay! I haven't had one for two weeks and it's been so tough in that when you're lost in Rome it's nice to be able to call someone. I think it's made me a much better traveler. Hahaha maybe. I also got my camera cord! So hopefully pictures will be up soon! That's the general plan :-) So watch for those!

I think that's probably enough for now. I think I'm going to plan on a couple more this week. There's a LOT to write about for this week. We'll see what happens. So much excitement, and there's only a little time left!

You made it! Congratulations! Go give yourself some type of reward, you deserve it!

Ciao!
Anna