Ciao from Italia!

Hello from Italy!

Friday: After an unpleasant experience at Barcelona's airport (do not, I repeat, DO NOT use Vueling Airlines for any flight travel) we FINALLY left Spain for good and flew into Venice. While Mitch & I are both decent in Spanish we are back at sqaure one learning Italian. After catching a bus to the train station, we wanted to maximize the little bit of time we had before catching our train to Florence. We had no choice but to eat delicious pizza & gelato, and of course...go on a romantic gondola ride!

We enjoyed the experience tremendously...and were also the subject of many photographs! It was the first relaxing part of the day & it was everything we expected it to be :) It was also a little humorous the number of people who stood on bridges and took pictures of us as we passed underneath. At one point a man & his wife smiled and waved (while taking a bunch of photo's) and he yelled (very enthusiastically while giving us the peace sign) "LOVE FOREVER!" We still are laughing about that one ;)
I was so happy to feel better & eat delicious Italian food I think I had tears in my eyes! When we arrived in Florence, we had a pretty easy time finding our hostel & were overjoyed that there was a washer/dryer on the premises. We decided (in order to save some time & money) to wash our clothes a little at a time in Spain in our sinks. Mitch & I have become quite a team, and washing clothes is no exception. I stick to the washing & he does the rinsing & drying (well, he engineers the rope we have in order to maximize drying time :) But by now, it is nice to have all of our things clean & dry at once!
Saturday: Our first full day in Florence & I am already in love with Italy! We have a fantastic guide to Italy for the 10 days we are here from Serena (Mitchell's younger sister)...she is awesome! Due to the fact she spent last semester studying abroad in Rome & traveling around Italy, she has great advice of where to go for sights, food & an overall good experience. Thank you!!! In the beginning of the day we visited Duomo and climbed to the top...meaning we climbed over the church's dome to the very top & overlooked Florence. The hike was ridiculous but that only means the end sight is going to be worth it. It was an incredible sight to see!
We went on to walk through some markets (including the infamous leather market) and ended up at Academia to see Michelangelo's "Il David." We both really loved the museum and work represented there. Though you are not technically allowed to take pictures, my will had already been set & there was simply no turning back (not that it was very hard to take pictures if you wanted). It was actually funny to see how sneaky (and unsneaky) people were. From Academia, we went to San Lorenzo Square & Ponte Vecchio to see more statues & shops along the water. We were both feeling a little tired but the sun was just beginning to set and we decided to hike (yet again!) up to Piazza San Michelangelo. What can I even begin to say to describe what we saw? With a bottle of wine and the sun setting on Florence, we watched the city illuminated by the light...and a bride & groom taking pictures with it all in the background! Towards the end, after a long while, we started to leave when I spotted the moon beginning to rise over the mountain on the opposite side. It was the single most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life. If you do not believe in a creator, I suggest you visit this place during sunset and watch for the moon...if it is full, like when we saw it, you will most likely find it impossible not to be moved by the beauty surrounding you!Today (Sunday) we plan to spend another day in Florence and head to Rome by night. However, plans are never always as they seem so stay posted :)
Until next time...arrivederci!-T