Sorry it has taken me so long to update! During the first week in November, our school was on "holiday" and so we had 10 uninterupted days of travel. My friend Shelby and I went to Italy for those ten days traveling throughout the country. We started our adventure at 2:00 in the morning on saturday, October 30th. We took a bus from Luxembourg to Frankfurt Hahn airport we we flew to Rome with RyanAir. After sucessfully landing at 7:00, barely, we took a bus into the city and tried to find our hostel. That was probably one of the most sketchy discoveries of our trip. The hostel was right outside the train station, which is almost never a good sign, and had groups of people loitering on the doorstep. Luckily we ended up with some pretty cool roommates which salvaged the situation. After setting our stuff down, we decided to get started on sightseeing. After grabbing some delicious gelatto, we found a cheep tour of the Colusseum and the Roman Forum. It was great and lasted about 4 hours. All for 8 Euros. It was amazing to see how much was still standing in that area after 2,000 years. Later that night, we met up with some other Miami kids at a pub called Scholars. It was really fun but we were really tired and headed home early. The next day we woke up and went to do some more sight seeing. We started at the Spanish Steps and then wondered through the alleys around that area to do some shopping. On our way, we ran into the Trevi Fountain and all stopped to make a wish. After some more shopping, we came across the Pantheon which was under construction. It was still amazing to see the domed ceiling and huge columns that held the building together. Our group was able to find a great Italian restaurant where we stayed for about 3 hours! I ordered gnocchi which is now my favorite food. Monday was our last full day in Rome, and we spent the entire day shopping. On tuesday before we took the train to Florence, we stopped by the Vatican. It was the most amazing place I have ever been. The entire Vatican Museum was spectacularly decorated and the Sistine Chapel was so detailed. But my favorite place was the Basilica, which was just huge and elaborate. Later that day we took a train to Florence for the next leg of our trip.
It only took us about 2 hours to get to Florence, and we arrived to find our hostel was nice and cozy and in a great location. It was pretty late so we just got dinner and gelato and headed to bed. The next day we woke up early to shop at the leather markets. We went crazy and definitely came home with a lot of souvenirs. In the afternoon we went for a hike into the Tuscan hills and got lost for 2 hours, but got to have a great view of the sunset. Later that night we met up with my friend from high school, Meghan, and another Miami kid. It was a great night and fun to meet up with old friends in new places. Our last morning in Florence we went and saw the basilica there along with some of the other sites. Then we hopped on a train to Cinque Terre with an hour stop in Pisa. We literally hopped of the train, got a picture with the leaning tower, and continued on our way. We stayed in the costal town of Vernazza for the night, and spent our only evening visiting the other four cities. The sun was shining, the weather warm, and later that night we got to see a beautiful sunset. It was by far one of the best nights I have had in Europe (or Ever!). Unfortunately, we only got to spend one night in Cinque Terre, and headed to Venice early the next morning.
It was a long 6 1/2 hour train ride, and so by the time we got into Venice, it was already dark. We just grabbed food and then headed to bed. The next morning we met up with two other Miami girls to shop and site see. The interesting thing about Venice is that when it rains it floods. Luckily, we missed the rain, but there was some residual flooding. It was still a beautiful city, and looked remarkably similar to the Venetian Hotel in Vegas. After we had visited the major sites, we hopped on a boat and visited glass island, called Morano. Once again we went a little crazy shopping but it was so cool to see how glass objects were made. We once again had some great Italian food and Gelato before heading back to the hotel, trying to cram everything into our backpacks, and preparing for the long trek home. And what a long trek it was. We started the tip off at 6:30, and were set to arrive in Luxembourg at 7:30. Unfortunately, our train to Milan where we had a switch at was delayed and so we missed our train to Zurick. The next train would not get us home until 10:30 PM. We were able to whine our way onto a different train bypassing Zurick and going straight to Basel which got us home at our intended time! It was such a great trip and I definitely want to go back to Italy again!
It only took us about 2 hours to get to Florence, and we arrived to find our hostel was nice and cozy and in a great location. It was pretty late so we just got dinner and gelato and headed to bed. The next day we woke up early to shop at the leather markets. We went crazy and definitely came home with a lot of souvenirs. In the afternoon we went for a hike into the Tuscan hills and got lost for 2 hours, but got to have a great view of the sunset. Later that night we met up with my friend from high school, Meghan, and another Miami kid. It was a great night and fun to meet up with old friends in new places. Our last morning in Florence we went and saw the basilica there along with some of the other sites. Then we hopped on a train to Cinque Terre with an hour stop in Pisa. We literally hopped of the train, got a picture with the leaning tower, and continued on our way. We stayed in the costal town of Vernazza for the night, and spent our only evening visiting the other four cities. The sun was shining, the weather warm, and later that night we got to see a beautiful sunset. It was by far one of the best nights I have had in Europe (or Ever!). Unfortunately, we only got to spend one night in Cinque Terre, and headed to Venice early the next morning. 
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