Italy

07/04/2007

Its been a while since I have been able to post (or so it feels).. so let me catch yall up with where I left off...

We had just one day to actually see the city of Venice, so we left our hostel around 8am that morning and was on the island by 8:10am. We did not leave the island until 8pm that night (and Im happy to say it wasnt because we got lost.. in fact we didnt get lost once!). We did the main square and the areas around it first, then split up (girls went shopping) and we went exploring. At around 2pm we went on a 4 hour boat tour of 3 surrounding islands, each with its own uniqueness. The one pictured below is Burano which is a fishing village. All the houses are colored differently because (as the story goes).. when the men would come back from fishing late at night (and drunk).. they would stumble into the wrong houses and into the wrong beds. So to hault anymore ruined marriages, they all painted their houses different colors.

Venice was great for its layout.. but its time to move on.

Next stop, Florence.

We arrived and had a good 20 min hike to our hostel from the train station (thats with all our bags which is roughly 20-30lbs Id say). Once we made it and got settled in, we took off around the city as it would be our only day in the city. We hit the Duomo first off which if you are a cathedral fan, this is THE ONE to see. I may take that back after Rome and the Vatican (but that may not count). Anyway, we went up the tower on side which was some 400+ steps (though it felt much worse so Im thinking the metric system must count differently).

Then we went to Santa Croce where Galieo is burried among many others. Heres a shot from there:

We did many other things, and even stayed out late listening to street performers who played Simon and Garfunkel.

The next day we went to Siena for Il Palio! This has been the highlight for everyone so far. YOU MUST GO SEE THIS ONCE IN YOUR LIFE! Im running out of time, but basically its the greatest thing ever. Forgive the poor photography skills.. this is the winner.

Now to Positano..
Ive found my winter home while it snows in Austria. Tomorrow we do Pompeii and hike to the summit of Mt. Vesuvius, but Ill leave you with some photos of where Im at right now.. just to make you jealous! Enjoy.

Our deck view..