A Long Weekend

A large group of us kicked off our first weekend in a great way!  We hit three major cities, which included, Venice, Florence, and Pisa.  Saturday morning we left for Venice and it was AMAZING!!!!!!  It was a beautiful city that contained some of the most amazing artwork.  Although it was very beautiful, it was also costly!  To use a restroom, we had to pay .80 cents!!!  One thing we got done, that was not expected was the gondola we took a ride on through the city!  This was one thing I've always wanted to experience, and I'm glad i got to do so with such a fantastic and fun group of people!  The day was long, but all the artwork and the view of Venice, from the top of the Campanile di San Marco (bell tower)  was amazing!  Although the day was long, it did not compare to what we had in store for us for Sunday.

Sunday morning the same group of people woke up to explore the cities of Florence and Pisa.  Using the restrooms in Florence was similar to that of Venice, so we all decided to hold off until we found a FREE bathroom.  When you first get off the train in Florence, you do not expect much.  But behind the vendors on the street is one beautiful city.  Florence was amazing!  Although we did not get to go in and explore, the group all stopped and took several pictures of the Duono di Frienze.  We could not leave because we could not get over  how beautiful the outside of the church was.  This was when the second half, of what we'd like to call, the longest walk of our lives began.  We decided to go see the Statue of David and walked up several flights of steps and very steep hills.  Once you got at the top and saw the view, the walking made it worth it.  Florence is such a beautiful city and it is something I would recommend to anyone!

We finished our day off by taking a trip to Pisa, which in my opinion was my favorite experience so far!  When we first laid eyes on the tower, everyone was shocked at the size of it.  It is not nearly as big as pictures make it sound, but it for sure has a visiable lean that you can not miss!  Gwen, Nick, and myself decided to buy tickets to climb to the top.  This was my FAVORITE part of the trip.  When walking up the steps you literally lean to one side, then walk straight for a little, then continue to lean to the other side.  The steps took the wind out of us, but it was beautiful from the top.  Every time you thought you were at the top, there was still one more floor higher.  After being at the top and taking in the experience we noticed we had only 20 minuntes to get to the train.  Our group had to SPRINT through Pisa to make it on time.

All in all, we had a great weekend, and also got a good workout in while at it!!!

Ciao!  Christine