Florence and Venice

After Rome, we were both overflowing with historical info, but we decided to keep on trucking up north. The train ride from Rome to Florence was one of the most beautiful two hours of my life, but a little unsettling. When we booked our tickets, the reservation fee was the same for 1st and 2nd class, so we just booked 1st class. We then boarded the train, and we felt a little out of place. We were the only people carrying backpacks and everyone else was very nicely dressed. Immediately I began to worry that we would have to pay a load of fees to upgrade from our second class Eurail passes to our first class seats that we were sitting in. Long story short, we didn't have to pay anything extra (and I don't know why), so I was happy. I'm very cheap though and wouldn't relax the whole train ride, fearing having to spend more money on something neither one of us really cared much about, but in the end, this uneasiness paid off. I stayed awake throughout the entire trip and stared out the window, mouth wide open in awe. The scenery outside our windows was magnificent. The hills of rolling farm land and rows of olive plants (I think that's what they were) was picturesque. It was so spectacular, and all I kept thinking was how badly I wanted to hop on a bike and just ride off into the distance...forever. I really had no intention of getting off the train. I was way too happy looking out at the beautiful scenery. A trip across Europe by train is the way to go.

Florence: We got to Florence in the late morning and immediately headed out for a look around town. Florence is much smaller and more charming than Rome. The streets were much less crowded, and it felt like there was a much smaller tourist population (although the locals would strongly disagree). We wandered and saw tons of statues. Meaghan went into a museum to have a look at the staue, David, and reported that is was unbelievable. The day happened to be a holiday for the locals, so there was a regatta going on, and many of the stores were closed. We sat on a wall overlooking the river and ate some bread and Nutella for lunch. It was quite a European afternoon. We made our way up a very large hill, and found ourselves at a monestary overlooking the entire city. The view from there was beyond words. The city looked so amazing, very old with an enormous cathedral in the center, and all of this surrounded by small mountains. We headed back down and Meaghan was happy to find 1€ gellato. That night there were fireworks to celebrate the holiday, and it wrapped up our short but great stay in Florence.

Venice: The train ride to Venice was just as amazing, and once we got there we started our adventures immediately. Venice is even smaller than Florence and very different. It's an island with the infamous canals throughout. The edges of the island are extremely touristy, with shops and restaurants and men trying to get you to take goldole rides. Every single building is colorful and there are flowerboxes everywhere. It is a beautiful place, but it can get a bit crazy with all of the tourists. The trick is to head to the center of the island, and it becomes very quiet. We both enjoyed wandering around through the narrow streets taking pictures of everything. Just walking through Venice is more than enough. The colors of each building are different and the canals are so cool (but the water is really, really dirty). Prices were surprisingly reasonable on the island except for the hotels. The thing that caught my attention the most was how family orriented the locals were. Wandering into the center of the island, I saw a lot of families with many generations together, all hanging out. The grandparents playing with their grandkids and entire families enjoying time together. It seemed like a lot of the families have lived there forever, passing down their properties. The Venetians seemed very much attatched to their homes, and I don't blame them. It was a pretty neat place.