Firenze & Fiesole

I went to Florence this past weekend with my program. It was a really lively place. Good shopping, probably the best food I've had while in Italy (their steaks are supposedly the best), and a good atmosphere. On day one, we had a guided tour of some squares (or piazza's) near our hotel and such. We also saw the Duomo which was done by Brunelleschi, and went inside as well. The Duomo was so detailed on the outside, the ceiling of the actual dome was amazing too. There were stairs, over 400 I believe to climb to the top of the Duomo and get a view of the city. I didn't do it, but I heard it was a struggle, worth it of course however. After that I believe we went to see the David. A lot bigger than I imagined, it was an amazing statue. Then it was time for my siesta nap and after that a delicious dinner. The next day we had another guided walking tour where we saw the Ponte Vecchio bridge that crosses the River Arno. It had several jewelry shops. Next we headed over to the Uffizi Gallery where I saw some da Vinci and Botticelli, including the Birth of Venus. Can you guess what I did next? Siesta? Almost... I needed food first. Had some delicious spaghetti and the napped. Then of course I had to experience Florentine shopping, it was satisfying to say the least.
The next day we were to head back to Roma, but first spent a few hours in a hilltown near Florence called Fiesole. It was really hilly and not much around except a Roman theatre and a park that you had to climb to get to, but gave a magnificent view of alll of Florence. I think I had the best lasagna while in this town (other than my mom's of course). It was oh so good.
Florence was a really amazing place, I had a great time and would love to go back and spend more time there.

The top picture is of Elyse and myself in Fiesole, the hilltown, with a great view of Florence in the background.
The second is of the Arno River in Florence, a view from the Ponte Vecchio bridge. The third from the top is the ceiling of the Duomo, and lastly the Duomo itself.
Ciao!

Venezia

Last weekend I was in Venice for the annual Carnevale celebration. The celebration was not strictly in Venice, though it was where most of the maddness happened. I was wondering why there were so many costume shops here in Rome... and it was because everyone needed costumes for Carnevale but it was mostly young children who wore costumes. We stayed in Mestre-Venice, which was on the mainland and only about a 15 minute bus ride onto the island. As soon as we got there everyone had masks and costumes on, there was music playing everywhere.. it was literally Carnevale! Well, we needed to fit so we bought masks too! We took a boat to get to St. Mark's Sqaure. It was like a water taxi. St. Mark's Square was packed with people in costume, there was a huge stage where there was a concert later on in the afternoon. St. Mark's Basilica was really pretty, but I didn't get a chance to go inside due to the massive amounts of people. After we took in the beautiful sights of the square and the view of the water, we decided to get lost in the alleys and ran into a gandola lot. Of course we had to take a ride on the gondola! It was very relaxing and we rode through the Grand Canal and under the Rialto Bridge. It was probably my favorite part of the trip to Venice.
When night time rolled around, practically any square we went to there was a party. Live music, people dancing on stage still wearing their masks. It was so odd but fun!
Venice was a beautiful city, and I'll probably go back to see it just as a city without the maddness of Carnevale. Great weekend!

The first picture one of the several costumes I saw while walking around the square, they were dressed up as sunflowers.
The next picture is a view of San Marco's Sqaure from the boat taxi thing.
The third picture is of St. Mark's Basilica, and next is Derick, Me, and Elyse in our Venetian Masks!
Lastly is a photo of the Rialto Bridge that I captured while on the gondola riding through the Grand Canal, beautiful!

Roma

I've been doing a lot of walking around, taking in all the sights! It takes a few minutes to look and appreciate everything I see. You have to stare and think "How on Earth did they create this without cranes or any of the technology we have today?"

The first picture is of the Pantheon. The square that it’s in is fairly small so to get a full picture of it (without losing my friends and getting lost), I had to take it from behind a fountain that was in front of the Pantheon. Inside, most of the area was roped off but I did get to look up and check out the dome which was made up of concrete sunken squares that gave a dizzying 3-D illusion. I don't have a picture of that but I'm sure you can Google it : )

The buildings in the second picture were also in the square the Pantheon was in. The fading paint, missing bricks on the sides and the roofs; it let me imagine what the area could have looked like 2000 years ago. I did see people inside of the buildings, though I'm not sure if they were living there or if they were offices... Pretty cool!

The third picture, though it looks normal, is the creepiest place I've been to in my entire life. It's the Catacombs of Rome. The things I saw and touched were literally 2000 years old. Etruscans built an underground burial for their dead that cover seven miles on foot, just to give you an idea of how many dead souls I was amongst. Romans continued the tradition afterwards. Thankfully, I was with a big group and a tour guide (who constantly reminded us that it was very possible to take one turn and be lost for days, even weeks, but not to worry because they always find you... I wasn't too sure who she was referring to as "they," so I was stuck to her hip!) We first walked down at least 2 stories by stairs. It was cold, dark, and ridiculously cramped; I mean you could not even stand two by two. At first I refused look to my left or right, where the niches were built onto the walls and the bodies were placed. In the area where most of the children were placed, there would be like 3 niches in a row on the wall, they looked like small beds that were sealed with clay. There weren't any remains as far as I was told, but I think the catacombs in Paris still have a collection of skulls or something like that. We went down a few pathways, I saw lots of those niches and practically any wall I would lean against there would be another burial spot. I don't even know how else to explain what a creepy, weird, but interesting place this was. I was terrified but knew I was seeing something absolutely amazing. Pictures were forbidden inside because it's a sacred area. Sorry!

The last picture is the ceiling of the church that was built above the catacombs several years later by Constantine, I believe. I've been to a lot of churches so far and this one was in 3D! It was so bright, unlike what I'd seen at previous churches. The man in the middle and the angel are like mannequins or something. It's crooked because I set my camera on the floor facing the ceiling and just set the timer, otherwise, it would have come out blurry and I wanted you guys to see this!

That's all for today, leave comments! Arrivederci!