Venice Carnivale!

On Saturday I went to the Venice Carnivale through Bus 2 Alps.  They gave us transportation there by bus and a discounted rate on the water buses for the day.  When we got to Venice the first thing that we did was go to the bathroom, which was ridiculous because it cost 1.5 euro to use the bathroom.  Then we bought our masks to fit in more with the crowd and spend the remainder of the day just walking around and got to see all the awesome costumes that everyone was wearing. We even bought confetti to join in with throwing it on random people that we walk by.  Carnivale is very similar to Mardi-Gras or Halloween. It was even more fun at night with all the lights lit up and people dancing in the piazza to all the music.  I wish I was able to go on a gondola ride, but they were was too expensive at 80 euro per boat, which only lasts about half an hour.

Pisa!

Next on the list of destinations was Pisa!  The first thing that we did once we reached the leaning tower was take the typical touristy pictures.  Then we had some lunch at the closest restaurant outside where we could still see the leaning tower as we are, probably one of the best views I have had while eating a meal.  My favorite Italian food to get is a calzone, and the restaurant had one so I had to have it.  After lunch we decided that it was time to walk up to the top of the leaning tower.  It is a winding staircase all around the edge and as you walk around it almost feels as if you are drunk because your balance is completely off.  A fat person could not make it to the top because the walls close in on you really tightly to the point where they would not be able to get by.  The view was incredible, you could see everything! 

Rome

This past weekend I went to Rome with my roommate Makenzie. We took the train Friday morning and arrived there at around two in the afternoon.  It was sleeting when we arrived and had lunch.  Then we figured out our way to take the bus to the hostel that we would be spending the next couple nights at.  Knowinng bus 64 was the key to our weekend.  After we dropped our bags off at the hostel that was located right near the Vatican, we decided to check that spot out first.  It was snowing out and freezing on our walk over there, but we were dedicated tourists.  After looking at the inside and outside of the Vatican we tried to go to the museum to look at the Sistein Chapel, but by that time the museum was closing.  We thought that we would just go back to our hostel at this time because it was starting to get dark and that we would try taking a shortcut.  That was the worst decision ever! We ended up getting lost around Rome because we walked ourselves off the map and could not figure out how to get back on the map.  We walked around aimlessly for three hours until we decided to warm up at a cafe.  Meanwhile our toes, fingers, and entire bodies were freezing cold from walking around in the cold slush.  The best decision we made was to just call a taxi from the cafe and bring us back to the hostel.  The taxi driver ended up bringing us back the exact way we had just walked from the museum and then back around the Vatican, the way we thought would have taken longer.  Lesson learned:  shortcuts in life never work.

The next day was still really bad weather. We went to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Colosseum.  We spent about three hours walking around until we were too cold again and went back to the hostel.  Thank goodness on the last day it was nice outside! We were so happy to actually see the sun.  We went back to every sight that we had went to earlier that weekend.  While walking over to the Vatican we heard a voice on a loud speaker system.  When we finally got to St. Peter's Square, we looked up and saw Pope Benedict XVI making a speech! We could not believe our eyes, it was probably one of the coolest things that I have ever witnessed.  After revisiting the rest of the sights we started exploring more and found the sight where they Romans held the chariot races during the ancient times.  We ventured even further and were able to see more of the ancient ruins.  Then we headed back to the hostel to pack up and take the train back to Florence.  The only downside to the weekend was that with the terrible weather in Rome, we could not visit any of the museums.  This was the first time Rome has seen snow in about twenty-eight years, so all of the locals were freaking out about the few inches that they were getting and closed pretty much everything down.  I can not wait to go back later in the semester to go see the Sistein Chapel and the inside of the Colosseum. 

2nd week of classes

This past week of school has been pretty busy.  I ended up having to go to the doctors because this cough I have had for months is getting worse because of how cold it is here and the lack of heat that is in our apartment.  They gave me antibiotics so hopefully that will help.  I got to make my first meal in cooking class this week.  My group made Involtini di tacchino al prosciutto and Panna cotta.  It was absolutely delicious!  At first our teacher told us not to expect full meals, but I was completely stuffed after class.  I think that the Italian idea of a full meal is a bit different compared to what I consider to be a full meal.

Cannes

The last stop we made on our weekend trip to France was Cannes.  Throughout the weekend everyone was constantly saying, "it is so cold here," probably about 32 degrees Fahrenheit which being from New England is not that big of a deal, but it is when you are outside the entire day.  As soon as we arrived in Cannes, the bus parked right by the beach and we saw several people swimming in the ocean without wet suits on! Swimming in the ocean was the furthest thing from my mind.  Many movie stars go to Cannes because of the red carpet events that are presented there.  They also have an enormous boating dock, I have never seen so many boats at one time.

Saint Paul de Vence

Saint Paul de Vence was the third stop on our trip.  This was my favorite place of the entire trip.  I have never seen a view or buildings like the ones there.  My friends and I were joking about how we wanted to all chip in money and buy a house there.  The buildings were like the ones that you see in movies and exactly what you imagine when you think of a house in Europe. 

The next stop on our trip that weekend was Nice. The buildings there were even more colorful than the ones in Monte-Carlo.  We got to go on the beach there where instead of sand it was all rocks.  We continued walking along and went to the top of a cliff where we stood in front of a beautiful waterfall and a fantastic view.  In the view you could see the snow on top of the mountains.  We stayed the night in Nice and woke up bright and early to make our way to the next destination.  Throughout the entire bus trip going from one location to the other, we almost got into about thirty accidents because all the roads are very narrow and continuously looping back and forth.