Firenze!

Made our way to Florence yesterday. It was a long day on the bus, but I was pleasantly surprised. Our driver, Mimo, gave us a smooth ride. Literally every person passed out the entire bus ride. We stopped halfway through the ride to spend the afternoon in Verona. I was expecting Verona to be a little country village, cobblestones and nothing more. Boy was I wrong. Verona is amazing! There are main streets full of upscale stores, the roads are made of marble! There were several flea markets and an amazing food market going on. We're talking fresh meats, fruits, pastries, rice balls (which we ate like apples for lunch) and pretty much every other amazing Italian food you could think of.

We made our way to "Juliet's Balcony" (which is not real, but the amount of tourists would make you think otherwise). The coolest part is right before you get to the balcony there is a tunnel wallpapered in love notes that people have left. Just hundreds and hundreds of post-its and papers with notes. Its a sight to see. So romantic!

The balcony is underwhelming, but we did the touristy thing of taking a picture next to the Juliet statue while groping her boob. Supposed to give you luck in love.

Afterwards we just walked around and then enjoyed the afternoon sitting on the steps of the opera house, with the Roman Arena in front of us. We've really been blessed with amazing weather. Sunny and warm everyday, no humidity.

Bussed it onward to Firenze (Florence for you non-locals). Tons of traffic, but again we were all passed out. The most amazing part is as you get closer to Firenze, the landscape completely changes. Tuscan hills and greenery, little village homes, winding water. We got the most breathtaking shots out of the bus window!

We literally had 5 minutes to walk to the hotel, throw our bags in an elevator the size of a small closet, run upstairs and then make it back down for dinner. We walked through the town to the restaurant only to come our right smack in front of the Duomo. Italy is like this. You are walking around these tiny streets and then all of a sudden the most amazing historical sight is right in front of you. As if it's just another building.

Dinner was at a cute restaurant with the group. Chez and I had to sit with a group from Pittsburgh because there was no room, but it was good to sit and talk with new people. One of them just graduated in Interior Design so Chez and her hit it off.

Afterwards the group split up but tall dark handsome tour guide Gianluca was going to "the best gelato place in Florence" so we followed him. We learned a little about his life on the way. He's from Parma, never been to the states (insane!), does other tours in Ireland and France and is single. LOL! He was asking us about New Jersey. When we told him it was the home of Bruce Springstein he got so excited. He loves Bruce.

Gelato #6? Rum!

Went back to the hotel and passed out. This trip is exhausting! Breakfast at the Florence hotel was like jail food compared to the Venice hotel. Just cereal and bread. Can't complain though because after breakfast we headed to see the David. The David is just unreal. You walk into this little shabby looking building only to be greeted with his presence. He's so beautiful. No pictures unfortunately (not allowed) but I bought a 1 euro postcard. Again, stupid American mistake. They were selling them for mere cents outside the museum.

After that we had free time and Chez, Jill and Mary being art nerds wanted to go to the Medici museum. Our tour guide Stephania rec'ed the museum so we went. The chapel inside is breathtakingly huge. So amazing.

After that we ate paninis outside the Ponte Vecchio and did some shopping on the bridge and had a cappacino. We didn't get to go into the Ufitzi (spelling?). It was not included in our tour and the line to get in was incredibly long. But we then had a 1.5 hour walking tour with an amazing guide named Nicolo who was soooo learned in Florentine art history. Chez was in love with him. He took us through the Ufitzi area outside and then into the Duomo and the chapel. We were glad we were able to take pics inside. You feel so small in these big structures!

After that we went to a leathermaking shop. The girl who works there was funny, she had a tough sense of humor. She talked about how to make leather and how to tell if leather is real. Gianluca, one of our guides was able to secure us all a 10% discount in their shop. We all got gifts!

In the bus now on the way to an optional excursion for wine tasting and lasagna for the evening in San Jimignano (spelling?). Gianluca said people rave that this section of Tuscany is more beautiful than Florence.

We'll be the judge!

*my phone may have posted this twice, once unfinished and once finished... Oh well... I'm surprised my blackberry is being this nice to me for this trip!*
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry