http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/stephie86928/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from stephie86928 en-us Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:08:36 +0000 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:08:36 +0000 I apologize for the lack of activity on here but I have been so busy Every day has been jam packed and we've been taking a lot of day trips. We just got back from Rome yesterday and it was absolutely amazing. I loved Rome. I wish we had more than 3 days there but I made the most of my Roman Holiday.Sadly today is my last full day in Florence. I just finished my homework at school so now I' http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-309340.html We just got back from Venice I had such a great weekend. Friday we left for Venice and frankly I wasn't all that excited for it. I just thought it would be another Italian city but I was so wrong. Venice is like no other city I have ever been to. First off there are no roads no cars. You get around this maze of a city by walking forever or by taking the water taxi which is like the city http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-305257.html This past Sunday we got up early to catch a train to the Cinque Terre the Five Villages. The day started off cloudy but that turned out to be a good thing because then we didnrsquot have to battle the heat. We began our journey in the first village Riomaggiore. The hike to the second village is more like a leisurely stroll along the coastline. The trail is fairly high up but it hugs the c http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-303141.html I can't believe week two is almost over. This week went by a whole lot faster than the first week. The museums and Palazzos are starting to blur together and I'm doing the best I can to differentiate them in my head Plus it's hard when almost every church has the same paintings and same frescoes showing the same Biblical scenes. I can't tell you how many times I've seen The Annunciation of M http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-300994.html After a week of perfect weather the rain came today. But lazy rainy Sundays are just as good in Italy as they are in the States. I didn't do much today I mainly worked on homework. I did venture out and get some groceries with a couple other girls. I guess this would be a good time to talk about what I'm actually studying here in Florence. My 5 weeks here consists of two parts. The first http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-299255.html Wow. Irsquove only been here 4 whole days but it feels like a lot longer. So far in my classes wersquove been to the Ponte Vecchio the San Miniato Church the PiazzaChurch of the Santissima Annunziata the Hospital of the Innocents the Baptistry by the Duomo the Duomo Museum the Medici Chapels Lauretian Library and San Lorenzo Church and then finally Casa Siviero. Like I said before http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-298076.html Irsquom officially in Florence Or as the Italians call it Firenze Irsquove only been here for a day and a half but it feels like a lot longer. I donrsquot know if itrsquos the time difference and the lack of sleep or maybe the fact that today was just jampacked with so much stuff.We started by moving into our student housing which is really nice. The whole place is decked out in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-296690.html So I made it at least to Munich. Irsquom waiting to board my flight to Florence. The flight over here wasnrsquot all that bad. I sat next to a Greek gentleman and that was interesting to say the least. But I do have to say that I had the best seat 33K a window seat right next to the wing. It was the perfect seat for my first international flight.And I do have to say Lufthansa is awes http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-296687.html In less than 24 hours I will be on a jet to Munich Germany and will eventually end up in Florence Italy. I can't believe it's really here. For years I've drooled over all of the travel shows on the Travel Channel PBS and the like. I've travelled with Samantha Brown on Passport to Europe I've seen the sights with Rick Steves on Rick Steves' Europe and I've shared experiences with Ian Wrigh http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Illinois/blog-295470.html