Florence and Padua

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This morning, the bus dropped us off again in the city center of Florence for some more free time for exploration. The only thing I hadn't seen yet that was on my list was the Ponte Vecchio - a bridge spanning the river which is famous for its scenic views and its expensive jewelry shops. I walked over there with a couple of the ladies from the group who wanted to see it too. We took some pictures and did some window shopping (nothing I could afford, of course!). After this, we walked up the street to the Piazza della Repubblica and stopped for an early outdoor lunch. We sat and talked for a good while after lunch and just had a good time. Then, it was off to our meeting point for the bus.

We had a nice little bus ride that afternoon to our hotel in Venice. However, to break up the journey and offer the chance to see something else, we stopped off in Padua along the way. Padua is a charming little town. As I understand it, it is known throughout history as a "college" town - a center of learning. We passed by the main town square, which is full of statues of important citizens from the town's history. We then walked up to the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua. This is an impressive place dedicated to St. Anthony and maintained by Franciscan friars. We said a prayer together as a group, and then had free time to wander around the basilica. I heard the bell ringing and looked up. I was able to see the bell swinging back and forth up in the bell tower. I thought that was pretty cool.

Well, thanks to some clever maneuvering by Massimo (some idiot parked their car RIGHT behind the bus), we were finally able to get back on the road to Venice. We arrived and checked into our hotel (the worst one we stayed in on the whole trip by FAR). We had a group dinner in the hotel. I sat with the Kilpatrick kids and enjoyed a great conversation about their various activities, sports involvements, and their school. Thanks to Tate, I FINALLY learned a bit about lacrosse, which should come in handy since I have so many girls involved in the sport. Anyway, I finally got up to my room, made a few phone calls, did another batch of "sink" laundry, and went to bed. Good night!

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