Venice

The next morning came early (3:30) again, but at this point we were of the mind that you can always recover when the vacation is over. We wanted to be in Venice before it got crowded. That was definitely one of the smartest things we did all trip. When we got off the train, the Venice merchants weren’t even out yet. We headed straight for St. Mark’s Square (which is a considerable walk along narrow alleys, over bridges, and through tunnels.) Really, that city is a mess. Where were the city planners on that one? They really could have used a Brigham Young to set up a grid system. Actually, it would have been really fun to have a race from Mark’s Square to the train station. No two people would have gone the same way and I can imagine that some of us would have been lost in that maze for hours. We could have had our own little Amazing Race right there in Venice. Venice was just as poetic and romantic as I had hoped. I had to stop at every little bridge to take a picture. To add to the romance, we took a gondola ride through the waterways. If only I’d had someone to kiss under the bridge over the Grand Canal. Maybe next time.

Bolzano

We left early the next morning and took the train to Verona (about 5 hours). Amy and Megan got off in Verona and generously offered to take ALL our luggage to our hotel there. (How they managed five people’s luggage with two girls, I can only imagine). Jamie, Shane, and I continued on to Bolzano up near the Austrian border. The train ride up there was my favorite ride. We all sat with our ipods in watching the cliffs that were speckled with little castles. One huge castle was right in the center of the cliff. I’m pretty sure it was helicopter access only. Jamie is a geologist, so she was anxious for a good view of the Dolomites. You can imagine our disappointment when we pulled into foggy, rainy Bolzano. Bolzano has a cool feel to it. Signs are written in German and Italian and gargoyles sit on their church spires. After an delicious Bolzano burger (really, it was unlike any burger I’ve had… SO good!) we decided to look into renting a car. Maybe if we drove up the mountain, we could get above the clouds and see the Dolomites. We found one for 40 euro and decided it would be worth it. We were right. This turned into one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. We drove up the mountain side into these picturesque mountain villages. Really, they decided to build communities in the most random places. The further we went up the more encouraged we were by the thinning fog. Soon we broke through the clouds, and got a beautiful view, but not of the Dolomites. Those remained shrouded behind a veil of clouds the entire time. Well, almost the entire time. There was one moment when we vaguely saw mountains with snow on them, so technically we can say we saw the Dolomites, but it wasn’t the jagged peaks we had hoped for. On our train back to Verona, we entertained ourselves with a new game. The ipod game: Find a song on your ipod that you all have in common (for us it was Coldplay, Fix You). Give one of your ear buds to someone else. Then try and synchronize your ipods so you’re all playing the same song at the exact same time. Good times.

Siena II

Megan was unsatisfied with the lack of museums in our Florence day, so she got up early and went back on her own. The rest of us slept in and spent a relaxing day in Siena. Shane did his laundry, Amy and Jamie read their books in the park and I wandered through the twisted maze of uptown shopping. Purple is so IN right now that I’m already sick of it. EVERY store window featured purple, shirts, pants, skirts, ties etc. That evening Shane, Amy, Jamie and I walked up to the Duomo, sat and chatted outside as the sun fell. It’s a pretty spectacular building. It was supposed to be bigger than St. Peter’s, but the Vatican put a stop to it before it was finished. You can see where they would have built had they not had to seal it up early. Eventually we moved down to Il Campo to meet Dave and Megan. We sat in the big square and watched cute kids chase pigeons and played “I’ve Never” and “Off a Cliff” until they came. In case you're wondering, "Off a Cliff" is a singles only game and it actually works much better when you have a ward directory in front of you. You pick four names for another person and that person has to decide of those names which one he would marry, kiss, hug and push off a cliff. (Great for dinner parties).

FYI

Someone requested a map to follow where I actually went. It doesn't look like a very practical sequence, but it worked just fine for us.

Florence

4:30 came early the next morning, but we dragged ourselves out of bed and RAN to the train station. Tickets for the Accademia Gallery (where the David is) were sold out on line, so we wanted to get there early to avoid a ridiculous line. Our early morning efforts paid off. We got right in and got to see him before the halls were packed with tourists trying to sneak photos when the guards weren’t looking. (He’s AMAZING, fyi). From there we went to the Duomo and climbed the 438 steps to the dome on top. A little rough on my poor biking legs, but the view was definitely worth it.

We wandered around the city most of the time and ate the best gelato of my life! The pear was INCREDIBLE with Strawberry and Mango as close seconds. Since Florence was one of the cities that Shane served in, he knew of a beautiful olive orchard that overlooks the city. We took a bus up there and discovered that some time in the last seven years they built a very tall wall around it with barbed wire around the top, so we didn’t attempt to sneak inside. Instead w found a park trail and started hiking.

This statue street performer was so entertaining. If you gave him some money, you could get your picture taken with him and he would make it as awkward as possible. We got a kick out of watching others do it too.

I guess rubbing this boar's nose is good luck. I thought maybe kissing it would get me a little extra.

Finally, we took a bus to the far side of the city, (another beautiful view) and took model pictures as the sun went down. That night I had the best Spaghetti of my life! (maybe. It was pretty good.)

Back at the train station we had sometime to kill before our train left. We decided to pull out the Uno cards (I guess it should have been Una since we’re playing in Italy) and settled down in a McDonald’s booth. When it was clear that we were having too much fun, the McDonald’s workers demanded that we leave before she beat us with a broom and dumped us in the deep fryer… at least that’s what her tone of voice said. I have no idea what she really said, but the message was pretty clear.

Siena

We arrived at our “camp ground” in Siena in the evening. It was more like a little trailer and it was perfect. Two rooms a kitchen and a bathroom. Shane was staying at Dave’s apartment, so the girls had the place to themselves. We settled in and took a taxi into downtown Siena. I had no idea what to expect of Siena, so I could barely contain my excitement as the taxi sped through narrow, twisted cobblestone streets and ended up in a massive open town square. It was love at first sight. Siena is where the opening scene of Quantum of Solace takes place so we made sure to watch it while we were there. We found a restaurant and I ordered a “Typical Tuscan soup” which looked like green mush you might feed to poor little orphans but tasted amazing. I couldn't identify anything in it. The menu indicated that it came with bread, but when I asked about my missing bread the waiter just told me it was in my soup. So I guess that's one of the ingredients. The next day we wandered into town to find that everything was closed. We had some difficulty locating breakfast. “Oh it’s Easter Monday,” I said. They all laughed at me as if I had made it up. “Easter Monday!! I suppose tomorrow will be Easter Tuesday!” Americans! (Amy shakes her head). Thank goodness we found a bike rental place that was open. We rented some bikes and headed out of town in search of picturesque Tuscan hills. We rode down and down and down, all the while wondering if we were going to be capable of riding back up at the end. Eventually we found what we were looking for; a beautiful country road.

We ate lunch in a small town and then began our grueling trip back up to Siena. I’m proud to say I made it, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel it for the next four days. Give me a break. I haven’t ridden a bike since I was about 14.

We crashed in Dave’s apartment for a little while and watched some Italian Soap operas making our own translations, then we went out took some pictures at Il Campo and ordered some pizza. We crashed early that night to prepare for an early morning in Florence.

Pisa

We made a quick stop in Pisa on our way from La Spezia to Siena, because you have to get the holding-up-the-tower pictures, right? After several individual photoshoots, Shane, Jamie, Amy and I lounged on the lawn enjoying the supreme weather while Dave and Megan toured the Baptistery.

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre was easily in my top two, so I have a lot of pictures. We were meeting Jamie and Megan in La Spezia but before they got there, Shane and I headed to a grocery store to stock our apartment. We had 15 minutes till the place closed, so Shane shoved a basket into my hands and instructed me to get the breakfast stuff and he’d do dinner. So there I was wandering around the grocery store trying to look at pictures to figure out what I’m buying. This box has a cow on it… it’s probably milk… Shane took one look in my basket and had to run back and make some corrections for me. “I forgot you’ve never shopped in Italy before.” Well YEAH! We met the girls and took the train to Corniglia . Corniglia is the smallest of the five towns that make up Cinque Terre. It’s also the only one that’s on down on the water. It sits 382 steps up a cliff. It was late when we got in, so the busses weren’t running anymore. Sweaty and tired we entered the village and were immediately charmed by its narrow, windy walkways, colorful shutters and laundry hanging out to dry. I’m in love with Corniglia. We also arrived on Good Friday and just in time to watch the town gather and follow a procession through the candlelit walkways. It definitely felt like we were guests in a small village rather than tourists.

This photo is so classic. Anywhere you go in Italy, just look up and there will be some old man or woman at the window, just checkin' stuff out.

Jamie, Shane and I got up at sunrise the next morning to go take pictures and explore the town. When everyone else was up, we took the train to Monterosa and dipped our feet in the Mediterranean. Then we hiked from Monterosa to Vernazza. The hike is GORGEOUS! (but a little crowded). Vernazza hasn’t changed in size or shape for the last 500 years! We went back to the apartment for Lunch and met up with Amy. We spent the remainder of the evening in Manarola.

I think this is the only picture we have of all six of us.

Killing time at the Train station. We had a lot of photoshoots at train stations to help pass the time.

We woke up easter morning to find little zip-lock bags of easter candy for everyone. Megan is such a sweetheart! We dressed quickly for church, loaded up our gear and walked down to the train station. We took a train to La Spezia and then a Taxi to help us find the Mormons. It was a neat experience to hear the gospel taught in Italian with Shane whispering sweet translations into our ears. The gospel is true no matter where you go.