Day 38: Arezzo and Cortona

     Rabbit rabbit! This was a nice start to a new month! I woke up at 6:54 am, had breakfast, packed, and then we left at 7:40 am to get to the train station for our coach bus. We didn't leave until 8:30 am for Arezzo; the bus didn't ahve enough seats. But it all worked out in the end. The really annoying girl that was on the trip to Capri sat behind Caroline and I. She whined half the bus ride about whatever she could think to complain about, including forgetting her swimsuit. *note: we did not go any place remotely close to a beach or pool*

     The ride to Arezzo is an hour and a half. In Arezzo, we saw a ton of churches. There was also an antique fair, which only happens the first Saturday of every month. I got to see the street where the guy in La vida e bella came down on a bike and took out the woman who became his wife. After a million churches (hardly an exaggeration), a group of us went to lunch. It was Bijon, Nick, Shelly, and of course Caroline and I. It was an incredible deal compared to anywhere else we've been: salad, water and half a pasta dish came to 10 euro. Yum. We also got some amazing gelato before the bus. I got nutella chocolate and marzcapono or some weird name like that. It was the best I've ever had.

     The bus to Cortona was an hour 10 minutes, and I slept most of the way despite the fact that I was missing out on some beautiful sights. When I woke up, we were at the St. Luca Hotel. (This was really funny to me, because our professor guiding it is named Luca). Outside the hotel had the most beautiful views of the landscape. I was really excited because this trip was perfect for my photography project on landscapes; I am now finished a week early! We got 1.5 hours to relax in the hotel room before a walking tour. We are staying on the sixth floor. But to get to our room, you have to go down instead of up. Very weird!

     Our walking tour started with some homemade gelato (too much gelato for one day!) Then we hiked a lot to get to a church on a mountain. The views were phenomenal, but that is really the norm in Cortona. After the hike, we went back to the hotel, showered and went to dinner. It was fancy; Luca really gets us the best deals on these trips. After dinner, Shelly, Caroline, and I went for a walk. I took a picture of the big dipper! It's a little shaky but I'm just really excited that my camera is that awesome.I read The Help before sleeping. The annoying girl I mentioned before was being obnoxiously loud in the hallway, so it took me awhile to fall asleep.