Days 91-92: Birthdays and Thanksgivings

     The 23rd was Luisa's birthday. Italians celebrate the same way Americans do with some cake and singing. Thursday I went to the Ferragamo museum with my international marketing class. We learned how shoes were made by this famous designer. The field trips for this class really haven't made any sense or added any value to the class; I'm disappointed I took this class abroad.
     It was also Thanksgiving which is obviously not celebrated in Italy. It made Caroline and I both homesick to know we were missing out on family time at home. After a sad "Thanksgiving dinner" of omelettes, I went to the train station Firenze SMN. I caught an overnight train to Munich!!! This weekend is going to be so much fun!

Day 90: Venezia

     Today is the day that I had been waiting for since I got here. I finally went to Venice!! It took about two hours to get there; I went with Shelly and her family. Once you walked out of the train station you immediately got the full effect of Venice: there's a white bridge on the left, water 'buses' and 'taxis', and of course, the river with some floating buildings. It was exactly how I had imagined it to look.

     We took a water bus to the main square and explored the bridges and area around there. The area is very touristy and so prices are very high. After a quick lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, we just got lost in the streets of Venice. I walked wherever I wanted to and over a ton of bridges just because I could. Then I went on a gondola ride. I could not convince the guy to sing no matter how much I tried; you paid 80 or more euro to ride one so I was not happy with him..

     Although this is a quick explanation of what happened, the pictures really explain how beautiful it was. When we were waiting for the train, there was a guy on the steps singing Jason Mraz while playing guitar. The whole experience was absolutely worth it. I wish I had had more time there. That was in my top five things to do before I die and it was as amazing as I thought it was going to be.

Day 89: Exhausted

     I am completely worn out from all the travel. Luckily I only had one class today. Tomorrow I'm going to Venice and I am so excited! Skipping one day of class will definitely be worth it to get all my travelling in!

Day 88: San Marino

     San Marino: One of the few enclave countries in the world. That's where Caroline and I went today! It took 3.25 hours to get there. It was all built up on a hill and remined me of St. Paul de Vence mixed with Tuscan towns. I liked it here but sadly it was too foggy to see anything. There was a Cathedrale and after lighting candles there, we got some good food (raviolis!). The ride home was long and it definitely wasn't worth the 7 hours of traveling that we did, but at least I have another country down!

Day 87: Milan

     Today Shelly and I went to Milan! It took only 40 minutes to get there. Once we arrived, we took the metro to the Duomo. You could see it before you walked up the steps; I think this is my favourite duomo in Europe. A ton of pigeons attacked us and there were people everywhere; it was much more crowded than Firenze.

     We spun on the bull's balls for good luck inside of the marketplace, saw the theatre, and then walked to where The Last Supper was painted. We had to wait two hours, so we walked around the area and saw what Milan was like outside of the tourist areas. When we finally got to see DaVinci's 'The Last Supper', we had to go through four doors because they have to maintain one temperature and air pressure in there. It was Really huge! I was expecting something as small as the Mona Lisa.

     There really wasn't too much to do in Milan besides shop, and so we went back to Florence slightly early. Caroline, Shelly and I went to the Diner for dinner to get some fake American food.

Day 82-86: Longer Week

     This week was just as normal, except we had a makeup day on Friday. On Wednesday, my Italian class went on a scavenger hung! We went to the train station and had to find certain things, like when the next train left for Milan and random things like that. Then she brought us to a coffee place and got us all a drink! It was so sweet of her; I got the most delicious cioccolata calda and I am going to be coming back here again for sure.
     Thursday I had a substitute teacher for my international marketing class, and he has given me the best advice I've gotten probably my entire college career. He told us that the meeting between our joy/talent and a demand is where we will find a career we are truly happy in. He had so much to say and I won't forget this experience; he made the entire study abroad time worth it.

Day 81: Leaving Prague Already

     Today was spent mostly souvenir shopping. I saw those fish spas that bite your feet in a window; they're banned in the US. I wish I'd had more time in the square to experience that! We left at 12:15 pm and Caroline and I ended up sitting at the back of the bus. We felt really sick and were really happy to stop in Austria to get some food. We arrived in Florence at 1:30 am!! Far too much traveling for a weekend; next time I will definitely be taking a plane!