Italia.

After finding out that our professor was cancelling classes for the week, Ali, Jordan, Jenna, Sarah and I jumped on the idea of going to Italy for the week, booked some hostles, and suddenly found ourselves on a 12 hour train ride. I still can't really believe it when I tell people I just spent a week in Italy. Everything went surprisingly smooth and we even managed to avoid the many strikes going on.




We arrived in Venice as the sun was coming up over the canals. Everything was so serene and peaceful as we hauled our bags through the empty streets in search of our hotel... which was perfect, and located on a quite side street. Over the next three days we spent our time trying to navigate our way around the maze of streets and canals getting distracted by delicious treats and shops on every corner. The first time we came upon St. Mark's square my breath was literally taken away by the incredible beauty and architecture that surrounded me. It was amazing to see so many of the cathedrals, buildings and works of art that I am learning about in the Italian Art Renaissance class I am taking here this semester.


During one of our days in Venice we decided to take a short train ride to the small town of Padua, known for the Scrovegni Chapel that Giotto painted in 1305 telling the life of Mary and Jesus in two point perspective, something revolutionary at the time. It was nice to wander around this bustling university town peeking into Cathedrals lined with frescos, and dodge the hundreds of bikers that rule the streets.



After three nights in Venice we left for three more nights in Florence. The crowded, dirty streets of Florence full of traffic were quite a change from the pedestrian streets and quite canals of Venice, but equaly full of incredible art and architecture. Our days here were filled with more churches, cathedrals, art museums and shopping at the many markets. We climbed the 465 stairs up to the top of the Duomo and marvled at the enormity of Florence's Cathedral, saw the incredible precision and accuracy of Michelangelo's David, stood in front of the guilded bronze doors of
the Baptistry, and ate gelato twice a day. By the end of the week our feet were sore, our maps were shredded, our bank accounts were significantly less, and the tourist traps were getting us good... but we still couldn't stop grinning about the incredible things we had seen and done.