Vacation Part 2

As Katie wrote the last one (though we both contributed) I (Rachael) am writing this post. Katie is with me though so you get us both. Yay you! So in our last post we covered the beginning of our fall break. Rome was wonderful and we loved it. Sadly think it ended up having the most positive experiences out of all of our destinations but the others weren't all bad. After Rome we went to Florence. Where they charge for going into churches and drinking water. Well pretty much if they could charge you for it they did. Our hotel ended up being right by the train station and the tourist office person was nice but definitely looked at us like it's across the street... So we went to it... and passed it... and almost passed it again. The reception guy was super nice though and we got a good sized room with a real terrace/balcony thingy. We were then exceedingly hungry and went to the pizzeria around the corner. We ordered a whole mushroom pizza and the man kept asking 'you want the whole thing?' which should have been a clue. It comes out of the kitchen and has to be cut into fourths and stuffed into a box. Needless to say we were stuffed and did not manage to finish it. But it was wonderful eating pizza out on our terrace and looking at the mountains in the distance and the cityscape.

After that we went to the Uffizi Gallery and saw lots of art. That was after a two to three hour wait though in line out front. There were two guys ahead of us and one seemed long suffering and the other was a chatty cathy. I felt bad for the quiet one since I got to listen to the other rambling at him... for the whole wait. So then we spent an equal amount of time in the gallery but thankfully got in for free with French student cards. Yay saving 11 euros! Then we sat in an outside gallery for a while before going to Pont Vecchio (a bridge of never ending sparklies). It was a bridge that actually had these medieval-type boutiques lining both sides and they are all jewelers. I drooled and will admit I went back all three days we were there. Then more gelati happened. It was beautiful and while we ate it we wandered down some shopping streets. And found a Disney store!!!! And then Katie saw Lindt bags that she recognized from the shop we found in Rome. I was in love and stood in awe in the middle of all of the chocolate. So then seeing the bags we went on a desperate search... but never found it. It was a great sadness in my life. So we slept because we couldn't face dinner after the pizza and gelati.

The next day we wandered to find a garden attached to the museum/ palace thingy of the Medicis family but since you have to go through the museum to get to it and all museums were closed because it was a Monday we didn't get to actually visit it. So we wandered a bit and then went on a Chianti tour and it was beautiful. The countryside was wonderful and I took too many photos and Katie agrees that that tour was what made Florence worthwhile. The first tasting we went to a charming vineyard nestled up in some hills and tasted their cheese and a dried sausage and balsamic vinegar and olive oil as well as 5 wines. We tasted a 20 year old balsamic that I about died from. It was too wonderful. Also since with each wine we got half a glass and didn't have a way to dump any extra before the next one we drank all of the wine and then tasted grappa (alcohol from pressed grape skins and it about lit your nose hairs on fire just from smelling it. Let me just say we all about died with the one shot we each got). After that amount of alcohol I will admit I was more tipsy than I think I have ever been. Considering this was had in under an hour. We now know I am a loving drunk and Katie just thinks everything's funny. We went outside after the tasting and took pictures of the countryside and each other and at one point I just stopped and put a hand to my chest looking at Katie and was like 'you are just sooo beautiful!' I'm not ashamed to say I doted on her multiple times and told her all about her beautiful eyes. Needless to say Katie decided I can never be alone with men when I have had too much to drink as I will tell them how beautiful they are and how we could have beautiful babies and they could take advantage of that. So yea... there is that.

Anyway... We went to a little village and found some little gifts after that and then we went to another tasting in a fortress town up on a hill that is pretty much completely preserved from medieval times. The lady leading the tasting was in love with it and very poetic. After that we were both exhausted and were glad to head back to Florence for the night. So when we got back to town we wandered to the main square with the gallery but couldn't find food there and just wandered down side streets and found a super charming little restaurant where I could see the chef through a window thing and we met eyes many times. Katie had yummy spicy penne and I had yummy spaghetti with tomato sauce and basil.

Our last day in Florence we went to the gallery that houses the David and spent a bit there but it didn't take too long. Then we went to a basilica and started wandering for food and Katie reminded me of a place I remarked on that we had passed earlier. So we found that and I had a whole margherita pizza and a glass of red wine and Katie had a big salad and a glass of red wine. We both remarked on the strength of Italian wine after this (and yes we know it was at lunch but we figured we would get wine if the price would be the same for wine or water) and wandered to find some shops. Eventually we made our way to the train station to catch our train to Venice. We settled in and then I randomly asked Katie to see the tickets. I then noticed that this indeed was not the correct train station... And we about freaked out but found a nice gentleman that worked there and asked him and he informed us that we had to catch another train to that station to catch our train and that it would leave in three minutes. And of course that was from the opposite side of the station. We trotted to the right platform and looked panicked enough when we asked the nice gentleman there if this was the right place and he was like 'yup. get on the train.' So we did and then thought about our strange luck in magically figuring this out in just the nick of time. We made our train and were on it for like 3 hours I think. As it got dark and we were in a compartment thing alone it got a little creepy and when we arrived at our destination we had been the only ones in our car for a while. Then Venice drama happened. But you get that tomorrow. So whoo!!