Florence

Tuesday

This day we left for Florence via bus.  On the way there we stopped at the leaning tower of Pisa.  It was really cool to see something that I've always heard about like that.  It was a pretty area but very touristy.  Then we got back on the bus and finally arrived in Florence.  We made a stop at a beautiful panoramic view of Florence that was breathtaking.  We arrived at the hotel at night and I met up with Hannah from school, who is studying in Florence.  We went out to dinner and walked around the city to see the Duomo and the many statues and buildings.  It was a great night and I fell in love with the city immediately.

The leaning tower of Pisa (trust me it is leaning).

3 gorgeous views of Florence.

Wednesday

This morning we went to the Uffizi, a famous art museum that houses Michaelangelo's only painting and some of Leonardo DiVinci.  I am not usually interested in art museums but this was so intriguing and our tour guide was excellent.  It was a great museum.  Afterwards, we went to a nice italian restaurant and met up with Hannah again.  We window shopped, a popular thing to do in Florence, and enjoyed all the narrow streets and buildings all around the city.  At night we went to the opera!  It took place in a church and featured a man and woman that alternated and also preformed duets.  It was a beautiful walk and we found a great place to eat dinner underground with great ambiance.  The opera was a great experience!  It was something new for me to do and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thursday

Today we left for Venice.  When we arrived we a took a boat ride to central Venice.  The view looked just like that of the scene from Casino Royale when they are sailing through Venice.  It was so expansive.  Unfortunately, it is very touristy, but it is a beautiful and picturesque place.  While walking around, we stumbled upon a helicopter tour guide and decided to see Venice in a helicopter!  I went with two other friends from my program.  It was definitely the best 40 euro I have and will ever spend.  Even the boat ride to the airport was a great experience.  It's hard to explain the helicopter ride in words, but it was so so amazing.  Venice is not one island, but many.  Like all the other parts of Italy, it was breathtaking.  After all of this we went back to the island and walked around.  The boat ride back to where we are staying at night was very pretty.  Tomorrow we leave for Barcelona, Spain!

I promise to post pictures once I get back to Cyprus in a few days-the internet in the hotels does not work well enough for me to be able to load them.





View of some of Venice from our helicopter ride!