Firenze, my love

March 28, 2013-

After wandering through the streets of Florence last night, we were excited to see how much more we could fall in love with Florence today.

We got up and had the breakfast that the hotel provided. Yes, we made sure it was provided and free. Then we were on our way to the Duomo. As we were walking along, we looked down one of the streets to our left and saw a bunch of tent stands with souvenirs and such: this was the famous "leather district" of Florence.

The tent stands had purses, leather jacks, tourist items, you name it, bustling out of their tents. It kind of reminded me of a more formalized/organized swap meet. We walking through and looked around and bought things from the stands. We stopped at one tent and met an Italian man, near our age, and talked to him for awhile. He told us he would show us around Florence later that night if we wanted. After we were done chatting with him, we walked further in to the tents and found a market, this was the "Mercat Centrale." Just like the bocqueria, but indoors and much cleaner, the same thing as what we went to in France. I like these little markets, the fresh fruit is always so luscious and the cheeses/meats always look like they would be good.

We spent a few hours walking around the leather district and Mercat Centrale then continued our journey to the Duomo. Looking up and down streets and alleys, we turned around the corner and gazed at this huge cathedral that was right in front of us. The outside of the cathedral was beautiful, so we had to go inside. We walked around the cathedral and took pictures and then asked the guard how to get to the Duomo, he laughed and said "this is the Duomo." Alright, so apparently the cathedral and the Duomo are the same thing, OOPS! Next to the Duomo was a giant tower with a long line waiting to go inside.

Everyone I had talked to in Florence and those who have been to Florence said to make sure to climb to the top of the Duomo, so this must be what they are talking about. Standing in line, almost to the front, I looked over and saw a little sign that read "no lift, 414 steps." Well, it was too late to turn back now! If nothing else, it would be my workout for the day.

Walking up those steps, I almost thought I was going to faint. Step, after step, after step. One in front of the other.

Finally, I made it to the second of the three openings (about 350 steps) and decided this was high enough: not because I was tired of walking, but because my fear of heights kind of kicked in. From here I could see all of Florence, the steps were so worth it! What a beautiful view which turned in to great pictures as well!

Well, as the saying goes: what goes up, must come down. So I made my trek down the stairs and out of the tower to find Amanda. When I got to the bottom I noticed that my legs were shaking and I couldn't stand in place. Whew, I needed some water, or better yet, gelato!

After the Duomo, we walked further down the street to find the Gucci Museum. I had to go in, there was no questions. Amanda decided she would sit outside and read while I was inside. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside the museum so I don't have any pictures, but many pictures in my head and a memory of what I saw. I was in heaven, I love learning about fashion and designers' lives/ inspirations.

Then we were getting hungry, and after walking all of the steps, the gremlin in my stomach was growling. It was time to eat. We sat down next to the statue of Michelangelo and had pizza and listened to the according someone was playing in the piazza: that's how people beg for money in Italy, playing instruments, it's quite nice and I appreciate it much more.

Our stomachs were filled and our ears were in heaven but time was ticking and daylight was burning. It was on to our next destination: the vecchio bridge. As we walked across the bridge it was lined with beautiful expensive jewelry shops.

My friend who recommended Il Teatro also recommended that the best gelato was located on the other side of vecchio bridge. I bet you can guess what the first place we went when we crossed the bridge was. Oh yes, a gelato shop, and to say it was the best gelato I've had was quite the understatement.

We walked around eating our gelato and licking our lips and came upon piazza pitti: apparently the largest palace in Florence. Tickets to get in to the museum were 13 euro and we had never even heard of it, so we decided that pictures of the outside would suffice.

With the thought of the leather district still in the back of our minds, we continued to another bridge, crossed and made our way back to the leather markets to walk around and explore a little more.

The leather markets were a close second, after the Gucci museum, to my favorite place in Florence.

Since we seemed to have success at Il Teatro the night before, we decided to head back to the same street/piazza and find another place to eat for the night. This time we ate in the Sant Croce piazza, right next to the cathedral we had stumbled upon the night before. I had a delicious calzone, even better than the one I had before! I didn't think that was possible.

At dinner, we met a family traveling from Manhattan and talked with them about their journey in Europe.

On our walk home, as we were passing the Duomo, in the square we heard loud music. Then, all of a sudden, we see a bunch of bikes with balloons on them and people singing along, just riding their bikes. It was a bike parade! The four person bike had a huge speaker on it and was blasting upbeat music (even Micheal Jackson at one point) and everyone behind them were just riding along talking, smiling, and some, drinking beer: just having a grand old time!... As if I hadn't loved the Italians/ Florence enough!

Day 7: I've never loved a city more

Verona to Florence

March 27, 2013-

Destination: Firenze (Florence), but first, the Leaning Tower of Pisa!!

After walking around Verona all day yesterday, today our destination was Florence, Italy. We would take the train from Verona, make a transfer in Florence to the train that would take us to Pisa. We would get off at Pisa, walk to the leaning tower: have a small photo shoot, and then get back on the train to Florence.

We left Paula and our cute bed and breakfast to walk to the train station at 7 a.m. This time we decided to walk to avoid any problems with the bus which would cause us to potentially miss our train.

Our train was scheduled to leave at 7:50. We had a map and were pretty confident we could make it to the train station with about 20 minutes to spare.

Well, because we had a map, it only meant one thing: we got lost. We should have known. We took a wrong turn and ended up in a disaster. At 7:30 we decided to turn around and walk the way we came from. Eventually we made it to a piazza with only 20 minutes until our train left the station. Desperate, we searched for a taxi and hoped it would get us there in 20 minutes.

In the taxi, with only 10 minutes until 7:50, we could see the train station so we told the taxi driver to let us out. He jacked up the price of the taxi two euro and we were on our way, SPRINTING to the station.

Side note: we were doing all of this while it was pouring rain.

We arrived at the train station and ran to the board to look at which platform our train was on and luckily we read that it was 15 minutes delayed, phew, someone was looking after us! We still went to the platform and were able to get on the train and rest for 15 minutes.

However, because of this train being 15 minutes delayed leaving Verona it meant the next train that we needed to catch in Florence, which would take us to Pisa, we missed.  Thankfully on the train ticket it said that the ticket was valid for four hours after the original time, for instances just like this one.

Eventually we made it to Pisa and walked to the Leaning Tower. Surprisingly the town of Pisa, that we had to walk through, was very run-down, had graffiti everywhere, and overall pretty ghetto. I didn't expect that. Luckily after arriving at the tower, there wasn't as many people as I thought would be there, but the tower, in real life, looks exactly how it photographs. Of course we had to take the stereotypical pictures: holding the tower, kicking the tower, and pushing the tower. Then we were back on the train to Florence, finally.

I sat next to this old Italian lady (Nonna or grandma) who was so sweet and funny. We laughed and smiled at each other, not even saying a word. Which brings me to another point; If you haven't been able to tell already, the Italians are much more friendly than the Spanish. They always seem so happy and full of life, even the older ones.

After arriving in Florence, we got off the train and of course, on the wrong bus. We asked a few people and they tried to help us out but apparently gave us the wrong directions. An Italian man, about our age, who was sitting across the row on the bus from chimed in and  us told us that he was going somewhere near the hotel we were trying to get to and to just follow him, so we did. After getting off the bus he pointed us in the direction we needed to go and then he went on his way.

We walked to where he pointed and it was still the wrong way, so we asked more people and eventually found our way. Even the people who didn't speak any English who we asked, motioned for us to show them the name of the street and then they pointed in the direction it was. Amazing and so willing to help.

So we walked in circles for a little while and eventually found our hotel: Hotel Colorado, how ironic :).

Hotel Colorado was nice and the man working at the reception desk was very accommodating as well. He gave us a map and explained where everything was in relation to the hotel. The hotel was in a GREAT location and right in the middle of everything. So far we're 3 for 3!

At the hotel we set our stuff down, used the WIFI and the map to plan out our day for the next day so that we saw everything in Florence, and then adventured out to a restaurant my friend who studied abroad in Italy said was the best in all of Florence.

Surprisingly, even though we had many turns, we didn't get lost finding the restaurant. We did, however, get there too early, so we had 30 minutes to spare. So we walked around the area, not to far from the restaurant so that we didn't get lost going back. We found a cathedral (Santa Croce Basilica), a huge library, and then the canal that went through the city. By this time the sun had began to set, by far the most beautiful sun set I have ever seen. We watched the sunset on the side of the canal and then made our way back to the restaurant. Walking through the alleys and along the roads was exactly how I had imagined Italy. This was Italy, just how I had always dreamed it being.

The name of the restaurant was Il Teatro, a little whole in the wall and family owned, but the best place I ate in Italy. I could have ate anything on the menu, it all sounded so delicious, but I decided to have bruschetta to start, then tortellini, and finally cheesecake for dessert. We ordered the house wine and had that along with our meal. If I could eat that same meal every day of my life, I would, it was that good. As we were at our table there were two girls, who were speaking English, next to us. Eventually they asked where we were from and we all started talking. They were from San Francisco and studying abroad in Florence and this was their "go-to" place whenever they wanted great food. They had just been in Barcelona two weeks before (the one weekend it was sunny) and absolutely fell in love with the city.  We chatted about Barca for awhile and then, after stuffing our faces, decided it was time to make our way home.

Day 6: Firenze, you have my heart

A View Around Verona

March 26, 2013-

We woke up to a nice breakfast that Paula left for us. We had toast, jelly, salami, cheese (the Italians got the cheese thing down too, take notes Spain!), yogurt, cocoa pebbles, orange juice, tea, etc. Gourmet and delicious.

We ate and then got dressed for the rainy weather. On our way to the next piazza, we stopped at a gelato shop and had a couple scoops to get us started. Yes, it was raining, and yes, it was only 10 a.m., but you know what they say...."When in Italy...." We couldn't resist.

After we ate our gelato, we went to the Roman Arena, paid 4.50 to get in, only to find out they were doing construction and really, the Arena looked much better from the outside. There really wasn't much to see on the inside, except the construction, and that doesn't always photograph so well. That could have got us another few scoops of gelato!!!!

Anyway, then we were on our way to a castle: castel veccio to be precise. We walked around the castle and took a few pictures and then headed to our next destination: Romeo's house. On our way there we stumbled upon another church, San Lorenzo. We walked in through the gates and up to the church, but we couldn't figure out how to open the door. We thought it was locked until the man behind us pushed the door, not pulled it and then snickered a little at us. BLONDE MOMENT.

Here in Europe every door is push instead of pull, so we always look like idiots trying to pull every door open, but at least we get a good laugh, us and the people watching us. On our way out of the gates when we were finished with the church, the gates wouldn't open. We stood there, trying to figure out how we were going to navigate this contraption and then a guy from inside the church came out and opened them for us. Of course, the man who helped open the door letting us in was right behind us watching this all unfold. He passed us on the street and gave us a funny looked and we all laughed.

On our way to Romeo's house we got a little lost, of course, and ended up at Anastasia Cathedral. We walked around inside and then made our way to Romeo's house, finally. After arriving at Romeo's house we found only a closed garage door with a bunch of writing on it. Clearly, Juliette's house was the more popular one.

As it was the afternoon, it was time for cappuccino. We found a cute cafe and sat inside and drank cappuccino and ate pizza for an afternoon snack.

After pizza and cappuccino we stumbled upon some type of Gardens but later realized it was 7 euro to get in and quickly decided to go to the Roman theater just down the road. At the top of the Roman theater you could see all of Verona, it was quite beautiful with the river running along the middle of the town. It was cold, but a dry crisp cold, which made the pictures that much better.

But the Roman Theater wasn't enough. We wanted to be higher and get an even better view. We took a road that wound through the countryside part of Verona, up and around to the highest point in Verona, the Saint Maria Cathedral. Where we looked out and saw an breathtaking, unrealistic view of God's beautiful creation: Verona, Italy.

After our small photo shoot of Verona, we walked back down the mountain and on to San Zen Basilica. We walked along the beautiful river that wove in and around the town for what seamed like forever, and eventually arrived at the Basilica, which ended up being a disappointment.

Then it was finally time for our favorite part of each day: DINNER TIME!

We retraced our steps to where we were in the piazza in the morning and sat down and had pizza.

 Day 5: God's country: Verona, Italy

Verona in Paisley

March 25, 2013-

Destination: Verona

Chao Venezia, it was now time to move to our next destination, little Verona.

We checked out of our hotel, with trash bags I had brought to put over our bags so that our bags didn't get wet when it was raining. As we were walking out of the hotel, the receptionist saw our bags and thought it was such a smart idea, but we ripped the bag so that our handles would come up and he noticed and put tape on it so that the rain wouldn't get in. Italian men are the nicest guys!

It was pouring outside and windy, as expected, but we caught the vaporetto and arrived at the train station. On our way to the vaporetto, after leaving the hotel, we stopped at the outside market one last time and got our daily banana chips and dried fruit. We were sad to leave it, but would be back one day.

We got on the train to Verona, I've never seen a train be so nice before! The seats were in perfect condition, two on each side, facing another two, with a table in the middle. The table had plugs to charge things and the cabin even had a bathroom. The train had huge windows to see our of and there weren't many people on it.

We began our voyage to Verona along the beautiful Italian countryside. It was filled with grape vines which were obviously used to make Italian wine. It was snowing, but the grass was so green and luscious.

After riding the train for about an hour, we finally arrived to Verona and made it to the bus station. Now the challenge: getting on the bus and making it to the hotel.

As you could probably guess, we got lost. We rode the bus the correct bus I will add, all the way to the final destination and got off and had no idea where we were. We couldn't read the bus stop signs because either the bus driver would pass them when he stopped or the writing was too small. Great, lost again, story of our lives.

Eventually after asking around and trying to read the signs, we got back on the bus and got off at the right stop (we almost passed it and didn't get off again).

This time, in Verona, we were staying at a Bed and Breakfast. The name: Bed and Breakfast next to Juliette's house. Dear Lord, what have we got ourselves in to, a place that doesn't even have a name? This ought to be a good time. We made our way up the stairs to the cutest place I have ever stayed in. We were greeted by this sweet Italian woman named Paula who showed us the beautiful apartment, decorated in paisley and so clean. She showed us to our room (it was only a 2 bedroom) and then gave us a map and told us what we should see while we were there. She made sure we had everything we needed and asked us what time we wanted breakfast and then went on her merry way. Paula will always have a special place in my heart! She made me feel at home the most while I've been in Europe.

Then we went out to Juliette's house and to explore Verona. We walked through a tunnel with writing all over the walls and saw a lock wall. We went in to the Juliette's house museum, which was a waste of 4 euro because it was really only just clothes with quotes from Romeo and Juliette, but that was okay. After the museum we wandered around more and found a square called Piazza Erbe which had an island in the middle with a bunch of tented stands with little tourist trinkets, sandwiches, and then lastly: fruit!

After looking around there for awhile we headed to the Lamberti Tower to see a panoramic view of Verona this time. This time around it wasn't so cold or windy and we could spend more time looking out and taking pictures.

We went to another cathedral and then sat inside for a cup of cappuccino and then walked around exploring a little more before dinner. When we were walking around taking pictures an Italian lady that was walking along, stopped and asked if we wanted a picture together without us even asking. Uh, I love it!

The scenery in Verona was just like a Thomas Kinkade painting, absolutely beautiful.

Well, after killing enough time before dinner, we wandered around a little more and found a cute little restaurant and I had bigoli amatriciana, which was so good, with grilled vegetables (ahh, I've missed vegetables) and homemade Italian tiramisu. The tiramisu was BY FAR the best I've ever had, the flavor was unimaginable.

Day 4: Loving the Italians

Cappucino in Piazza San Marco

March 24, 2013-

Chao!!

We braved the rain storm, which continued in to today and went on our way to Piazza San Marco, this time, without breakfast.

We made our way to the San Marco Basilica just in time for mass for Palm Sunday. Perfect timing! We were handed our palms and walked around until we could find a good place to see the alter. The Bishop was giving the mass and the basilica was absolutely astonishing, so pretty! Because we were in Venice, the mass was in Italian, naturally. By this time we were fluent, you know, but he was speaking a little "too fast" for us to be able to understand it ;)

When mass was finished we went back out in to the pouring rain and in to the square and went to the top of the campanile tower to get a beautiful panoramic view of Venice.

As we were just about to get in to the elevator to go to the top there was a sign that said "Warning: cold and windy." Alright, we thought, no big deal, we've been through that before.... or so we thought. We got to the top and walked out of the elevator and were frozen solid! Our fingers could barely move to take the pictures, not to mention, the bells, which could be heard throughout all of Venice, were 5 minutes from ringing right next to us in the tower. We scurried around and took as many pictures as possible and then quickly got back in the elevator and down to the bottom. It was worth it, and we didn't even lose our hearing!

As my Spanish teacher told me many times "you must drink cappuccino in Piazza San Marco." Alright Alright Midea (Me-day-ah) since we were freezing cold, I think a cappuccino in Piazza San Marco was exactly what we deserved. We found a cafe and got out of the rain to sit at the bar for a cappuccino..... Which began my addiction to cappuccino in Italy. Amanda had ordered hot chocolate, only to recieve, literally, a cup of hot melted chocolate. Then, we found another cafe with a heater and we sat down at an empty table and ate my left over heavenly calzone from the night before.

After we were full and feeling warm and fuzzy, we adventured to the Museo di San Marco, the museum on top of the basilica. We walked through the museum looking at old bibles that used to be used, old candlesticks, old priest vestments, etc.  From the museum you could see the whole basilica and the ceiling was lit up so you could see all the pretty gold tiles.

By the time we were done with everything, it was pouring rain and getting late. We were hungry and even though I had an umbrella, soaking wet. We walked to the nearest vaporetto dock, but I saw a huge cathedral on the other side of the canal that looked beautiful. We HAD to go over there. So, we got on the vaporetto, got off at the next stop, which was right in front of the cathedral, walked around and took pictures for about 5 minutes and then got right back on the vaporetto and back home.

Because it was pouring rain and very chilly, there weren't many people out and about, which was nice. Of course there were still come gondola's out and about with crazy people with umbrellas riding along, but for the most part, it was pretty quiet. As we got off the vaporetto and were on our way home, the outside market was open so we stopped for banana chips and dried fruit this time. I couldn't feel my hands or feet, but the banana chips sure did taste good after a long day.

As we were walking home we noticed that the canal was starting to overflow into the streets, what a disaster! There's going to be a flood!

For dinner we stayed close to the hotel and ate Chinese food. I had almond chicken with rice and SOY SAUCE (something my roommate nor I can find in Barca). For dessert we had some kind of white and dark truffle ice cream. So good!

When we got home, there was our friend, waiting for us, peaking outside the restaurant, welcoming us with a big smile.

 Day 3: a cup of cappuccino 

The Venetian Islands

March 23, 2013-

Bonjourno! (yes, it's only the second day and we are fluent in Italian, thanks Andrea and Italy for that one!)

It was time to wake up and begin our second day in Venice. Today, we were off to the beautiful islands just off of Venice of Murano and Burano.

A few months ago Amanda had been looking on her twitter and found a picture of some place in Italy that had colorful houses alongside a waterway with cute boats, but didn't know where it was. I "googled" it later that day and found our it was the island of Burano, and luckily, we just so happened to be going to Venice which was about a 30 minute vaporetto ride to Burano.


First, we went to the kitchen in the hotel, thinking breakfast was provided, and started toasting our bread and filling the bowls with cereal only to find out that it wasn't provided and we were taking peoples food! Talk about AWKWARD!!!!!!!

Then we had to get out of there, and quick. We walked out of the hotel and around the alleys to get to the correct dock which would take us to the islands.

After getting on the vaporetto, we took a 30 minute boat ride to the beautiful island of Burano. When we were on the vaporetto you could see the "streets" and the flow of traffic, so neat and organized. After arriving at the island we walked and finally saw the street in the photo. So amazing! It was exactly like the picture. The colors of the houses were so bright and the color of the water was a distinct color and the boats were perfectly alined. What a sight! It was still early in the morning so there wasn't many people around and things were still quiet, perfect timing for millions of pictures!

Burano is also known for their lace and had a lace museum on the island. Of course we had to go there. The museum was okay, but we did see a bunch of cute old ladies, in a line, sitting down, threading the lace.

After the lace museum, we sat in a piazza and had pizza leftovers from the night before, how Italian of us!

After we saw all of Burano, which was pretty small, we got back on the vaporetto for 10 minutes and got off at Murano island: the glassblowing island.

We walked around Murano, sat along the canal, and went in to every little glass shop we possibly could.

We got back on the vaporetto back to Venice. Since we still had some time left in our day we just stayed on the vaporetto and took a tour around the whole island of Venice until we came full circle and got off.

 On our way home, after we got off at our home dock, we found an outside market filled with fruit stands, sort of like the bocqueria in Spain, except not so crowded or dirty. I found dried banana chips, finally, I had been craving them since I came to Europe and we bought fruit for the next day. For dinner, we again, wandered around the alleys and bridges and found another hole in the wall and had a calzone. MMM, my absolute favorite food both in America and in Italia.

Dinner was delicious, but after we were done it was pouring rain and I had no umbrella, so by the time we navigated our way home, Amanda and I were both soaking wet!

 Day 2: Rain in Venice? No problem
 

Italy Bound

March 22, 2013-

Today was the day I had been waiting for since I was a little girl. It's always been my dream to go to Italy and finally, I was going to be in Italy for not just a week, but 12 days!

Of course, I couldn't sleep the night before, I was like a little child on Christmas.

But, thank God that early the next morning I was up and ready to navigate public transportation and get to the airport. We got on the metro and got off to get on the good 'ol Renfe train, this time doing it right as to avoid a ticket.

From the metro, we ran to the train just in time for us to hop on and the doors to shut. Off to the airport we were! Everything through security went smoothly and we were in line waiting to board our Ryan Air flight to Venice, Italy!

Before getting on the plane, Ryan Air is SUPER paranoid and has to check everyone's carry on and make sure it fits the very strict criteria otherwise you have to pay a 60 euro fee to check it.  Let me tell you, they go over board with it. Because we're traveling around Europe and have to haul our bags with us places before we arrive at our hotel, we always just take a rolling carry-on so we don't have to lug a huge bag around. For a wardrobe person like me, it's definitely a struggle: every. single. time. to fit everything in to that little bag, but every. single. time, I make it work :).

Anyway, we were second in line to board the flight, when the guy in front of us had a backpack that was too wide to fit in the measurements. Naturally, he started taking a few things out so that it would fit, but the boarding gate lady said it all had to be in his bag. He was in a panic and thought he had to check his whole backpack and pay the fee. I had a little extra space in my luggage so I offered to put it in mine just until we got on board and then he could take it back. Apparently I saved the poor guys life! Besides him being very attractive he was super nice too.

After we boarded the plane he sat next to us and talked to us the whole time. He was from Italy and going home for his semana santa. He was studying architecture at a school just outside of Barcelona. On the plane, he taught us some Italian and wrote it down so we would remember, told us where good places to go/eat were in Italy, and everything else you could think of. As we got off the plane he made sure we got to our bus and bought our tickets and then we went on our separate ways. Chao Andrea, we will see you when we both get back to Barcelona!

Finally, we took the bus to the main piazza in Venice. No, we didn't get lost. Yes, it was easy to get to the bus.

After arriving, we bought our vaporetto passes. The vaporetto is the main transportation system in Venice. Because it is all water, they get around on boats, it's actually really cool. They have little docks that the boat comes up to and ties up, the people get on, and then they untie and are on their way: all in a matter of seconds. It's really something to see. They even have water taxis! No one even owns a car, it's not an option.

After walking around the alleys and bridges in Venice for awhile, not knowing where the heck we were, asking everyone and their mother where the street was for our hotel was, we finally arrived at the hotel. The hotel was right in the middle of town too, such a great location!

We put our stuff down and our first destination was: gelato, of course. We got our gelato, a.k.a. the best thing I have ever tasted, and sat in the sun on a bench and watched everyone passing by on the grand canal for the rest of the afternoon. The gondole men were the best. As they were waiting they would call out "gondole, gondole" and then follow with a song and then continue with some jokes. They were dressed in stripped shirts and usually had a straw hat on, quite comical!

Then it was time to try the Italian cuisine everyone talks about. Let me tell you, there is NOTHING they can do wrong when it comes to food. The whole time I was in Italy I had never seen/tasted anything that tasted less than perfect. The food was indescribable, best food ever.

We wandered around the alleys and crossed over the bridges, eventually getting lost, and found a little whole in the wall restaurant. I had the best bruschetta and gnocci I had ever tasted. We sat at the restaurant for three hours, just talking and enjoying our food. Uh oh, the Spanish habits are starting to sink in.

When we had arrived at the hotel earlier they were nice enough to provide us with a map, so navigating our way through the alleys and over the bridges to get home was easy, we weren't really lost after all.

As we took about 10 minutes to figure out how to open the door to the hotel, a guy in the restaurant next to our hotel was trying to start a conversation and calling to us. He wanted us to come sit down and he would take us out for some beer and wine, but we were tired and decided to call it a night.

Day 1 in Italy: Success