Planes, Trains, and Gondolas

So I got home from Italy this past Wednesday (after a couple delays in the airport that is...)! I've been enjoying my time at home...mainly catching up on sleep. :)
Anyway, I have been uploading pictures to the computer (and Facebook, of course). I got an 8 gig card before I left for Italy & I had over 1800 pictures on just that memory card! So I think I have about 2000 total....
So here are some favorites from the 8 gig card:

This was the view from our room in Florence.


This is a side of the Duomo--one of the largest cathedrals in Italy. It's the pride of Florence


The David by Michelangelo


This is a view of the Duomo and other buildings from the Piazza de Michelangelo which overlooks Florence. So beautiful!


Sarah Beth, Daniel, and I LOVED Venice. It was so laid back and beautiful. We wanted to stay longer. We met this guy, Fabrizio, on the way to San Marcos Square. He had these beautiful watercolors and was SO nice. So we took a picture with him!


This is the view of Venice from the Rialto--the biggest bridge out of the 400 something in the city.

Mamma Mia!

I am writing this from Firenze (Florence!) We left for Italy on Monday, arrived early Tuesday morning in Rome and took a train to Florence. We leave for Venice at 9:30 tomorrow morning. Tuesday we went to the Academia and saw the David (it's HUGE!); yesterday we saw the Duomo, Santa Croce, and a few other major spots in Florence. We also spent ridiculous amounts of money shopping in the market yesterday. Or at least the girls did. :) Today can be summed up in one word: STAIRS. First, we climbed the Duomo--460 something stairs, I believe. And then of course, we climbed back down. The view from the top was incredible though. I'm so glad we did it. After the Duomo we walked over to Pitta Palace, which had the most beautiful gardens! Annetta, Daniel, and I walked to the very top of the gardens and (once again) enjoyed the amazing view. THEN we walked over to the Piazza de Michelangelo and hiked up to the top. And again, gorgeous view. Possibly my favorite view. My mom luckily let me bring her long lens (thanks, Mom) :) so I went a little crazy with the pictures! In fact, my camera is now dead. I wish I could upload pictures because I got some really great ones. They will come later though.
Anyway, I really like it here. Florence is a fun city with nice people. I can't say I'd like to live here though. I'll save that for England. But maybe Italy can be my vacation spot when I am a professor at Oxford! :)
I am going to go nap & freshen up for dinner. (OH by the way--we had the most AMAZING dinner last night. Wow. It was so good. I want to eat there again & get the exact same things. Except I think I would probably have a heart attack because it was all so rich & unhealthy, haha).
I can't wait to start TBB. Seriously. I am getting so excited!
I'll post pictures of Italy as soon as I can.