Florence

I have not been the best at keeping this up this summer and I am truly sorry. I have had a busy and fun 2 months!

After Rome came Florence!

We took the train to Florence and it was a bit of a crazy bit. We found a train that went to Florence and a lady even directed us there (although we should have known better because we had to give her money after she took us to the wrong train). Thankfully, we figured out 20 minutes before our train was supposed to depart that we were on the wrong one, hopped off and were off for the right one.

Overlooking Florence

The train took about 3 hours and the hostel was a lot easier to find this time. We stayed at Hotel Marcella and it was a lot easier to find that the hostel in Rome BUT it was up 6 flights of stairs. The old man who owns the place was a huge sweetheart but he did not speak English. He did however, have a bottle opener when we mistakenly bought a bottle of wine without having the nice people in the store to open it.

So we went off on a journey through Florence. It was very nice and picturesque and very relaxing compared to Rome and I liked it a lot better than Rome. We went to El Dumo and took a CitySightSeeing in Florence. They took my nice pretty ticket from Rome for a small discount for Florence.

El Dumo

While we were in Florence, Pisa was so close we couldn't resist taking a half day trip over on the bus. Even though Pisa is extremely famous for the leaning tower, there really wasn't much to the town so after an hour or two we hopped back on the bus to Florence.

Pisa

The last day we were there, we decided to visit the art galleries that housed Michelangelo’s David and the Gallery Uffizzi which had the Birth of Venus and a lot of other famous works that I remember learning about in high school . It took forever to get into the two places though! I am really glad we left the galleries until the last day because we needed the entire day to wait in line. To wait for Michelangelo we stood in line for about an hour. I really didn’t like Michelangelo’s David as much as I thought I would. I thought his hands were so disproportionate from the rest of his body, but then again that is just me.

The Gallery Uffizzi was a pain in the bottom. Because we didn’t book our tickets beforehand, we stood in line to get tickets for 5 hours but it was worth it! I’m pretty sure we spent as much time in the Gallery as we did waiting in line and we were exhausted that night. And we made friends with a lovely American family. They were on their fourth time to Italy as a family, the father worked in NYC while the rest of the family lived in Alabama.

We headed off early the next day and made our way back to England.

Rome

Roma. A city of love, destruction, ruins and churches.


My friend Becky and I had 4 wonderful days in Rome where we visited the Colosseum, The Vatican (well I did...), went on a quest for Bernini's David, saw the Forma Roma, where Julius Caesar was murdered, and so much more.

Rome

Our first day was a journey to find the bed and breakfast, Ottimista - Furio Camillio and after a frustrating hour and the nicest Italian in Rome, we found it. It was in a somewhat sketchy area but the man who owned it was incredibly nice and told us how to get to different areas and what to watch out for!


From there we wandered around Rome with a map and tried to find the Trevi Fountain. Must to our delight and dismay we ended up at the Vatican (which we were not properly dressed for). We eventually found it after a few hours and had gelato to celebrate.

Me at the Trevi Fountain with Gelato 

The next day we traveled back to the Vatican. A strict country inside of Rome, where the Pope resides. In order to gain entrance, you must have your shoulders and knees covered (guys and gals!) due to it being a Holy Place. While we were bother wearing tights and cardigans, Becky's tights were deemed too see through and was denied entrance so she waited outside while I popped my head in and it was beautiful! I saw Michelangelo's Pieta and so many more works. We then left for the Vatican Museums (which she could get into) and saw the Sistine Chapel along with other famous works of art. We were also told that Bernini did not do a David... We then took CitySightSeeing Bus around Rome. It was a nice break to get off of our feet and have a nice breeze on us. It was fairly cheap too! 15 euros for 2 bus lines that took us all over and we had the ability to get on and off to see sights!

Colosseum!

Day 3 led us to the Colosseum, Constantine's Arch, the Forma Roma and Palatine Hill. All beautiful giant ruins. We didn't grab a tour or a guide and we made out pretty well. The only problem was this day was excruciatingly hot and we were unfortunate to have run into the Roman Troops! The Roman Troops were just people dressed up like Romans near the Colosseum. We thought they were there from the Colosseum  but after we got our picture they asked for money and reluctantly we gave them some.

Our final day led us to the Pantheon and it was gorgeous (and free)! Becky swooned over the building more than I did but I still loved it. This is also were Raphael has his tomb. We then decided to search for Bernini's David. This took us from the Colosseum (bottom of Rome) to the tiny upper corner of it (I would say a good 2-3 mile walk...). after being told that the museum he was supposed to be in did not exist, we found it!The Galleria Borghese. Excited as I was, I went up to get my ticket with a credit card, the guy shook his head, "okay, cash" I thought and went to get my cash out. Then he pointed to a sign. Sold out until June 12. We were going to be in Florence that day. I'm sorry but how does a MUSEUM sell out of TICKETS!? I was so angry but I didn't let it ruin my trip.

Me at the Pantheon

I loved visiting Rome. Living there would not be my style though. First off, I can't speak Italian which was strike one on my part. Thankfully enough people did speak English or at least a little bit of it.


What to take away:
Pigeons suck
Galleries are jerks
Directions and signs don't matter
Vespas will run you over
Learn Italian

Ticket to Italy

MAKE WAY EVERYONE! MAKE WAY!
I AM TRAVELING TO ITALY. OFFICIALLY.


This is crazy. A little 9 days separate me from the Europe, more specifically England. Then 6 days after my arrival to England, I'm flying out (with Becky of course!) to Italy.


So many adventures will happen!


We are flying out June 6th to Ciampino, Italy and staying in Rome for 4 nights and then heading up to Florence and Pisa for 3 and then we are back to England!


Crazy huh?


We were able to get cheap tickets from ryanair.com for about $150, other travel sites had prices listed on average for $200.  If you like planning ahead (like I do!) RyanAir is the cheap way to go. There are of course restrictions to what you can bring but I'm sure I can get by with a little bag for a week! WHICH REMINDS ME I HAVE TO PACK! Oh dear, 1 piece of luggage will be the death of me...

Not mine but I fear it will be..

Getting the plane ticket, in my opinion, is the easiest part of the trip. Next came hostel booking. I searched for weeks comparing hostels (ughhh so many) prices, ratings and so on and so forth on hostelworld.com. The final decision came to Ottimista - Furio Camillio for Rome and Hotel Marcella for Florence. While we were planning on staying in hostels, these bed and breakfasts were a lot cheaper (and were less likely to put me into an anxiety attack!).

Rome

But how do you get from Rome to Florence with no car? Take the train! Italiarail.com was the place to go. The train tickets were fairly cheap, around $67 roundtrip. It also wasn't too bad working around the plane ticket (we have to be back in Ciampino by 4 on the 13th). 


All that is left is to get bus passes for Rome, plan out what we are going to see there, bus tickets for Florence (around the city), and a bus to and from Florence to Pisa (cliche picture of me holding up the leaning tower her I come!)

Pretend I'm holding it up! 

Also, as a last note, I know I haven't been great keeping up with blogging, these last few weeks have been absolutely nuts!

Tanning

Is it really that bad?

I just went tanning for the first time in my life and I was scared.
1. Because I am a hypochondriac and 2. I fear I will burn to death

But the second and third times (with no color change I must add) I finally was able to relax like I would in the sun.

Why am I tanning?

I have been pale all of my life and I am traveling to Europe (Italy and Spain) this summer. It's really hot over there and really sunny.

I personally do not want to get skin cancer in Europe because I am not used to a higher exposure of sun, nor am I willing to go through any amounts of sunburn pain while on vacation which brings me to the question, is tanning bad? How much is too much?

I think if you are getting a base tan (like I am) it is completely fine but if you are going everyday for a year and turning into leather, that is bad. A base tan can provide a small layer of protection against a nasty sunburn when the sunscreen unknowingly wears off.

I have personally see a mixture people who say one or the other.  Here is one that says all tanning is bad news while this one says that  talks about both.

I have seen versions where the final picture is a leather couch

There are always going to be positives and there will always be negatives.  Like everything... It's okay in moderation.

What do you think?

Countries I Hope to Visit this Summer

A 86 days until England! I CAN'T WAIT!

Here are the countries that I hope to visit this summer!

England 
duh.  It would be pretty hard to not go here seeing as how my study abroad is located in East Sussex and I'm staying with my family..

London, England

France
Mostly Paris. :-D  Another easy one to get to because it is so close to England

Paris, France

Ireland
It's so close, why not?

Spain
I have a friend who is studying abroad in Spain and we agreed that we were going to come and visit each other!

Barcelona, Spain

Italy
How can anyone go to Europe and not visit Italy? I mean come on.  The Colosseum, the Vatican, the art, the architecture?  A must see.

Trevi Fountain, Rome, Italy

Germany
Germany has so much history involved it would be hard to pass up a trip here.

Greece
How beautiful Greece is!! Just by looking at the pictures it is to die for! Not to mention all of the Greek temples like the Parthenon.

Parthenon, Acropolis

Egypt 
This one may be a long shot this summer but I defiantly want to go here at some point in my life. I would love to see all of the pyramids and I absolutely love Egyptian culture.

Now, I'm realistic enough to understand that I probably won't make all 8 countries in 10 weeks (it could be possible though!). But I will see where I end up and make the most of it no matter what and whatever I don't get to see will just be added to the travel wish list!