Venice Day Three

Today was our last day in Venice; we are taking a bus and then train to Vienna, Austria in the morning. We spent most of the day just walking around Venice and exploring different neighborhoods. The city is very small but the streets are really hard to navigate because of the canals running though the city. The sun finally came out today so we were able to get some better pictures.

The weirdest thing we saw today was a seagull attack and skewer a pigeon. It happened in the main square by St. Marks and all the little kids watching started freaking out. 

We walked around for two hours tonight trying to find somewhere to eat for dinner that wasn't a pizza restaurant. We finally walked all the way back to our apartment and ate at the same restaurant we ate at last night. Half way through dinner it started raining so we got our food to go because we were seated outside. We made it home just in time to get our laundry off the clothes line before everything was soaked. 

Venice Day Two

We arrived in Venice yesterday. It has been cool and cloudy the last few days but is supposed to be sunny tomorrow. We visited St. Marks today (no pictures allowed inside) where the supposed bones of St. Mark the Evangelist are kept. After that we took a boat to Murano where we watched a glass-blowing demonstration.

Florence Day Three

Today we slept in a little on our awesome pull-out-couch bed (we were expecting a real bed) before visiting the Duomo (The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore). We climbed over 460 steps to the top of the dome. The stairs were steep and spiraled most if the way up. Near the top we were able to walk out into the dome and look at the paintings on the ceiling. At the very top we could see the entire city. I'm scared of heights (something I've recently discovered while hiking with Mark on the Blue Ridge) but I did pretty well. Florence is beautiful and we could see the mountains and country off in the distance. 

After the Duomo we visited the baptistery next door. I really like the gold leaf and Byzantine influence in the mosaics.

It started to rain after the baptistery so we decided to visit one of the smaller museums in Florence--The Academy-- where Michelangelo's David is kept. The museum did not allow photos so we have none to show. The museum mostly contained old religious paintings and sculptures. Again, I really enjoyed the Byzantine influence present in many of the paintings and icons. 

Right now we are relaxing at the apartment. We have dinner reservations for tonight at a restaurant that we got turned away from yesterday because it was so busy. We're hoping its popularity with the locals means the food is good!

Florence Day Two

Yesterday we took a day trip from Florence to Pisa and Cinque Terre. On our way back to Florence we accidentally got on the wrong train and ended up in Parma where we stayed the night. We took (the right train) back to Florence this morning. So far in Florence we have only visited one church, Santa Maria Novella. It has several frescos picturing St. Thomas that Mark and I really enjoyed trying to decipher. Right now we are relaxing in our apartment because my knee is a little sore from all the running and climbing we had to do yesterday at the train station. We plan to visit the Duomo tomorrow.

Jesus giving the keys to St. Peter and knowledge to St. Thomas-

We really enjoyed this fresco; St. Thomas is shown triumphant over heresy with the Biblical writers beside him, the virtues above him, and heretics (Arius, Nestorius, and Averroes) at his feet.

Our apartment is just on the other side of this bridge-

Ciao, Roma!

We have officially left Rome and arrived in Florence where we will be spending the next four days. We are excited that this apartment has an elevator because in Rome we had to climb four flights of stairs every night to get to our room. We also have wifi! We finally figured out that the "free public wifi" in Rome requires you to register your phone with the government, so that is why we were unable to connect. We did way too many things in Rome to recount them all, but here are some pictures! My favorite places were the catacombs, the Vatican, the parks we happened to stumble upon on our way to other sites, and the Benedictine Monastery we happened across one evening where we got to sit through a Gregorian chant.

Rome

Hello everyone!

We are in Rome and are doing great. We do not have an internet connection in the apartment we are renting so I am writing from an internet caffè in town. It is expensive so this will be my only update until we are in Florence in a couple of days where we expect to have internet again. Since I am not updating with my phone (but an awful PC!) I do not have the ability to upload pictues. Today we are taking a day trip to Naples and the coast before spending our last day in Rome tomorrow.

I will write again soon!
Cortney