Pisa and Lucca....

Today was probably one of the best days yet! Started out sad because Meagan n Lorali left, but it got much better! We started the day at Pisa. Well everyone got off the bus but a few of us, and then our bus driver decided to move the bus and he didnt understand English. So when we got off the bus we had no idea where everyone was. Ali and I lost in Pisa in the rain. It was so much fun! Just wondering around with no idea where to go...but yet Pisa is only like a mile long so we were laughing at ourselves!

It all paid off.... everyone was waiting for us to get there so they were standing right inside Pisa and when we got there we ended up seeing Mark Consuelos and his family!!! It was really wierd!

There is Kelly Ripa and her two kids! It was crazy to see them in Pisa just on a random Thursday!

They took pictures with their family outside the church so I snapped a lil photo! They were super nice they waved and told us hi!The Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was super interesting. It made you want to lean your head everytime you looked at it.

Heather and I waiting for our tour.This character was taking a picture of that hamburger boy...not to sure why!

The church! We went inside the church but couldnt take any photos because those little policias were everywhere! They were actually having mass when we went in. It was their All Saints Day. So it was cool to see mass in Italian.

This is a really col picture looking up at the church but it turned sideways and im not to sure why. and I cant fix it!

After the church we went into to Baptistery! It was very pretty and this lady that works there came in at 11 and stood near the altar and she would sing one note towards the dome in the ceiling and it would echo back like three different notes. It was really interesting. So that was really kool to see!

The wall surrounding the city! It was beautiful!After the tour we went eat lunch. This was probably the best vegetable soup I have ever tasted!

And of course we got music too while we ate! Ahh I love Italy!Then after lunch we went take cheesy pics in front of the Tower!

We pretty much had a photo shoot. It was hilarious! We pretty much did this for forever. Just kept doing dumb poses! Then the Asians were joining in on it so that was entertaining!!

Decided to stand on this ball to take a pic got another but dont have it right now ...but its later to come! pretty interesting!...After our pics, we went walk through the town and went look at all the little shops. Then headed to the bus.We arrived in Lucca. We didnt really know much about what to do here but that it was a Midevil city that is surrounded by a mideveil wall that protected the city.

The bathrooms here are like a vending machine! You have to put your money in the door in order for it to unlock! hilarious!We wanted to explore so we decided to rent bikes! best idea ever! They even had the little bells on them! better believe that was my fav part about them! This was so much fun and we got to see so much!

We rode through the city and saw some beautiful churches and buildings. Dodging the locals and the birds!

We rode around beautiful fountains and little statues.  Riding through the city having no idea where we are or where to go.

Then we found the pathway along the Midevil wall that goes all the way around the city. It was so beautiful! the pathway was lined with trees on each a side! on one side you could see over the wall and see the mountains and hills surrounding the city, and on the other side you could see over the town of Lucca! so amazing! We rode on this for forever! It was so much fun! Even with the weather today was definately a success! One of the funnest days so far!

Duomo...

Today we had Italian class  and they took us to the food market! that was interesting.... they have some various animals for sale in their meat and seafood department(to say the least). But it was really kool to see their foods and how they differed from ours. Then we went to Pitti Palace. It was really kool. It was the home of the Medici family. They still had the set up like it was a home with all the furniture and paintings. That was really neat! but of course we couldnt take pictures!dagger! Then we went have lunch at lunch at a little sandwich shop! Then I had wine class and I had a quiz so I had to go. After our quiz we went over some notes and our teacher brought us some wines to taste. This was the sparkling red that she made us try with an italian dark chocolate! it was amazing! best I have ever tasted! now that Grappa that we had to taste was a little more potent! Its the strongest wine and it pretty much tastes like everclear!

After class I went meet Meeg n them and we headed to the Duomo to climb to the top! The stairwell was so tiny! No way two people could fit in it. It was one really long whindy staircase all the way up 463 steps.

This was the little breaking point. They had a few of the statues of the church.

 Poo-yie sha!Then you enter the church and you are in the inside of the dome of the church. It was really kool you could overlook the church down below and you could look up and see the ceiling like 30 ft away from you! It was beautiful!The writings on the wall as you go up the steps! Yeh.... this was the last set of steps! they were so steep you had to put your hands on the top steps to walk up it!

Once you got to the top it was all worth it! So Amazing! You had a full 360 view of the entire city of Florence. and it was from the center of the city!   You could see the mountains and hills on the outskirts of the town and churches and monuments throughout the city!This was the view from the binoculars! The silver things at the bottom are the binoculars!

The Santa Croce Church and the Michelangelo Piazzale up on the hill!

Taking our postcard pics!Prety kool!We stayed up there for a while! we did the picture thing then we just sat and overlooked the city! Pretty amazing!

The view looking down to the front of the Duomo!

Then we headed down the stairwell!!! Its just as interesting going down!

These are some of the tools they used to build the dome. Pretty kool that they could build something like this with these little wooden tools!

Then we went home and I cooked dinner for everyone and trisha and johanna came over! made my little italian eggplant medalione! learned it in cooking class!!! We ate dinner and talked and ended up getting into conversation and forgetting we had some where to go!haha woops!

 Then we went to show Meagan and Lorali our little singer in the Uffitzi Square. We just hung out on the steps and listened to him play!Cant really see him but you can kind of see!Not ready for them to leave tomorrow! Still have so much i want to show them! You cat do Florence in three days!We stayed here and talked all night then headed back so they could get some sleep to leave early in the morning!

Rome day 3...

Today we went to the Vatican square and listened to the Pope address the crowd. He talked about what happened during the week then he addressed each nationality and then he blessed the crowd. It was pretty amazing. We didnt get to see all of it because me and Meagan got lost in the train station!haha but got the end of it!

After the blessing we went eat lunch and then we had a free day. I wanted to go see "Rome from the Sky". So we went on a little venture across town and went to the Victor Emanuel Monument.

Once we got up there it was a little terrace with a cafe on it. You could see the entire city. It was beautiful!

Taking our pictures we saw there was a elevator behind us. We found out you can pay for a ticket and go up to the very top of the monument.Meagan and JAmie on the glass elevator. Kinda felt like a Willy Wonka elevator.

The view from the top. It was amazing! you could see over the entire city and 360 view! It was so amazing!

All props to Rick Steve!Looking over the other side of the building.Mariya Lorali Meagan and I

Meagan and I with the Collesium in the background!

The ruins.views..

Johnny Cash hanging out on the side walk taking a little nap with his gun in his hand!

Taking dumb pics on our way to the Chapel.

We went to the Pope's Chapel. It is said that they moved the steps from Jerusalem to here. These are the steps that Jesus walked up to meet with Pontius Pilot. It was very pretty and so quiet.These are the steps. You are supposed to climb up them on your knees and say a certain prayer on each step. We didnt have enough time to do it because we had to catch a train but its like everyone is on a step and they say the prayer together then you move up a step...This was on the third or fourth step. If you look in the hole that is covered with glass you can see a stain on a rock. This is Jesus' blood. It was pretty kool.Then we walked back to train station and saw the wall that surrounds the city.

Then we got on Metro and got serenaded by the lady playing the accordian.

Then we finally made it home and made dinner for Meagan and Lorali. The best dinner yet. It was so good! We stayed up talking and drinking some wine pretty much all night.