where birds fly at your face...

ok...i'll try and sum this all up as best as possible...i can't wait to get to Rome where i will hopefully be able to update more than just once a week...anyway, i digress...

last wednesday, i took my midterm (which i got back today...i passed!)then we went to the Academia where Michaelangelo's David is...every museum we go to, a history teacher goes with us which is so wonderful...i'm going to miss having a personal tour guide in the future...but he told us all about the techniques Michaelangelo used...if you care to know, ask me when i get back...the David is way bigger than you'd think...even if i tell you it's big...it will be bigger...and, even though you arent supposed to, i stole a picture...just because everyone else was doing it...

Thursday after class we all loaded into a bus and headed to Sienna...it is only about 1 1/2 hours outside of Florence...the town is really quaint...it's divided into 17 (i think) districts, each with there own flags, colors, churches, etc...we learned a lot about St. Catherine...she apparently starved herself to death...very interesting life...we visited a church while we were there that was beautiful...and i took way too many pictures...


Friday, we got up early and had to be on a bus by 8 a.m to go to Venice! But ofcourse, the forecast for Venice was rain...every day...anyway, the bus ride was about 4 hours...and then we had to take a 20 minute ferry ride to our hotel...which was TINY...it re-defined tiny...honestly it wasn't that bad...except i left the window open, so all of my clothes got wet...Friday afternoon, we dropped our bags off and went straight to a cathedral...that i can't remember the name of off the top of my head...then, Amy and i decided to skip out a little early and go grab a snack...minutes after we walked out of the church, down pour...after we had dried off sort of, and the rain had died down, Amy lead us to St. Marks square since she's been to Venice before...it was scary...birds everywhere...apparently this is THE PLACE to feed the birds...they just attack...i was constantly having to duck to dodge a low flying pigeon...even though i didn't participate, it did provide some great entertainment...

after we had our fill of bird watching, we headed back to our "hotel" to get ready for dinner...then we ate some pretty terrible pizza, because all of us are cheap, venice is really expensive (the most expensive city in italy), and no one could decide where to eat...we still had fun though...i introduced everyone to the "can you frown game" and "no smile" game...perhaps i can show everyone the leaf game next...

Saturday was by far my favorite day in Venice...even though it literally did not stop raining...our first stop that morning was St. Marks Cathedral...i wish so badly i could show you all pictures of the incredible mosaics in the cathedral...but, once again no pictures allowed...so, i'll describe it as best i can...over 8 square miles of mosaics covered the walls...the entire inside practically glows...try to imagine the amount of time, work, and money that goes into finishing something so spectacular...unreal...but the art work wasn't the coolest part...even though we did see Venice's most prized piece of artwork (a gold altar piece, only put on display for special ceremonies)...we got to stand right in front of Mark...THE Mark guys...Jesus' buddy...i mean, i could see the actual stone coffin he is in...it was very different from being able to stand in a building that someone is buried under...it brough Amy and me to tears at dinner that night...we were right there! this guy was real...weird, crazy, good...i really wanted to open it so i could say i've seen his face...but upon realizing how weird that would actually be, i decided to take an illegal picture instead...after that amazingness, we went to the Doges Palace...it was cool...but i was still in shock from our first tour...that afternoon Amy and i attempted to do some shopping and after little success due to the cold rain, we called it quits...we took naps, showered and then went out for a nice little dinner just the two of us...as it should be...we found this artsy little restaurant with pictures everywhere and the food was wonderful...

sunday, was...rainy...we went to another museum and then to the Rialto Bridge...then we just wondered because we had three more hours to kill until we left...we came across the best looking pizza in Venice...maybe even in italy...and we were all just drooling at the window...Chandler didn't have any money, and he kept going on about how he didnt have any money...before we knew it, this cute couple from iowa was buying us pizza...ha, free pizza is the best pizza...they were so kind...i hope i get to buy broke college kids pizza one day...

well, we go to Rome this thursday! i am so excited to not live in a hotel anymore...hope everyone is doing well...love and miss you all...

peace

shout outs:
liz is my favorite...love you sharing sister