oh my heavens...

buono serra from firenze! sorry i sort of disappeared for a while...i couldnt ever find affordable internet access...plus, Amy and i haven't really stopped going since we left...we just started out italian class in florence today so i have a little down time...but not much, so this will be short...

the first two days we spent in london...our flight was 2 hours late, but our spirits were high...anyway, london in 1 1/2 days is impossible...we had a guided tour on thursday morning, and then explored by ourselves...we went to westminster abbey and then to platform 9 3/4 (like in harry potter...we took pictures...it was funny) the we took the tube to notting hill just to see it...there's nothing there really...but then we walked through Kinsington Park and sat in the grass for a while...then it was time for showers and a play at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre...amazing right? well, Amy and i bought the cheapest available tickets...and even though they were called "yard" tickets, there was no grass and you weren't allowed to sit...the play was in old english, so we couldnt really follow the plot...it was still cool...but, our feet were hurting after walking all day...and we had no idea what was going on...and we were hungry because we didnt have time for dinner...so we left at intermission and went to a pub to eat fish and chips...and drink my first london beer...

our flights for rome left the next morning, but we had to wake up at 3 A.M. to get all 75 of us there on time...it was miserable...and after we arrived in rome, we took a 4 hour bus ride to florence...it was a long long day...but Amy and i are now in the same room, with another girl named Cathy who we like...the next day (Saturday) we had a whole bunch of orientation stuff...they showed us important places around florence and gave us a mess of papers...oh, and i forgot to mention the food we are getting...it's insane...three or more courses at lunch and dinner...and mostly pasta...anyway, after all of the orientation activities, Amy and i set out on our first independent adventure!

we were so excited...we found the train station, and then found some friendly Londoners to help us buy our tickets to Monterosso, the biggest city in the Cinque Terra...the cinque terra is five cities all connected by footpaths...the whole route take about 5 hours and is supposed to be beautiful...anyway, long story short, we made it to Monterosso after making many friends along the way...the next morning we woke up and hit the trails at 8 sharp...i can't beging to describe it...the trail is right along the coast of the Mediterranean...and there are vineyards, and lemon trees and blackberries EVERYWHERE...it was so great...i ate a few blackberries along the way...delicious...we hiked the entire route and it took us about 6 hours because we stopped to look around each of the towns we came to...some parts were really hard...but it was so worth it...by the time we reached the last one, Riomaggiore (i think) we were disgusting...so, we put on our swimsuits and found a nice rocky place to jump in the ocean...yep, the mediterranean ocean! the beaches were too crowded...and not as cool as jumping off a rock...Amy did have to talk me through it...for those of you who don't know, i am afraid of the ocean...espeically this one...the water is clear...to the very bottom...freaks me out...anyway, i did get in, and i'm so glad i did! it was wonderful...and definitely made that train ride back better than it would have been...after our swim we bought our train tickets back and ate some much deserved lunch...mozzarella and tomato sandwhiches...yum...

anyway, this was long...hopefully i will be better about posting...and i'll get some pictures up soon...

peace
sal

p.s. i want a strawberry