Week 2- Suzanne:)

Hello everyone!!
I am sorry that this post is late but I have been so busy with Bryan coming to visit for two weeks and then my sister, Christina for another week. I feel lonely in my room as I have constantly been with company for 3 weeks now, and don't know what to do with myself! The first week of spring break seems like forever ago now, but I have such special memories with 3 girls that I love:)

The second week of my spring break I left Amsterdam to meet Bryan at the Frankfurt Flughafen (Airport). It was so nice to see eachother after almost 2 months apart, Bryan didn't even recognize me right away! We then left to go back to Reutlingen so I could repack for my second week in Italy. I only had about 30 minutes and so I quickly shooved new clothes into my backpack and we got some food at the Penny Market right by my dorm and left for our night train to Rome. We first got to Karlsruhe and then from there we got on a night train. It was a very interesting experience as this was both of our first times on one. I booked our seats and we were in a very tight confined room with a boy from Finland. He smelled pretty bad but it was better than having to cram into another room with 4 other people. The night was rough as we were woken up at 2:30 and 5:00 in the morning when we crossed first into Switzerland and then into Italy. The ride was pretty miserable but before we knew it we were in sunny Milan. From there we took another 3 and a half hour train ride to Rome. It was nice to look out the window at the countryside to see that it looked very different than what I had seen before in more Northern Europe. The sun was beating and I couldn't wait to get off and Explore Rome. Once we got to Rome we immediately went to the Vatican City. We were sure to get some gelato right away before waiting in line to get into St. Peters Basilica. The line was really not that bad at all, we waited less than 20 minutes. We were both just blown away by Basilica as it is the most beautiful church we have and ever will be in. The art work and even the framework were so impressive. While we were walking through there was such a strong presence and I instantly thought of my mom and her family as they almost are all Catholic. We spent quite a long time inside, but could have spent several hours admiring everything. We then went to the Vatican Museum. The most impressive thing was finally getting to see the Sistine Chapel in person. The fresco was so stunning and it was hard to fathom how someone could even create such an incredible piece. That night we went to the Spanish steps at night and it was so beautiful with all the lights and a bunch of people gathering on the steps. People were playing music and it was a really fun place to just sit down and hang out. The top of the steps also had a great view of the city. The next day we went to the Colloseum and the Roman Forum. We went on a guided tour of the Colloseum which I thought was very interesting as I did not know that much about the history. Bryan had read and watched a lot on the history channel so he knew most of what she was telling us, but it still was interesting for him. Next we headed to the Forum and Palatine Hill where we went on a different, free tour. It was fascinating to hear that it once used to be a Palace and the tour took us around where different rooms used to be. It was raining a little while we were outside on our tours so for a late lunch we went to sit down in a Restaurant. We wanted to try their pizza and it was pretty good, but later we realized that the local Pizzeria's had better pizza. From there we walked to the Trevi Fountain. It was simply radiant and it was one of my favorite things to see while we were in Rome. The fountain was so gorgeous and lights illuminated it. From there we went around and went souvenior shopping. We both got some nice stuff along with lots of postcards. That night, Bryan really wanted to go back to the Vatican City. The Basilica and the fountain were lit up and it was very nice to be back there without the huge crowds. We stood outside admiring the buildings and took plenty of pictures. We had such a great time in Rome and we were really looking forward to going to Florence!

Florence: We arrived in Florence on Monday morning and we were ready to check out the city. We first walked along the street close to our hostel that had great shopping! The stores ranged from Burberry to Prada and it was fun even to window shop! We then headed to the Duomo. It is right in the center of the square and you can't miss it! There is the Duomo, the Baptistry and the Bell Tower. The Duomo was quite impressive but did not compare with St. Peters Basilica. For lunch we had a panini and a glass of Chianti- a red wine that is grown in Tuscany, it was very good! We then walked around the city and searched for the Akademia, which has the statue of David in it, to find that all art galleries are closed on Mondays. We then got some gelato and headed for Ponte Vecchio- a very famous bridge. It had a lot of jewelry stores surrounding the bridge and the views were incredible! We then walked all the way to Michelangelo's Plaza. It was quite the hike to get up there but it was completely worth it because you got to see the whole city. It also had a duplicate of the David. We went to dinner that night at a Trattoria that had a 3 course fixed price meal of only 13 euros a person! It was very good food and we got to try different specialties like rolled beef, minestrone soup and Tiramisu for dessert! The next day we got cappuccino and croissants and headed to the Uffizi Gallery. We waited in line for over an hour and a half so we knew it was going to be good. The gallery was filled with paintings of Mary, Jesus, and John the Baptist and with very famous paintings by Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo! We understood after spending a few hours inside why Florence is known for their art galleries. Afterwards we walked to the Pitti Palace where the Medici family used to live. Inside it was pretty incredible with the different artwork and fancy chandeliers. You got to see some of the Boboli Gardens and if it wasn't rainy outside we would have loved to walk around in them. Luckily, once we left the Palace it had stopped raining and we then walked to the leather markets. We found some great deals and I bought some scarfs, Bryan found some nice ties, and then I got a nice pair of leather boots. I had been looking for a pair for a while, and was really hoping I would find some in Florence. We continued shopping and walking along the street when all of a sudden Bryan noticed that Katie Johnson was running past us! She was one of my best friends in High School and it was so amazing to run into her. She is studying in Florence and she showed us her apartment and we all talked about how much we loved Florence and all the places we had been. She recommended a really nice restaurant for us to try, Zaza's, and afterwards we met back up with her. It seemed like such a small world to actually run into someone that you know when you're all the way in Italy! Bryan and I were really sad to leave Florence as it became both of our favorite city. We left Florence and stopped on our way to Cinque Terre at Pisa. It started raining pretty hard once we were there so we quickly took pictures, bought some postcards and little leaning towers and left.

Cinque Terre: Bryan and I were so excited to arrive in Cinque Terre, a low key resort area along the Italian Riviera. There's 5 villages that you can hike between with gorgeous views of the Mediteranean. When we arrived to Cinque Terre it was past 8 at night and the first city, Riomaggiore, seemed almost entirely shut down. There were a few people in the restaurants and a couple people at a bar outside, but other than that it was very quiet and dark in the streets. We talked with other people and the city shuts down early at night compared to other Italian cities especially since prime tourism isn't in season. It was definitely a change of pace compared to the big cities we had been in previously. The next day we checked out the weather and it was supposed to be raining for a majority of the day. We were able to hike from Riomaggiore to the next town of Manarola. It was pretty quick walk and fortunately we didn't get too wet because some of the walk was under a tunnel. We got some great views but could not walk any further to the other villages because the trails were temporarily closed. We took the train into Vernazza, the fourth city, where we were staying for the second night. The town juts out from the cliffs and it was extremely windy once we first arrived. That night we took it easy and went out to dinner and to a local bar that Rick Steeves recommended. We had a nice time talking with some other travelers and hoped that tomorrow would be a nicer day. We were thrilled the next day when it was sunny and bright. We ventured around Vernazza and took some gorgeous pictures of the sun setting and then took the train to Monterosso the last village. Monterosso was breathtakingly beautiful with their beaches and it felt a lot more like a resort area than the other villages. We toured the town and then bumped into other travelers that were from Minnesota too! We hiked back to Vernazza from Monterosso and took the harder path and got quite a work out! It took almost two hours to do. It was pretty strenuous as it was mostly uphill, but the views were incredible! I had never seen anything like it before and I was so glad that we were able to hike that day, because it was such a unique experience. We both loved Cinque Terre for its beauty and would love to come back again and hike between all the villages and it would be nice to swim in the Sea too!

Venice: For our last day in Italy we took an early morning train to Venice. After 17 days of travel, I was just exhausted. Once we got to Venice though and the sun was beaming, I became very excited. We took boat #1 which went along the whole canal and we got to see a great overview of the city. After 45 minutes we got off at San Marco and went inside St. Mark's Basilica. It was very beautiful on the inside as well from the outside. It was very crowded in there, especially since it was a Saturday, and after that we walked around. We saw the clock tower and other buildings along the square and then walked throughout the tiny streets. There were a lot of upscale stores in Venice and personally, I thought the shopping was way better and less expensive in Florence. We spent a lot of our day admiring all the different canals and soaking up the sun. I really enjoyed Venice as there is nothing else like it and it is very beautiful, but I thought that once day was plenty of time to see all there was to see. Venice was great, but I was getting pretty excited to head back to the RT and be back with my great group again and hear all their stories:)

One our way back from Venice we took a night train to Munich. Bryan has always wanted to go there and it is one of my favorite German Cities. We went to the Olympic Stadium, the BMW museum/ dealership, walked along the Englisher Gardens (Which are HUGE), saw the Rathaus and the Glockenspiel, and ended with a lunch at the Hofbrauhaus. Bryan got to try a typical german meal with sausages, pretzels and beer. He did not want to leave Munich, but we had to get back to the RT for me to start classes again on Monday.

We had such an eventful week traveling throughout Italy, and I loved every minute of it! We will never forget the incredible experiences we got to have as well as the fun people we met along the way:)