It has been a while. I know.

Fall break happened! It was probably as incredible as I expected it to be. Here's a recap:

ROME:
Day 1. Flew from Stanstead Airport REALLY early in the morning. So early that the Friday-night partiers were still out at the bus station in Hammersmith when I left (around 3:45am). A drunk man introduced me to his kebab.
Arrived in Rome around lunch time, settled in to our accommodations, Camping Tiber (kind of a campground, we had private double rooms in these cabin-type things), and took the train into the city. We did not validate our tickets, and had a small run-in with the Italian authorities. Whoops.
Wandered around for the rest of the day, ending up at the Trevi Fountain no less than 3 times by accident (it's beautiful at all times of day), and ate my first Italian gelato. Words cannot express how delicious it is. Also saw the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, and lots of statues and fountains that are probably just as old and important.
Back to Camping Tiber, and discovered they did not have towels. Hmm.

Day 2. Bought tickets for a hop on-hop off bus tour (also called ho-ho buses, amusingly). We were going to get a particular company, but a charming Italian man who worked for a rival company changed our minds at the bus stop. That guy probably deserves a raise. Rode around Rome, listening to the audio guide tell us all about it, then rode around again and got off at all the stops that sounded interesting. Ate gelato again. Pizza for lunch, pasta for dinner, which is pretty much what we did every day. Got some really great pictures from this random rooftop we ended up on, of the Colosseum at sunset. Check out my facebook album, since I never did figure out how to put pictures on here successfully. Wandered around Piazza Navona for a while, and went back.
Realized that I still did not have a towel. Used a t-shirt instead.

Day 3. The Vatican. Used the last bit of our bus ticket to get to the Vatican museums. Waited in line for a while, then saw some of the most famous art ever created. You know, no big deal. I was pretty surprised at how crowded it was, even though the tour guide I was accidentally following said it was a pretty low-key day. Then went to St. Peter's Basilica, which I was honestly even more impressed by, and I didn't even have to pay to get in there. Just the SIZE of that place is mind-boggling. We also walked through the crypts, seeing tombs of various important religious figures, including the recently-deceased pope.
Sat on the Spanish Steps for a while waiting to meet up with some more IC people, then ate at a fairly nice restaurant for dinner. After three days of nothing but pizza, pasta, and gelato, I went with a salad. It was delicious. More gelato, then back to Camping Tiber for one more night.

Day 4. Arose leisurely, and checked out of Camping Tiber. Had to carry my bag around all day, which did not do good things to my shoulders. Courney and Hillary went to St. Peters because they missed it yesterday, but I took the rest of the girls to this church that Aunt Linda told me about. Saw bones of hundreds of dead monks, arranged artistically and creepily in several dark rooms. Very cool, but very strange. Made our way to the train station where we caught a bus back to the airport.

VENICE:
Although our flight was less than an hour long, it seemed like we were traveling all day. The bus from the Venice airport took a long time, then the bus ride to our accommodations seemed almost as long. We stayed at another "Camping" place, outside the city. By the time we got the bus back into Venice, most shops were closed. Thrilled to discover that eating was cheaper here, and ate some much-needed carbs before heading back.
Still no towel. I guess I should have brought one.

Day 5. Our only full day in Venice, but I think we made the most of it. Browsed in shops all morning, and I did my best not to buy everything. I was mostly successful, but it was hard. I did buy a watch, so that when people ask me for the time I can say "I went to Venice! And it's noon."
Took the Vaporetto to Piazza San Marco. Was in awe. I love Venice. Took the Vaporetto back to the cheap part of town and had dinner (and gelato, obviously). It sounds like we didn't do anything this day. We did, but mostly it consisted of us walking around and looking at Venice, which is awesome, but not terribly exciting to write about. See facebook for pictures.

Day 6. Checked out of Camping whatever-it-was-called-in-Venice, and carried my bag around rainy Venice for a while (despite protesting back and shoulders). Tried not to step in too many puddles or get washed away in a flood, and grudgingly left on a train to...

FLORENCE:
The train ride was beautiful. We had 2 trains, actually, one from Venice to Bologna and one from Bologna to Florence. The second one was amazing, through the mountains. Unfortunately did not get any pictures.
Dropped our stuff off and explored, thankful that we didn't have to take any public transportation to get to the landmarks. Browsed an open market of mostly leather goods. I'm not sure what about my appearance implied that I can afford a leather jacket, but I cannot. Those salespeople don't leave you alone. Ran into the Santa Fe girls! What are the chances?
Stayed in a regular hostel here, right in the center of the city. My bed was a little broken, and pretty much everyone in our room of 5 people snored, but hey, you get what you pay for, right? It was clean, and the staff was friendly, and they gave me a towel!

Day 7. This day was jam-packed. Accademia gallery in the morning (Michelangelo's David! also a musical instrument gallery!), then Uffizi gallery (Boticelli's Birth of Venus! And a lot of other famous things!), then we climbed up to the top of the Duomo. It cost 8 euros, but it was very cool and we felt pretty accomplished climbing all those 400-some stairs. Had a really delicious dinner for pretty cheap, which I photo-documented on facebook.

Day 8. Spent most of this last day traveling back to London. Had some difficulty with the bus getting back into London, but that was not fun and I'd rather only write about the fun things.


So that was the abridged version, anyway. Please do check out my pictures, and I'll try to write more often this block. (No promises, though, since I'm going to be traveling a lot!) The best thing about getting back from a week in Italy is that I'm still in London. How amazing is that?!