A Very Lucky Girl

it's really just all pirates and politics It was about an hour and a half from Arezzo to Rome and LDL made a friend on the way. He had already extended an invitation to his place in Dubai by the time we pulled into Roma Termini. We booked a triple room for three nights at Hotel Cressy a few blocks away from the main train station and checked in immediately. LDL and I took the double bed and Gibby took the single. After dumping our backpacks, we hit a nearby restaurant for pizza. Where LDL proceeded to spill vinaigrette on her leather purse from Prague to add to the marks of beer and gelato. I dissolved into fits of giggles.  After lunch we wasted no time in locating the Colosseum, the place of death for half a million people from 80-406 AD. Though the place is in ruins, those ruins were spectacular.  We joined a tour that refreshed me on the history I learned from Mr. Davis in Latin class at St.David's. From the Colosseum, our tour guide, Brent, led us to palatine h...

Since Taylor C. was so generous with her hospitality, we stayed in Arezzo for two nights and used our day in the middle to take a trip by train (what else?) to the famed city of Florence.  The place was surprisingly packed despite it being the bare beginning of tourist season. I imagine the proximity of Easter was a large draw. We braved the streets without a paper map and moved blindly through the maze of tourists and vendors. My first purchase of the day was raspberry gelato for breakfast. The fruit base made me feel slightly better about my nutrition choices.  We found a giant arch near a carousel that probably is really significant and continued under it until we reached the river. We walked along the edge until we accidentally found the right narrow street that spilled us into Piazza del Duomo . The cathedral was the most spectacular building I saw. The intricacies of the architecture was flawless and mesmerizing. We walked around outside for quite a while for two ...

The first thing we learned in Venice was that the train doesn't drop you off in the midst of all of those canals because DUH.  So after we wandered (our speciality) and figured it out, we hopped on a bus to take us to the picture-perfect location. I went to Vegas last summer, and though the Venetian is spectacular, the real thing is a million times more amazing. Venice was extra special to me because it was the beginning of the fulfillment of life-long dream to travel to Italy. We got there on a beautiful Sunday morning, just in time for an early lunch. I thought I ordered spaghetti, but some weird yellow-looking pasta came to me instead with bits of ham in it. It wasn't too great so I stole bites of the rest of the squad's pizzas. Especially the Parmesan shavings on top of Gibby's. When I first tasted one I solemnly vowed to seriously go to a grocery store in Italy and purchase Parmesan.  I think Venice was made specifically for the cadet squad. It's a place...