6 Days and 6 Words . . . that's all it took

Buongiorno, Ciao, Arrivederci, Grazie, Mi scusi, Prego
Welcome to Firenze

Hayles is an utter saint because she put up with my "Jim Houghton-ness" (Sorry Dad) throughout our entire 6 day travel. If you understand that analogy then you know that I was sitting at the airport two hours in advance and looking at a map for all the places we were going about an hour before we got there. But not to worry Daddy, I was everywhere on time with room to spare :)

Our trip started off after three hours of sleep on Saturday night. At 3:30am we traveled down the 91 stairs and while we had backpacks on and bags under our eyes we opened the door to a whole crowd of people just coming in for the night. It was a little silly - oh well. As I explained to my parents, the ride to Heathrow felt like an "E" ticket ride and while it usually takes about 35 minutes via car we were there in 15! After a long wait we finally checked in and plopped down in our seats. First landing in Milan and then Florence I stepped into an entirely different world.

Florence is very small, but to a newcomer it can be quite overwhelming (at least for me). We started off small, but by the end of three days I felt that I had a grasp of the city. We had absolutely delicious dinners, relaxing lunches, yummy gelato all surrounded by amazing friends. It was so nice to see all my SCU buddies after such a long time apart. We visited Santa Maria Novella, Uffizi Gallery, the Duomo, had wine on the river Fiume, and (my favorite) shopped in the street market searching for good little trinkets.

Our time was entirely too short and I wish I could have spent more time with Meggers and Alpal, but it made me that much more exited to go home in January and spend all our time together.

Thanks for sharing a little bit of your new-found culture. Ciao Ciao bellas

Welcome to Roma

Well... this is quite the story. You see Tuesday night was Santa Clara Reunion/Katie's 21st Florence Birthday/Hayley's 20th midnight birthday party. Needless to say we had a GREAT time. Therefore, as seen in earlier posts by multiple family members you understand that I was moving a little slow Wednesday morning. Okay... maybe very slow, but "when in [Florence]" right?? So, our travels to Rome were a little slow and quiet for Hayley, Lauren, and I. We took a taxi to the train station and then ended up in Rome around 2ish. We were booked for a hostel and were told that it was "centrally located," but that was not the case. We weren't even on the map! After what seemed like 3 hours of searching I thought I was going to break down and cry. We finally found it and then spent another 2 hours trying to cancel our reservation. It just wasn't very nice and definitely not a place three cute girls should be staying in. SO... but of course we did a hop skip and a jump and landed at the top of the Spanish Steps at a safe, very quaint little hotel. It was BEAUTIFUL! Although Lauren (our savior for most of the trip) left early, Hayley and I traveled all over seeing St. Peter's Basilica, The Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Coliseum, the Arch of Constantinople, Circus Maximus, the Ruins, and LOTS more that I can't really name.

My trip to Italy was a wonderful treat and an experience that truly made me feel more independent, self confident, and grown up. I feel a little worldlier now. It is such a romantic city and I hope to one day go back and revisit the places I saw and then continue to embark on many new adventures!

Hope you enjoy the pictures