Day 9, 3rd day in Venince, and our final day in Italy! In the morning we headed straight to Murano and Burano. It was a great spot to be because it wasn't so crowded. We basically walked around the shops seeing the beautiful glass art and lace scarfs. oh and thanks Becky for the water bottles! We have used them every where we go! In the night we took a ghost tour  through the  tight allies of Venice. Which was creepy but fun.  Our trip has been so exciting!  I'm so glad to have been fortunate enough to go on this trip with my parents and grandmother!  -Sarah

Day 8 of our trip and day 2 in Venince was our Tour day. We walked around the city and visited the Rialto bridge again then walked around piazza S. Marco. We walked around the basilica which was very beautiful. After leaving the tour we jumped onto a gondola which took us through the beautiful allies of Venice.

Sorry have had trouble connecting the photos to the blog, but anyways on to day 7 of the trip! This was our first day in Venince! We arrived by train and took the rest of the day to walk around the city. Venince is a beautiful place! During our 1st day we walked to the Rialto Bridge and then went to the quaint shops to look around. 

Ok so getting caught up! Day 6 of the trip and our last day in Florence! Today we went on an 11 hour tour, The Best of Tuscany! The first stop was at a small area where they discussed how the people gathered for horse races twice a year cheering for their district that they were assigned to when they were born. None of us really payed attention so I would say it was not the highlight of the tour lol. We then went to another area of Tuscany where we walked up to the gardens and overlooked wonderful views of the city. After leaving, the next stop was at a local families farm where they were pretty much self sustainable when it came to living. We toured their farm seeing their vinyards, cattle, and winery. They then prepared a wonderful lunch using fresh crops from the farm and wine made in their winery. After lunch we headed to Pisa where we got to see the magnificent Leaning tower of Pisa. Today was wonderful and definite top on my list of favorite days in Italy! -Sarah

Day 5 of the trip, day 2 in Florence was the walking tour. An exciting part of the tour was seeing the school where Michelangelo studied. Although I could not remember the streets and squares we visited, my favorite part of the tour was seeing the statue David at the gallery of academy (definitely took a picture of the statue even though they photography was not allowed). After finishing the walking tour we shopped on the streets and stopped for a little something to eat. We then went to the Uffizi Museum where we had another walking tour. It was amazing how much information you could learn about the art!  Although the day was triering with all the walking, it was still a great day.  -Sarah

On to day four of the trip! This is our first day in Florence! We road the speed train and arrived in Florence around 12-1 pm. After arriving at the hotel we hit the street to find interesting things! Mom decided to create her own walking tour from a past book she read. We walked for quite sometime then stopped at a small cafe where we met an art student name Greg Clark who happen to help us with directions and highlights on the good places to go to. However, we ended up walking around finding everything but what we were looking for, but it was still a great walk around the city. Plus on the bright side atleast Mimi got her steps on her jawbone bracelet. (Like 12,400 step for the day I think lol). We chilled at the hotel having a few snacks and drinks then after a while went to a restaraunt called Garnalli where we had a great time ...especially towards the end ;) 

So  our last day  in Rome consisted of going to the Parthenon and going on a catacombs tour. For the Catacomb tour  we  walked by the tight dark walls of the catacombs which had an eerie, scary, but cool feeling to it. We then went to the Church of Clemmens  and got to see how throughout history society has built on top of civilizations rather than tearing them down and building over it. They would compact the buildings and just build ontop of them. We got to walk down and every level was a new era. The last level dating all the way back to Nero's time.  The church had beautiful artwork including one of the oldest frescos of Rome. We finished the night at a nearby cafe after the tour and yes, stopped by and got some gelato after dinner. :)