Wednesday, May 20th 2015
I was awoken by the landing of the plane. Time to start my day in Venice! We took a train into the city, and by miraculous timing, we met the Sherman’s at the train station. My aunt, uncle and cousins had also come to Europe and our paths crossed for a few days to spend together. We spent the day wandering the streets of Venice, looking at the Murano glass in the stores, seeing some amazing churches and fabulous squares. Unlike Amsterdam, the water actually comes up pretty close to the street level, which makes the city have this interesting canal/street feeling. It certainly felt way more magical than Amsterdam (to me) even though it was quite rainy all day. We spent the morning on a tour of multiple synagogues. They were absolutely stunning. You could tell the differences between the styles of the synagogues and the different aspects. After so many churches throughout Europe, it was really nice to see a beautiful old synagogue. |
For lunch, my mom and I split an amazing pasta with scallops and mushrooms. Yum! It then started to downpour. Watching the gondola’s bounce around in the rain was quite humorous. Either way, the views from San Marco’s square were so picturesque and everything I thought of when you would mention Venice. Mom and I then went shopping for my Italy earrings. We found these gorgeous mirano glass earrings. This was my last new country of the trip, so I've acquired earrings from *almost* every country I went to during my study abroad. I still have a lot to learn about with earrings, as we walk down the street with my cousin and mother attempting to help me put earrings in, but I'll get there, I'm sure.
We then started the drive to Florence, for which I slept the entire way.
We then started the drive to Florence, for which I slept the entire way.
When we checked into our AirBnb, I went out to dinner with just my parents. It was so nice to spend some time sitting and enjoying with them. I found so much joy in being with my mom in Europe, because she had never been over the ocean before. Sometimes it is nice to be an only child, even if it is just for dinner, and get to talk with my parents.
Thursday, May 21st 2015
Today we had a walking tour of the city. It started by seeing the David statue, which was fantastic! It was so realistic, so perfect and so impressive. It is hard to believe that Michalangelo was able to carve that out, without even doing a plaster first. But, the most amazing part was the size. I have seen so many pictures of the David statue, but had no idea how large it was. I would have never guessed that it was so big! We then had a really great tour of the city. I learned a lot and really enjoyed it. That afternoon we went to the leather markets. They were crazy. So much leather everywhere. My mom and I took a quick adventure just to peak over the bridge, and it was so beautiful to see the city. That night, we took a trip to a villa. The scenery on the ride over was unbelievable. I had my eyes glued to the window, I couldn’t take it all in fast enough. When we got there, we had a tour of the vineyards and of the wine cellar, which was beautiful. Then, we sat down and had a really nice formal family dinner while tasting lots of wines. I have to say the wines were fantastic (and I was drinking for two because Eric didn’t like his). It was a lovely evening that I really enjoyed with my family. Dad even loved the wine so much that we now have some! |
Later, we went to an American bar (of course, right) to meet up with some friends that my siblings and cousins had made the night before. I have to say, wasn’t the same as going out in Leuven, although always special to get to go out with my brother.
Friday, May 22nd 2015
This morning started like all others in Italy, with lots of pastries. I have really enjoyed the ricotta pastries here. Yum they are so good. Josh, Eric, Mom, Dad, Uncle Mark and I went on an adventure to get an amazing view of the city. Although I was upset that no one believed my directions sense (which was correct, for the record), we eventually got there and it was well worth it. The view was fantastic.
From there, we made our way to the synagogue in Florence. It was stunning! The synagogue was large and ornate. I was blown away. They also had some historical information and items which were great to see. A woman came up to Uncle Mark, who happened to be wearing a Mulenburg shirt and mentioned that she knew the school because her daughter went to a school nearby. We asked what school – Lehigh, what grade – just finished Freshman year, what sorority – Zeta… OMG that is the same as Michelle’s! We found out that they were the parents of one of Michelle’s friends. The world is so small it is crazy! On the way back, I stopped with my parents at the leather school (where they teach how to make leather and make the best leather in the world). Mom was enamored by how they made it and probably could’ve watched for days. The work was spectacular and really was interesting to watch. Some of their bags were just amazing. |
That night we went to a pizza making class. It wasn’t my favorite thing in the world, but I got to drink wine, and sneak away and eat some delicious food in the other room (shhhh, I was soooo hungry!). I think the rest really had a good time though, dad enjoyed making pizza.
Saturday, May 23rd 2015
This morning we woke up, ate some delicious cannolis and made our way to Cinque Terra. Cinque Terra is five cities on the North West coast of Italy with hiking trails between them. We took the train to the fourth city and had an amazing lunch sitting on a patio overlooking the water. The food was fantastic! Eric and I shared a fish plate and a fresh made pasta with pesto. We then hiked the trail to the fifth city. It was beautiful! Mom loved the plants that looked like gigantic asparagus.
When we got to the last city, there was a lemon festival happening! There were lemons everywhere! Everyone was throwing them into the fountain! The winning lemon was huge! I have never seen a lemon even half of that size before! It was a fantastic day.
Sunday, May 24th 2015
Today we spent the entire day hiking! I wouldn’t say everyone in the family loved it, but it was absolutely beautiful. We climbed up over the mountains and had incredible views of the water and the mountains. The way that they farmed on the hills was magnificent, like little terraces. The hiking between the cities was remarkable. It so beautiful and although there was a lot of whining, I think everyone really appreciated the beauty.
I was walking with Mom on the trail and a bit behind the rest of the family. Someone standing on the trail told us to be careful because someone just fell. As a joke, I said was that person wearing an orange shirt (because Eric and Dad were both wearing an orange shirt)? Later, I catch up to the rest of the group and find out that Eric did fall off the cliff! He said it was terrifying and he was a bit scratched up, but was ok.
We had a lunch at the top of one of the mountains in a small village. A delicious sandwich for the road. It was an exhausting few hikes, but I thought it was incredibly rewarding with the views and lots of fun. We then climbed down through the third village and went swimming! Right off of the cliffs of the city. The water was so refreshing, it felt fantastic.
That night we made our way to Milan and had one last family dinner for our vacation. We each got pizza, a drink and dessert. It was quite delicious and really fun to sit at the table, each with allowed to drink and spend time together as a family.