mmmm spaghetti...

we're in florence now!
let's see...
in paris we basically did everything in like 2 1/2 days. arc de triomphe, eiffel tower at night (climbed 700 steps, saw the light show), versailles gardens (freeeeee), champs de elysees, place de la concorde, visited the louvre and saw mona lisa, sacre cour, notre dame and cemeterie pere lachaise where oscar wilde and jim morrison are buried. ate lots of crepes. sometimes that was lunch. yum.
then venice. BEAUTIFUL. we stayed in a place right off the grand canal. went to piazza de san marco, but there were hardly any birds. decided against the gondola, the cheapest one we found was 80 euro for 35 minutes. instead we rode the public ferry boat (like a public bus but on water) for a while. hehe.
then we stayed at a farm in solimbergo (northern italy) near trieste. recommended by Monique and Aron. super cute. delicious homemade dinner: pasta, salad, prosciutto, bread, and homemade red wine and pie. sydney and stacy swam in their pool. i didn't bring my suit :( so i just put my feet in. there was a crazy thunderstorm last night at the farm. like at least 30 flashes of lightning and tons of really loud thunder. lots and lots of rain. by this morning you couldn't tell it had rained and no one even mentioned it. must be normal. i wish we could have spent more time at the farm, Sasso D'Oro Agriturismo.
then we took the train to florence, or firenze as they call it in italy. very pretty. unfortunatly italy does not compare to america when it comes to bathrooms. sometimes it's just a hole in the ground. or a toilet with no seat. and it seems that it either has toilet paper OR running water in the faucet. never both. and finding the flusher is always an adventure.
tomorrow we're off to rome for 3 days.

overall it's been amazing, though i wish we had more time in each place. and that everything was planned out in more detail as far as our itinerary goes. lessons learned for next time. :) it's way hotter than i expected. and HUMID. we gave up trying to feel clean. the minute you step out of the shower you're sticky again. air conditioning is a luxury and a privilege. thank goodness our hostel in rome has it. i'm loving europe but i'm ready to go home. i want to lay around and not move for awhile. we've been doing a lot of traveling and lugging around heavy backpacks and sweating in this heat. there's a lot of things in america that we take advantage of. like ice cubes and toilet seat covers. but i've learned i can eat italian food every day of my life and never get sick of it. and the gelato over here is to die for. and i'll probably never be able to eat american pizza objectively again. one nice thing, they have diet coke everywhere here, or they call it coca cola light. so i can continue my addiction.

it looks like i won't be able to post more pictures until i get home. sorry guys. but there will be plenty to look at. i've accumulated about 500 photos in the past week, at least. well i only have a minute and a half left at this internet cafe. so until next time, arrividerci! ciao!