Italy!!!

We started the morning off right in Venice: We slept in (8:00) and had a delicious breakfast in our room right in front of the huge window overlooking the Academia bridge.  We went to the top of the Campanile and got some great views.  Then we went inside St. Mark's Basilica, where we weren't allowed to take pictures.  I read in Rick Steve's book that you can skip the line if you check your bags in a place down the street which was great because the line was really long!  Well, when Eric saw me locate the baggage check and stride up to the front of the line like I owned the place, baggage ticket in hand, he looked at me like I had just performed a miracle.  It pays off to do some research!

At this point we decided to make our way to the train station to catch a ride to Florence.  It got a little sticky here, because after consulting a map, we made the decision to walk to the train station.  With a map, the trip would surely be much more efficient and fast...Or so we thought.  Well, we accidentally took a very indirect route to the train station.  Upon finally arriving, we were sweaty, hungry and very tired, and as if that wasn't enough, we found out the train we were hoping to take was full.  It was a tense hour waiting for that next train, but we managed to make the best of it by sitting on the water and eating gelato.

Now we liked Venice, please understand that.  It's an amazing city and if I had enough money I'm sure I'd plop my butt right down on a gondola and never get up.  And I'd be lying if I said I didn't squeal in delight when one of those gondolas rode by complete with an accordion and singer, but....in the back of my mind I was thinking, "Can we go back to Germany?"  So we were slightly apprehensive getting off the train in Florence...

I LOVE FLORENCE!  Just see for yourself:

We first went into the Academia museum and saw Michelangelo's David.  The picture below is not the real David, but I thought you might like a reference.  You do not need to be an art lover to appreciate David...wow!  I was sad to leave the Academia.  Then we walked around and saw a few more things Florence had to offer.  We had dinner at a little serve-yourself cafeteria and it was great! So much fun! Leonardo, in true Italian-stereotype-fashion, tried to get us to eat more and more.  This is an amazing city!