We are currently sitting in our apartment in Paris planning our day, so I figured I would upload some random photos!

This is the Passport/credit card holder that Candace bought me, which turned out to be super handy and i love it! THANKS! I am standing in front of the mountains on Lake Como.

This is a great water fountain we found in Rome....

Standing on the Bridge in Venice, on our first day of exploring,

This was from our Milan day trip, we climbed up all the way up to the top of the church and were able to hang out on the roof and take some cool photos. We also spent quite a bit of time just sitting in the shade, it was extremely hot on the roof!

Again, this is in Milan on our way up to the roof of the Church.

Over looking Milan City on the roof of the church! We had a lot of time to kill that day because our train to Paris didnt come until 11, and we had to check out of our hotel in the morning. So we spent the majority of the day just wondering around the city, and spending as much time in restaurants/pubs as they would allow us! We spent a couple of hours in each restaurant and pub we went to, which turned out to be good because they would end up giving us free drinks and food!

That's all for now!
xoxox

The end of Italy

Hello everyone!
We have left Italy! We took an over night train ride to Paris, which turned out to be quite the experience. We had originally thought that we booked a four person cabin for us to sleep in, and were so pumped about not having to share with anyone, when in walks some random dude. It wouldn't of been so bad, but he had the smelliest feet in the world! and seen as there was not much we could do about it, we sucked it up and slept the whole train ride, 12 hours later arriving in Paris!
So this is a recap of our Italy adventure, so that you can see what we did, and so that i have a way of looking back and remembering too!


DAY 1: Rome
- Arrive at the Ivanhoe Hostel
- Visited the Colosseum/Palatine/Arco De Tito
- Spaghetti night at the Hostel!

DAY 2: Rome
- Pantheon
- Spanish Steps
- Fountain De Trevie
- Museum to unknown soldier

DAY 3: Rome/Pisa/Florence
- Vatican City
- Sistine Chapel
- S. Pietro Basilica
- Leaning Tower of Pisa / Duomo

DAY 4: Florence
- Walked the Cinque Terra

DAY 5: Florence/Venice
- The David statue
- Duomo
- Train to Venice
- San Marco
- Rialto
- Gondola ride

DAY 6: Venice
- Lido Beach day!
- Ferry on the Grand Canal
- Fancy Dinner night

DAY 7: Venice/Lake Como
- Approx 6 hours of travel to Como!

DAY 8: Lake Como/Milan
- Ferry on Lake Como to Menaggio/Bellagio/Como
- Train to Milan

DAY 9: Milan
- Duomo
- Walked to the "Last Supper", but viewing was booked up



- Began train ride to Paris!

catch up.../

So we have been with out wireless internet for a few days, so that is why i havent been blogging! I dont have much time right now...im about to be taken...just kidding, we are about to leave and go out for the day!
so to catch ya'll up....after our cinque terra walk...
The next day we went to see the David statue that Michelangelo made, and it was so much better then i had expected. It was huge!!! and so well crafted, it was so cool to see...not gonna lie though, i had no idea it was David from David and Goliath...but hazzahh thats what it is! After that we went to see the Duomo, which is another church, and we climbed about 450 stairs to get to the top of the building and was able to see all of Florence which was pretty to see. It was so tiring to climb those stairs though...our legs are gonna be jacked when this trip is over, we have climbed sooo many stairs this holiday lol
So after florence we headed to Venice! Venice is a huge couple city lol everyone seemed to be on a honeymoon or at least with a significant other. But it was still so pretty! the first day in Venice we went exploring to go see the San marco and the Rialto..basically a bunch of cool buildings in this square..all the old buildins have so much detail and are made of all different colours of marbel. We also went on a Gondola ride, which was nice, the guy even let us have a go of rowing...i didnt go up because he was super touchy, and that just aint cool! 
The next day we went to Lido beach, and it was so hot!!! we tried to have a game of volleyball, but the sand was so hot that it literally burnt our feet so we had to stop, plus we got kicked off the volleybal court because it was owned by a hotel...so we swam and tanned! it was a nice relaxing day after a week or so of stressful running around! we went out that night for a nice dinner and to a british themed pub, where we met some really cool spanish people where so much fun!
Sorry that this is a really rushed entry, but i am running short of time! i will come back and edit this and add photos, but for now i must run!
miss you all a lot!
ps sorry for the bad spelling

Pisa/Florence

continuing from my last post...
After a very long/hot/uncomfortable train ride form Rome to Pisa, we got to see the Duomo and the leaning tower of Pisa! We only stopped in Pisa for maybe an hour, because other then those two things there isnt a whole lot to see. Which is fine, minus the fact that we had all our luggage with us. It is such a surreal feeling being able to say that i have seen the stuff most people only see in pictures, I highly recommend traveling to any one that wants to see the world! We got pretty lucky with our hostels so far, we met some great people in Rome, and our hostel in Florence is more like a hotel then a hostel which is great, we even get our own room! Our hostel in Rome was a 12 bed room, but it was fine because everyone was awesome and really easy going. 

The Duomo

The leaning tower! 

Me doing my best to hold up the tower..it was really heavy...thats why i look so awful..it had nothing to do with 2 hours sleep no food and a 4 hour train ride...

After Pisa we got on the train for another hour, and came to Forence, where we proceeded to go straight to bed. The next morning, aka today, we took the train to Cinque Terra which is hiking trail that takes you to 5 different costal towns. So we hiked 1km to the first town, which was more of a walk then a hike, and took the ferry for the next 5 k because one of the trails were closed and we wanted to be able to see the coast line. Which was such a good choice, because the coast is so amazing. It was exactly how i picture Italy, all the colourful houses in the hills. After the ferry we went swimming in the ocean, which felt so good seen as it is still so hot out, and then ;proceeded on our walk! The pamphlet said it was 3km, but it tookm us a good two hours of walking so were thinking it was longer then 3km. And for the firsr part it was all steps up hill, and they are normal steps either, they are like brick/boulders and some are small and some you almost had to climb up. We had to take alot of breaks, it was such hard work. It was so worth it though, it was so so pretty, and we got to swim and cool off in the ocean again which felt great on my aching calves lol

Now after another almost 3 hours of train rides (one of which we almost missed, and had to run like mad women to catch) we are back at our hostel in florence and relaxing! Today was a really great day!!!!

The start our our treck!

Classic group photo

One of the small towns!

An amazing view of one of the cities, while on our hiking trail.

Sunday/Monday

wooooow cant even describe how hot it is here...everyone you look at has a sweaty sheen. But any way, Sunday we were planning on taking a trip to the Vatican / Sistine Chapel but it was closed (a church closed on a sunday?!) so instead we wandered around town. We went to the Trevie Fountain, Spanish Steps, Patheon, and a government type/museum looking building. Everything is so beautiful here, even walking the streets, the buildings are just amazing. And we did alotttt of walking..so..much...walking...

The Pantheon, has a hole in the ceiling. And is so beautiful.

Throwing our coins in to the trevie fountain!

Pantheon

Trevie fountain

Spanish Steps

some type of museum..it was so beautifl..all white marbel

again

Colosseum in the background!

In the Pantheon

Trevie Fountain again

Spanish stepssss

Some random Italians that wanted a picture with us lol

The ceiling in the museum...all the ceilngs have so much detail, its crazy.

Colosseum in le back

ditto.

SO that was basically our monday...we were going to check out the catacobs (? i think thats the word) but it was closing and we had our shoulders and knees exposed which is a big no no in any church in Italy, so we got sent away!


MONDAYYYYYYYYY...after about 3 hours sleep we got up super early and headed to the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel...thankfully we decided to take a cab and not walk there...it was further then we thought. Plus were lazy. At the Vatican, we had to walk up about 300 steps, and not just regular stairs, but teenie tiny spiral stairs...but it was worth it, the view up there was amazingg, and once again everything was so beautiful. We got to see the famous Michael Angelo painting..(the two guys pointing at each other...bad explanation, ill find a picture later) but we werent allowed to take pictures in the Chapel.

Vatican

View from the vatican!

So exhausted fromwalking up the stairs..

Vatican

Vatican

Cant remember where we were lol

End of our Vatican tour!

Look at my disgusting swollen feet...honestly couldnt fit in my shoes. This is the result of lots of walking and...heat?? im not sure, but we are all rocking cankles thats for sure. Even your hands swell up. Painfullll!

We left rome after our trip, and had a 4 hour train ride to Pisa! but ill write about that later! |
Night :)
oxoxoxo

We have arrived!!!

Well me amici, we have finally arrived in Roma - and it is bloody hot\! Like stepping in to a sauna..or like a heat wave punching you in the face. So anyway, we arrive at the Airport and are trying to figure out the trains and whats going to be cheaper, and it was way cheaper and so much faster to pay for a cab. SO we are walkihg towards this cab, and this random Italian starts talking to Jodi and saying how he can take us to our hostel for so little money and how the train is too expensive - it felt like a scene from Taken, except not one of us knows Liam Neeson...but we did go with him, he was a legit cab driver and not a pimp, and we got to our hostel in one piece!
We dropped all our stuff off, got organized and changed, and headed for the Colosseum which is a 5 minute walk form our hostel. I wish I could upload pictures to show you guys how awesome it is, but i seem to have forgotten my camera cord...so ill have to buy a new one! But its so cool to see, and to be able to say "yeah, i've been there". We walked around for a good few Km today looking at everything around the Colosseum, and the arch, and the Rome emporium? i think thats where we were...after a while our feet/ankles/fingers started swelling due to heat and lack of water so we called it a day...the other girls (Jodi, Brigid, and Malinda) are having a cap nap right now to prepare for the spaghetti/disco our hostel is having tonight, I however am too mad about forgetting my cord that I cant sleep! 

well thats all for now, ill try finding another way to upload photos.... any suggestions?

I  FIGURED IT OUT!