"Oh Italy...."

Hey friends!

Happy Tuesday! (Almost Wednesday for me, as well as my bedtime!!) 

So, this past Sunday, I was in Florence with a few friends and the director of our program. My ticket was free because I won the Scavenger hunt at the beginning of the semester. This is the trip I chose to be paid for by CUA. Sometimes small groups are the best groups. Only 5 of us. 

I traveled with one friend, and we met the rest there. This is a story that will make you laugh... at least I am laughing...It's the only way not to go crazy... 

I will start by saying, "Oh, Italy!" It's our catch phrase when something happens that is foreign to us, or something that would happen in a foreign country..a moment you are glad you are from the US...etc..

We woke up at 6am to leave at 6:25am for our train at 7:05am to arrive in Firenze (Florence) at 8:30am to get to Mass at the Duomo at 9am. At least this was supposed to happen. Oh, Italy... you just had to make this trip difficult for us, didn't you!? This is far from what actually happened.

We get there to find out our train has been delayed 15 minutes. That's not too bad, so we waited by our train for a few minutes and saw the lady turning on the lights for our train. So we got on and left a little bit later. 30 minutes into the ride, the conductor come to check our tickets and says what everyone would dread to hear. She said, "This is going to Florence, but you will be there in 4 hours". In my mind: EXCUSE ME, WHAT!!!??? "This is the regional train, not the fast train, your train was moved to another track" Again, EXCUSE ME, WHAT!!?? We sat there and stared at each other for a good minute before either one of us said a word. Finally I said, "Am I losing my mind, or did she just say this is going to be a 4 hour train ride?" Yep. Get comfortable. Oh Italy... 

We FINALLY get to Florence and meet up with our group. We walked around for a little while, saw a few churches, and museums, and then headed to a wonderful lunch. A lunch lets just say that we were not expecting, but it is one of the perks of being in a small group. Without saying the cost, we enjoyed a nice bottle of wine, a glass of Prosecco champagne ( I believe it was on the house), really good appetizers, and one heck of a steak (Florence is known for it's steak). We all haven't had meat in a while, as we have been on a pizza and pasta diet in Rome, so we were salivating over the thought of having meat, let alone a nice tender and juicy steak! It was delicious!!! All I will say is that we left there very happy and satisfied, and the bank may or may not have a dent in it... Thanks CUA for paying for some of it! :)

Here are some photos from Galleria dell' Accademia. This includes the famous sculpture of "David" by Michelangelo. It was massive! His hand was close to the size of my head! Very impressive. 

Then we went to the Duomo, a "must" when in Florence. It was beautiful! Here is what the Cupola (dome) and inside/outside looks like! 

Personally, I liked the outside of the Duomo more than the inside. We were there as the sun was setting, so it was even prettier!

Then we bought a leather jacket, which also put quite a dent in my bank account, but I love it. Hopefully it lasts a while! :)

It was a beautiful quick day trip to Florence!

As of this week, I am here for less than 4 weeks!! Woah! Time sure has flown by way too fast! Good news is that I will be home for Christmas and get to spend some quality time with family for a few weeks!

Before then though, my fingers will be busy writing 3, 8-10 pg. papers in the next 3 weeks! With this said, if you do not get an update, know that I am writing away! But I will try my best to keep you informed! 

My last trip will be to Spain- this trip is in less than 48 hours!!! Thanksgiving break here we come! I will be in Avila and Madrid until Sunday. You will definitely get a post about this trip on Sunday night. 

Please keep us in prayer for safe travels!! 

Peace and Blessings! 

Anne