Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Ciao! Grazie!

(NOTE: There's going to be a bunch of pictures...so get ready!!!)

So I made my journey to Florence, Italy last Friday and began a whirlwind Spring Break Trip. I arrived in Florence on Saturday afternoon and Sarah immediately began the "Keep Claire Awake" campaign. We went on a nice stroll around Florence which ended at the David statue. Here's a picture of the David replica--the real David is even bigger!



The next morning we got up and I got on my very first train and went to Pisa. Now, when I think about Pisa, all I can think about is Pauly Shore saying, "Look...it's the leaning tower of cheesa!" on Son In Law. Anybody? Anybody? Beuller? Sarah and I took our obligatory holding up the tower pictures. I took it one step further and went ahead and hugged the statue.





We then got on another train and headed to Lucca--a very quaint fortified city near Pisa. The city is very small (only 2.5 miles in perimeter) and the wall is so thick that you can drive a car on it. We rented bikes and rode around on top of the wall. We had a blast!



And watched the sunset from the top of the wall...



The next day, Hayley joined us from the States and we began operation "Keep Hayley Awake". Due to the lack of showering on all of our parts, I am going to refrain from putting up any pictures from that day!! We strolled around Florence and Hay and I each bought a genuine Italian leather bag!

The next day was Roma!! We spent the entire day in Rome and did EVERYTHING. Here's just a few shots of our nonstop day.

In front of St. Peter's Basilica:



The Coliseum:



Trevi Fountain:



The next day was the day I was looking forward to the most--biking through Tuscany. We rode a total of about 12 miles, but went to Machiavelli's vineyard (remember "The Prince"??), had a fabulous dinner, and enjoyed the Tuscan hills. Here's one for your enjoyment. (Click on the picture to enlarge for your enjoyment.)



The next day we were off to The Cinque Terra (The 5 Lands). We took a train to the first city and hiked to the fourth city along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. We spent the night in an apartment with a fabulous view and then took a train to the 5th city and headed back to Florence that night. Here's a few pics from the trip--I'm going to try to limit it to just a few...

The view from our balcony:



The girls on a bridge:



All of us in the fourth city--Vernaza:



We headed back to Florence for my last night there. Sarah took us to a restaurant called Za Za's where I proceeded to have the best steak I have ever head in my entire life. It was covered in cognac sauce with peppercorns on it--absolutely fabulous!! Here's Sarah and I enjoying our steak--my last meal in Italia!!



So, the trip was a success. We made our rounds and had a blast! Thanks, Bunkmate, for being such a great tour guide. Thanks Emily and Kelly for letting me stay at your apartment. Thanks Hayley for being a fabulous travel companion. A great Spring Break INDEED!!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

That sounds like a real nice trip... but I'm not seeing any of your pictures. Hopefully I'm the only one who can't see them though.

Sarah said...

i see them. i see them.

and they are great.
claire--it was a blast, indeed.
what fun memories and pictures.

yet another place to list under the Other Category on our list!!

love you.

(can't wait for the p.s. to this post!)

Anonymous said...

I dont see them either. Oh yeah and it's goof troop not son in law, remember we went over this. Glad your back babe!

Jenderr said...

No way Joe, I remember that line from son in law too! I think the goofy movie just stole it. Two words for you Claire . I'm Jealous! Man that looks like an awesome trip Claire, so sweet. Molto Bello! Peace out.

Aimee Landreneau said...

1. Did you cut your hair?
2. Love the bike baskets!
3. When are you coming home?

Unknown said...

neat neat neat neat neatskies!!!! that is so precious. I'm going to have to eurotalk to you later, cause I'm going this summer! Claire, remember how we get to play all day long on May 17th? I DO!!!!!