Italia . . . we totally should've stayed longer. It was absolutely amazing! It was warm and sunny and loads and loads of fun. Our planes flew into Bergamo, so Robynne and I explored Bergamo on Friday while we waited for Caleb to come in later that afternoon. We climbed the mountain, explored a creepy old castle, enjoyed the breathtaking scenery, saw some churches, and rode the funicular!

After Caleb's flight came in we went to the train station and bought tickets to Venice!! Italian trains are not my favorite. They don't make announcements, at all. For example, when we get on a French train, the first thing you hear is the end destination of the train and all the stops it will make in between. Then, they announce where you are with each stop. Italian trains . . . nothing. So, we spent the majority of the first train ride on the edge of our seats hoping and praying that we'd gotten on the right train. We managed to do it all without a problem though. Then, when we got to the outskirts of Venice I had written down very careful directions to where I had reservations for the night. However, apparently the directions didn't take into account that the buses have different schedules in the winter than in the summer. So, we got off at what we thought was the right stop and couldn't find any of the other streets in the directions! So, with our limited Italian, we started asking for directions. Luckily between French and Spanish and English and the little Italian, we got by . . . and we will never forget the little old lady on her balcony in her nightgown! Haha, she was the best. So, we found our cabin and enjoyed our first real Italian pizza! And an actual bed . . .

Saturday, we went to actual Venice. SO BEAUTIFUL!!! I don't even know how to describe it, but it was awesome! So I'm just going to put up some pictures. Oh, and I can actually eat the Italian gelatto without getting sick, and it also is simply delicious. I have so many pictures that are all gorgeous, but I can only put up a couple, sadly. (Notice that I didn't even have to wear a coat in any of these!!)

So after more delicous Italian cuisine, we decided to pick a random Italian city in which to spend our Sunday. We wanted to have the experience of being spontaneous. So, we took the train to Verona. Upon getting there, at first I kinda regretted the decision because finding a hotel that we could actually afford was kinda difficult. However, we'd picked a budget and we stuck to it and in the end it turned out to be an EXCELLENT choice. Verona was awesome. It had a Roman arena, and other Roman ruins, pretty cathedrals, lots of things to do with Romeo and Juliette, AND it was International Women's Day (or as Robynne called it International Child Bearer's Day) so there was a little festival thing going on, and Robynne and I got into the Arena for free. :) So, pictures.

Then, we took the train back to Bergamo to catch our flight. And Monday morning we arrived back in cold and rainy Tours. Haha. So, that is just the teensiest tiniest glimpse at my trip to Italy. Anyone who has facebook can see ALL my pictures there, and anymore storiest can be by word of mouth because there's no way I can put it all into one blog post.