Florence, Take Two

I have finally gotten some pictures up of Florence! This trip was much more successful than the first. We had great weather and were able to climb the 463 steps to the top of the cathedral's dome. It was a hike getting up there, but well worth it. Once on top, we were able to see all 360 degrees of the city below, it was beautiful. We went to the Uffizi for the first part of the day and saw some historical works of art, including that of Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Brunelleschi. We walked across the Pont de Vecchio and pretended like we could afford some of the most expensive jewelry in the world.

Lydia and I attempted to go to St. Peter's again on Saturday. I was sick for the entire trip there and back, so we weren't able to do much. I suppose we're going to have to try to plan another trip some time. If I don't go for Easter I may try to make it back there when I am in Rome before I return to the States. There are a few of us considering a trip to Switzerland over our Easter break if we can figure the trip in at a reasonable cost.

We leave Wednesday for our South trip. The class is taking a bus down to Pompeii where we will be staying for two nights. On the way down we're stopping in Herculaneum for a few hours. Then we finish the trip to Pompeii, where we will stay until Friday. Alex, Chuck and I have decided to stay in the south for the weekend as opposed to coming straight back to Orvieto. Friday we're going to take a bus to Sorrento and stay in Seven Hostel, a modern hostel overlooking the coast. Saturday, we're going to catch a bus headed towards the Amalfi coast. We may stop in a couple cities along the way and site see, but we're staying in a hostel in Amalfi Saturday night. Our hostel is right on the Amalfi Coast, A Scalinatella, and in the heart of Amalfi. As of now, the weather is expected to be sunny and 60 for the weekend, so I'm really looking forward to some warmer weather. We hear not many people travel to the south at this time of the year, but we figured we'd try it out while we could and hope we get to see some cool things without a ton of tourists around. I will be sure to write about the trip after our return.

Spring break update: we are set for Ireland. We have made all of our travel and accomodation arrangements, excluding two trains we need in Ireland that we can't book unless it's 28 days before the date of travel. We're all getting really excited about our trip!

Just to update everyone, I have changed my return travel dates. I will now be returning to the States on May 10. I have already made my flight change and will still be flying out of Paris. However, I'm coming home a week earlier than originally planned.