Italy Needs Internet

8/4/10 10:34 PM Mama Mia! Italy is really quite the place. We spent Monday night in Venice. While most of you immediately think of canals and men playing accordions outside of little pasta shops, that wasn't really the case. Turns out only a small part of venice is like that. The area our hotel was in looked like Iowa. Very much like Iowa. Flat, corn fields, little 2 lane roads… needless to say it was rather boring. Not even a 2 euro box of wine could brighten the location up. The next day was much better though. The island of Venice is exactly like it seems in the movies. There are little canals filled with gondolas, narrow streets, and yes, even men playing accordions. It's a very fascinating city. One thing the movies don't teach you about Venice is that it is very expensive. And crowed like you wouldn't believe. On the upside there are no cars on the island, which is good considering how crazy italian drivers are, but more on that later. The main downside of the day was that it was very warm.

That night we left for Florence. As soon as we got there, my family decided to traipse through the 32 degree Celsius heat to go to the Laundromat. Upside was that we had the best food we've had all trip, and possibly the best pasta dish I've ever had. I wish I would have taken a picture of it. For desert we all ate tiramisu. The "ristorante" was in a small brick building the checked every box in the stereotypical italian restaurant cliché list. In short, it lovely. Also, all of the staff was incredibly friendly. They kept checking to make sure the food was good and that everything was the way we wanted it. They even gave Karis a free ice cream treat after the meal.

Now about those Italian drivers… go back and read what I said about London drivers…. it's even worse. They regularly pass each other on the wrong side of the road on two-way streets. Motorcycles and scooters drive where they please. I'm also pretty certain Italian cars don't come with turn signals. Speaking on nonexistent things, they apparently haven't invented WiFi here yet at all.

This morning we went to the city center of Florence. While Venice felt cramped and overpriced, Florence really delivered. There was famous art on every corner, large open squares, and shops selling all sorts of beautiful goods. The only thing that would have made it better was if it hadn't been so hot. Still, it was probably the most beautiful city we'd been in on the trip so far.

In the afternoon we went to Pisa to see the leaning tower. Talk about surreal. One thing I didn't know was that there are several other ancient Roman buildings right by the tower. Combined with several large patches of green grass, the whole area gave off the impression that we had stepped thousands of years back in time. Very awe-inspiring. Pisa also had the cheapest street vendors and gelato shops. Yes, if you have any questions about gelato, feel free to ask us about it, as we've had it 5 times at least in the past 2 days. Tomorrow we head to Switzerland!

8/6/10 7:37 AM Switzerland is chilly, full of mountains, cool hotels with cozy architecture, and lovely little towns by clear blue lakes. Once again, the country fits the stereotype. Instead of going on and on telling you all these things you can learn about Switzerland from a travel brochure, I'll tell you a few of the odd things I learned on the trip.

Axe body spray is called Lynx in England

People in London are rich

Austria is one of the most beautiful countries in Europe

Venice looks like Iowa in some places

All italians are funny

Venice Smells

Italians are lazy -Luigi's words, not mine!

Florence is full of stereotypical Italians- Large, with slicked back hair, brightly colors shirts, and gold chains.

Switzerland is just like you'd expect it

8/6/10 11:44 PM Tonight we arrived in France. I'm looking forward to seeing all of the sites here… I'm tired now though and I'm heading to bed.