The Italian Report

Well I'm back to normal life in London and writing a paper for my government class. Italy was fun and exhausting! Our idea of traveling is "winging it". All we did was book accommodations and flights to and from London. When we showed up to a city we pulled the map out, and started walking towards something famous. We booked trains, buses, and metros as we went and learned Italian-English (very poorly). We got lost more times than I would like to count and loved every minute of the adventure.
We went to Rome our first two days and saw a lot of historical places (Brian informs me that we missed a lot though!). In Rome we officially tried calzones and veal (not exactly the American version). We went to the Vatican museums, St. Peters Basilica, Trevi fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Roman Forum, Colosseum, St. Pietro en Vincoli, and many other historical places. We learned that bus drivers do not know the stops on their route whatsoever, that you don't buy bags off of street vendors b/c the police will fine you 1,000 euro, and that getting lost can still be fun.
We then left on a train (barely missed it by 4 minutes) to Cinque Terre, specifically Vernazza. (No cars are allowed in the cities!). Cinque Terre is a 5 cityr area that has been kept secluded for so long that Italy proclaimed it a National Park. The area is on the west coast of Italy about 2-3 hours from Florence. Most people come to the area to hike along the coastline from city to city. Brian and I hiked from Vernazza (where we were) to Monterosso (the Northern most city of the 5). After the hike, instead of hiking to all five towns) we rode the train to each and walked around. They are very similar, but if you explore enough you can find little characteristics that tell you about each city. All the towns have one main road, small ristorantes and shops. English is as widley spoken and you are tagged as a tourist the minute you walk off the train b/c everyone in the town knows each other. It was beautiful. We had perfect weather! Brian and I learned we LOVE fresh Foccacia and mozzarella! we ate this for every meal pretty much! I also love their local pesto and tomato sauce and absolutely hate lemoncino! They have fresh lemon and orange trees growing up the mountain ridges as well as grape vineyards. (I cannot describe how beautiful please check out my pictures).
We then left for Florence where we had colder and wetter weather than London. Yuck! We soon learned that Florence is quite small compared to Rome and we got done with most of the big things to do there. We went to the Uffitzi, Duomo, bronze doors, Ponte Vecchio, the accademia (Michelangelo's works are here), piazza Signoria and Croce. We also went to markets, stores and walked the Arno river. We had the best pasta we have ever tasted from this authentic Tuscan restaurant. I can't explain it, but you could have eaten the pasta with no sauce or toppings and still have been totally satisfied! We basically rolled out of the restaurant we ate so much! The next afternoon I got sick (we think my stomach didn't react well to the bacteria in the water) and I stayed in bed until the next day when we headed back for London.
We had a full day of traveling b/c our flight was out of Pisa. By the end of the day I was so sick they almost had to take me to the hospital. Yikes!
I have been slowly recovering while also trying to show Brian around London (very briefly!!) before he left this morning. He also surprised me and took me the see the Lion King musical. It was simply amazing!
Italy taught me a lot about expectations of travel and stereotypes of cities/countries. I can't say they are all positive, but I have learned. Italy was a lot of fun but I have to say I missed my home in London and am glad to be back.