Off to see the Pope

Today we went to the Vatican, it was really cool but there were a lot of people there. I had to wear pants because you can't show knees so it was very very hot. The highlight of the trip was the museum that also housed the Sistine Chapel. We had to wait in a really long line and all these illegal venders kept trying to sell us things it was ridiculous. But once we got in it was really cool! After that we went and saw St. Peters it was a huge church and gorgeous on the inside! By that time me and Sarah were wore out so we came and took a three hour nap. Which was good because the trip is really starting to catch up to me. That night we just got dinner and then came back and watched a movie on the computer

Ten miles for Acquaducks? You have got to be kidding me!!

So today was beat up on Sarah and Sadie day. We thought setting out it was going to be a good, but we were oh so wrong. Our plan was to hit up this park that has a lot of Roman ruins in it and aqua ducks, the invention of running water. So this was going to be a pretty good day. It started off with us being the only two people in a almost fully together Roman city center with the famous baths and that was pretty cool! But that was the last high point in the day. After that we got on a bus (we had to wait for this bus for an hour!) and headed to a park, but we thought we missed our stop so we got off at te next stop and waited for the next bus. After waiting for like thirty minutes a bus shows up and it ended up being the bus we got off of, so on reality we could have just set on the air conditioned bus and circled back around instead of sitting in the heat. Once we got off at the 'right' stop the place was closed down for siesta. So we had to wait until two which was like a hour away. Once it became two we then realized our tickets wouldn't get us in! So we went back to the bus stop but decided that we would rather walk. That's what we did at the hottest part of the day after a bad few hours. And for the next three hours we walked and walked to find these aqua ducks. It was sooooo hot and I was tired and almost out of water, and what water I did have could have made coffee lol. We eventually found the aquaducks but they weren't ten mile hike impressive, but it did make the journey a little worth it. After that we waited and waited for a bus but they all just kept driving by so we decided to walk anothe mile or two to the metro station. But finally we made it back to our air conditioned hotel room! So in short Rome kicked our butts yesterday. But we were bound to have one bad day so it could have been much worse. That's it for now goodnight!

Bad Italian food? Who knew there was such a thing

Today we went to the colosseum, it was sooo cool. It was amazing to think how long it has been standing and then look at the great shape it is in. The Romans must have known what they were doing. It was extremely hot here too, hotter than it has been anywhere else. It takes some getting use to, we drank lots and lots of water today, they have places where you can fill your water bottle up for free which is nice. After the colosseum we went to Palentine Hill, which is where there are a lot of roman ruins also. The Roman Forum stands here and you can still see the roads and quite a few parts of buildings are still standing. The most impressive thing was the columns that were standing, they were soo tall! After all that we went back to the hotel room to cool off and rest because the sun takes a lot out of you. And later on we went back out to see the city at night and to get dinner. We actually found a cheap place for dinner, six euros for pasta and a drink so we got it. But t was horrible and we ended up eating of the dollar menu. But on the plus side we got to see the high end shopping street and the Trivi Fountain lit up at night which was super cool. After all that we were exhausted so we came back and shower and went bed. I think that I am losing momentum because I get tired faster than at the beginning of the trip. It all must be catching up with me. That's it for now goodnight!

Oops we got on the wrong train...

Today was not very exciting we just took the train to Rome. It actually took about four more hours than it should have because we accidently got on the slow train and not the fast train haha. Once we got here there wasn't much to do othe than get settled in an eat dinner. And that is exactly what we did! Our hotel is super nice, we even have air condition! We had dinner at a local place that was a four course meal it was so good!I had spaghetti, potatoes, roasted chicken, an ice cream! That's all for today, goodnight!

Its my birthday!

Monday July 16 Today is my birthday! I am finally not a teenager anymore! I was a great way to spend a birthday here in Tuscany. We just kind of chilled around Certaldo, an I finally got to do laundry. I was out of socks! For lunch we went to an family owned restaurant, I got a penne dish that was excellent! Sarah actually bought lunch for my birthday, it was very nice of her! We were going to go to Florence, but we missed the early train and we decided it wouldn't be worth to only spend about three hours there. So we came back to the hostel and hung out. We looked up the hostel we were suppose to stay at in Rome. But all the reviews for the past few months were things like "worst place ever" and "so dirty, do not stay here!" so we cancelled that booking  after we found another place to stay. We are actually staying in a nice hotel with our own room for just about five dollars more than what we would have paid for the hostel. Plus we were thinking it will be nice to have our own room the last few days because we are starting to get tired, and being able to sleep or have the light on as long or short as you want will be nice. Tomorrow we leave for Rome. That will be exciting! That's it for now. Have a good day everyone! 

Welcome to paradise!

Sunday July 15  Today was soo awesome! We went to Cinque Terra, which is on the cost of Italy. It wasn't originally in our plans, but nothing about Certaldo  has been in our plans so far. At first we thought we were going to spend the day in Pisa, but we were told the only thing in Pisa was the tower. So our new friends, Frrydis and Abegathis (no clue on the spelling-they are from Norway), told us we should tag along with the group to Cinque Terra. It is the best place in Italy but it is not advertise much so a lot of people don't know about it. It i a group if five cliff villages that are all within a mile of each other. It's about a three hour train ride to the villages. It is so worth it though. You really get a feel for the culture and the views are gorgeous! The houses are all do pretty with different colors and the tile roofs. In the first village called Manorolla we went swimming in the Meditrainian Sea. The water was so blue! It's the most  beautiful water I have ever seen! Also in that first village we climbed up the mountain to see the village from above, best idea all trip! After that we move on to the last village and there we actually got to sit on the beach since the last one you had to jump in from the rocks. It was such a nice day! We even got Geiloto. It is the best ice cream ever! One the way home we did a lot of running to catch our connecting trains because we always arrived like three minutes before departure, it was so funny. When we got home we all crashed because the day was so exciting! After we got back from Certaldo inmet a girl who's family is the Fulks of Ashland. It is so crazy, it is such a small world. From the train station we walked around the festival again, and at mid night our new friends sang me happy birthday in Swedish! It was so neat! That's it for now! Chow! 

Milan 1/ Sarah & Sadie 0 but Tuscany takes the gold!

Saturday July 14  Last night in the hostel wasn't the greatest. I maybe got like twenty minutes of sleep. It was really hot and loud and there was water dripping on my bed! So instead of pretending to sleep I just got up and played on the Internet. The plus side though was that I was able to Skype my mom at like four thirty in the morning. Me and Sarah left the hostel at five thirty to go to the train station to go to Certaldo. Which is a small town in the Tuscan country side. At the bus stop a lady who we think was trying to get to the airport was trying to ask what time the bus came, but she was speaking Italian. Neither party understood the other but some how we managed to figure it out with lots and lots of hand motions. I slept on the two and a half hour train ride which was nice because by then it was around twenty four hours with no sleep. Once we got to Certaldo I could already tell I was going to like it better than Milan. The hostel we are staying in is more like a bed and breakfast and was once a moneserty that catered to travels about 800 years ago. It is run by an Italian, an Australian, and a girl from South Carolina. As soon as we got there we met a kit of cool people from all over the world. We hiked down the hill to the town and explored with them. We stopped at this cute pizzeria and got a slice and a pop for only two euros! All of us decided it would be better if we all cooked dinner together do we went shopping. We picked up some excellent fruit from the farmers market, most of it was gone before we got to the supermarket. We ended up getting stuff to make a hearty pasta sauce. After shopping we made the twenty five minutes journey back up the hill to the hostel and went swimming in the pool because it is sooo HOT here compared to the other places we have been! After all of us chipped in to help with dinner and we ate we went down to the festival that is happening in the town. It had a huge merchant market, they had a lot of really cool things. I bought a few things and we spent a long time in there. After the market we went up the hill to the castle/courtyard that is where the festival was being held. It was really cool there was a lot of street performers doing things like singing, dancing, acrobats, actors, and so much more. One of the bands actually is staying at our hostel, try were really cool they are a swing jazz band. The festival was nice because we were some of the only tourist there so we got immersed into the culture. Everyone was so happy they were all singing and dance no matter how old or young. By the ended of the night I was going close to thirty plus hours with no sleep so I was ready for bed!