Wednesday morning I woke up early, checked out of my hostel and headed for the bus station. Instead of taking the train to Florence and Venice, I found that I could take the MegaBus and it was much cheeper, and it took about the same amount of time. I paid about 15 Euros for both of my tickets to Florence and to Venice! It was really easy and made for a nice trip. My train left first thing in the morning and I arrived in Florence around 1pm. I headed for my hostel and then straight onto the Galleria dell' Academia. I did not expect that the gallery would be so small, but the sight of the David was the second thing on the trip that took my breath away. Again, I used Rick Steve's free audio guide for my tour of the gallery and really enjoyed his commentary and information on the David and the other works found there. I gained so much appreciation for Michelangelo in that short time in the gallery. It was simply astonishing.
I arrived in Pisa a little after 9am. As I was getting off the train there was a group of women sitting in front of me, speaking English and I noticed one of them had a sweat shirt that said "Detroit Michigan." So naturally I started talking to them and found out they were teachers. We ended up riding to the Cathedral and Leaning Tower together on the bus, but I lost them in the crowd eventually. However, it was nice to know that people from home were in the same place I was.
Although I am glad I got to go, the Cathedral and Leaning Tower were not super impressive. The tower is actually quite small, and I didn't get to see much of the Cathedral because it was being renovated. There are also museums that you can go into and other things to see, but they were more expensive than I wanted to pay. I also chose not to go up the tower, because it costs like 17 euros, but also, the view from the top isn't that grand. I was simply happy seeing it in person. I headed straight back to the translation and I left Pisa before 12p.
I woke up the next morning and headed to the city. My first stop was The Bridge of Sighs, and Piazza San Marco. Again, I plugged in my Rick Steve's Audio guide for the prefect explanation of the Piazza and the Cathedral. I highly suggest paying the few euros to go upstairs in the Cathedral for a great view of the Piazza and some historical artifacts. Next, it was time to get lost in the alleyways of Venice. Honestly, its an island, you can just keep walking and eventually you an just turn around. The more I walked, the more I loved this unique city. I headed to the Rialto bridge and had lunch. Then I decided that I wanted to go back and tour Doge's Palace. I decided not to get the audio guide, and just read the signs, but I think I would have learned more with the audio guide. The painting were stunning and it was really unique. When you take the tour, you also tour the jail and walk through the Bridge of Sighs, just like a prisoner. Then, I paid to take the elevator to the clock tower, for an awesome view of Venice! It was really worth it, especially near sunset.
Overall, my trip was really good and I am so thankful for all that I got to see and do. If there is one thing that I learned, its that I didn't know enough about Italian history to really appreciate everything. My hope now is that I can learn about what I saw and really appreciate it.
Please feel free to leave comments or questions about my trip! I will be writing again soon about the Christmas Markets here in Germany, so check back!