Italy is one place everyone should visit. It was my second time to Italy and I loved it even more. My trip started with a night train from Vienna to Florence. It was actually quite comfortable and nice except for being sick and the constant going and stopping of the train. So then at 6:15AM we arrived in Florence, Italy....we almost didn't get out at the train stop because they woke us up like 5 minutes before we arrived and so I just grabbed my stuff and left the train. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and then hit the sites. We saw the Ponte Vecchio (Bridge shown below) and Duomo (Church shown below) first.
It was so beautiful and around 11:00AM we decided to get gelato because the temptation was too strong. We went to Corona's Cafe and it ended up having the best gelato....one flavor in particular....CREM CARAMEL. It was the most beautiful thing I have tasted! A very rich creamy caramel but even that doesn't describe it! So then we saw a lot of churches and art. Of course, the David by Michelangelo...then tons of art at the Uffizi. I also lost myself a few times in little shopping markets. It was a fun experience to talk to the people and see how low you could get prices....I got a purse down from 65 to 15....so fun! One day I decided to get lost by just take the little streets in Florence. It was so fun because I happened upon a little store where this old man opened his store so I could come in and look. In the little stores it was a lot more fun because they didn't really speak English but were so friendly and helpful...unlike the street people.
One unexpected trip I took was to Pisa. It was only an hour train ride away from Florence. So we went out there and it was so amazing to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It really does lean a lot and it was beautiful. Luckily the weather was even kind and didn't rain even though it was threatening but it made for some sweet skies.
After Florence and Pisa, I went to Venice....a magical and romantic city! I just hope next I go it will not be with 30 girls...haha! But it was so fun and just the way Italy should be imagined. We arrived at night in the middle of a downpour which wasn't very fun because I didn't have any rain gear....but Friday it cleared up and was beautiful for the rest of the time. We did have to deal with flooding from high tides but no big deal! I loved going to all the shops...jewelry shops, glass shops, clothing shops....just everything! So my quest began to find a glass penguin...because I really think my collection wouldn't be complete without a penguin from Italy but I just couldn't have any penguin...it had to be perfect....no small task and the selection was large. I did find blue glass penguins that were three feet tall but 620 euros....not quite my price range....but on my last day headed to the train station I saw this little penguin in the window and it had my name all over it. The penguin is on its stomach and just so cute!
So then I also had fun in Venice on a Gondola ride. It was with six girls but I loved it! Our Gondolier was so fun because he knew a ton of facts and history of Venice and the buildings. He showed us that the canals are anywhere from 6 to 3 feet deep....crazy!
On Saturday, we got on our train headed back to Vienna but it was crazy because our train was delayed. We were told we would be there for 30 minutes so some got off to get food at the train station. Then all of a sudden the conductor told us we were leaving and so we had to leave the Director, the director's wife, and a student at the train station because the train wouldn't wait. So then after two hours our train stopped at a random stop and we waited for two hours! It was crazy because we had to wait for another train to come and when it came our director, his wife, and the student were on it and so they caught up with us. All the confusion happened because there was a train strike in Italy and our train was the last one leaving for Austria for the weekend. SO CRAZY! But it was a great trip and only 1 day of rain and lots of gelato and pizza!
Thursday we had another tour and this included the Jewish part of Pest. We went and saw the largest Synagogue in Europe and it is so beautiful. The architect was actually a Catholic and so it had a few things that weren't traditional but it was so amazing. After the synagogue, we went to a jewish museum and saw many Jewish artifacts. It was a very neat experience. After our tour, we were taken back to the Hotel and there we regrouped. We made a list of everything we wanted to see and then mapped it out.
Another highlight was seeing the Parliament building. It was not easy to get in because they only sell so many tickets. We had to arrive at 8:00am to get tickets but the first day we did it they didn't have any more tickets but our second time around we did get tickets. The building is built in the neo-Gothic style and unlike any other building I have seen.
It was such a great experience to see so much history in one town. The people were quite friendly and I enjoyed learning more about the culture.
So we first went to the store which was about an hour ordeal because they only had one kind of cake mix. You would think with no selection that it would be easy but trying to read the German and figuring out what exactly we wanted to make was hard. So we finally decided to just get the chocolate cake mix, this creme frosting package, and sugar flowers for decorations. We then headed home to start cooking. There were five of us in the kitchen trying to bake a cake! So we couldn't find a cake pan or a mixer and we don't have a microwave. So we started with the hard butter and just had to fork into the mix. We then just stirred the batter until our arms hurt! We did find a springform pan which we just prayed that the batter wouldn't leak through and then covered it with butter. Once we put the cake in the oven we found the mixer....oh well! And then we only had 30 minutes until we needed to meet up with the rest of the group for a big party at T.G.I. Friday's with Camille but the cake needed to cook for 40 minutes. Well after 35 minutes we took the cake out and the top was burnt.....not sure how that happened. So we cut the top off off the cake and it was the most dry cake I have seen. Luckily the cake came with a chocolate glaze so poured that all over then we had the creme frosting we made. We used the mixer we found but it just wasn't quite right. It didn't get fluffy or stiff even though we added twice as much powdered sugar as the recipe required. So we then put the cake in a shoebox lid and poured the frosting mess over the top. It probably didn't help that we didn't have time to cool the cake but we put it in the freezer for 5 minutes. So with the "frosting" on the cake it just ran down the sides and made a puddle around the cake! Good thing it was in a shoebox lid because it would have been a horrible mess as we carried it around Vienna. We then put the hard sugar flowers and Happy Birthday decorations on but in the frosting they won't stay on the cake either.
So now being a half an hour late to the party and not the cake we had envisioned headed to the party. People looked at use as we walked from our house with this mess of frosting and cake. On the streetcar we got a couple good second glances too. Luckily, the cake tasted just fine with all that frosting and the cake wasn't even that dry because it was soaking in the bath of frosting! Definitely cooking in Austria has been quite the experience learning how to read directions and make things work!
After Florence and Pisa, I went to Venice....a magical and romantic city! I just hope next I go it will not be with 30 girls...haha! But it was so fun and just the way Italy should be imagined. We arrived at night in the middle of a downpour which wasn't very fun because I didn't have any rain gear....but Friday it cleared up and was beautiful for the rest of the time. We did have to deal with flooding from high tides but no big deal! I loved going to all the shops...jewelry shops, glass shops, clothing shops....just everything! So my quest began to find a glass penguin...because I really think my collection wouldn't be complete without a penguin from Italy but I just couldn't have any penguin...it had to be perfect....no small task and the selection was large. I did find blue glass penguins that were three feet tall but 620 euros....not quite my price range....but on my last day headed to the train station I saw this little penguin in the window and it had my name all over it. The penguin is on its stomach and just so cute!
So then I also had fun in Venice on a Gondola ride. It was with six girls but I loved it! Our Gondolier was so fun because he knew a ton of facts and history of Venice and the buildings. He showed us that the canals are anywhere from 6 to 3 feet deep....crazy!
On Saturday, we got on our train headed back to Vienna but it was crazy because our train was delayed. We were told we would be there for 30 minutes so some got off to get food at the train station. Then all of a sudden the conductor told us we were leaving and so we had to leave the Director, the director's wife, and a student at the train station because the train wouldn't wait. So then after two hours our train stopped at a random stop and we waited for two hours! It was crazy because we had to wait for another train to come and when it came our director, his wife, and the student were on it and so they caught up with us. All the confusion happened because there was a train strike in Italy and our train was the last one leaving for Austria for the weekend. SO CRAZY! But it was a great trip and only 1 day of rain and lots of gelato and pizza!
