Could it get any hotter?

So, what a weekend!

Friday night we went for a nice little dinner at this locally owned trattoria - Icheì Chi Chi. For the bargain price of 12 Euros we had a three course meal including: bread, wine, short pasta in tomato sauce, chicken, and your choice of Limoncello or Drambuie for dessert. After dinner it was off to another gelato shop to taste the local favorite. After dinner, we headed down to the Ponte Vecchio where at night, they have great musicians that play music on the bridge. It was really fun - just hanging out on the street watching people and listening to good music. After that, we decided to call it a night.

Saturday morning Jen and I found our way to the train station to catch our train to Venice. The train left at 8:30am and we got in to Venice around 11am. The ride up was beautiful - through the mountains and a bunch of small towns. It was pretty coming in to Venice because you are on land and all of a sudden you are cruising over a water bridge. It reminded me a bit of the Florida Keys. Once we arrived, we walked out of the train station and in front of us was the Grand Canal. It was so cool....water taxis, gondala's and boats everywhere. We jumped in line to buy our 12-hour water bus pass and we were off! We went down to St. Mark's Square and from there managed to get lost in some back alley. Good thing though because we came across a great little restaurant and enjoyed pizza (and air conditioning). After lunch, we just strolled around the city and then road the water bus back up towards the train station. About 6:30pm we had to catch our train back to Florence, however, our train ticket information didn't match any of the train options and we were running out of time (and patience). So, Jen had us jump on the train heading to Rome (since it stopped in Florence) and we made it back just fine. If it weren't for her quick thinking we would still be in Venice!!

So, yesterday morning we slept in and then headed down to the Central Market to do a little shopping. Then, we came back to the hotel to hang out on the deck and play Rummy. It was nice to have some down time to just enjoy our deck and take it all in. Then, it was time for a rapozza (nap) and off to dinner with some of the group. We caught another street musician last night that sounded a lot like Phil Collins - very good. Three men tried to pick me up in a matter of 10 minutes last night so all I can think was we were at a singles concert and didn't know it. It was quite comical.

So, today we are heading to Michelangelo's Piazza and then tonight we are going to Jen's instructors apartment for a get together (drinks, snacks, etc). Tomorrow we are off to Siena for the day - I am looking forward to that. Only a few days left so I am just trying to enjoy every last bit!

Yesterday's lesson learned: When its 90 degrees in your room at midnight, you can actually fan yourself to sleep for over an hour and your arm won't get sore.

Until tomorrow (or Wednesday)....ciao!