Today's Melody: "Trains" by Porcupine Tree http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmoagjB-S_k

The last few days have been a whirlwind.  On our first night in Florence, we went out for pasta and wine and ended up meeting a nice newlywed couple from Tennessee.  We found a karaoke bar and belted out American tunes with the locals.  Fun! 

At the karaoke bar

Apparently we wore ourselves out, because we set our alarms for 8:30 the next morning, but slept through it and Jon woke me up at 12:30!  We gave ourselves just enough time to do some laundry (in the sink of course)

and headed to the Duomo, a beautiful cathedral in the heart of Florence.  It's dome (duomo) dominates the Florence skyline.  The interior of the church is quite dark and dreary, not very ornate at all.  The highlight, however, is the dome above the altar, painted again by Michelangelo. 

Later that afternoon we had our Italian cooking lessons.  We had a great time at In Tutio cooking school.  We learned from sous chef Allesandro how to prepare a 4-course meal, including homemade tiramisu.  Bon apetito!  We were then able to eat it with the small group that helped us prepare it.  It was by far the best meal we had in Italy, and we actually made it! (P.S. Don't expect any of this at home... making crepes is hard!).  



Apertif made with eggplant, aged fontina, and parmesan.



Allesandro teaches us to make "farmer's chicken."



On Saturday morning, our original plan was to head to Venice for the day because we had a night train to Austria scheduled for that evening.  By the time we got to the train station, however, the earliest available train to Venice was at 3:30.  Not our first mishap, but we are still trying to figure out how these trains work!  So... we got into Venice at 5:30 p.m. and had to leave at 11:00 p.m. Needless to say, we were in a hurry to see what there was to see!  We wandered the enchanting side streets and alleys, looked in the shops filled with Carnival masks and Murano glass, and (of course) ate some gelato.  St. Mark's square was stunning, perhaps my favorite church exterior thus far.  Unfortunately, the church and the Doge's Palace had already closed for the day, but thankfully we had a Rick Steves' audio tour to help us get acquainted with the exteriors of the buildings and the history of the square.  If you haven't been, Venice is just as romantic as you hear it is.  It is peaceful (perhaps because there are no cars?) and it is thrilling to wander through the narrow alleyways and let yourself get lost.  We were reassured by the fact that we were on an island, so whenever we'd come to water, we'd just turn around and go another direction. 

I think the highlight of our day in Venice was that we had a nice British couple take our picture, and they told Jon he looked just like their "prince who just had a wedding."  They said he could make a pretty penny in England as an impersonator.  I still don't see it, but he's definitely my prince charming.

We took the night train to Innsbruck and on to Munich.  We got here early this morning, and are planning fun things to do!  Will fill you in soon. :)  Thanks for reading.