Off to Venice and Switzerland!

Emily finished up her study abroad in England and was going to do a little bit of traveling with her friends.  Lucky me got to meet up with her in Venice, do a little traveling and sightseeing of our own - end up in London and fly back together!

It was so exciting heading off to Venice to meet with her.  I have to admit though, that I was very nervous and maybe even a little scared! I know that I was just there with Brad in April, but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to communicate without my trusty language guide (Brad) by my side!  Everything went pretty smoothly though.  I got into the airport and then had to figure out what bus to take.  I finally met up with Emily at the Vaporetto station, which is a public water bus.  She had to wait for an hour or two in the heat so I felt bad about that.  Anyway, we got to our hotel and then started exploring.  It is soo beautiful there.  Like Emily says in her blog, it is weird that peeling paint and really old things can have so much appeal!  We had so much fun just walking around and taking lots of pictures.  We ate lunch by the famous old Rialto Bridge, we went to the square where San Marco (Mark the Apostle) is buried, walked around in the outdoor market, had a gondola ride (of course) and looked in lots of shops.

After spending the night in Venice we headed for the train station around lunch time.  Emily had the experience here, since she had just ridden a couple of trains with her friends.  It was a huge adventure for me!  We had to switch trains 3 different times to get to Lucerne, Switzerland.  I absolutely loved this part of the trip!  Our first stop was Milano.  Then we got on a different train and went through Lake Como.  It was a beautiful city up in the mountains right on a huge lake.  I have to admit I kept my eyes peeled for George Clooney!  

Then we started twisting and turning through the Alps.  I know I keep repeating myself - but, it was gorgeous!  I couldn't take my eyes of the country we were going through:  huge mountains, lakes that didn't even have a ripple on them, waterfalls, gushing out everywhere, and little cute Swiss houses with smoke curling out of the chimneys!  I wish this part could have lasted longer.  Every time I travel, I am always amazed at how beautiful this world really is.  

We switched trains again in Zurich, and arrived in Lucerne at about 10pm.  We were so tired we just went to bed!

We woke up to a beautiful site out our window in Lucerne.  It is situated on a lake and is in the middle of the Alps.  We soaked in the scenery, ate some breakfast, and walked around the town a little.  Around noon, Brad joined us (yay!) and we explored some more.  It rained most of the day and we didn't have a lot of time to explore the mountains or anything, so we just tried to cram in as much looking as possible.  We also had to get souvenirs - Swiss knives for all the boys and a cuckoo clock for me!  I wish we could have spent more time in Lucerne.  It was so interesting hearing the German all around me.  I have heard a lot of Spanish, Italian, and French in my life but not much German.  We ended the day by going to a cute little restaurant and eating authentic Swiss food.  I had Schnitzel and Noodles and it was yummy!

Italia!

Brad and I were lucky enough to go on an amazing trip to Italy this Spring.  Emily came home from BYU and watched the boys and we took off.  I am planning on making a book of our trips and so I only chose a few pictures to represent each place we visited.  We saw so many amazing things that it was really hard to boil it down to just a few pics.  First we arrived in Rome!  We were able to see the Coliseum, the Vatican and lots of beautiful fountains.  Sadly, we were not able to see the Forum because it was closed for a holiday.  So we will save that for another day!

We rented a car and drove through Tuscany.  It was so beautiful.  We stayed at a little vineyard outside of a place called Rhiadda in Chianti.  It was still a working vineyard and very quaint.

Next, we stopped in Florence.  I loved Italy so much, but I think that my very favorite place was Florence.  We stayed in the heart of the old town and got to go to all the museums and eat at little cafe's in the old piazzas.  It was heavenly.  We got to see the "David" by Michelangelo and I was struck by how tall it was.  It was huge!  We even got to attend church in Florence. :)

Our next stop was Venice!  I have ALWAYS wanted to go there and it definitely did not disappoint!  We stayed in a hotel overlooking the Grand Canal.  It was so awesome!  We wandered around and explored and of course had to take a boat ride.  It was very romantic.  :)

On our way home, we even got to spend a couple of days in New York.  We got to wander around town and saw "Mary Poppins" in Broadway.  It was great getting to stop there for a few day because then we weren't so jet-lagged when we got home!  Thanks Brad for the "trip of a lifetime" and for all the wonderful memories.  :)