Venice, Florence, Pisa, & Siena

Wow....a LOT has happened since Milan.

Sorry, friends, no pictures yet. I left a cord back in the luggage I am storing at the train station in Milan, so I have not been able to put any on the laptop yet, but they are coming!

Also, my facebook is having issues (the italian computers that I am using in hotels are also having issues) so it may be a while until I can contact any of you via facebook, thank you for all the messages!

Currently we are in Siena, and it is a GREAT city! So pretty! Sadly I spent 4 hours in the Siena hospital today (the pneumonia came back). It was an interesting experience to say the least. I got a prescription for antibiotics but the pharmacies were all closed so I will get the meds tomorrow. One nice perk, italy has universal health care and forigners do not pay for anything when they go into emergency. That was nice.

Anyways, besides sickness, Italy is incredible. Every city we have seen has so much character and are so distinctly different from each other yet they all contain what feels like the essence of Italian-ness. Venice was so so beautiful--every building has character--but I would not want to study abroad there only because it is so overrun by tourists and feels sort of like a cultural Disneyland. In Florence we went to two amazing museums (I cannot recall the names but I kept the ticket stubs, I was feeling very sick at the time so forgive me for memory lapse). We saw the David, Birth of the Madonna, huge collections of priceless artwork. We took a daytrip from Florence to go see Pisa which is a pretty small town. The leaning tower is indeed, quite leaning. The Duomo in Pisa is a good one, very beautiful. In Siena we saw the hospital for a long long time, but had a lovely dinner in the main sqaure (Piazza Campo). Siena is very hilly and captures medieval italy. It is one of my favorite cities so far. Tomorrow we are wine tasting in Tuscanny and seeing more of Siena, then we leave for crazy Roma! After exploring Rome for 4 days, we will spend a night in Capri, then we will finish off the tour in Cinque Terre (which I am anticipating the most just because EVERYONE tells me it is there favorite part of Italy). I ask for some prayers for my health, that I am fully healed in time for school to start and also that the transition to life in Milan would go smoothly logistics wise and that my roommates are solid people.

Peace & Love to you all! Ciao!