Hi everyone!!  We’ve made it to Roma for 4 days and I’ve had a few hours to relax at the hotel and take a moment to breathe.  The first week of our trip was a little hectic, so it’s been wonderful to be in the same hotel for a few nights now and with my few extra hours, I decided to keep moving forward with my blog posts!  So….today, please let me share some photos from Venice and Florence!  We took a night train into Venice from Salzburg and had about 30 hours there (side note: if you are any bigger than 5’6″ and over 150 pounds, you should not ever book the two top bunks of a 6 person night train compartment. ever. poor Eric was miserable and I’m pretty sure didn’t sleep.  He’s been such a trooper!).

Venice:  It was so beautiful and enjoyable after the rains and cold wind stopped!  We ended up booking a random stay on a yacht online and had quite the experience riding water taxi’s out to the ship!  I’m so glad we did….we ‘had’ to go past the touristy areas and got to explore the side of Venice that’s still ‘old school’ while also taking a water taxi into the main attractions!  The next morning we enjoyed beautiful blue skies and the photographer in me was screaming for joy!  We then hopped a 2 hour train to Florence where we had 24 hours and explored the city at night after the most magical roof top dinner at the hotel I booked (Hotel La Scalletta….HIGHLY RECCOMEND!!)

Things I want to remember and highlights of these two cities:

1) I’m glad I’m not 19 and traveling overnight trains all over Europe – this 31 year old did it once, and can now say I’d rather stay on a yacht with a crew and breakfast served on the deck instead of in a sleeper cabin.

2) Venice is unique – I’m so glad we went, and I’m so glad we didn’t stay too long.  St. Mark’s Basilica is beautiful and the mosaics were incredible inside.  I also happened to tour it just as a latin mass was finishing up, so I joined in and it was the highlight of my day!

3) Florence at night is magical….we went on a late night stroll through the city and I must say I enjoyed the view more than the next morning on our way to the train station!  Also, the little panoramic restaurant on top of our hotel has seating for 4 couples and we just lucked upon an open reservation…and as we were sat down at the table, I audibly gasped….my breath was genuinely taken away at our sunset view of the city.  Amazing!

4) Gelato.  By now I’ve consumed quite a bit….and we discovered a chocolate mint gelato that seriously rivals my all time favorite from Blue Bell!  It was incredible.  My other go-to flavor?  Pistachio!!

*****If you missed the first blog post of our European Adventures, the link is at the bottom of this post***

 

 

 

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The view from our dinner table in Florence (Firenze)!  It was magical!

We missed out on making it to any museums due to our time constraint to get back on the train…but we did see this replica David outside another museum…that counts?  Super bummed…next trip!

The view from La Scaletta panorama seating the next morning…..belissima! 

Whew…okay, I hope you enjoyed a look at those two cities!!  The next two stops at Cortona (Tuscany) and Roma are  FULL of photos so I’ll get those up soon!!  Hope you all have a blessed week and thanks for following our travels!!  Hugs!  -Jessica

Did you miss our Germany & Austria photos?  Check them out here:  http://www.jessicafreyphotographyblog.com/freys-around-the-world-trip-germany-austria

www.JessicaFreyPhotography.com