My week in Florence and Venice

What a week! I had the greatest time on our first trip. We started off by taking a tour bus through Tuscany until we got to the Banfi Winery. We took a tour of the winery and learned about how everything was made from a guide. Then, we walked up to where the tasting room was and had some wine. It was so much fun to get to know the students. After the tasting, we kept on driving until we got to Pienza. We got into his little town at Siesta, so virtually nothing was open except two places. The food was really good but the town was wet and cold. So, we all got back on the bus and kept on driving until we were in Florence.
Once we were in Florence, we checked into our really inhospitable hotel. I won't go into the details of that.  After that, we went to dinner. The next day, we had a lot of art tours lined up. We went to the Uffizi Museum, a former office, which the grand dukes of Florence turned into a beautiful art museum. This museum had so much to offer and so many great paintings. Then we got lunch and after lunch, we went to the Pitti palace, a palace for the grand dukes of Florence. The grand dukes of Florence were from a family called the Medicis. The Medicis pretty much owned Florence and ran it. Another man named Pitti, who was a banker, built himself a small little place which was bought by the medicis and turned into a grand palace. The whole place was filled with art. Later, at another museum, we saw the David sculpture. I couldn't believe how magnificent it was. It surpassed my expectations...it's huge!

The next day, we got on the train to Venice and before we knew it we were there. That day was the opening ceremonies of carnival. Carnival is the week before lent, which is when you have to give something up. Before lent, everyone wants to celebrate and have some fun before they give something up. Everyone wears costumes and masks and parades through the street. We got a gondola ride before the opening ceremonies, it was so cool. The guy, named Fabio, sang songs and told us about landmarks. After the Ride, we went to the opening ceremonies where a fountain was filled with wine and people drank it. It was too far away for us to drink it or else I would have.

On our last day, we went to the basilica, to check out the mosaics. They had tons and tons of gold mosaics, which were beautiful. After that, we went to the Palazzo Ducale with a couple of the students. They had a lot of grand art but the thing I liked the most was the dungeons and the medieval weapons.
My trip went really well and I can't wait for the next one.
Ciao Bella,

John