Venezia

Just a quick note: There are very few internet spots in Venice, and they are more expensive than in Florence, so no one has been on the internet at all except myself now. But we all arrived safely and are having a blast! We've been to Murano (the glass blowing island) and Lido (where the beaches are - and some of the kids went swimming and rented a paddle boat). We've also gotten lost several times in the winding alleys. It's beautiful!
More later!

Ciao, Fierenze!

We're just about to leave Fierenze (Florence) for Venezia (Venice), so I'd like to add a few things.

We love Italy. Every one of us is enjoying the food and the beauty of the buildings and the general friendliness of the atmosphere. Florence is a small town, so easy to get around on by foot. I'm surprised Roger mentioned that it was expensive, since we've switched over to the Euro, which is better for us than the British pound, and we have walked everywhere, whereas in London we were often forced to "top up" our cards for the subway. On the whole, the expensive part is that we've really loved the clothes and food here!

We went to the Galleria dell'Accademia and saw Michelangelo's sculpture of David, among other sculptures of his and many Madonnas and Bambinos. At the Uffizi the next day, we saw many MORE paintings of Madonnas con Bambinos (Madonna and child), as well as several very, very famous Botticelli paintings ("The Birth of Venus" and "Spring"). We also saw some Leonardo da Vincis, and many Roman busts. Then Ms. Harings got hungry and cranky and drove Dr. Zellmer from the museum in order to find lunch.

Ciao!

florence-fun, but really expensive

1) its really amazing and the weather is great.
2) you can get great pictures almost everywhere except most of the museums
3) the museums are ok but they dont have alot of famous stuff
4) it is crazy expensive but the food is great
5) you cant do it all in 3 days


thats about it.

DIANE'S OPINION =)

Well i def like italy a lot better then london. i mean the sights in london were cool, but italy is just like my country. today at breakfast i looked out the window and felt like i just belong here. i cant wait to go to venice! i am happy that my roommate is emily because were so much alike and she just doesnt get on my nerves like ever. (i hope i dont get on hers lol). um i dont know what else to say really except that typing on an italian keyboard is a pain in the butt =P LOTR in london was cool, king lear was really bad(because we had to stand thru the whole thing; would have been better sitting), and the last two days in london were just so amazing because we didnt really have any schedueled activities so we just grouped together and wandered. hope that was a good update!
-Diane

Brent's First Impressions

Thursday May 29 - Today we went to St. Paul's Cathedral. Its architecture was fascinating. We had a tour guide by the name of Nigel, who told us immediately to refer to him as Nigel. We were able to visit the crypt of St. Paul's, finding the memorials of people such as John Donne, Sir Christopher Wren, and William Blake. Afterwards we went to Westminister Abbey, which was evidently home to some of the most famous dead people in Britain's history. Such were the names of Henry VII, Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare, Samuel Coleridge, Washington Irving, Dylan Thomas, amogst others. Then after that we wandered about, splitting into two groups so that people could have some down time. One group, seeking to go to Harod's, a department store, went off that way. My group (Dr. Zellmer, Ms. Harings, Simone, Sean Saleh, Sean Campbell, Michaela, and myself) wanted to go to the National Portrait Gallery. Spent oh...an hour there before we searched for food, taking up twenty minutes (feeling like two hours). Now here I am, sitting, writing this post for all to see.

London days

allrighty then! Lord of the Rings and King Lear are both great in their own way.... though entirly uncomparable. King Lear would have been more enjoyable if we had been allowed to sit! feet pain does not let the mind concentrate on entertainment. We had a brief, 2 hour sunny spell today, which is now over and rain is gracing this city, making it quite drab. However, now we know their secret to green! now all we have to do is persuade the rain gods of Arizona to rain... one suggestion was the collapsing of bridges, not quite sure where that came from.
We are all foot-weary and rather sore, but haveing lots of fun, albeit exhaustive fun. Food is pretty good; there is a really wide variaty. Indian yesterday, Thia today and good ole Fish n chips. St. Paul's Cathedral is amazing!! though no pictures are allowed, as it is a place of worship. these British really knew their stone-work and masonry. Such intrecacies EVERYWHERE in these buildings(we also saw Westminster Abbey)
That's all for now,
Samone

Next fire alarm, remember shoes

So the big news of the night was that the fire alarm went off at the hotel at 3 a.m. We were all so disoriented and exhausted, however, that it took some time to figure out what was going on. Michaela and I stuck our head out of the door to check what was happening, and saw people pouring down the stairs, so we went...sans shoes and--in Sean Saleh's case--a shirt. It was drizzling outside, and the concierge herded us across the street to stand, huddled together, in the cold for 10 minutes while the fire department came. NO WORRIES; a water leak had triggered the alarm, and we were shortly allowed back in. Wish I'd had my camera, though, to capture our snazzy pajama party.

Needless to say, we were very tired this morning. I failed to wake up until 10 (and breakfast was scheduled for 9:30), so Cate Bacon helped out with a knock at the door. We made it to the Tower of London by noon, and were lucky enough to catch members of the Royal Navy making an official entrance into the tower. Apparently they were ferrying a foreign diplomat and his family on a naval ship parked in the Thames - Michaela has pictures of them.

In the Tower of London, a Yeomen Warder of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress (a.k.a. "Beefeater," because they were partly paid in beef back in the day) met us -- and 100 other people -- for a tour. His voice projected well, and we caught most of the stories of murder and mayhem: Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and Lady Jane Gray were all executed there, among others.

Molly, Blake, Charlie and I separated from the group in order to view the Crown Jewels and wander through the White Tower, where relics of the Royal Armory are stored. Lots and lots of guns, pikes, and armor.

Tonight, we'll head to the south side of the Thames and the new Globe Theater to catch a performance of Shakespeare's King Lear. We're bringing our raincoats!