The engineering behind the dome of the Duomo has always amazed me so I couldn't pass up the chance to climb up through the two layers to the top of the dome. I have been getting really good at climbing stairs, the trek up didn't even wind me! I seem to have developed a problem with catching trains in Italy. I keep showing up late, but luckily Italian trains are always late so I manage to catch the trains. Today was no different... My hostel in Rome is...

Hannah should be thanking her lucky stars that I didn't strangle her this morning... Mixing alcohol and my pills probably wasn't a good idea... this morning I was not in the mood to deal with her so after a few of her snippy remarks, I told her I'd see her at the hostel and I walked away. I decided to spend the morning wandering around Florence, first I headed to the Mercato Nuovo. At one time this market was the center point of Florence's trade, now it's ...

Italian pharmaceuticals, bikes, and an out-of-shape me do not mix... I took a bike tour of Florence and the Chianti region today hoping that it would be a relaxing trip with breathtaking views. Well, the views were certainly breathtaking but not in the way you think, I was so tired from pedaling up hill that I literally couldn't breathe, also the pills I took the night before still hadn't worn off so I was really groggy. The trip was still really rewarding, my ...

Michelangelo's David is breathtaking! When I was studying the Italian Renaissance in school my art history professor described him as looking confident, but I disagree. I think that Michelangelo sculpted David just as he is sizing up Goliath and he realizes that he may have gotten in over his head? but he knows that there is no turning back now. I can see fear in his eyes, I don't think that fear makes him any less brave, quite the contrary. I think coura...