Quick blurb here for now
Venice- was fricking HOT. and glary. and hot. did i mention that? and EXPENSIVE!! really cool though. we walked all over Venice for a couple of days and saw a kagillion shoppes and such. Went to St. Marks square and the Cathedral. Went to Murano, the glass making\blowing island. also went to the dodges palace. the ornateness of everything in Venice is avsolutly astounding. Especially in the churches. There is gilding and massive mosaics and paint and carving and rocco and swirly bits and pictures and shrines and different kinds of marble and sculpture and artistry and woods and bas-releife and and and! Its really hard to belive that the city is sinking and is likely to become a modern day atlantis w/in the next 50years or so. for the most part, you certainly dont know that it is built on stilts. The main areas are far to built up w/ cobblestone streets.
Siena- our first hotel was a 15min drive outside of Siena, so we wandered around the countryside, had a mini wime tasting and an *authentic* Tuscan meal. It was okay, but the artichokes were most definately not pleasant. At least i can say i tried them. anyways. it was a really nice break from the hostels we had been staying in.
anyways out of time for now, will try to type more later.
