T-minus one day until I depart....for ITALY!!!!!

Hi All,

Yes, that's right.  So tomorrow, I depart for the first solo vacation of my life.  Really thrilling...slightly anxiety inducing.  I am off to Florence, Italy!!!  I depart tomorrow on Friday, July 4 and will arrive in Florence around 3pm my time.  And I return home from Florence on Thursday, July 10.

I am SO thrilled for this, as Florence is where I studied abroad for about 8 weeks in July of 2008 during the last stretch of my college days.  While studying there, I fell in love with the city.  It was so exciting, walking to class each day down the narrow stone streets, through the piazzas.  I also traveled throughout Italy while living in Florence at that time.  To Rome, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Venice... :-D And then I returned to Florence one year later with my ex, Adam for a vacation in Italy which was a total blast.  So, I am very excited to return there once again as Florence is one of my very favorite cities in the world.  It's stunningly beautiful, charming, sultry, enchanting and picturesque.  A river runs through the middle of the city, a huge cathedral dominates as the focal point of the city, mountains rolling behind the town as the faded backdrop, lots of green mixed dotted with the terra-cotta orange Italian roofs, cobblestoned walkways, beautiful bridges, awesome food.  Whoa.  LOVE this city.

Here is a snapshot of what is on the itinerary:

Panoramic shot of Florence.  Stunning, right???  Incredible.

Piazza del Duomo in Florence.  

Piazza de la Signoria.  Another great square in the city.

Caprese salad.  LOVE this.

The famous Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence, a symbol and landmark of the city.

Siena, Italy.  I will take a day trip here from Florence!!!  Only 14 euro round trip by bus, so cool.

Italian food (AND desserts) are the BEST!!! <3

Cinque Terre.  Totally magical and untouched by time.  I will take a day trip here as well :-D

Tuscany, Italy.  One of the most stunning regions in the world.  Rolling hills, vineyards, just beautiful.  I will take a whole-day bicycle tour through this region :-D cannot wait for this.