That's Amorè!

Hello family and friends!

Greetings from Italia!I am in Florence (Firenze) right now. We took a break from shopping along the river to check our e-mail. It has been an abosultely incredible trip and it's only been 5 days! We started in Rome, staying at the Youth Hostel Station (www.youthstation.it) for two nights. Our rooms were incredibly small, the width of a laundry room but the length of a long hallway. There were 4 bunkbeds along one wall and just barely enough room to walk by between the beds and the wall. Kitty, Lisa, Gabby, Ali, and I stayed there with 3 other randoms. None of them were friendly or spoke English. In Florence, our hotel is muuuuuch better. It's crazy because Gabby and I stayed in the same exact hotel when we were in Florence 5 years ago with high school. What are the chances of that!?!? In Rome we were a good distance from most of the "attractions" so we took the metro or cab most everywhere. In Florence the city is about 2 miles long and wide so we've done only walking so far. We've been drinking great wine, eating incerdible pizza and pastas and done some shopping :-) Kitty's luggage didn't make the trip and the airline said they haven't found it yet. She's been incredibly calm about the whole thing, only one moment of weakness... and today we went shopping for clothes so that put a smile on her face. The airline is going to pay her back and reimburse her for everything lost in the suitcase...poor Kitty! The weather has been incredible!!! Clear skies, 70's during the day and 50's at night. BEAUTIFUL! We spent our two days in Rome pretty rushed... making sure to see all the important sites. We have the most fun just sitting in a restaurant with eachother, laughing and drinking wine. I couldn't have asked to travel with a better group of girls. We have a blast together! The street venders/hasslers are such a pain!!! Ugh! We wanted to kill some of them. We have been very cautious of our belongings...paying close attention to our bags at all times, so no worries there! We took the train to Florence, the view through the country side was incredible! I really love Florence, it is everything I remembered and more. So far we have just been enjoying the city, walking around and taking everything in. Off to shower and get ready for our night... looking forward to another great dinner and maybe a pub crawl! Tata for now!