From the ground it already appeared to be night time, but as our plane rose steadily above the clouds the sun was just dipping below the curve of the earth and out of our view. The city lights below sparkled amidst the land below, black like spilled ink, and above us the deep blue of twilight was lit by one single star. In between the two, the sun gave its last appeal for daytime and bathed the horizon line in light the color of nectarines still dangling from their branches. And there, on our cheap RyanAir flight, began ten of some of the most beautiful days I have ever experienced.

Our flight got in pretty late so we went straight to our hostel. We had some trouble with the workers not having correct change, but after getting that straightened out and a free drink at the hostel bar we crashed. The next five days were a whirl-wind of Italian craziness! Both days in Rome we walked at least twenty miles to try to get in as many of the sights as we could. Rome is much more spread out than a lot of the towns I’ve visited in the UK and, unlike the London Tube, Rome’s Metro was very limited. We started by seeing the ruins at Palatine Hill which got us a ticket into the Coliseum as well. After that, just as night was falling we visited the Spanish Steps, Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain. It was so pretty because the rain finally let up but the wet streets were reflecting back all of the cities colorful lights. The next day we did the Vatican and walked through a park to an overlook of Rome. What struck me about Rome, and Pompeii the next day, was how old it was. England feels significantly older than America, but Rome is just so much older.

After Pompeii the next day, we took a train to Florence where we stayed in the most adorable hostel ever. If you could even call it a hostel, it reminded me much more of staying the night at my grandparents’ house. And Marta, the owner, reminded me of someone’s adorable and eccentric grandmother. After sweet dreams of my own grandparents, I woke up and went along with my traveling group to Pisa mostly just to take the cliché, but oh-so iconic, leaning tower pictures. Pisa turned out to be an adorable and picturesque Italian town and I loved it! After returning from Pisa, we walked around Florence and saw many churches and even hiked to a stunning scenic overlook. The hills and overlooks of Europe were a wonderful change from the basic flatness of England.

Our last day in Italy was quite the experience! After a two hour train from Florence to Venice we realized instantly the sheer number of people there and most of them in costume! Ashamedly, it took us a walk all the way across the city and through the famous square before we started to realize there was no way this was a normal day in Venice during off-season. After a while of contemplating it occurred to me that we were traveling on Ash Wednesday, making that day Mardi Gras! And we were in Venice! I don’t think we could have planned it that well if we had tried! We quickly bought some masks and walked around the city fitting right in. Venice is like a whole different world from England, with no motor cars, only tiny winding streets for walking and grand canals with stately gondolas. After our lovely day enjoying the sun and gelato in Venice we got on a very nice train which took us all the way to Lucerne, Switzerland, kicking off a whole new chapter of our travels with an entirely different kind of beauty. Check back and I will be posting blogs about Switzerland and Germany! And check out all of my pictures here!