So, this may be a long one since it's been a while since I've updated everyone.

Last weekend was definitely a whirlwind! I managed to see 6 towns in all! On Friday I saw Siena again and San Gimignano, Saturday I went to Classe and Ravenna, and then on Sunday Iwent to Pisa and Lucca.

My favorite of the six was Lucca because it feels like a real Italian town that hasn't been hit by all the tourism of Florence. It was nice to get away form the big crowds of people that block the streets and see a quieter side of Italian life. Lucca is also known for its Ramparts, basically big walls, that at one time defended the town against rivaling medieval Italian cities such as Florence and Siena. When big cities became a threat, Lucca's leaders decided to build a wall thick enough to withstand cannons. As a result, the wall is so thick that you can walk on it today! That's probably the coolest past of the city. I plan to take Scott back there when he visits in a couple of weeks. You can rent bikes for 2 Euro and ride on the ramparts and around the town.

San Gimignano is also cool because it is one of the only cities in Italy that still has the towers that noble families would build to assert their power and prestige. In Florence, these were outlawed and torn dowm, but in San Gimignano these towers remian because at the time of the law's enactment, the Black Plague hit and wiped out 75% of San Gimignano. Clearly, they had more important things to worry about.

This weekend was BEAUTIFUL! Two of my friends and myself went to Cinque Terre ( The Five Lands). There are five little towns situated near each other on the cliffs of the sea. You can hike all five in about 5 hours and that was exaclty what we did! Some parts of the trek are quite steep and strenuous but the views are worth it! You feel as if you are standing on the edge of the world. We lucked out too because the weather was beautiful. We stayed overnight and then went to Santa Margherita ( ha) the next day. Basically its the old money equivalent of Portofino. We saw lots of sports cars and fancily dressed Italians walking around. We happened to be wearing tennis shoes and running shorts which caused many people to point, stare and give us dirty looks. We laughed about it and decided that it was beautiful but too snobby.

These next two weeks I've got to buckle down and get some serious studying done since I have midterms coming up. Also, I'm going to Dublin the weekend before midterms so I want to have everything done before then. I'm really excited to see a new country where they speak English! Than after midterms I'm off to Paris to meet Scott where we will hang out for four days before heading off to Venice. We'll go back to Cinque Terre for a few days then he'll be staying in Florence for the second week of his visit! Theresa, I'll be sure to take some good pictures of the Eiffel tower for you :)