Day 3- Goodbye Switzerland, Hello Italy!!!

On our third day, we left Switzerland behind and headed out towards Italy. We had a train "layover" I guess you could call in Lucern, Switzerland. The train station there was crazy- it has tons of underground shopping and food places. Brian's dad told us we had to do some walking around/shopping in Lucern because it is incredible. He waited with the luggage, while we went exploring. None of us were that impressed. All the shops looked like all the other places we'd seen in Switzerland... come to learn he actually wanted us to go outside of the train station. Oh. Smart. After we had wasted most of our time underground...we went outside and it really was beautiful. We didn't get to see much of Lucern, but it was still really fun to see. And then it was off to Florence....

Lucern

Waiting for a train

We arrived in Florence in the early evening. It was completely different than Switzerland. It was dirty, crowded, loud, and completely wonderful. We walked from the train station to our hotel. I was in heaven. I was lagging behind- it was so surreal to be there. We arrived at our hotel and I loved it. All the rooms were different, ours had a view of the streets and you could actually see the top of the Duomo from our window. After we all got situated in our rooms, we headed to dinner. It was everything I imagined Italy would be. Great food, friendly people- the waiter even hugged Brian (I know that sounds creepy, but it wasn't- and I know Brian secretly loved it). We ate outdoors, on the streets which were lit up by amazing street lamps. Oh man, I miss it. Our food was awesome, and after dinner we decided to walk some of it off- we walked, not far... and there it was. Right in from of me- the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. We took some pictures and enjoyed our surroundings. It's was very lively, with music playing and people just sitting, talking, and drinking of course. It's much more relaxed than the states are. People will have their meal, and then just talk for hour afterwards. We always had to request our check- they were never in a hurry to get us out and new customers in.

We headed back to the hotel, excited for the next day. The museums.