Prague

We are currently in Prague and it is absolutely beautiful. We were supposed to be here 2 and a half days but unfortunately our first day got cut out because of a hell of a travel day. Allow me to elaborate:
We were supposed to take 2 trains to Milan and then get on our flight to Prague. We left at 4 in the morning, got on our first train, changed in Bologna, had to switch trains because our original train was delayed. The train we finally got on ended up being delayed 2 hours at a different station and then took a completely diverted route to Milan because someone committed suicide on the train tracks. We missed our flight and since we got such cheap tickets we just had to buy new ones because our originals were non changeable. We then had to take 2 planes to FINALLY find ourselves in Prague 20 hours later.
So 3 trains, 2 planes, and 1 taxi ride later, we found ourselves in our adorable hostel and the beautiful city of Prague.
Prague is a hodgepodge of different styles of architecture. I have never seen so many lavishly painted and decorated buildings before in one city. Prague is great to walk around and has a lot to offer, but the people here are not very friendly. It's not a place I'd want to live, but definitely a place worth seeing. I don't have very much to say about Prague only because we have mainly just been walking around. We took a walking tour yesterday in the rain and cold and got a tour of the old town. We're staying in the new town right under the castle and explored it today. It is absolutely huge and has one of the most beautiful cathedrals I have ever seen. The cathedral is very out of place compared to the rest of Prague though, since most other churches are Baroque style (which is very nice, but I am not the biggest fan of; I think it's too ostentatious) and the cathedral in the castle is gothic style.
Okay, enough about architecture; Prague is beautiful and unique and I've never seen a city quite like it. Another downside of Prague: they charge you massive amounts of money for the tiniest scoop of ice cream ever.

Florence

Sorry I haven't written in so long. Since I've skipped over 2 cities I'll just write separate posts about each.
Florence was absolutely amazing. I loved it so much and wish I could live in Italy. However, Florence would not necessarily be my first choice because of the high percentage of tourists and obnoxious Americans constantly on their blackberries. It is my favorite city thus far though.
Christine and I stayed in a nice hostel near the Duomo. We passed through the leather market several times and I even got some goodies. Christine's friends are studying in Florence so they showed us around. Since we didn't want to wait in lines or pay the high fees for museums, we mainly just walked around and ate tons of gelato and pasta. YUM. The two really touristy things we did was go to the Bobli Gardens (which were so worth it and beautiful) and climbed the bell tower next to the Duomo.
Thoughts about Florence:

• The Duomo is absolutely beautiful and dominates a magnificent skyline, but why is it so incredible on the outside and just a huge, almost barren inside? I was very confused and taken aback
• We were there the first really nice weekend (75!) and I got some "color" (aka sunburn)
• Really touristy but so worth it! I couldn't help but have a smile on my face while walking around
• Italians are so nice and outgoing and just love life. They are also really proud of their history and culture, which is why I think they refuse to adopt some Western technology such as dryers, dishwashers, and high speed internet.

On our last day in Florence we took a day trip to the region of Chianti and hiked through the vineyards and olive gardens of Panzano. Our hike ended with a wine tasting and a meal filled with pasta, salami, prosciutto, and olive oil that the vineyard also produced. We learned that Chianti wine can only come from the region of Chianti. Chianti Classico wine can only be made in 10 villages of the Chianti region, and the grapes must be closely monitored and can only be picked once some wine authority has said that the sugar content in the grapes is high enough. The first wine we tasted was Chianti Classico and it was definitely my favorite.

Overall, Florence was a great success. It is a place I definitely want to go back to and I am glad that I got to see other parts of Tuscany and attend my first wine tasting!