Today was a busy day; incredibly busy. The day started off with a nice cup of English tea and some yogurt. We then boarded the bus and went to the Train Station. It was my first time on a bullet train, and I was surprised. Our average speed was 243 km/h. The most unpleasant part was the pressure/elevation issues regarding my ears. They kept popping and it was painful – a hundred times worse than on an airplane. I also felt a bit sick because we were traveling backwards. It was weird seeing things the other way around, I’m not sure I liked it. The whole ride there, all I could think was that it reminded me of “Tuscany” as is portrayed on the Italian spaghetti sauce commercials back at home. Turns out, I learned from my tour guide, Tuscany is a big area which groups Florence, Venice, Pisa, and Naples. So, in a way I was correct, yet still incorrect. Our tour guide taught us about art history today. It was a good learning experience, even though we were not allowed to take any pictures in the museum.

For lunch, I had salad and spinach. The spinach was fabulous, but the salad tasted too spicy for me. We also got to watch the chefs make homemade pasta and cook the pizza in the stone oven. After we had all eaten and were in a better mood, we headed to the market which was full of more interesting experiences. Well, I was wearing my Panama hat today.  I got a friendly “Buon giorno!” from a sales person at the market, and as I left, he looked me right in the eyes and said, “Ciao bella.” – I’m going to miss that when I am back in the United States.

The train ride back home was hilarious, even though we were all tired. It was a long conversation about bidets. This was the biggest culture shock of the entire trip: I finally figured out what they are used for.

Our tour guide said that the reason for all the beautiful buildings and cobblestone streets was because everybody wanted to copy Paris! It makes so much sense to me now. I totally and completely fell in love with those streets, which also explains why I want to live in Paris so much when I grow up.