Florence to Venice

Our last stops in Italy were Florence and Venice...two cities that are always at the top of most visiter's lists. I prefer Sienna over both though. Florence was too polished and geared towards mass tourism for my liking while Venice, even though spilling over with tour groups, was pretty cool. It still had that irritating habit of closing down in the afternoon though-I had not gotten used to that part of Italian culture. Overall, Italy was a good stop for us. I wasn't overly impressed with the social interaction aspects of the Italian culture, they seemed very closed off and protective. Luckily, there were times when we caught some authentic slices of everyday Italy most tourists don't see or even know about. Those are the times that travel becomes really fun, where unplanned and unexpected events begin to unfold around you - and you allow it to take you along for the ride.

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