Rating:
 (4.4) (7 votes)
Florence, Italy
July 26, 2004
Pros :
A centre for culture and art
Cons
: None
Nice was a very relaxing time for us. We slept most of the day away
and watched German MTV (in France, go figure!) This song, Dragostea
Din Tei, is number one on European MTV. We here it a lot at the
clubs and feel like we know it by heart. I think the guys that sing
it are Bulgarian or something.
Anyways I am here in Florence now, the center of culture and art.
We are definently going to see all the sights here. Ian gave me
a list of what I should see and I plan on following it, we have
three days, it is doable, even for us. Most of all though, I'm excited
about eating the Italian food. Pasta and olive oil and all that
good stuff. My two favorite kinds of food are Chinese and Italian.
We arrived in Pisa at 3 o'clock in the morning and saw some intimidating
Italians, like mafioso. Mike clutched his switchblade close. They
turned out alright and asked Justen if he was Italian (he was wearing
his Italia shirt) and Justen said, "Lo sono italiano americano."
About fifteen minutes before we pulled into the Pisa station, I
woke up. Justen was still asleep so when the train pulled into Pisa
so and Mike burst into Justen's compartment, woke him up with screaming,
turned on the light and shouted at him to move it and that he only
had two minutes to get his stuff together and get off the train
or it would leave the station. Then we got off the train and watched
as Justen scrambled to get his stuff together in one big pile and
jumped off the train in only his boxer shorts.
He was pissed and he chased us around the station with a sandal
in his hand for ten minutes.
At 5:30 we finally made it to Florence and began our search for
a hostel. We found one but had to wait for it to open before we
could get a room for later tonight. Dead tired, we sat down on a
street corner when all of a sudden some girl whisks by with a suitcase.
I chase her down and ask her if she is headed to a hostel. It turns
out she is also searching for a place to stay, in fact, she was
also waiting to book the same hostel we were.
She turned out to be an Australian acrobat from Melbourne. Of course,
again, I had to recount my experiences in Australia. I am meeting
Aussies left and right over here. Craziness.
Well, it's off to breakfast for me, then maybe a little sightseeing?
I'm up for it, but I don't know about Mike and Justen, they may
just want to sleep on a bench somewhere.
We spent four days in Florence, I saw two museums, went to Siena
and went into the Duomo. When I got here I e-mail my friend Ian
and asked him what I should see and do in Florence. When I went
to Australia to study last year, he went to Florence. I can see
now why Florence would be a popular place to study, especially if
you are into art and architecture. It is a city, probably more so
than any other I have been to so far on this trip, that is devoted
to museums, statues and old buildings.
Sorry to tell you Ian, I never saw Michaelangelo's David. I did
see the Ufitzi museum and Donatello's David. Justen actually came
with me to see the Ufitzi, but the only reason I was able to see
the other museum was because I took the initiative and went and
saw it myself while Justen and Mike were asleep. For Mike, I think
this city was all about sleep. He slept all day and missed doing
all the things we did in Florence, including spotting Denzel Washington
walking around the streets one afternoon. Yeah, Denzel, no joke!
I also went to Siena for one day. It is this town in Tuscany not
too far from Florence. I went with this Canadian guy and his sister
who were travelling together. We met a lot of Candians at the hostel
we were staying at, including one who the Canadian guy called Miss
Pink because she was in a photo on the Pink Palace website, a famous
hostel in Corfu, Greece.
Guess what else happened to us, we got kicked out of our hostel
because we had made to much noise the night before and had tried
to sneak people in. Unfortunately we, the unruly Americans, managed
to get the Canadian (normally a polite and kindly people) kicked
out as well.
That's about it and I'm ready to get out of Florence. I think I've
seen all that is really important, time to hit the rails. Next stop,
Naples.
Ciao, |
