Photos from Florence

(Note: Actually wrote this yesterday but haven’t had internet till now…)

So we made it to Florence…it’s actually a miracle we made it – first we woke up late (we don’t have an alarm or phone and you can’t get a wake up call when you’re in a hostel with 8 other people). Ps—people think we’re crazy not having a phone… “How do you not have an iphone? Have you been living in a cave for the past year?” “Actually, Honduras, so, yes, basically a cave.” Anyway, then we raced to the little tram, missed the stop for the train station, got off the tram, ran through the streets back to the station, tried to print off our tickets at the wrong kiosk, went to the right kiosk but then realized we didn’t even need to print off tickets we already reserved online, got on the wrong train, got back off, and then got on the right train (already starting to roll away) at 7:47…it was supposed to leave at 7:45. What a disaster…and a miracle we made it…because these trains usually leave right on time.

In terms of the city itself (walking around it), Florence might be my favorite so far. It doesn’t seem as busy, it’s super clean, it’s along the river, and, being in Tuscany, has those rolling hills around it that everyone pictures when they think of Italy. Plus there’s this nice little market selling fresh meat and fruit and delicious sandwich paninis. And it was a little windy and cooler at night, so maybe that helped. Anyway, here’s a lot of pictures and a little bit of commentary:

So we arrive and Justin makes me wait in line for two hours (Justin put in his “David statue” playlist from his ipod…featuring “My Goodies” and “Magic Stick”) and pay 11 euro just to see this (but at least we made friends with the Venezuelan family in front of us who were laughing when Justin goes, “Alright, after waiting in line for this long, I’m going to sit there and stare at David’s junk for at least an hour”):

You’ve gotta be kidding me…the Italian government must be making a mint charging people to see this thing. And then we’re not supposed to take pictures…we wait in line for two hours and then we can’t even get a picture with this statue of David in his naked glory? Yeah right, I’m sneaking a picture anyway.

Found a delicious panini shop—better than Herman’s Boys and just as cheap…if Rome is known for pasta and Napoli for pizza, then it’s paninis in Florence.

Next day walked around—saw some old churches…

…ate some gelato…

…and then went on a little scenic drive/wine tasting/visit to a little village in the countryside…basically I just wanted to see this:

Also, should not have pregamed the wine tasting….

Haha kidding people. I’m kidding.

Finally we trekked up a mountain (well, ok fine, some long steps) to a little park with a replica of David…if I would’ve known this was up here yesterday…

And, of course, took more pictures of scenery that I hate when people take because I’m like, “What are you going to do with all those amateur photographs of scenery?” And then I followed the crowd and took some.

Now we’re on the train to Venice, where we’ll stay two nights, and then finally leaving Italy after that. The only thing we didn’t see that I kind of wanted to was that leaning tower…Justin claims it’s a tourist trap (what was that David statue you wanted to see then?)…but I guess that might be valid since I only wanted to go there to get one of those pictures that looks like I’m pushing over the tower. Oh well…can’t have everything.