Florence Day 1

9:18 AM July 15,2011

Paying extra for air conditioner is totally worth it. The hostel we are staying at gave us the option to have AC for extra charge. It's worth it.

We got to Florence yesterday around 10:00 AM by train (our train left Rome at 8:30). Tickets cost €45 for 2nd class one way. It's a little more expensive but the train is faster (it's a eurostar train). The scenery on the way here was really pretty--idyllic Italian countryside with vineyards, and hills, and little hamlets.

Florence itself is very, very pretty. Very renaissance. It is packed with tourists, but in my head, it's completely crammed with them--it's not, only at the very popular places (the duomo, ufizzi gallery, Medici palace, the academy gallery)...haha ok that's the reason people come here. Ok, what I'm trying to say is that you can still walk around with personal space.

We walked EVERYWHERE...starting from the train station to Ponte Veccho, to the piazzale di Michelangelo, which is on a hill looking over Florence, and all the Albertis, Brunallescis, Michelangelos (architecturally speaking) in between.

Ponte Vecchio: I've never seen so many jewelers in one place. Dear God I wanted every shiny piece of gold, pearl, silver,etc. Very very distracting.

Churches in Florence: you need to pay an entrance fee to get it. Very strange.

Panino for lunch with soda: €5
Speck, olive pate and cheese. I miss speck (shpeck)! Reminds me of Yolanda and her giant stash of it that she'd bring from Tahoe.

Dinner: had dinner at this little trattoria--very mom-and-pop. Cheap good food (had beef with rosemary, which was good. Should have gone with the pork, which was to die for). Got dessert. I forgot what they were called but we got some sort custard pie/cake and biscotti with prunes (in fruit form) which you dip in brandy...YUUUM!
In case we weren't full enough (let's not forget 5 of us splitting a big bottle of wine), we also had gelato :)

Now, off to climb the duomo, see Botticelli and David in all his naked glory.

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