And the Retelling Continues

Florence was a quaint city. I guess it's not that small, but it felt very close, which is okay with me. Of all the places we traveled, Florence was my least favorite. This could be because we didn't actually see much of Florence from the inside. We didn't end up doing anything very touristy, aka standing in line for hours to see the David or going into the Duomo which is this beautiful church that is in the center of time. Instead of spending our money on these attractions we decided to spend a few hours in the market. If you didn't know already, Florence is famous for their leather. Now, I'm not sure if it's really "their" leather, but they sell a lot of leather here and I may have touched every piece of it.

We arrived at our hostel before noon and were able to check in. Sometimes you are not able to check into hostels until later in the afternoon (like a hotel), but they'll allow you to store you luggage in a large closet. We were fortunate enough to be able to get into our room which was SUPER nice. It was like staying in a hotel but for a tenth of the price. The hostel was right in town, about a 10-15 minute walk from the center of the city where the Duomo is located. If you're interested, we stayed at Plus Florence. They give you your own key card, which is a very big deal to have at a hostel. On this key card there is also a chip so you can put money on it when you get there to use at the bar and cafeteria. You can't buy even a soda at the bar without putting money on, which honestly kept me from buying anything at the hostel. We stayed in a 8 bed mixed dorm. Since at this point in the journey there were only 5 of us, we had 3 other roommates that we did not know. The beds in this hostel were the nicest that I slept on all week. Above all the beds there were individual lights and there was also a switch that turns out the overhead light at the headboard of everyones bed. Super convenient. There was also a toilet and shower in the room. When you're traveling from hostel to hostel and haven't showered in awhile, this is a wonderful thing. I'm not sure how people can travel for weeks or even months on end and deal with the bathing conditions. I guess that's why you book nice hostels like the Plus Florence. The people there were extremely friendly! Paul helped us book a wine tour in Tuscany. I had to tell Ashley a few times that Tuscany is like a district, such as Delaware Country and that it is not a city or a place even. She kept asking when we were going to Tuscany. We were actually already there, but unfortunately we weren't under the Tuscan sun since the weather was overcast and raining for the 2 days we were there.

After checking in we got situated and got ready to head out to the market to spend our euros. While waiting for the group I was talking to a guy from Miami that had been in Florence for awhile. He was providing me and the others with tips about being a smart tourist, especially when going into the market since there are a lot of pit pocketers. I think he was just trying to psych us out though. Why, I'm not sure. The whole time I traveled I had my passport, credit/debit, student ID cards, phone, ipod and camera on me. I just felt safer knowing that it was all with me. I think I'm a pretty smart person when it comes to being aware of my surroundings so I wasn't worried about someone stealing my things. I know that there are some crazy stories, such as gypsies who drop fake babies into your arms naturally since you don't want a baby to fall on the ground and as you are catching the baby they'll cut off your purse/bag and be off. I did not see any gypsies or anyone that looked like they were going to steal myself. All the cities we traveled to felt very safe. Yes, I had to be smart about everything I was doing and always wore my bag in front of me, holding onto it more tightly at times, but I wasn't constantly having to think about it.

Anyhow, the market was a lot of fun. I finally decided to buy a nice leather wallet because you're only in Italy so often and I felt as though I needed some genuine Italian leather in my life. Also, Ellen (who I worked with at Cardigan) had gone to Italy a few years ago and gotten a really nice leather wallet which I pined over 2 summers ago. I had to get one so I would no longer pine. Others spent quite a bit on "designer" bags and they all enjoyed bargaining with the sellers. Mitzi was great at it. I don't have the courage to ask them to reduce their price. Everything there is really cheap anyhow, it's hard to ask for it to be sold at a cheaper price when it's already very affordable. The wallet I bought was about 16 euros, so $20 about, depending on the day and the exchange rate.

We got lunch at this cute little panini place. Gosh, I had the BEST panini. It had some sort of cheese with pears. Yumm. Who would have thought pears would taste good in a sandwich? Not me! We walked around and instead of seeing the real David, found the 2 fake ones that are in the city. Honestly, I can't really remember where the 1st one was or if I actually even saw it, but I do recall seeing the second one which is prominently placed on the top of this hill or mountain I guess you could say that overlooks the city. You can see out across the river and it's absolutely stunning. We went up there at night and my pictures just don't do it justice. Do pictures ever do anything justice though?

And that was day 1 in Florence. The only day we spent there because the following day we went on a wine tour with the hostel...