Columbus Florence

... Anyway after much driving we met a local who understood English… unfortunately he seemed only able to say he understood English .. And with us asking for the sea and him agreeing with everything.. It was more sea..si sea.. Si….very confusing…anyway put feet in a creek which seemed to be heading for the sea… and called it quits…..

The rain picked up again and it was a bit of a difficult drive for Geoff to make it to a town ...

... The various groups of people failed to meet up in time, so the group I was with decided to head to our vantage point and hope everyone else knew where to go. Miraculously, somewhere along the walk, the two other groups managed to meet up with us at the same time, from different directions. We called it The Perfect Storm. It was weird, and one of many things adding up to a 10/10 night.

The ...

... too, and it really contributed to the experience. We also toured the Pitti Palace and stumbled upon some famous art we didn't even know was there. Among the cheap wine and free food, we learnt cool facts about this medieval place and the ruling of the Medici family. Also, (we didn't go into any) but Florence most likey has the best shoe shopping in the world. And a shoe museum. Just saying......Italy was off to a sweet start.

Now.. your Rome update!

Jus and Mur

... Ponte Vecchio was also the only bridge not to be destroyed by the Nazis in 1944. Today it is just full tourists and overpriced shops.

We made our way up to Piazza del Duomo where the cities most iconic land mark is, the Duomo. One of the worlds largest Cathedrals (the fourth to be exact) its red tiled dome dominates the Florence sky line. Personally the mix of Green, Pink and White just doesn't ...

... food. We made our way into the city centre through the historic old quarter to Mercato Centrale, Florence largest market, inside an iron and glass structure dating to 1874. Inside Shona managed to snag a plate of fresh pasta for breakfast. What? We are in Italy and we plan on making the most of it. Dino choose the classic, a slice of Pizza.

The rest of the day we just spent walking around the city and getting to know the city.

... laughing and talking and hanging out like it wasn't a completely bizarre thing. Mr. Smitten Italian took Kara's feet into his lap and started massaging them which was pretty awkward, but other than that, a fantastic time. We finally said our goodbyes, and John and I got home at 6 in the freakin morning. The last time I stayed up that late I was working in Studio. It totally ruined my next day, 3 days later I'm still feeling tired, but it was such a ...

... get any because i already had some earlier. we walked home and i then worked a little bit more on my art stuff and then skyped with my mom. that was fun! i miss her and i wish my dad could have skyped too. i will try and get them on sat after my long day in Cinque Terra . we are hiking all five cities on Saturday and then returning back to Florence that night. amanda and i made plans to go to Lucca on Friday after i was done with my work.

xoxoxoxo,

panda

... you turn round and see David, in his atrium setting, and your breath is taken away. A total must for anybody who hasn't been! We went on a historical city tour with a brilliant guide who really started to unlock some of the city's history. She explained about the different Guilds and rulers who helped to fund the artists and what made the city such a great artistic base. Florence is a city that you could never tire of and one that everyone should visit.

... entertainment. We all had a good time dancing on some stage before the night finally wrapped up. In Italy there are so many museums that tourists 'need' to see that you must make reservations for them, and often times making a reservation "now" reserves you a time to see the museum 3 days from "now." I, of course, knew nothing about this until arriving so I needed to work around it. If you haven't got a reservation you can jump in line during the day (3 hours ...

... that were hand knitted. Luckily for me, Andi was there, and was willing to argue the price, so I ended up getting them for quite a reasonable price. Once we had quenched our curiosity of the markets, we headed to the Ponte Vecchio. With no specific destination in mind, we just wandered eventually arriving at the bridge to explore and to look at all the gorgeous jewels on display. We ended up crossing the bridge and walking towards ...