Hotel Kadampa (Villa Splendor) Montecatini Terme

... for most of the journey.

After getting back to Florence and walking from the train station back to the hotel, we felt a little better (fresh air?). We got back to our room around 4:00pm and just relaxed for several hours, reading, snoozing, going online. I finally started feeling hungry later afternoon, but not Murray! Around 7:30pm, we felt well enough to take a long walk around our neighborhood. We found another great ...

... dans les jardins!

ensuite on est aller voir le vrai "David" de michealange. installer au bout d,un aller d'un petit muse au gros prix! c'est impressionant de voir sa grandeur et surtout de penser qu'il a ete realise dans un seul bloc de marbre, sculte a la main avec les outils de l'epoque. Comme dans tout bon muse, il est impossible prendre des photos!

... only that the collection is unbelievable! Contained in more than 50 rooms housing over 1,555 masterpieces, we saw the gamut of art history from Greek sculptures to 18th-century Venetian paintings!

After the Uffizi, we walked to the nearby Piazza della Signoria. This bustling, café-lined piazza is the hub of Florence’s political life and has been the site of Florentine’s most interesting history. It was here that preacher/leader ...

... le pont Vecchio, remplis de boutique , un peu comme une version plus moderne du pont rialto de venise, mais sans avoir autant de charme.

de l'autre cote de la riviere, nous avons monter une coline pour se rendre a la place san michelangelo ou nous avons eu un superbe vue sur la ville. ensuite , sur la route du retour, nous avons croise l'eglise san croce avec sa facade en marbre.

N.B : Ici, il y a du vin dans les dollorama !!

... kitchen.I went down later that eveing to chat to the people staying there and marvel at the double bed inthe kitchen.

Really quiet in the off saeason with a lot of places noteven bothering to open or open reduced hours.

Was sitting outside the only bar in RioMaggore and Jess who I shared a dorm room with in Salzburg walked past. Turns out she's staying in the same dodgy room as me again!

Was lucky there was a bunch of good people ...

... into good friends and family. Just as we were leaving Pisa two things happened. The driver strike was over and we could take the free shuttle down and the sun came out...... We are not in Monticatini (quaint town). The kids are all resting by the pool and having a nice time before we meet for dinner. Unfortunately the hotel does not have any internet access so we are in an internet café right now in town and wanted to let everyone ...

Wednesday was another good day, mostly because of the soccer game we watched at night. I had my last Italian quiz at the entry level today, and it was a breeze. I have a psych exam tomorrow, so I came home from school and started studying right away. Tai, Dhru and Evan left for the Lion's Fountain (Irish pub from last night) at around 6:30, and I told them that I wouldn't be able to leave for another hour or so. I finally got through all the material ...

... is so strong. When I last left everyone we were still in Venice. We were on our way to Murano to see the glass blowing but they were all closed only the shops to buy stuff were open of course. We did find a little to by for those back home but it was a cold and rainy day so we left a little early. When we got off the boat we located a little shop that our tour guide had told us about. It was a glass studio but ...

... of David (after a 1 hour and 45 minute line up), the Uffizi Museum (a 2 and a half hour line up) and the Cathedral of Santa Maria (20 minute wait). The statue of David was actually really impressive and totally worth the wait but the Uffizi Museum was a huge disappointment and we spent less time in the museum than in the line up itself. Very overrated. On a brighter note we had lunch at this place the Lonely ...

... have skipped it. Then it poured rain, had lunch, walked around the market, then back to the hostel and chilled out for a while. Had supper at a great little restaurant for €10 each because the CND girl only had €10 left before she leaves to Switzerland tomorrow so the awesome girl who runs the place phoned up a restuarant and told them we only had €10 so we got to eat there for 10 each. We had asked for a cheap place to eat, and within seconds, the hostel girl was on the phone ...