Trains, Florence, and Arrival in Rome

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  Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Tuesday, July 15, 2008

So we took an overnight train from Vienna to Florence.  Despite what Andrew was told when he bought the reservations, the sleeper rooms are male or female only, which meant we couldn't be in the same room.  Totally annoying since we both ended up with people that wanted to go to bed early.  I ended up with a woman that didn't speak any English, and also didn't speak German, so she couldn't understand the car attendant and certainly hadn't taken an overnight train before so she had no idea what was going on.  Andrew's roommate was far more interesting though.  Having decided at the hostel that the best was to deal with a long train ride was to get drunk enough to actually be able to sleep in the small sized bed, Andrew had bought a bottle of vodka and mixer for the train.  We also found an almost empty bottle of Johnny Walker Red that someone had left at the hostel, so he brought that to.  So Andrew is sitting there reading, with the now empty bottle of Johnny Walker on the floor (there was maybe about 2 shots left in it) and the now started bottle of vodka.  (We had been on the train for a few hours already.)  So here is Andrew, drinking and reading all on his own in this room, and in walks his roommate, a friar, complete with brown robe.  Too funny!!!  Other than that, the train ride was pretty uneventful, other than me walking in on two different people in the bathroom (can people not lock doors?!) and the lady I shared the room with waking up at 4am and turning all the lights on.

We arrived in Florence around 6am, eventually found the right bus stop, and headed to Andrew's friend Katy's house, where we were staying.  Katy and her husband Giovanni live across the river on the side with the Boboli Gardens, but up further.  Conveniently right on a bus line.  We dropped out stuff and went with Katy to get coffee and pastries at this shop near her house.  Sooo good!!!  Then Katy had to leave for work and Andrew and I had to wait around for Giovanni to wake up since we were taking his keys for the day and needed to be able to lock up after him.  So we decided to take the morning to lounge and do laundry.  I took a nap, while Andrew read and did some sunbathing on the porch.  (Oh, and Paula, more push-ups, but I am definitely loosing some arm strength...sorry!)

After relaxing for the morning, we went and walked around the city.  Andrew had lost his sunglasses on the train, so we went to the market by the Duomo to get him a new pair.  After that we headed to my favorite gelato place  (I think its called Festival di Gelato, or something like that) but they have meringue gelato.  So Good!!  I have been the last three times I was in Florence over the past 10 years.  After this we did some more walking and just hung out in the city until it was time to head back to Katy's.  After stupidly listening to Andrew and not validating our bus ticket (so we could try to use it later) Andrew and I got caught, and both had to pay a 45 Euro fine on the spot.  I can't even begin to tell you how pissed I was!!  Those who know me well know that I am a bit anal about following rules, but this is why...whenever I don't, I am always the one to get caught!  Andrew felt crappy and paid half my fine to make up for it.  We got back to Katys and after a shower and a change into clean clothes (yay!) we (now in better moods despite the bus fine) headed with Katy to meet Giovanni downtown and to go to dinner at the pizza place where Giovanni used to work and where they Katy and him met.  (I will enter the name later when I find where I wrote it down.)  The food was amazing, and Katy and Giovanni took care of everything.  So nice!!

After dinner we headed over to Piazza S. Spirito, which is back on the side of the river where Katy and Giovanni live.  This is the square where a lot of artists hang out.  So cool.  I ended up talking with a friend of Katy's named Sonya who had just gotten her art degree and had an upcoming show in England!  Sonya's friend from Ireland, whose name I can't spell, was also there and he is also a painter.  It was really great to talk to people who were out there living life as artists.  Its not easy and there can be lots of bumps along the way, but it was inspiring to see.

We headed back to the apt around 1am so we could get some sleep before headed out to the train station at 8am.  We took the wrong bus to train station which meant taking the longest possible route and traveling for about an hour on the bus to get there instead of about 20 min, but we got a nice tour of the less touristy part of the city.  We finally got to the station and got out tickets.  Because of our age, Andrew and I had had to get 1st class Eurail pass, instead of 2nd class, so we decided to take advantage of this, and got first class reservations for the Eurostar (no more expensive since we already had the ticket) and were in a great car with lots of business people who were clearly confused about why we were there.  We also got better seats, free crackers and a drink.  Got to love 1st class!

So now we are in Rome at the Yellow Hostel, which is about a 5 min walk from the main train station.  It seems to be a great hostel with lots of personable people and the bar...has Desperados, so I am certainly happy!  We will be here for 3 days, and this is my first time back since I came as a kid so I am excited to go back and see all the art I don't remember.  I am also picking back up some the Italian I have learned over the years, so that makes things easier, and between that and my French, it is certainly easier to get along.  The weather is also getting warmer as we get later in the summer and further south, so thats been nice, and to my surprise, I am actually getting a bit of a tan, which I thought was impossible.

Ok, sorry for the novel.  Didn't have great computer access in Florence.  Hope all is well with everyone at home.

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