Sunday, June 25, 2006

Firenze

Well, I made it out of Rome alive. Between the tourists, heat, and my crazy fun-loving hostel it was quite an achievement. The next stop on my list is Florence (Firenze) where I spent last night. I had a reservation at a hostel, but no idea how to get there, which was increasingly more interesting as I found out it is not on any tourist map to be found... I finally worked out a general idea of how to get there, and my friendly bus driver was quite helpful. Turns out that my hostel is a converted 17th century villa complete with a campground, orchard, and of course a full bar :)

After I arrived yesterday, I met my bunkmates Charlie and Justin - two law students from Tenessee. We took the bus into town and wandered the streets of Florence window shopping and marveling at the Duomo. We caught a 3 course dinner (20 euro! - my most expensive by far!) and continued the wander. As it turns out, yesterday was Festa di San Giovanni, (Saint John's Day) a major holiday in Florence. We each bought a bottle of the cheapest wine we could find - 2 euro a bottle - and got set to watch the fireworks display from the bank of the Arno. Turned out that we had 5 bottles of wine, but none of us had a bottle opener! As it was past 10, all the shops were closed so there was no prospect of buying or borrowing one. We wandered until we found a mime (you couldn't make this up!) drunk off a bottle of white wine. He was apparently a street performer at the end of a long day ... miming. We cautiosly approached him and, since none of us spoke Italian, mimed out the question if he had a bottle opener. Of course he did, and was more than happy to open all three bottles for us. Since he was so kind, we gave him a bottle of our 2 euro wine which he opened right up, toasted to us, and started guzzling. As cautiously as we approached, we snuck away into the night. We caught most of the fireworks show (which was of course enhanced now that we had wine) and then the bus back to the hostel before our ridiculous midnight curfew.

Anyway, To finish up on Rome, it was completely overwhelming. Rather than try to see everything in a day and a half, I just decided to see the major sites and promise myself to return someday and spend a month there. Off season, of course, when it's not 38°C and wretchedly humid outside!

My task for now is to find a place to stay near Cinque Terre and rest for a day or two before heading north to Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. I'm also considering spending a day or two in Budapest, so let me know if you think I should or not. I'm also considering skydiving in Switzerland over the alps, but it's pretty expensive (~$250 American) so if you want to donate to my europe fund so I can, I accept any funds you can send! (::cough::paypal::cough::)

Alright, now it's off to find a hostel, hit the Uffizi and get some more of the ever-addictive gelato!

PS. Can't wait for the Italy-Aussie game tomorrow!