14 September 2007

Day Two: Off to Firenze

This has been a long day! I am now sitting at the computer in our hotel, which is snail slow it is an old computer), and they have the air-co on full blast, which is really unnecessary.

At any rate, one thing I love about the hotels in Europe is that they provide breakast. Now, I am not usually a big breaky eater, but when it's free, why the hell not! Plus, it is fun to see what a typical breakfast is. This morning, it consisted of bread (sadly, not the most delicious white toast ever - that honor still goes to the place in England), a variety of meats, some cereal, tomatoes, cheese, and pastries. I immediately went for the bread, cheese, tomato combo, with olive oil. It was delicious!

It was time to head off to the train station. After we were unsuccessful locating the bag, we hung out at the train station and waited for our late train (I had the impression that trains were always on time...I was wrong). We had seats in the first class cabin, which was fantastic. They lounged in a way that didn't infringe on the person behind me's space, which is what the airlines should do. It was a quick and easy ride through the Tuscan countryside. Pebbles commented that it looks like Napa....it does, just seems to be hillier.

We got to Florence and made our way to the Florence Dream Domus, this centrally located, although on the 3rd floor with no lift, hotel. It is pretty darn adorable. Once we got in our room, we were able to locate the bag. With that, we were off to walk around, get some gelato (yum!), and go to our tour.

The tour was great. I am not a big fan of organized tours, but sometimes, they are necessary. They brought us first via bus to Fiesole, which boasts one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen, ever. I wish we had more time here so we could go visit further. We then went back to Florence and walked around the ancient center. Elvio, our tour guide, was very good, and obviously very passionate about Florence. He said he was originally from Venice, but has lived here in Florence for 22 years and loves that he gets to help others understand what a great city this is. How fun!

We ended the tour with 2 hours in the Uffizi. Talk about an overwhelming amount of information. Elvio went really in depth with his favorite and what he considered the most important paintings, taking us from the early days through the Renaissance. It was like a condensed art history class - fabulous! My mind is still spinning from all the info.

So now I am back at the hotel. Pebbles went to collect her bag...she told me not to come so I guess she needed a break. Which is fine. I think she gets frustrated because I am rather quiet, which is the norm when I travel. I am trying to be better and get adjusted to traveling with someone, but in general I am quiet, and moreseo when traveling...but I'm trying!

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