More from Florence!

17.04 entry

As planned, I woke up bright and early to get breakfast with my roommate, Kati. We had planned to go to one of the street markets in town, but the various websites I checked revealed that it was closed on Sundays.

We found a patisserie near the train station and had really delicious pastries - croissants filled with fruit (her's) and cream/custard (mine). It was a great start to the day.

I returned to my hostel to figure out my game plan for the day. I had planned on finding a supermarket, and packing a lunch, so I ventured off in search of such an establishment. One was found, but I had forgotten a bag to put my groceries in. On my way back to the hostel, I ran into one of my roommates who was standing in front of the hostel waiting for the other. Apparently there had been some good times enjoyed the previous night before that had led the one to end up in the hospital (almost definitely not related to the amount or type of beverage consumed, but rather what had been slipped in said beverages) and now we had no idea where she was. Eventually, we got in touch with her and she made it back in a taxi, better than the night before but still in no state to go out sightseeing.

My other roommate and I took off forth Uffizi Gallery, where we waited an hour and a half in line and burned through the museum in roughly 50 minutes. She is studying art history and probably found it more interesting than I did, as I believe I'm starting to experience a bit of museum overload. We were also absolutely starving by the time we got to the museum, so we wanted out ASAP to get something to eat.

After we left, we found another restaurant that had cheap pizza, and I ate another entire pizza.... This time, a pizza marinara with tomato sauce and garlic :-D

We then got gelato and went to Ponte Vecchio, a beautiful old bridge with shops along both sides. The gelato was delicious, even though we had both just eaten a giant pizza apiece.

Upon my return to the hostel, I met my five new roommates (the two girls had moved rooms that morning). Four of them were Notre Dame students studying in Spain, and the fifth was another WOOFer from the US. They were all so friendly and seemed so excited to make new friends in their hostel room! We all hung out together, drinking classy wine ('Bianco Mosso' and 'Rosso Mosso') and playing cards. The four girls from Spain were also traveling with others from their program, so they came to our room too.

At the end of the night, we all decided to go to Pisa the next morning. The train only takes an hour, and my train to Rome didn't leave until 2. Exciting!