Firenze

Firenze
I decided the next stop was Firenze (Florence) and because the train line goes through Pisa, I stopped there too! There isn't a whole lot to Pisa other than a run down city that has a beautiful tower that the Italians didn't build too well. That being said, the place was crawling with tourists! Most I imagine were doing the fly by just the same as I was. The Duomo and tower are very nice. They have been looked after and stand out as a spectacular sight. I sat and watched hundreds of thousands of tourists doing all the stupid holding up the tower pictures and all of that! Con artists flock to drain more money from tourists wallets. There was no way I was going to wait 2hrs and pay 15 euro to climb to the top though. It was very funny and a good break on the way to Firenze.

For some reason all the Youth Hostel International hostels were located right at the edge of the towns. That means finding the right buses and trekking out there. It can't be a function of being cheaper because we met others who were staying right in the centre paying less at a better youth hostel! However, the hostel in its own right was pretty cool being an old villa with lovely gardens. The 500m trek from the front gate to the hostel meant the place was very quiet.

I met a Canadian and Californian as I arrived and we arranged to head into the city later that evening to meet some other friends for some beers. The friends turned out to be some Norwegians Stephen had met on his travels. This hostel was relatively new and bursting at the seams with young people (as distinct from the hostel we were at with lots of oldies and families!). We had a few beers on the roof and got some great views of the Florence skyline by night. We met plenty of Americans who were very good at keeping up their stereotypes sadly!


In Turin I had dinner with a group of people, one of which was an economist who now works in Washington, he always talked of Firenze as a Museum. I laughed every time because it was pretty much what I was feeling when there. Because I was avoiding paying for entry into museums and churches etc, Jon (the Californian) and I walked and saw all the sights. I felt hugely ignorant to so much roman history. Had I even a snippet of history it might have made sense. Travelling around with Jon was good fun. He would often stop for a beer while I would sneak in a few coffees! We found the central markets by accident. It was the first central market I had seen in Italy and it was suitably amazing! I had an animated conversation with the lady of a coffee bar asking about the differences between all the coffees. I ordered a Latte and shed delivered! After drinking crap coffee in France, this was heaven.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/archive-2/
[Got distracted writing!]

The last stop for the day was to the Piazza Michaelangelo. Here we witnessed an amazing panorama of the city as well as saw a bronze copy of the David statue in all its glory! Jon had insisted we carry beers around that he had bought for 1euro for later that night but instead we sucked on two 1L Morettis looking over the city we had walked through. After the feeling of constantly being trapped in the tight streets with thousands of people this was a great vantage spot. The photos worked out well looking along the river to the Ponte Vecchio.

Once back at the hostel, my mind was restless over so many issues. I threw on the runners and headed for the hills. Although I was pretty tired from wandering the streets, this was one of the best things I did in Firenze. I trundled up to Maiano and then across to Fiesole. I really should have spent a day in Fiesole. This was my first introduction into the real Tuscany. The old villas, the olive groves, the grape vines, the old restaurants etc etc...it was all there plus a magnificent view of Firenze from the back of the city. The colours were beautiful. Because I was running I didn't have a camera which was a shame. I ran back a lot happier than when I left. Sadly the Youth Hostel only served frozen food. I was starving and by the time I got back most places would have been closed. The poor lady running the bar was so embarrassed to pull it out of the freezer! It tasted terrible. I wouldn't have thought that could happen in Italy! Needless to say, I was happy to leave Firenze the next day...