Caio!

I had spent most of my time in Europe in the UK, or the British Isles if you include Ireland. I wanted to spend a week somewhere on the mainland. Some of my family said I should visit Greece, others said I should visit Italy, all agreed I should go somewhere where the weather is warmer. I checked the future weather report for both Greece and Italy and they both were reporting the same type of weather. I tried to ask around to see if I could get a tie breaker. I even asked twitter. No one could tell me Italy or Greece. I flipped a coin. Seriously. And it landed on Italy. After I returned from Ireland, I booked my trip plane to Italy. I booked the rest of my t.rip while in Edinbraugh. It gave me something to look forward to. I was enjoying my time in Scotland, but it was nice to think that in a weeks time I would be enjoying Italy at its 16 degrees celsius sunshine. Plus all the delicious pasta and wine I would be consuming.  As I was flying over Europe, I realized Italy’s primary language wasn’t English. This would be my first time in a country by myself where the primary language wasn’t English. No Wilma the translator with me this time. Navagating the airport was fine, the signs were in both Italian and English. And I know a little bit of Spanish, which has some similarities to Italian, so I was making do. I booked my train ticket, and was on my way to Rome. On the train it dawned on me I forgot to research what kind of plugs Italy uses. I did have a universal plug, which I was pretty sure would work. The English plug on it was loose, but I had aquired a few replacements. I googled the Italian plug, which happens to be an European plug, and I had a converter for it. Crisis adverted. I made it to Rome, and located where my accomidation was, and started walking. Just outside the train station Rome is covered in graffiti, litter, and smells a bit of poo. There are a lot of people hanging about, and I felt a little more self aware walking the streets. Walking around Rome was definitely a bit diffierent compared to Scotland. I kept a better eye on my small backpack, my rather large suitcaste and my surroundings. It was hard not to look like a tourist. Not only did I have all my luggage, but I was boosting long blonde hair and pale skin. I made it to my room and got settled in. The staff was great, very friendly. They told me a few places I could go for some pizza and gelato. I was only staying in Rome one night because I was headed to Florence the following morning. My train to Florence wasn’t until one, so I figured I had time to do one thing in Rome in the morning, and I choose the Colosseum. I speed walked down there, took a few pictures and speed walked back. The sun was out and shinning. I had a long sleeve on but no jacket. As I was speed walking back, I could feel the sweat dripping down my back. I hadn’t sweat with such little clothing on since Africa. I grabbed my luggage and went back to the train station. I could not find the train to Florence on the digital screen. I asked one of the ticket masters and he told me to sit tight for a bit, the train would show up soon. It was about 10 til my train was to leave and I still didn’t see it on the screen. I decided my train must continue on to one of spots listed on the digital board. I matched the train number to the train going to Venice. I had less then 10 minutes to get to the other side of the train station. I made it thanks goodness. I arrived in Florence and once again lugged my suitcase around the cobblestone to my next accomidation. After settling in, I decided to go see David. Not my David haha. Michelangelo’s. I went into the Galleria dell’ Accademia and saw the religious paintings, the various sculptures, and when I turned the corner the mighty David. He stands at about 20 feet tall and is gorgeous. You could spend a good amount of time just staring at his magnificence. I walked a bit more around Florence. I was staying near The Church of Santa Maria or The Duomo which is basically the center of town. Florence doesn’t have the graffitti like Rome. Its a bit cleaner, and more uniform. All the churches have the same marble design, and the roofs are a red tile. It really is a beautiful city. I checked out the market, which is basically a bunch of carts full of stuff for sale. Now that I have packed my bag for home I’m glad that I didn’t buy anything. I was really looking at the purses and the scarves. I walked back to my room when I met a Canadian girl staying at the same place as I. We chatted a bit and decided to go get a drink and some food after checking in. She is from Canada but has been living in Slovenia for the past few years. We walked around Florence for a bit more until decided we were absolutely shattered and it was time to retire for the night. I was running my mud run in less then two weeks time, and decided I should do a bit more running. I woke up early and ran up to Michelangelo Piazza. From there you can see the see the whole city and the view is beautiful. I had moments of sunshine and some overcast. There is a replica statue of David in the piazza. It was about 8:30am when I made it up there, there were a few tour buses up, but I’ve heard that usually the place is crawling with them. So I  made do with the light number of visitors. I had heard of the view from Santa Miniato was just as good, so I ran up there. It was a spectacular view as well, a bit different, but still brillant. I don’t know if I could pick one over the other because they boosted different things. I decided to run back to my room and came across a lovely running path. One I would use again if I was staying longer. I made my way back through town and to my room. There is a giant river that runs though Florence. I spent most time on the Duomo side, but it was nice to get on the other side and cross the Ponte Vecchio which is the most popular bridge in Florence. I had a few churches on my adgenda as well as a few plazzas. My favorite was the outside sculpture muesum. There you saw Donatello’s take on David along with a few other famous statues. I stayed there until the rain came. And when the rain came it fell hard. I rushed inside a church, but I was already soaked. The rain let up a bit and I decided to grab some lunch. One of the server’s at the resturaunt was getting off their shift soon and volunteered to show me a bit around Florence. It is amazing the amount of history the locals retain about their city. I don’t think I could tell you any history about Gridley, and not much more about California. I decided to go on one final walk for my daily gelato which I consumed in the outside sculptor museum. It wasn’t raining, and a lovely evening out in Florence. I had one final full day in Florence. I spent it climbing 900 steps. I climbed both the Duomo and the Bell Tower. I visited the Santa Croce which holds the tombs of Michelangelo, Galelio and Machiavelli to name a few. The rain came again and I was drenched. I made my way back to my room to change for dinner. I was meeting one of Mckenna’s Navy friends who lives in Pisa (about 1 hour from Florence). We ordered a variety of dishes and everything was absolutely delicious. The raviolis were to die for, and I am pretty sure I ate veal. Reason I think is beause the meat was really red, like it looked to be cooked rare, but it didn’t bleed like a regular medium rare steak would. It was also really tender. It’s only a guess that I had veal. Whatever it was, it tasted delicious. After dinner, we walked around a bit and I got another history lesson. Florence has a lot of high end shopping and we laughed at the high priced hideous items for sale in the window. It had been another long day, so Johnny and I said our goodbyes and I went back to my room. My plan for tomorrow was to sleep in as late as possible.