Got into Florence at 3pm and checked into our hostel which had the smallest lift i have ever seen. it looked like you were walking into a closet. it was a very small room and had a shower on a raised platform in the corner of the room. Just in the corner, no door, just a shower curtain. Needless to say none of us had a shower there, and we were glad we were moving hostels to where Maria was staying the next day (Plus Florence- so much nicer). Steph and I went to where maria was staying to see her. it was just like old times, it felt like we had only been hanging out with her last week in chch, not two years ago almost. we sat and chatted for ages and then realized we were really hungry so went and found somewhere to eat. we walked towards the duomo and found a little Italian restaurant. we got a set menu so i got tortellini, a mound of spinach and escalope chicken. Far too much food, couldn’t finish it. After dinner we took photos at the Duomo. I loved the atmosphere in the square. It was a beautiful summers night and there were people everywhere and musicians all over the place, singing and playing instruments even at 10pm. Such a cool vibe. After wandering the streets we got gelato, a must after dinner and then dropped maria back at the hostel for bed. the next day we had to move to plus florence. for lunch we went to mc donalds. yes we were in italy searching for a mc d's (more the others than me) cos maria knew where it was. after lunch me steph and maria looked around the shops for a bit, then went back to the hostel for a siesta. that night we took some nibbles up to the Michelangelo square to watch the sunset over Florence. it was beautiful, i enjoyed it more than the sunset in Santorini. cos the light looked amazing over the city and the hills. we had our nibbles after the sunset at the top of the hill. steph opened her bubbly wine and the cork shot out across the parking lot and nearly killed an old women. the lady was fine. it was hilarious, i think we were all in shock!! after our nibbles we caught the bus back to the hostel then went out. there wasn’t really anywhere to go in Florence so we found a pub which I’m sure was run by the illegal street sellers and they played music off youtube, i have never seen that before in a pub. The next day me and steph were under the weather with a tummy bug so we were in bed for the whole day while jess and maria went the the afizzi gallery- the line was very long so they paid extra for express tickets. They really enjoyed the gallery and were there for several hours. i started to feel a little better by late afternoon so went and took a photo of the famous bridge- Ponte Vicchio. It was the only bridge that Hitler didn’t bomb during WW2 because apparently he found it so beautiful. its hard to explain what it looks like, but it has shops all the way along it that used to be butchers but are now all jewelry shops. You can get a great view of it from the Michelangelo Park. That night we went to Chinese for tea, had gelato on the way home and ate it in the park with all the homeless people. We felt a bit uncomfortable as we were being stared at by the said homeless people so we left. the next morning we got on the bus to go to la spezia. Florence is a very pretty city and a lovely place to visit and feels very safe. I really enjoyed my time there and wish id had more than three days.
