My Second Full Day in Italy

Since I was up late blogging and talking on facebook to Laura and Kassie I didnt object when Sean pushed the snooze button and actually suggested we sleep another hour. So around 11 o'clock we started off our day in Florence. We ate an exquiste breakfast for staying in a hostel and then started our roughly planned wandering. We saw every building that was marked on our map today. It was quite an adventure, but it was fun wandering around such a gorgeous city. A few times we stopped to just people watch and it was funny how easily it was to spot some Americans. Just look for the North Face jackets or bags and you can be fairly guaranteed they are American

My first observation of the day has to do with wandering down the streets. It is similar if not the same as one of my observations from yesterday. Streets which can look like alleyways in Italy lead to wonderous surprises around every corner. I have been disappointed to find out that any building worth seeing, including churches, we have to pay to get into. But on one of my "alley" excursions we came across a church that we could go into. So Sean and I went in for awhile and marveled over the beautiful architechure and extravagent detail inside.

My favorite spot of the day was Piazza Michelangelo. It was a spot on the top of a hill where we could look down upon the entire city. It was intriquing to see where all the buildings are in relation to each other. It also confirmed my second observation of the day that all the touristy destinations are closer to each other than I would have thought. It really wasnt bad walking around to all the sites. We saw everything you might want to see in 5 hours walking around. I havent really been to two many large cities in the states that would count as touristy but I doubt they would all have such centerally located sights.

This observation led me to confirm my idea that I want to travel around when I am young rather than when I retire. We saw plenty of older folks walking around but none of them could have walked around as fast or as far as we did. I would rather have these wonderful experiences now and make sure I get to see the world. I want to be able to appreciate other cultures because I have been surrounded by them rather than having seen them on tv. I want to have interesting and exciting stories to tell at age 25 instead of 75. I want to see as many places as I can now and then visit them again when I have more money to do the things I couldnt afford now but wanted to do.

My third obseration of the day is how small the cars are. The cars in Italy are even smaller than the cars in Belfast, which means they are way smaller than the cars in the states. The mini "semis" as I like to call them can be so small that I can almost see over the top of them standing flat-footed. They are soo tiny! I really cant imagine how many trips it would take those mini semis to carry a load from one factory to the other in the states.

We came back to our hostel around 5 and made pasta again. We laughed at the irony of eating homemade pasta while in Italy. Oh the excitement of being poor college students. Six new people arrived to stay in the other rooms. Two were from South Africa and only sparked my interest to travel there. They both grew up in South Africa and I asked them for all their tourist tips and hints. They told me about Cape Town and the Costal Garden route that I should take. They talked about Safari tours and whale watching excursions and museums about the apartheid. I definitely have added those things to my list of places to visit and things to see. In a later blog I will be listing my traveling bucket list, but for now I will stick to updating you on my daily travels.

After supper we planned some more of our trip and then started our night out in Florence. We wandered past our favorite buildings of the day en route to the Arno river. We considered getting our first gelato but decided to eat it during the day when it is hot outside. Currently the daily temperature is in the 60s, which is warmer than the 50s in Ireland. Our final destination on our late night journey was to the Piazza Michelangelo. It was so gorgeous to see the city all lite up for the night and even some of the stars could be seen. It made me think about what everyone else is doing at this moment. I wondered what everyone in Iowa would be doing on their Wednesday afternoon at 2:45pm. So if your nose started itching around then, it was because I was thinking of you. So no matter how cliché and overused this phrase is, whenever you miss me remember to look up at the stars because those are the same stars I look at each night and know that I am thinking of you and love you.

So that concludes my adventures in Florence by rain, shine, and starlight.