IsThisBlake

We awoke a little later than we would have liked at 7:50, as we had to checkout of one hostel and into another. We dumped our bags and went to Cafe Degli Innocate where we got a small sandwich, pastry, coffee and orange juice for only 3.80 - an orange juice alone should have cost us 4 Euro. We then headed straight for Santa Maria Del Fiore (The Duomo) as we expected queues, and got there at 9:35 where we got in line and waited 25 minutes for it to open. We had no idea of the enterance fee but predicted between 15-20 Euro for both of us. As it turned out it was free, which was brilliant, but we were met by a man who seemed to regard Clare as some form of prostitute as ... read more

We arrived at Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station at 06:18 to good solid Italian sunshine, after trying to sleep through a horrendous thunder storm all night. Clare got pretty scared at one point as she thought the lightning hit the train but I was far too drowsy and oblivious to notice. We grabbed a map and instantly headed for the hostel, negotiating our way through the narrow streets and early morning traffic. We waited an age to get into the building and then another to get into the hostel, only to be told that we would have to relocate to a different building. When we found this one we were told our room wasn't yet ready and that we would have to come back at 14:00 - the notion of spending an entire morning in ... read more

Today got off to a slightly disappointing start as there were no croissants or pastries for breakfast! Things perked up, however, as we walked along the riverside to the train station, bound for Antwerp. As we neared the station Clare decided we were in the wrong place but I disagreed - it turned out I was right. However, my victory was short lived when I realised that the Interrail tickets required to get reduced reservation fees (or even fares free of charge) were not in my bag and I had left them back at the Hostel...1-1. Instead of trapesing all the way back to the Bauhaus we reluctantly forked out the 30 Euro charge for two returns, paid the grumpy man, and continued with a large dint in our daily budget. After leaving the very grand ... read more