Florence, Italy

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On the way to Florence, the bus stopped at a neat little town called Orvietto. It's perched right on a rockface and overlooks a larger town. There was a beautiful Duomo there and little shops selling pottery, woven cloths and medieval souvenirs.

I only spent one night in Florence. I have heard that there's less to do in Florence (besides museums, which I'm sure I'll get sick of later), and I wanted to spend more of my limited time elsewhere. The one thing I did want to see in the city, was the statue of David, house in the Accademia. That didn't really work out so well, as the museum is closed on Mondays. Ah well, I did have a look at the replica outside.

Since I didn't have much time there, I went on a walking tour offered by Busabout. For 15 euros it included the tour, dinner at "House of Sizzle" and a fun time at the neighbouring bar. The tour itself was kind of boring, although the Ponte Vecchio and the Duomo were good. They sell tons of jewlery all along the bridge. According to the history, some important wealthy politician was disgusted with the appearance of the bridge and decreed that only jewlery stores could exist there (I probably butchered that story... meh). The dinner was ok... steak and fries, with some basic pasta and wine (completely un-Italian for the most part, but it was nice to get some solid food). The best part about the night was the karaoke bar next door. It was my last night with the guys I'd met at the beginning of the trip, as they were staying another 2 in Florence. We ended it in style, with drinks and bad singing (you don't actually think I went up to sing do you? haha). There were two other buses from Contiki there, so the place was pretty packed. It was a perfect night that I'll never forget.

It was sad to move on but I was also psyched for Cinque Terre, the next major stop.

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Photos

Florence
Taken from the Ponte Vecchio. I only saw a couple of sights in the city since we got there in the afternoon and I only stayed one night.

Orvietto
Taken from the bus, heading out from the town.

Replica Statue of David
Imagine this but much bigger and better. I almost bought the crude statue of David boxer shorts... almost.

Duomo in the City
The Duomo was definitely worth seeing. You can see why the church was so revered in those days.

Karoake Bar
Great times to be had at this little bar near the Duomo. In the restaurant next door, the English host served Italian and American food while there were pictures of Indians on the wall... I was confused.

Busabout Friends
A perfect end to a perfect week. I've met some really cool people along the way. Here are some of them, from left to right: Tom, Adam, me (I know I'm not cool haha), Ben, Josh. The keg in the middle is Little John.

Comments

[Jessica H]

You definitely went up to sing didn't you.