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Published: January 14th 2006
Train to Florence
Enjoying the scenerySo we made it thru our first train ride and it was an overnight train ride. Our couchette mate was Carla from Paraguay currently living in DC studying to be an international lawyer. She spoke very good English and Italian and helped out with conversing with our italian train conductor although he spoke very good english too. We also met Sing from Jersey who got on the wrong train and was looking to waste sometime conversing with train patrons for he didnt have a room on the train. His trip was very spare of the moment and was visiting places that "off the beaten path". His method was, I will just get off on the 3 stop from the airport and see what is there. He ended up in the slums and then on a train to Bolgna, Italy. There was nothing special about Bolgna, except that it was on the map. Anyway, The train ride was awesome. I am looking forward to a day trip so that we can actually view the scenery. Jenn slept soundly strapped in to the top bunk, but we forgot to take a picture of the arrangement. Some of you have experienced but for others
like Jenn and I it was an awesome first. We could of been stuck with snoring sticky men. We are now in Florence and we have the following to say:
1. We found the sunshine
2. We found non-smoking restaurants, cafes and hostels.
3. We found a place where you can actually shop and not just browse.
4. We found friendly locals.
5. We found EXCELLENT coffee, food and wine.
6. We may not come back to the states.
We arrived pretty early in the morning and were dropped off at a train station different than originally indicated on our train ticket. But we somehow determine that we could get to the correct train station for free by jumping on the next train to the SMN station. Our first local didnt speak English but we was cordial and made an effort to help us. After arriving at our Hostel, Il Ghiro Guesthouse, we immediately went for some ham and eggs at a recommended restaurant and then took showers. After a bit of rest, we started off to the David, got distracted with all the great shops on the way, circled the museum building once, and then we finally
Florence street
Not sure what the building behind me is but thought the view was cool found the entrance. The museum was very discreet about advertising itself. David was amazing and larger in size than expected with intricate detail. We didnt stay long because my land legs after being on a train for 13 hours and staring up at the david were not very stable. We walked to find a cafe (in this case short for cafeteria) for some lunch and then ventured thru the open air market and other various shops. We only bought 2 things and decided to warm up with some coffee at a nearby cafe and then off to the hostel for some more warmth and rest before dinner. We didnt venture too far from the hostel for dinner. Just 3 doors down to a pizzeria where the owner served us pizza, salad, wine and tiramasu while chatting to us in english about his recent trip to atlanta and our cultural differences. It was a fabulous experience. On our way home we met 2 girls in college studying abroad for 2 weeks from Pittsburg. We are now winding down the night writing to in our blog. Here are a few pics from today. We didnt take many. Pictures of the David are forbidden and shopping for shoes, scarves and souvenirs isnt all that interesting.
Thanks again to all our peeps for your comments. We look forward to reading them each day. Hope you are enjoying the blog and we arent boring you to death.
Ciao!
Heather
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Angie
non-member comment
Hi guys! This "blog thing" is great! I love following along on your trip and reading your fun stories. I'm drooling over all the fabulous food you are definitely having and the awesome things you get to see. I'm so jealous!!! I love the pictures!!!! -ang