Day 1 Florence, Aug. 13, 2008 When getting off the train I followed the hostel’s directions and found it easily. The hostel’s location was great because it was near the train station, a huge market, and 5-10min from all the sites in Florence. When checking into the hostel I was pleasantly surprised to find it was clean..the rooms were 2 levels and it had free WiFi (a big plus). My room was on the lower floor and I had a bed next to a window that overlooked Florence. The window was huge and when opened it gave great views and a [View Full Entry]

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I anticipated a very taxing few days ahead of me on the road. The light rail connection to Porto airport was good as was the airport itself. The flight to Pisa was also trouble free. Can’t stand that horribly cheesy Ryan air ‘music’ blaring through the speakers before take off accompanied by the cheap spruking but what can you do? Nerdy guy sitting next to me kept extending his elbow while he was reading a tabloid sports paper. Apart from that it was a faultless flight. Located the railway platform in Pisa which was at one end of the small terminal. [View Full Entry]

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Hello again! We are now in beautiful Florence. It is fabulous - except for the swealtering heat. At 7:30 this morning it was already 26 degrees with a humidex of 56. Yikes. Well we have one more day here and then we are off to Sienna. We rent our car tomorrow and Ryan gets to drive. He isn't very excited because the drivers are crazy. Anywho.....we'll be in touch. Ciao! [View Full Entry]

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FlorenceAn art overdose waiting to happen Thursday morning marked the end of our Roman experience. We woke early, full of excitement, looking forward to the end of the day when we’d be up to our ears in art and beauty in the heart of Tuscany in Florence. As usual, we did it the “Tim” way, chilled style. This meant that we had no idea when the next train, or if there were tickets available, or whether we’d reach Florence in time to make our reservation at the Uffizi. This was partly why we got up so early. Once we finally arrived [View Full Entry]

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I apologize for the lack of activity on here, but I have been so busy! Every day has been jam packed and we've been taking a lot of day trips. We just got back from Rome yesterday and it was absolutely amazing. I loved Rome. I wish we had more than 3 days there, but I made the most of my Roman Holiday. Sadly, today is my last full day in Florence. I just finished my homework at school so now I'm off to enjoy the city for one last day. I'm going to keep this entry short so I don't [View Full Entry]

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oh what up people ok so ur lucky me and alan have a lot of time to kill today before we take the train to split croatia... so here it goes. So alan left off on him being late to a pub crawl i believe. We went to a pub crawl at the spanish steps in rome which would have been real sweet but since there were 200 people doing it didnt work out so well and only the people in front got go. Alan and one of our buddies coli were in the front so they got into the crawl [View Full Entry]

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We've spent the last three days relaxing here in Tuscany. We stayed in a villa about an hour and a half from Florence near a tiny village called San Bronto. It is strange being here so far from reality, but at the same time it is beautiful. Everything here is rustic, quiet and calm. It has been a wonderful break. Except yesterday, when we went into Florence and Pisa, we've been spending out time relaxing under the sun, swimming in the wonderful pool, and napping lazily. Yesterday we went in to see the Leaning Tower and saw some of the highlights [View Full Entry]

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Ciao! We left Rome yesterday and arrived in Florence, or Firenze. Our hotel truly is amazing...its a cheap, 2 star budget hotel that I think we nabbed for like 20 euro a night. Our room is at the top floor and it has a door to the rooftop terrace. It isnt our own terrace, everyone can use it, but its nice to have access to it from our room. The best part is, it overlooks the Duomo, which is one of the largest cathedrals in the world, and the main architectural point of interest in Florence. It is pretty much a [View Full Entry]

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I figured I would give you guys a little glimpse into our daily life...what is it like to live out of a backpack and move around so much you ask? Voila! We usually wake up around 9 AM. Sometimes earlier if we have to catch a train. If it is our last night wherever we are, we tend to pack the night before so as not to wake our roommates in the morning. Then we either check out and hop on our train, or we go sightseeing. We havent been staying out very late because traveling around so much is pretty [View Full Entry]

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We just got back from Venice! I had such a great weekend. Friday we left for Venice and frankly I wasn't all that excited for it. I just thought it would be another Italian city, but I was so wrong. Venice is like no other city I have ever been to. First off, there are no roads, no cars. You get around this maze of a city by walking forever or by taking the water taxi, which is like the city bus. It is so easy to get lost, but that's half the fun! You find new shops or cafes around [View Full Entry]

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