Day 12: Rome to Florence

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I think a lot of us were feeling a little bit sketchy at breakfast after the big night at the hotel. I was again quite unimpressed with the hard buns and Tang that the hotel was feeding us. Ah well. C'est la vie. Hopped on the coach and snagged a front seat again - love the front. I'm such a nerd. Today was our last day with Zoltan. Damian was about to make his great return. The drive was uneventful. I propped my feet up and wrote for an hour and a half straight. It was a bit of a chore - I was tired and kind of wanted to catch up on a little sleep, but between the pact I'd made with myself to stay as alert as possible during the trip, and the fact that I HAD to catch up on recording the events of the previous day, it was necessary.

Not long after I put my journal away, we arrived at the lookout. The view overlooking Florence was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was shining brightly and everyone was awed by the monochromatic view. Orangey-red. Very rustic and Tuscan. We all gathered around to have our group photo taken. Damian had come in to be in it with us - Pom Pom had told us that he was feeling a little melancholy and to give him some love when we saw him. Everyone did, and he looked fine. We got the shot and ran back to the coach. As we were driving into Florence it started sprinkling lightly. We got off the coach after Pom Pom told us about the "just-add-water" guys - they come crawling out of the woodwork as soon as it starts to rain, selling cheap umbrellas. Sounded sketchy to me, but would prove helpful in the not too distant future.

We walked briskly to a piazza where we gathered around as Pom Pom gave us a little schpeal, and then took us to our leather demo. I'm not quite sure what the point was - the guy basically told us that it is very difficult to tell the difference between real and fake. Umm, thank you for that wealth of information? Ha. We were then led through to the shop part of the building - and though I wasn't really in the mood to buy any leather, the jewelry part of the store sucked me in. I gave in and put a small dent in the ol' Visa, buying a Nomination bracelet with the flags of the countries we'd visited. Sweet. As soon as the man who'd put it together for me slipped it on my wrist, I found myself totally unable to stop smiling. You know it's a good purchase when.

I left the shop and was greeted with an absolute downpour, and sure enough, the umbrella guys were out in droves. I talked the guy down to 3 Euro - I didn't want to get wet! Sara and I browsed through some shops, killing time until we had to meet up for the walking tour. Lots of little leather shops, some shoe stores, and at one point, we went into a deceptively small storefront...the place was sprawling! After not buying a thing, we walked to what we thought was the meeting place for the walking tour. After 5 minutes of not spotting anyone from our group we clued in to the fact that we were totally in the wrong place, so we RAN in the pouring rain through the street looking for the group. We saw Pom Pom on the way, who shook his head and laughed at us, as he pointed us in the right direction.

Once we joined up with everyone else though, we decided that it was too miserable to go on the damn walking tour, so we found a pizzeria and sat down. Inside. The waiter sat another couple right next to us. They were tourists from Florida. We chatted with them for the entirety of our lunch. They were nice, but I was too hungry to be very chatty - though I WILL say, we should have been getting commission for the crazily wonderful, spokesperson-y things we were saying about Contiki. I wolfed down my pizza and salad, and we ventures back out into the rain. We popped into a few shops, and though there was a LOT of nice stuff - a girl could do a lot of damage in Florence - we were cold and uncomfortable. We went into a little t-shirt place and bought some shawls. I felt instantly better. Fed and warm. Along the way we met Sam and Ashley, and the four of us went to take pictures of the Duomo - it was impressive. As we were walking back, we passed so many gelato places...Sara and I couldn't resist. So we stopped into one and I ordered a scoop of Nutella -my official favorite- and Sara saw the kind she'd had the day before and had gone on and on about - stracciatella. She couldn't quite pronounce it, so she pointed it out to the girl serving and said to us girls "It's sooo good", and the girl behind the counter said "oh yes, chocolate chip. Very good." I nearly DIED laughing. Here we'd been under the assumption that it was this crazy exotic flavor...nope. Chocolate chip. Haha.

We made our way back to the meeting place, but not before we got our first "Ciao Bella" from some slick Italian dude. So sleazy and funny. The rain had cleared, but boy, was I ready to hit the hotel. It was time to get ready for our Tuscan dinner and boogie time at the Space Electronic Discotheque. Pom Pom led us back to the coach and we drove back to our hotel. When we got there, the lift was broken. Ugh. My suitcase was either too heavy or I was just too tired. There was no way I was pulling that thing up the stairs. Luckily, Pom Pom and some of the guys were helping us out. I hopped in the shower quickly - the warm water felt so good after getting drenched by the cool rain. I put on a "peow peow"-y outfit and made my way downstairs to meet everyone going to the dinner. Some people were more dressed up than others, but everyone was excited.

We boarded the coach, and Damian drove us to La Certosa, which was a little restaurant tucked away in the hills. When we arrived, 3 men in what looked like monks outfits started playing accordian and violin and then the other started singing in the courtyard. We were given a little appartif to whet the whistle and we mingled in this amazing setting. We then moved inside where we were seated at a few long tables. I took a seat, but just as quickly got up as we were being called over to the table to serve ourselves from the antipasta buffet. I had to laugh. the line did not move around the table at all. We were stuck for a solid two minutes, just standing in the same place because none of us were moving. Cheeses, meats, pasta, salads; the food was really good. And then came the wine. Let's just say it flowed quite liberally! As we were finishing our first course another Contiki group came in, and the rest of the place filled up with Antikis. Our next course was fresh penne and lasagna and I don't know WHAT was in it, but it was so good I nearly licked the plate clean. During all of this there was a guy by the name of Mario playing an electric piano and singing. After the second course, we were treated to an opera singer. She was alright. People around me were impressed, but I've definitely heard better. still very much added to the atmosphere. After the whole room gave her a standing O, we were back down in our seats for the main course, which consisted of potatoes and a steak salad. Very good.

At one point I lifted my head up to see one of the boys going over to a table of Antikis and asking one of the older ladies to dance. Sweet. Before we knew it, the dance floor was filling up. I was at my table with no prospective dance partner - and I love dancing - but I wasn't going to mope about being single and alone with no one to dance with, so I picked up my camera and played photographer instead. I was in the middle of a shot when Damian walked by, held out his hand and led me to the dance floor. Aww, Allison was a wallflower no longer. When the song was over, I thanked him, joined the others for a faster dance and then excused myself to go to the bathroom before dessert. When I got back, there was dessert and some champagne. I downed both and was getting antsy to get out of there and head over to Space to dance my socks off.

The bus ride there was funny - many drunken souls on the coach. So very much wine had been consumed at the dinner. The club itself was somewhat lame. Pom Pom had told us that we'd be getting drink cards which we'd have to pay at the end of the night - thank goodness I didn't lose it...I would have had to pay about 20 Euro for nothing. I danced, made the good decision not to drink anymore that night, and after a while, I really didn't want to stay - I was tired and suddenly not in the mood to be there anymore, so after a while, a bunch of us shuffled outside and caught cabs back to the hotel. Andrew was a gentleman and escorted me up to my room...wine plus high heels plus sore feet from dancing plus a broken lift equals needing help up the stairs. I thanked him for the help and sneaked into my room. I don't think Rachel even heard me as I fell into bed, in my clothes and fell asleep before my eyes had closed. Not my finest hour, but hey...this WAS a Contiki tour. There were bound to be messy nights.

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Photos

Driving to Florence
So green and pretty

Leather demo guy
Thanks for the terribly informative demo, dude :P

In the rain
Many statues, many tourists

Cute couple
Me and Dave-o

Dinnertime
In the courtyard of La Certosa

Mmm, wine
Cheers

Smile!
We're all VERY mature at this table

Chatting away
Matt: Devil Man

Pom Pom and Damian
A sweet man-waltz

Dancin'
Good times on the dance floor at La Certosa

Space
One of the only pictures I have after leaving the dinner.

Comments

[Pom Pom]

Hey there!
Hi Allison! Just a quick note that I love reading about your tour... wish I could have been there... hmmm hang on! tee hee. Seriously though, I love reading about the tour from your perspective, it is cool! So glad you had a great time!

[amneris]

:)
Aww, Pom Pom! You found me! ...you googled yourself, didn't you? ;) Glad you're liking it. There's still more to come, so stay tuned!