Fiorenze

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By this stage of the journey, the days have started to muddle, so let's dispense with the need for Day titles shall we? I must say that despite the rushing around, i did manage to maintain some level of aweness of where we were and where we had been, keeping it real.

Anyway, after falling down the stairs on the way to breakfast in Sorrento - nothing broken, just brusied knees and some giggling in the dark stairwell, it was off to Florence and smack into a traffic jam that had us stuck in a tunnel for about 40 minutes. Now, as a rule, tunnels are fine, but when you are stuck inside a coach that is stuck inside a mountain behind a traffic jam it can be slightly unnerving! Finally we were off and racing, well as fast as a slow coach can go.

Clearly all the driving got to some of the group, especially at the first rest stop where one us the girl's (no names) exclaimed "Oh my God, check out that woman's fur!" To be fair the old ladies who had just gotten of their coach were all wearing amazingly elaborate furcoats, but when you are in line for the ladies toilets, it was a rather humourous statement.

So, after another stop for lunch and lots of chatting at the back of the bus, increduality that Ang hadn't heard the whole of Madonna's True Blue album and singing along to Lenny Kravitz' Greatest Hits, hilarity ensued. Apparently I am going to live in a monestary - there are lot dotting the hills in Tuscany - roaming the monks cells as the Kravitz witch. One of my new-found friend's, Bob, will be living across the hill in another monestary. I would recommend that you don't analyse that at all - madness on da coach i think.

Before arriving in Florence we stopped in the hills of Tuscany for a wine tasting at a vineyard. Tuscany is beautiful, and I would love to visit in one of the warmer times of year. The tasting was in an old castle building and although we are spolit in WA with such amazing wines, it was a good experience.

Arriving in Florence, it was raining and our bags got dumped "on the sidewalk". After struggling along with our bags we made it to the hotel and Nessa and I were lucky enough to get one of the best rooms in the place, directly above the entrance, with a balcony overlooking the street! Very cool. After another questionable meal, and some interesting choices of photgraphic content by some of the other members of the tour (I really don't know what the point of taking a photo of a badly painted picture of a lion was, but anyway), it was off to the Red Garter, for drinks and karoke. Luckily we got there for happy hour so it was mojito's and cocktails for Ang, Sami, Nessa and I and litre steins for the boys. After some entertaining karoke, particularly the shy renditon of 'Blue Suede Shoes' from Bob, the place started to fill up with locals. After stumbling back to the hotel, and seeing some of our friends stumble/carried in from our balcony, we collapsed into bed.

Quick notes:
* the maccareena is still a crap song and the dance just makes you look stupid
* Ang looks remarkably like Julia Roberts, especially when she wears her hat
* the Red Garter needs to be renamed the Red Hedgehog for some random reason
* Icecream should never be made out of talcum powder.
















Still to come:

• Day 2 in Florence
  
• the foundation of Team Duomo
  
• journal writing
  
• Venice, Rome, Paris
  
• the rest...

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Photos

Nessa and I
Wine tasting in Tuscany