Firenze, Italia (10/18/15)

We had less than 24 hours in Florence, so we tried to fit in as much as we could.  We had pizza for dinner, and then had breakfast at the hostel the next morning.  This hostel was nicer than the one in Rome, and it was good that we were finally all staying in the same place.  Also we had the room to ourselves, which was great. 

We missed the bus into the city centre and so we basically ran to catch our  guided walking tour of the city.  It was a pretty good tour, and cheap (only 10 euro).  We saw the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio (the bridge that goes over the Arno River), and many statues.

The outside of the Duomo

Me in front of the Duomo

After the tour we got a quick lunch of calzones, and then made our way back to have a closer look at the statues, such as the David replica.  We didn't see the real David, because we had limited time (and a limited budget- but it's on my list for the next time I'm in Italy- which, yes, I am already thinking about).  We then went to a market where there were many vendors selling Italian products like leather and scarves.  Normally, I am against leather, but I did buy an Italian leather wallet for myself (I almost bought a purse but I really didn't need one and I definitely needed a new wallet).  

Replica of the David

Afterwards, we made our way back to our hostel to pick up our bags (they let us keep them there for free!).  We stopped at an interesting garden along the way.  We then took a very crowded (I dislike public transportation in Italy so much) bus back to the Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station to go to Venice!

Me on the Ponte Vecchio bridge over the Arno River.  

Florence was one of my favorite places I visited on my 10 day trip, and I wish I could've spent more time in Tuscany.  A wine tasting is on my list for next time!

We arrived in Venezia, but couldn't find a bus or train to where our airbnb was (we were staying outside of Venice), so we had to take a very expensive cab ride.  By this point, I was really tired from staying in FREEZING hostels, and was very much looking forward to staying in an actual apartment.  We finally made it to the airbnb, and ate some snacks for dinner.  It was around this time that we realized we had purchased our overnight trains from Venice back to Rome for the wrong night- our tickets were for that night!  We tried to change them online, but it wouldn't let two of us change ours.  We tried to call the train company. but no one answered (even though it was supposed to be a 24 hour line).  So we went to bed and hoped we would be able to change it in the morning at the train station.

Next post will be about our difficulties in Venice, and the beautiful sights we saw in the famous island city!