Italy Part 3

Time for travel day and head for Florence. We took the bus to the train station and waited for our train to arrive. When it did, we were on the opposite end of the platform and had to hustle. We got to our car only to find the doors locked. We jumped on another car and found the conductor. He informed us the car was broken and just find a place to sit. We sat across from a businessman who was trying to get the conductor to clean up a half dried spilled pop on the floor. Needless to say, it was on our shoes at that point.

We got to Padova Station to transfer to our connecting train. After it did not show up, I asked the worker where our train was. He advised it was 50 minutes late. We were then switched from Platform to Platform only to have the original train show up at the original platform. We took our seats, only to have a family of 10 sitting wherever they chose. They were not in our seats, but were fined for not being in the right seats and not having their tickets filled out appropriately.

We arrived in Florence where it was 90 degrees. Luckily, our hotel is across the street from the train station. We dropped off our bags and took our dirty clothes to a laundry mat. We had a nice chat with an English Teacher from Austrailia while we were doing our laundry. She also gave us a great recommendation for a restaraunt.

For dinner, we found a great restaraunt on a tiny street. Their Tuscan menu cost 15 euro a person and included wine, pasta, meat, and dessert. It was excellent. Plus in Tuscany, they make fried chicken.

I woke up this morning and went for a long run around Florence. It was beautiful to see the sun come up and get a good feel for the layout of the city. Beth slept in again, eventhough she brought her running clothes. We had breakfast at a cafe right outside our hotel. We headed off to the train station to meet up with my dad and sister who had just arrived from Rome, and will be with us the rest of the trip.

We spent part of the morning walking around and seeing some of the sights. Oh and Julie decided it was time to shop. We had a lunch of pizza, spaghetti, and paninis. We freshened up at the hotel and the girls had to put on clothes appropriate for the Duomo. Luckily, the Duomo had no line and we walked right in. We followed the guided brochure tour of the Duomo and then we climbed. It is 464 steps to the top of the dome of the Duomo. We emerged from a hatch to the outdoor top of the dome. You could walk around the top and have a 360 degree view of Florence and the surrounding hills of Tuscany.

After our climb down, we had some water and well deserved gelatto. We went back to the hotel and relaxed for a minute.

Tomorrow we are headed to The Uffizi and Academia. A fun filled day of seeing really old, really famous stuff.