We arrived by Eurostar in Florence (Firenze Santa Maria Novella) around 1330 on Sunday. We had a 10 minute walk to our hostel, Plus Florence, down the road from the station. Upon arrival at the hostel, we knew it would be a very different experience from Dublin and Rome. It looked like an apartment complex from the outside and the inside looked like a front desk from a hotel chain. Our room was not yet ready so we grabbed a map, left our luggage in the appropriately named Luggage Storage Room and set out to discover Florence. I wanted to see the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, or better known as the Duomo, so we headed in that direction. Along the way we ran into a street market where every four stalls sells the same thing. There were lots of cashmere scarves and leather bags/wallets. Eventually we made it to the Duomo. Um, wow. The detail on the outside of the building was so intricate. It is amazing to look at the craftsmanship from 700 years ago. I wonder if the workers ever thought if their work would still be around for as long as it has lasted. Just like the Trevi Fountain and Pantheon in Rome, the Duomo in Florence just appears from around the corner. It seems so unreal. The inside was not as impressive and St. Peter's but was beautiful nonetheless. Next we wandered around a bit more and decided to go see David. We found the Accademia and saw David. He is much taller than I thought. I had no idea that he was 14 feet tall. Looking at the statue, I could see the skill of Michaleangelo, you can see the tendons in the hand and on the back of the knee. He was truly a great craftsman. He could look at a piece of marble and release the statue within. There seems to be a recurring theme in Italy of my perception versus the actual; most things seem to be bigger than I once thought. We looked at the map and saw a few things on the south side of the city to see. We walked towards Ponte Vecchio. This bridge dates back to the 14th Century, like the Duomo. It is lined on both sides with shops. Looking down the street at it, I could not tell we were nearing the 
bridge. At the end of the bridge we got some gelato the traditional way, no cones. As we ate our gelato, we walked towards Piazzale Michelangelo. It sits atop a hill on the south east end of Florence which overlooks the entire city. After may steps, not the first nor the last of the week in Italy, we arrived at the top. The sun was beginning to set and it was such a gorgeous sight. I have seen pictures, but they do no justice to actually standing there after walking there from the Duomo, David, and Ponte Vecchio. From there you can see the entire city. The Duomo dwarfs the entire city, rising high above every other building. We sat on the steps there and stared. We sat for a half hour or so. I was trying to take it all in (and failing) and thinking about Rome and my new found love for Italy. The history, tradition, and culture are wonderful and captivating and mysterious. We finally headed down the hill and back to our hostel. It was Katie's birthday (we were all jealous of her as she spent her birthday in Rome and Florence) so we got ready to go out to dinner. By the time we got back and were ready, it was getting late. In London, there is always something open, but not so much in Florence or in Venice as we would later learn. After failing to find a place to eat we stumbled across a Chinese/Thai restaurant. It smelled good and the food at the table of the couple near the window looked good. In we went and had, quite possibly, the best Chinese meal I have ever had. It was delicious and fresh. Yum. All dinner we could not get over the fact that we were having Chinese in Italy, but we did not care because it was so good.
The next day (Monday), we decided to go to Pisa, less than an hours train ride away. From the train station, we walked about 15 minutes and around a corner, as usual, there it was. A tower and it was leaning. Like the Colosseum before, we stood and stared in awe. Finally realizing what we were seeing, we grabbed our cameras. No visit to Pisa is incomplete without the silly poses. We took photos holding the tower up, pushing it over, and leaning with it. We also took a group picture. After we set it up, I lined it up on my camera. We asked a fellow tourist to take the picture for us. 
As you can see, he did not get it exactly right which makes it even funnier. We then had lunch just down the street from the tower. We found a restaurant with a friendly staff. As usual we ordered pizza and pasta. It was so good, in fact the best pizza we had in Italy, maybe ever. The bread and sauce were fresh as was the extra gooey mozzarella. So good. We then headed back to Florence, but not before our train broke down, 200 feet after leaving the station. Half an hour later we were on our way. That night after dinner we met up with a friend who was staying with a friend in Florence for her break. It was fun to swap travel stories and we recommended a trip to Pisa.On Tuesday morning we left Firenze for Venezia, a place that defies the imagination.
Until we meet again,
-Maggie the traveler
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