Florence

4:30 came early the next morning, but we dragged ourselves out of bed and RAN to the train station. Tickets for the Accademia Gallery (where the David is) were sold out on line, so we wanted to get there early to avoid a ridiculous line. Our early morning efforts paid off. We got right in and got to see him before the halls were packed with tourists trying to sneak photos when the guards weren’t looking. (He’s AMAZING, fyi). From there we went to the Duomo and climbed the 438 steps to the dome on top. A little rough on my poor biking legs, but the view was definitely worth it.

We wandered around the city most of the time and ate the best gelato of my life! The pear was INCREDIBLE with Strawberry and Mango as close seconds. Since Florence was one of the cities that Shane served in, he knew of a beautiful olive orchard that overlooks the city. We took a bus up there and discovered that some time in the last seven years they built a very tall wall around it with barbed wire around the top, so we didn’t attempt to sneak inside. Instead w found a park trail and started hiking.

This statue street performer was so entertaining. If you gave him some money, you could get your picture taken with him and he would make it as awkward as possible. We got a kick out of watching others do it too.

I guess rubbing this boar's nose is good luck. I thought maybe kissing it would get me a little extra.

Finally, we took a bus to the far side of the city, (another beautiful view) and took model pictures as the sun went down. That night I had the best Spaghetti of my life! (maybe. It was pretty good.)

Back at the train station we had sometime to kill before our train left. We decided to pull out the Uno cards (I guess it should have been Una since we’re playing in Italy) and settled down in a McDonald’s booth. When it was clear that we were having too much fun, the McDonald’s workers demanded that we leave before she beat us with a broom and dumped us in the deep fryer… at least that’s what her tone of voice said. I have no idea what she really said, but the message was pretty clear.