WHAT TRAIN STATION??

The next day we left Venice for Florence. We got packed up and left the hotel by 9 am to catch our train at 10. However, we did not realize that the Vaparetti did not start running until 9:30, so we were slightly concerned about making the train. I was confident we would not have a problem because the train station was a 5-minute Vap ride away. The Vap did come and we made it to the train station in plenty of time to realize that our train was not listed on the departure board. Getting slightly freaked out, we asked one of the conductors where our train was. He looked at us and said, “Oh yes it is on the mainland.” I think my heart stopped beating for a second. Until the conductor told us we could just take this train to the main land train station and catch our train to Florence from there. However, the conductor did not look at the time our train was leaving for Florence, so by the time the train reached the mainland our train to Florence had left.

Andrea immediately went to information center and told the attendant the problem. He simply smiled and said since we already bought the ticket we could just get on the next train to Florence. We just had to pay an extra eight euros, and we would not have seats. I was so relived that we did not have buy another ticket. The next train to Florence was in about an hour, so it gave us plenty of time to calm our selves down after our little train freak out.

We got on the next train and told the conductor. He showed us where we could stand. After about twenty minutes of standing on the train, we all sat down in one of door wells of the train. Not exactly the most comfortable seats and they became even more uncomfortable when these creepy Italian men started saying "Ciao Bella" to us for a good half and hour. We finally reached Florence, and I was so glad we made it considering the fiasco we had with the trains.

Our hotel was not in the center of Florence, so we had to take a bus to hotel. Being the naive American tourists, we thought we needed to buy a public transportation bus pass to get around. However, nobody really checks if you have a bus ticket, so we wasted 12 euros on a useless bus ticket. Our hotel was not the greatest but the price was right and breakfast was included. We checked in and put our stuff down before heading back out. We had pre-ordered tickets for the Uffizi Museum at 4, so we got on the “free” bus and took it back into the center of town.

The bus stopped right in front of the Duomo, which was quite an incredible sight. The Duomo is a church built by the famous Medici family that controlled the provence of Tuscany and city of Florence during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Duomo is ginormous and it’s facade is red, green and white marble. There is separate bell tower called the Campaneli and a baptastry in the Duomo Square. We walked through the square snapping pictures as we headed toward the Uffizi Museum.

I really enjoy museum, I love looking at art and learning about significant painters throughout history, but for some reason I was not feeling the Uffizi Museum at all. It was probably a combination of missing the train, paying for a useless bus ticket, and there was no air condition in the over crowded museum. The heat and our crankiness got the best of us and we decided we needed to leave the Uffizi and get gelato. A gelato and a diet coke was exactly what I needed. It perked me up 100% and I was totally ready to go exploring Florence.

We walked down to the most Famous bridge in Florence called the Ponte Vecchio. The Ponte Vecchio is lined with jewelry shops displaying some of Florence’s finest gems. While we were taking pictures on the bridge, Jeanie’s flip flop broke. She tried to fix it with a piece of gum, but was not having too much luck. Andrea and I went off in search of some shoes for Jeanie to buy. At first we were not having any luck. Everything we spotted was some kind of fancy Italian leather loafer, which I know Jeanie would not be caught dead in. Eventually we did find a store, so we rushed back to get Jeanie. Jeanie ended up getting a cute pair of gladiator sandals. The cashier at the shoe store got very friendly with us, and invited us to hang out with him later. We kindly declined and headed back to the bridge to find the others.

The search for dinner commenced after Jeanie had new shoes. We walked by several places checking the menu and the ambiance. The one good thing we were noticing about Florence that the prices were a million times better than in Venice. In our search for the perfect restaurant, we walked by Pitti Palace, a famous palace that the Medici’s probably lived in. Then we came across and Internet café so Karen and Victoria decided they would use the internet while they had the chance. I took out Andrea’s map and started looking for a restaurant. I found one that was nearby with only one dollar sign, meaning it would be in our price range, and it said that it was a local hotspot you should not miss. We walked down to the restaurant only to discover that they were not lying when they said local hotspot. There was a line out the door! I went in and asked how long the wait. The owner, who was this rather large older man just looked at me and said just wait. We were not looking to wait all night, so I gave him my name for a reservation the following night. We walked back toward the Ponte Veccino and stopped at restaurant we had said looked cute earlier in the day.

The restaurant was called Bibo, not sure what that means in Italian but the cuisine was absolutely amazing. All of us decided to get the tourist menu for 15 euros, which included a first dish, a main dish, a vegetable, a desert, and a drink. It was totally worth it! I had the classic Italian minestrone soap, then chicken catcatori seasoned to perfection, for my vegetable I had sauteed spinach, and lastly for desert I had a roasted pear. It was phenomenal. I know it sounds like a lot of food, but in Italy the portion sizes are not out of control like they are in the U.S. Everything was wonderful.

The restaurant also happened to be right next to a church that was having an Easter Vigil. As we were eating, the whole congregation along with the priest came out of the church carrying candles and microphones singing. They continued down the street until we could not here them singing any more. After dinner we headed back to the hotel for the night.