| Erin's Florence Journal #1 4-10-02 Today we left Bologna for Florence. Our rooms at the hostel in Bologna were no longer available - we found out there was going to be a Formula 1 race just outside the city on Sunday, so crowds were booking out the city. So rather than scramble to find other lodging for the night, we decided to head on to Florence. We'd had dinner the night before with our new friend Shayne, who's from Darwin, Australia. She was heading up to Cinque Terra for a few days and then planned to be in Florence as well, so we said we'd find out about the hostel situation in town and try to reserve her a room there as soon as we were able to get in ourselves. We jumped on the train for Firenze after having to wait about 90 minutes at the station, and the short one-hour ride was very scenic. We went through a lot of tunnels, as Florence is on the other side of the mountains. There were some very quaint and colorful towns clinging to the hillsides out there, but only one road to service them all. I had picked up a cold due to the rainy days we'd weathered in Bologna, and by the time we toted our heavy packs the 3 blocks from the station and were turned away at the first hostel, I was starting to get grouchy. We checked out the closest 1-star hotels, which happened to each be up about 3 flights of stairs, and by the time we'd checked 4 others, we settled on the first one. The room we'd seen there, with a double bed and balcony with gorgeous view, was no longer available by the time we got back, so we ended up in separate single beds in a small dark room. We kicked ourselves for a little while, then figured it was our own fault and got over it. Flexibility in this type of trip is a must! I needed some rest, so we napped for a couple of hours before getting up to find food. That first night, we wandered across the Arno river to find the next closest hostel and check on their availability (none), then decided to get some take-home fare and eat in the room. We found something near the hotel which was a pretty good deal and had a picnic in bed. I then crashed, while Glenn headed a few blocks away to find Andres and Sylvia, who had emailed where they were staying. He came back around midnight, bursting with all the info and tips they'd shared with him. It's nice to have a few keys to the city right when you arrive, rather than figuring them all out yourself! |
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| Our room in the Albergo Cara Mia - the meaning of one star! |
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| The Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge across the Arno |