Florence

We got into Florence in the early evening, but the weather was definitely against us because it started pouring as we were unloading the coach and continued until all of the tents were set up and we were all thoroughly soaked. We've encountered rain before, but not to this extent. I'm glad I blew that $2 at the Dollar Store on that 10 meter length of rope to use as a clothes line!

Apparently the Seine River that runs through Paris has gone up six meters since we were there a little over a week ago (the Louvre and Musée Dorsey are closed) and other areas across that northern part of Europe are also getting hit with fairly substantial rains. It's hard to even fathom a river rising six meters in such a short time with virtually no warning - at least when I've and snow start melting in the spring, there's some level of warning and expectation.

Angus cooked an amazing meal for everyone of pasta (after all, we are in Italy) with ham and mushrooms in a creamy sauce... It was my favourite meal so far!

Then, it was off to karaoke for a night of terrible singing voices and drinks by the litre at the Red Garter Karaoke Bar! I helped out with Wonderwall by Oasis with some of my new Aussie friends, and was up on stage again doing Ice Ice Baby for the crew... Great times had by all that night, but more than a few of the group were wishing they'd paced themselves better with the litre cocktails. Feeling that way doesn't appeal to me especially when there's so much I want, and need, to be fresh for the next day.

We kicked off our full day in Florence at Leonardo's Leather for a talk about leather workmanship, types, spotting fakes (labels and smell can be easily faked, while uniform look isn't very likely for real leather), etc. Of course, there's also opportunity for purchases... I bought a couple of nice belts and a small card sleeve/wallet.
Tax is automatically included, but can be taken off for non-European residents when purchases total more than €155, so a few of us combined purchases to capitalize on the savings! Apparently I'll have to jump through some hoops to have UK Customs stamp something, but definitely worth a shot (the tax in Italy is over 20%).

Next, we were taken on a walking tour by Martina, our local guide, to see some of the big sites and get some history - including the rationale for Michaelangelo sculpting the statue of David as a symbol for Florence... It was always an underdog and faced great adversity over the years, but still flourished! Think David versus Goliath.

After the walking tour, it was free time for the afternoon, I knew that David at the Academia Museum was my number one, so a few of us were advised to see about getting a "reserved time slot" to avoid the lineup that would likely mean a two hour wait. Unfortunately, the next available reservation was three days away, buy we decided to walk over to Academia anyway to check things out... The regular lineup was huge, but we bought "skip the line" tickets out front for €22 each (reservation is usually €16.50; regular lineup is usually €12.50). It looks like the woman we bought from simply buys up reservation slots and sells them at a substantial premium, but we went right in and out was absolutely, 100% worth it!

That night, we went for a terrific dinner at Angus's favourite restaurant - Vecchio. I definitely didn't go hungry... Antipasto, pasta, beef/chicken (I ordered the beef and tried the chicken), tiramisu, and lemoncello! All in all, a great meal with great friends around! On the way to dinner, we stopped for a professionally done group photo overlooking the city just before the sun started to go down.

After dinner, we walked to a club called Space, where we had a reservation for the entire group. Another few Contiki groups were in town too, so they were there too. I assume the club probably gives Contiki a kickback to bring their groups there because it wasn't anything overly special or different than most clubs... Loud music, dance floor, and high priced drinks. An interesting thing is that they use a card system for payment - you receive a card upon entry (don't lose it, or it'll cost you €50), you can then use that card to purchase drinks at the bar (once your card has been used for 4 drinks, you need to clear that tab and start a new card); when you're ready to leave, you must return your card (paying any outstanding tab) and receive an "exit ticket". About half the group, including me, were back at the campsite by 1am, while the remainder barely beat sunrise.

Off to Rome in the morning!Read more