Florence, Italy

Florence has been nice.  I got here yesterday afternoon and checked into the hostel.  The hostel, Ostello Gallo D'Oro, is really nice, and it was a welcome improvement from the hostel in Venice.  After showering   (since I didn't in Venice), I took off to explore the city.  I checked out the Duomo (the main church), Ponte Vecchio (old famous bridge), and the piazzas before grabbing some dinner at an overpriced place.  I came back early last night and got caught up on the blog and such before bed.  Today I woke up early and headed to Pisa to see the leaning tower.  The tower is crazy.  It leans so much!  It was cool to see in person and get some pictures there.  Plus, they didn't even check my train pass, so I didn't even use a travel day, and thus, the trip cost me nothing.  After getting back from Pisa around 2:00, I went to see David.  It really is an amazing statue.  I didn't realize it was that big until I saw it.  It is really large and the features make it look like it was actually a mold.  It was pretty cool to see as well.  After that, I went inside the Duomo, since I got there too late the day before.  The inside definitely doesn't live up to the outside, so I only spent a couple of minutes there before heading up to Piazzale Michelangiolo on top of a hill overlooking the city. It provided a pretty sweet view and I sat up there for a while.  Something in the air here is making my allergies go crazy, so I have been dealing with super runny nose and eyes the last two days.  It makes it really annoying when I am trying to enjoy the city to have to carry around tissues and be constantly wiping my eyes and nose.  Hopefully the Amalfi coast doesn't have whatever it is I am allergic to.  After that, I went back down and got some dinner and came back to the hostel.  It was another earlier night tonight, but I really don't mind.  There isn't that much to do out of the hostel later at night, so I might as well come back and relax and get some sleep before travelling to Positano tomorrow.  I am excited for this next leg of the journey, so I hope it lives up to my expectations.  All in all, though, Florence was nice. It is more of an artsy, relaxed place, which was nice.