It's 80s night!!

Florence! Wasnt so sure about the city when we first arrived. The sidewalks are CRAZY busy, but once I realized the city and roads had been around for about 1700 years it made navigating between people, and potential murderers - the drivers and bikers - slightly more tolerable. We just chilled and walked around the city to get a glimpse at Duomo our first night there. Apparently the eye contact rule does not prevent you from being accosted by salesmen here, and how do they always know we are American? I guess it is one of those things I will never understand. The first night in Florence we decide to just pick up some food at the super market near our hostel and eat in the court yard. The hostel was very nice. Beautiful courtyard and all the walls are covered in graffiti from other guests. Found new amusing bits every time we went up to our room. Jessie had to write a few things which was great. The first night in Florence we ended up chatting with another Australian girl traveling by herself. After a couple bottles of red (cheaper than water) we decide we should go out. We wander the streets around our hostel and find a place that is quite busy. We go in to the bakery turned bar and order our drinks - prosecco for me, banana cocktails for the other 2 - we sit and soon realize we are at 80s night. Its amazing how similar it was to 80s night in Lincoln. Same crazy girls who look strung out dancing with themselves and crazy costumes, thought unfortunately there was much less dancing at the bakery compared to Bricktop. It was really very funny and great people watching. We left the bar and wandered around a little more before deciding to get another bottle of red and just hang out in our courtyard. Overall a great night.

The following day was our only full day in Florence. We took the free walking tour of the major historical sites of the city. Then we decided I had to have a new camera so we got some lunch and went to the camera shop. Luckily the salesman was very helpful and I am pleased with my purchase. Jessie and I had decided to hit the big sites early the next morning so she could get pictures without the gobs of people. So, that afternoon we quickly walk around inside Duomo and the go see David. He really is as spectacular as you would imagine. We managed to get a couple pictures before the museum guard (nazis) caught us. WE were incredibly fortunate so be at the museum while there was a Maplethorpe exhibit. He is one of Jessie's favorite photographers and I really enjoy his work as well. The exhibit was huge and they did a great job comparing the photographers work to Michelangelo's sculpting. Jessie was absolutely thrilled with the whole museum and is super excited to brag to all her photo clubbers. We then walked through the Uffizi museum very quickly, mostly just to see Botticelli's Venus. Their collection was amazing, but the museum was horribly crowded and not so unjoyable because of the crowds. While walking through the museum we discovered we have become somewhat of celebrities as a group of tourist from Pennslyvania pointed to us and identified us instantly as the Nebraska girls. We had never spoken to this group before and did not recall seeing them previously. Very confusing. That night we took advantage of the free hostel dinner. Wonderful food, but I have discovered that Italians douse their pasta in olive oil and then cover it in the sauce. It tastes wonderful, but it is most definitely not the low fat somewhat healthy plate of spaghetti I am used to. We then chatted with everyone in our hostel room and decided that we all needed one more Florentine gelato (the best in the world). The 5 of us (Jessie and I, a brother and sister from Argentina, and a solo traveler from DC) all walked the city at night seeing the sites and went to the square where the entertainers congregate. It was a nice relazing night and we all slept very well after such an exhausting day.

The following morning Jessie and I speed walked Florence in the drizzle and got lots of pictures with very limited tourist around. I definitely left the city with a better perception that what I initially had of it. Next time a wine tour is definitely in order as the chianti was amazing as were the hills surrounding the beautiful city.