Firenze

We are now in Florence (just in case you didn't read the title) the city that houses David and one of the biggest churches in Europe. So far i like it!

Our very first view of Florence

we got the busabout bus from Siena and as we were not staying at the pick up point this time set off to find our own hostel. i had looked it up on google and it was supposed to be a 15 minute walk from the pick up point (the 'pick up point' is the hostel that busabout recommends and where they drop you off not a place to pick up for any of you who were confused) which we thought was fine that gave us an hour to get there and back (we were doing a walking tour and dinner with the busabout people). of course we got lost. we asked directions from about 5 different Italians (and one tourist) and while they all knew the way to go we still managed to keep getting off track. we finally made it to our hostel at 4.25 (we were meant to meet everyone at 4.20) and after a very quick change of clothes legged it back to the hostel (this time consulting a map first and finding a quicker way to get back). we made it just in time as the group was leaving we walked up.
the walking tour was good, although as there was about 30 of us it was a bit hard to hear the guide but we enjoyed seeing bits of Florence and the quick preview was good so we could work out where we wanted to go over the next two days.

This is the fake David we saw on the walking tour

after the walking tour they took us to a leather factory to find out how leather items are made. the guy giving the talk was a bit of a character with about a million tattoos, including one of a zip on his neck.
after the talk we had a look in their leather shop and this is where i fell in love with a very expensive (although one of the cheapest they had) leather bag. poor Ewen then had to listen to me talk about whether or not i should buy it. after a lot of contemplation i decided to shop around tomorrow and maybe come back to get it. i mean how many times does a person come to Florence!!!
After the look around the shop we went to dinner at a place called House of Sizzle... not very Italian sounding is it. The group dinner turned out to be more of an intimate dinner with tables for 4 people everywhere. we ended up sitting with a new zealand couple who now live in London. They have been traveling on busabout for a little while now so it was good to get some tips and do and don't from them.
after dinner some of the people went to the club next door, The Red Garter which is supposed to be the easiest pick up bar in Europe.

We snapped a photo and then set off to explore a bit more of Florence.

Trying to find our way home