Fiorenze

We're kinda last minute folks when it comes to planning our vacation travel, so its pretty impressive that we managed to go to Florence today. Last night, Rita went online and booked her train ticket, and I had attempted to book mine, but my internet connection was acting up. I decided instead to buy mine in the morning at the train station so I could pay in cash instead of paying additional fees on my debit card. When we got to the train station at 6:30 this morning (yes, I told you it's been a long day), the return train Rita had booked didn't show up on the list, so I ended up booking a different return train, leaving 15 minutes earlier. Rita tried to change her ticket at the machine but it wouldn't allow her to (this isn't exactly Amtrak we're dealing with here).
The ride to Florence was 3 hours, and Rita and I were in different cars since we booked our tickets separately. Since I didn't have anyone to talk to, I was knocked out the entire time (not that it would have mattered - I would have still been knocked out). We got to Florence around 9:45am, and the minute we walked into the station, we saw a McDonalds. Now, this isn't unusual b/c McDonalds are everywhere, but this McDonalds had a sign that said "American Breakfast" (that's the translation - it was in Italian). Whoa! I haven't had an egg sandwich since I came over here, so Rita and I hightailed it to Mickey D's for an egg mcmuffin. I had one with sausage (they also had a ham option) and that must have been the best tasting egg mcmuffin I've ever had! I can't even explain how tasty it was to have one after not having had a "real" breakfast in ages (the omelette doesn't count - they were brown eggs and they taste different here). So after McDonalds, we walked outside, and my first impression of Florence was that it looked very urban - almost too urban - not what I would expect for Italy. There was a main bus terminal, and stores lining the entire street across from the train station. And lots of people. We made our way to the Galleria dell'Academia to see Michelangelo's David first. Except the line to get in was down the block and around the corner. I was fine with waiting (I rationed it wasn't much different than the line for a free movie screening in NY), but Rita wasn't up for waiting, so we took some pictures and headed off toward Galleria degli Uffizi - a historic art museum on the other side of central Florence. Except we never made it there. We kept getting sidetracked by all the other sights we encountered in between. Let's see...first we came across Florence's Duomo, which is nice, but not nearly as nice as the one in Milan, I think. Then, we started walking down via Calzaiuoli which starts near the Duomo, and has a lot of stores. Of course we stopped into a few. Then we ended up at Piazza della Repubblica, where there was a huge carousel smack in the middle of the plaza. There was a La Rinascente department store there too so we checked it out, and went to La Terraza - the cafe at the top of the department store which has a great view of the city. We didn't stay though b/c their coffee was way overpriced. Rita wanted to find the Gucci store since Florence is the "home of Gucci", and as she was wondering where it was at, some Italian guy approached us speaking English and asked if we needed help. Turns out he goes to the states quite often, and used to live in NYC (seems to be a common thread). He mentioned that he works in design, but we didn't get into his life story. He was very friendly though, and directed us to Gucci. Despite my vow to never enter a Gucci store again, I entertained Rita and went in with her. Fortunately, they were much nicer in Florence. We checked out a few other stores in the area, and stopped by Caffe Giacosa, which is attached to the Roberto Cavalli store (they were also overpriced - a 1.8 euro capuccino jumped to 5 euros if you wanted it served at a table - highway robbery).
Around 1 or so, we went back to Piazza della Republica and sat on a bench to eat our lunch. It was ridiculously hot, and we kept being approached by beggars asking for money (mostly women, which was different). Rita's travel guide recommended an open market called Mercato Nuovo, so we went to check it out. It wasn't very big, and had mostly leather bag vendors, but Rita had been looking for a black and gold shirt with a fleur de lis on it and she was able to find it there. From the market, we started walking towards the Uffizi again, but then we came across Piazza della Signoria, which in my opinion, is the most beautiful "piazza" of all the ones we have seen. The Old Palace, or Palazzo Vecchio, is there, although we didn't go in. More beautiful than the palace though are the statues next to it - it is called Neptune Fountain. While we were there, I started having chest pains (not uncommon for me although I haven't had an episode in quite a while - must have been all that heat and walking), so we sat for a while to rest. From there, we mostly stayed in the area walking around looking at shops, and we stopped into this gelato place called "Festival del Gelato" which is known for having over 70 flavors of gelato. Quite impressive. I tried some new flavors including mango, and green melon. I also had peach. It was yummy. Gelato in hand, we started walking away from the city center to find the Max Mara outlet. On the way, we saw a cute little boutique we wanted to go in, but we couldn't find a garbage to throw away the gelato cups. So I ran into a little wine store and asked the owner if I could throw the cup in his garbage (I know, so fabulous). He turned out to be a very friendly older man, and we ended up spending 15 minutes in his shop, with both of us eventually making purchases. From there, we went back to the boutique, and ended up spending at least a good 40 minutes there trying on clothes. I tried on three dresses: the first two were the same dress - one small, one medium - and the third was a dress Rita suggested I try. The first one made me look like a hooker. Or a sausage. Your pick. It was way too tight and way too short. The medium was much better - less fitted and longer. The third dress was cut so low in the back that the crack of my behind would have shown if I ever wore it. Not cute. So I ended up buying the second dress, which marks the second blue dress I've bought here - although this one is a bit more casual.
From there we kept going in search of the Max Mara outlet, but after walking for what seemed like forever, we finally found the store and it had the nerve to be closed. Turns out, they only stay open until 1pm on Saturdays. What kind of nonsense is that? Only in Italy. So we trekked back to the city center, and decided to make another attempt to get in to the Galleria dell'Academia. When we got there it looked promising b/c there was no line, and it was going to be open at least another hour and a half. But then, when we got inside they had a serious security check, and I was told I had to get rid of my bottled water b/c no bottles were allowed in. As I was contemplating this (it was too hot to be getting rid of bottled water), Rita started having a fit b/c they wouldn't let her bring in her bottles of wine and were not willing to take any responsibility if something were to happen to it outside of her presence. They was no bag check. She and the guard exchanged some words, which ended in her deciding to leave. She offered to wait around for me, if I didn't want to leave but I'm not really big on art history (if you can't tell I'm more of a modern gal), so it wasn't that deep to me. We both left and started walking towards the mountains. Rita really wanted a picture of the mountains, which looked very, very far off to me. Tired as I was, I sucked it up, since we had several hours to kill. We trekked the equivalent of at least a good 15 blocks to a point where we were able to get a good view of the mountains. On the way, we passed Piazza San Marco and the Basilica there, both of which looked like a dump in comparison to the rest of Florence. I practically got attacked by pigeons, and had to cross the street to avoid having their poop all over me. After checking out the mountains, we decided to head back towards the train station and eat. Rita suggested McDonalds since she's reached her breaking point with Italian food. I didn't care either way so back to McDonalds we went. I had a McRoyal burger - it was basically a cheeseburger with mayonnaise and lettuce. And did you know they charge you for ketchup? Well, I wasn't actually charged b/c I had already paid for my order when I was told this and I gave the man a look like "are you serious?" He just gave me two packets, but Rita was charged 10 eurocents per packet of ketchup. Highway robbery!!! Back at the train station, I told Rita she should really check on her train b/c it did not come up on the list of trains departing and I had a bad feeling about it. I went with her to the information desk before boarding my train, and she said the woman told her they just didn't have information for her train available yet. I didn't quite believe that but she insisted she was fine and that worse come to worse, it wasn't the last train of the day and she could board another one. So I reluctantly got onto my train, and rode back to Milan.
Getting home from the train station in Milan was an adventure in and of itself. When I got on the metro, this Italian guy got up from his seat and offered it to me. I declined and told him that wasn't necessary, but he kept insisting. So eventually I sat down, thinking maybe he was getting off soon. Two stops went by and he was still standing there. Then he decides he wants to talk to me. And he's drunk. And of course he's speaking Italian. Then he sits back down next to me, and starts getting all animated and he starts touching my arm. That's when I got really annoyed and started speaking Spanish (that's my default when I don't know what I want to say in Italian - it's close enough, they usually understand). I started saying "no me toca" (don't touch me) b/c I can't stand for people I don't know to touch me. When he continued to talk, I turned my back to him. Then, something really weird happened. One stop before my own, these guys who were sitting opposite from me get up to get off the train. And one of them winks his eye at me and motions for me to follow him. At this point, I'm thinking "what on earth is going on? I feel like I'm in the twilight zone...why is everyone acting crazy!" For a second I thought maybe I was imagining it, but then the guy gets off the train and turns back, winks again, and motions again for me to follow him. Why would I do that? I just gave him a crazy look and stayed right in my seat. When my stop came I got up to get off, and the drunk guy gets up too (mind you, he's still talking to me). At this point, I started thinking about what I might have on me that I could use as a weapon in case this fool is really crazy. When I got off the train, I put my speed walk into effect and headed up the escalator (there were quite a few people getting off at my stop so thank God it wasn't deserted). I had every intention of going to the police in the train station (or the train guards, or anyone I could find for that matter) and reporting this fool, but when I looked back he was gone. I double and triple checked, but he had completely disappeared. I don't know if he had gotten back on the train or exited some other way, but I didn't see him anywhere. I walked the two blocks home checking over my shoulder the entire time - just in case (where I'm from, you never know with the crazies - they get real creative sometimes). I don't think I've ever been happier to get into my apartment. Rita got in not long after me and said that the reason her train was not listed was b/c her ticket was for the morning, not the evening. I knew something was fishy. TrenItalia would not let her change tickets since the train time had passed (supposedly they allow you 3 hours to change, after which you get no refund), so she had to buy a brand new ticket in order to get home. That was my fear - that something like that would happen. Thankfully she had the money. So we're both home now, safe and sound (and exhausted from all that walking). I will probably sleep a good portion of the day away tomorrow in order to recover from today. Ciao! Here are the photos from today: http://picasaweb.google.com/keeshaun/Florence