Ciao! Hello from Italy! After a ten-hour bus ride, we finally made it into Florence. The drive here was so much more enjoyable than I ever thought it would be. The view was simply breathtaking. We drove all along the western coast of Italy and it was so pretty. I took ton of pictures that I cannot wait to show you!
We stopped for lunch in Italy during the trip and it was surprisingly different. At many public places like gas stations and so restraints, you are not allowed to sit while going o the bathroom! The restrooms look like they have toilets, but they just do not have any seat to them! They also have signs with a person sitting with a big red circle with a line through it. I have to admit that I am not a big fan of the “squatters.” also, they have a basket to pay or make a donation before using a restroom, even if it has no attendant.
I was excited to order in Italian, as I had been taught a few key phrases. I got very nervous though because I ended up being the person to order first! I got up to the counter and said that I would like a Margarita Pizza in Italian. However, the cashier answered me in English! It seems like most people here will speak English to you even if you do know a little Italian.
The pizza here was so good! It was everything I thought it would be! Lunch was great too. Amanda and I sat with some guys from our trip whom we had never met before. One had an Italian phrase book so we spent lunch practicing! We learned all of the basics, such as “where is the bathroom?” “Excuse me,” and “please.” we also pretty much had a free show of the most intense PDA that I have ever seen!
After lunch, we still had about a 5.5-hour ride. I used the time to watch Superbad (which Mer, is a “world that I would like to live in one day.: J ) Some guys also started quoting Eurotrip when we were on the bus and talking about how much they would like to see it. Luckily, I came prepared! I put it on a thumb drive, which I think pretty much every person on the trip has now copied in order to watch it. (This is also, what Amada and I did as well)!
We got into Florence around 7:30, and had our welcome dinner at eight. We had some very good penne pasta in a marinara sauce. IIt was pretty basic, but it was done well. This was followed by some fruit for desert. Our leaders went over the itinerary for the city. Everyone got pretty upset when we found out that we were a 30 minute bus ride outside of the city. That was better than the 45 minute metro commute that we had in Barcelona, but people are pretty fed up with staying so far out of the city and having to pay our own way to get in. they were complaining that we shouldn’t have to pay so much money to stay near a city, and worry about the bus schedules and getting in and out of the cities and having to take taxis at night (which luckily I have not had to do yet). I can see why everyone was upset, and I am disappointed about the distance, but I understand just how expensive everything is and I think we should all just make do!
After dinner, a large group was going out, but we decided that we should just take the night to relax in the room since we would have just a supper busy day tomorrow. Hannah and Hilary came over and we had so much fun just sitting and talking. Best of all, we got to get in bed relatively early!
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