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Thursday morning I said goodbye to Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast and the South of Italy, and headed up to Florence (Firenze). And didn't that turn into a bit of a train oddessy! I had to catch the train from Sorrento to Naples (1hr) but I was a bit late and had to wait half an hour for the next one. This little bit of lateness had an unfortunate knock-on effect becuase when I arrived in Naples I found that I had missed the train to Rome so had to wait 2.5hrs in the train station. Naples to Rome took 3hrs and was only about 10mins late, but because of the whole knock-on effect thing I ended up missing the last train to Florence (I arrived at 7.20, it left at 7.14 uurrggg!!!). Of course this was the last cheap train, so I had to toss up between catching a much more expensive train to Florence or trekking around Rome looking for a place to stay (I wouldn't have had much luck, I checked later and most were booked solid). So I chose to go to Florence, got there about 10.30pm, found the bus to the campsite, checked in and fell into bed. Whew!
Florence itself was nice. On Friday I went around to a couple of museums, and in the arvo got in line to see Michelangelo's David statue (from David and Goliath story, for those readers who aren't art or bible buffs). I waited 2.5 hrs in line to get into the museum, and it was hot in the sun and cold in the shade, and I'm still not really sure if it was worth it considering that I'm not one of those aforementioned art buffs. To me it was just another nice statue among all the other nice statues I've seen in countless (so it sometimes feels) museums.
Friday night I could feel a premonition of the onset of homesickness, and so I decided that the last thing I needed was to eat another dinner by myself and have an early night. I glanced around and saw two girls nearby andheard them discussing dinner. So I walked up to them and blurted out "Are you going to dinner? Do you mind if I join you". Miraculously it didn't turn into a complete fiasco (although the second the words were out I felt like a complete idiot) becaues as it transpired both girls (Bayla and Murphy) were each travelling alone as well, and had only just met on the train to Florence. So we went off to dinner at a nearby pizzeria and hit it off great. We arranged to meet the following day for a bit of sightseeing. Saturday was great, a few more museums but much more entertaining with other people to wait in line with and chat to about strange pictures and statues. I decided that I was having so much fun I would change my plans and stay in Florence an extra day instead of leaving tomorrow. On Sunday we bought some cherries and a honeydew melon and had a picnic in the Bubilie(?) Gardens - beautiful and fun smuggling the food in (the Gardens are part of an Imperial palace and museum). That arvo Bayla had to go catch her train back to Prague (she's been doing a student exchange there for the last three months) to catch her flight back to the States. That was not so good, but Murphy and I gave her a Hollywood farewell (running after the train waving our arms and throwing kisses).
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