Florence, Vol. 1

I finally got back from Italy Wednesday night after a very fun and very eventful trip to Florence, Italy. The transportation both ways were quite eventful as well, including my friend Jack and I barely missing the last bus to Prestwick airport (after our train to the bus station in Glasgow was delayed 25 minutes), which forced us to spend 30 pounds each on a cab. Not the greatest way to start a trip when you are on a budget. Still, we got to the airport, flew into Pisa, where on the way there was some amazing views of the alps, and took a bus into Florence. We managed to check in successfully at the hostel despite the language barrier between us and the old woman who ran the place. That evening we strolled around the city and had our first authentic Italian pizza at a nice little cafe in Piazza della Signoria. The next day, we a took a walk outside the city and up into the hills, giving us a great view of Florence and the surrounding area. We then strolled back and visited the Galleria degli Uffizi and looked at many famous sculptures and paintings. Monday was spent mostly at the Duomo, the world's 4th largest cathedral. It is an amazing building to look at, especially because of it's enormous dome that took over 150 years to build. We finally left Italy on Tuesday to spend the night in the Pisa airport, where at 1 AM Jack and I were awakened by the airport security guards who told us the airport was closing. We got to spend the next three hours huddling up right outside the airport in the freezing cold. My first travel experience on my own was an extremely fun trip and even more of a wild adventure than I had anticipated.