Linsey & Mark go to Europe

Florence

We stepped off the train into Florence station after getting on at Carrarra just up the road from Massa and went to look for a phone so we could find a place to stay, then a bloke called Pesce came up to us and asked us if we were looking for somewhere, we said no, and then we chaned our minds and said yes. He had a sort of hostel place where we could share a room with a couple of Americans, but after all the camping fun we were looking forward to a bit of relaxation so he said he had a private double room which was pretty cheap, so we decided to go and have a look (Pesce looked a bit like an older Woody Allen which made him trustworthy).
Anyway, he took us on the bus through Florence and we went to his place which was up 4 flights of stairs and was about as basic as you get, but decent enough, and almost smack bang in the centre of Florence.
We got our stuff in, relaxed for a bit and then went wandering.
The Piazza Della Signoria was our first stop, big gigantic fortress like town hall building and a massive plaza in front of it with people sitting chilling out everywhere, there are massive gardens behind it, which we didnt have time to go and see. Then we walked along Via Dei Calzalouli to the Duomo, which is jaw droppingly impressive, although we didnt go in at that point cos we were starving and went hunting for a restaurant where we both had a beer and a calzone(I am liking those). There was a picture of ol' Bobby De Niro on the wall, standing in the restaurant with its owner, so we started singing the Adam and Joe show Bobby De Niro song, which impressed everybody in the street next to the table.

We have lapsed into the accents many times now and I am starting to worry that when we get back to Scotland we will be unable to speak without comedy Italian or Spanish lilts..........

Anyway, Dont have much time at the moment in the internet cafe in Rome, so Ill stick down some of the things we did in Florence and try to elaborate on them later on:
Saw copy of David in the first square and went to have a look at the galleria Academia where the real sculpture is, but the queue stretched round 2 street corners so we decided to see it next time....
Went up the Duomo and walked round the perimeter outside, saw the hall inside from up in the rooftop balcony area, great, but not for vertigo sufferers.
Walked for a bit to find a nightclub that wasnt open on the last night, and then looking for another place to have a drink, we stumbled across the William, a British theme pub in Florence, so we went in for a drink, I asked for a pint of Tennents and a Jack Daniels and coke, I was pretty excited about a pint of Tennents, just for the prospect of a wee reminder of home, but the barman gave me a funny look and said "its not normally permissable" which I didnt understand, he then poured me a pint and proceeded to top it up with Jack Daniels. I almost screamed like a girly and he stopped, but not before he had added a fair amount. So Linsey had a Jack Daniels and coke and I had a Tennents and Jack Daniels, I dont recommend Tennents Lager with Jack Daniels.
We got lucky while looking around on the second night and found an open air jazz concert in a little square packed with people, it was the 10th anniversary celebration of a local Florentine Jazz musicians accomplishment that I didnt understand, anyway it was good and we did our best to look cool and jazzed out, snapping our fingers and drinking the beer and coke in the square, really good time, big band, celebrity musicians and a compere who talked for more time than music was played. In the morning I awoke with a jazz goatee that had grown itself overnight! Crazy! be-bop doooo daaaa.

pow!

We went back to that square the next night and had some food in the restuarant in the square, it was the best pasta Ive ever tasted, and Linsey was loving her giant flat ravioli thing full of fresh herbs. (Thats not what it said on the menu, but it was all in Italian so it was a stab in the dark ordering process, doing our best to avoid anything with nuts. Or tripe, they love their tripe here.)

Hopefully Linsey will add some more Florence stuff here soon, shes got a memory like a sponge, mine seems to be more like a sieve.... just uploaded a bunch of new pictures too, but the monitor im using in this cafe is rubbish, so couldnt see them all properly, they might be good though!
Arrividerci!
Mark and Linz!
PS the tent was excellent so ta very much Maw and Paw Proctor...

posted by Enid Blyton @ 4:10 PM