Am I in America?
Hello all from Firenze (Florence),
After spending three hours on the train from Venice to Florence, I was excited to finally experience Renaissance at its finest. The Lonely Planet describes Florence as "a beautiful city with an artistic heritage unrivalled anywhere else in the world." It carries on to say "it can also be disheartening. For more of the year, you're more likely to overhear conversations in English than in Italian, and especially in summer, the heat, car fumes and crowds can be stifling."
Lonely Planet was spot on. Falling short of saying I'm deeply disappointed (because I dont think that complaining that I am in Italy is very fair!). However, it is a little disheartening to be shuffled along in between American (and australian!) tour groups to see the sights. Where in Venice and Verona I could more or less escape the hustle and bustle of tourism, I havent been able to do so in Florence. This could be partly because my feet are sore after three straight days of walking, as I am less eager to walk long distances to get away. Surprisingly, having come from Venice, the "most expensive city in Italy", I was lucky enough to buy the Italy's most expensive Gelato at the budget price of 4 euros. To convert that into Australian dollars, that is about $8.00 per gelato. In US dollars, that is about $5 and in UK pounds that is.... i have no idea. But it was a darn expensive gelato. Lucky that it was the greatest gelato i have ever tasted, or otherwise I would have been pretty unhappy. I try not to complain about the price of things in Europe - everyone knows it is a pricey continent, so there really is no room to complain.
Having disliked Florence today, the idea of spending another day dodging made italians on scooters, american 70 year olds with white sneakers and hordes of tourists following a leader holding up a bright yellow umbrella, I am getting out of the city and into the Tuscan region - Chianti and Greve. I have it on good authority (Ciao Nick!) that they are pretty impressive so I will hold him personally responsible if I dont enjoy the day (kidding). I am going to do some wine testing so even if the day doesnt end up enjoyable, atleast I will be drunk.
Anyhooo, thought I would pop in given that the last week has been one big disaster with emailing. I am heading back to the hostel but on the way, stopping for another daily plate of carbohydrates (ie, bread, pasta etc). I am trying to make sure I go enough walking to match the amount of junk I am eating but Id have to be doing an awful lot of walking.
Hope all are well. Missing you loads, but not ready to come home just yet.
k
After spending three hours on the train from Venice to Florence, I was excited to finally experience Renaissance at its finest. The Lonely Planet describes Florence as "a beautiful city with an artistic heritage unrivalled anywhere else in the world." It carries on to say "it can also be disheartening. For more of the year, you're more likely to overhear conversations in English than in Italian, and especially in summer, the heat, car fumes and crowds can be stifling."
Lonely Planet was spot on. Falling short of saying I'm deeply disappointed (because I dont think that complaining that I am in Italy is very fair!). However, it is a little disheartening to be shuffled along in between American (and australian!) tour groups to see the sights. Where in Venice and Verona I could more or less escape the hustle and bustle of tourism, I havent been able to do so in Florence. This could be partly because my feet are sore after three straight days of walking, as I am less eager to walk long distances to get away. Surprisingly, having come from Venice, the "most expensive city in Italy", I was lucky enough to buy the Italy's most expensive Gelato at the budget price of 4 euros. To convert that into Australian dollars, that is about $8.00 per gelato. In US dollars, that is about $5 and in UK pounds that is.... i have no idea. But it was a darn expensive gelato. Lucky that it was the greatest gelato i have ever tasted, or otherwise I would have been pretty unhappy. I try not to complain about the price of things in Europe - everyone knows it is a pricey continent, so there really is no room to complain.
Having disliked Florence today, the idea of spending another day dodging made italians on scooters, american 70 year olds with white sneakers and hordes of tourists following a leader holding up a bright yellow umbrella, I am getting out of the city and into the Tuscan region - Chianti and Greve. I have it on good authority (Ciao Nick!) that they are pretty impressive so I will hold him personally responsible if I dont enjoy the day (kidding). I am going to do some wine testing so even if the day doesnt end up enjoyable, atleast I will be drunk.
Anyhooo, thought I would pop in given that the last week has been one big disaster with emailing. I am heading back to the hostel but on the way, stopping for another daily plate of carbohydrates (ie, bread, pasta etc). I am trying to make sure I go enough walking to match the amount of junk I am eating but Id have to be doing an awful lot of walking.
Hope all are well. Missing you loads, but not ready to come home just yet.
k
posted by KateOnTheGo at
7:40 PM
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