463 Steps

Last night was an interesting one. I went to dinner with Sam the Canadian and Neil the Brit. We had a really cool dinner that went on for hours just around the corner from our hostel. Then Neil had to get his train ticket so we walked to Termini to get it. After that, you guessed it, we ended up in the bar back at the hostel.

I am pretty sure besides Big 12 or Harpo's I have never frequented a bar 3 times in 3 days. But it was a good place to hang out and chill and meet other travelers.

So anyway, the aforementioned bartender was there (already the night had improved) and we sat down and started talking. If you have spent any time with me on this trip you know my frustrations with the Canadian flag. It really irks me. But I had a nice long conversation with Sam about the differences between Canadians and Americans and why there is such animosity there. It turns out 2 other Americans were sitting next to us and so they joined in the conversation as well.

After a few more rounds, we had life sorted out. And that's when things really started getting interesting. Neil had left by this point but earlier in the night he was talking about the best bands in the world. I volunteered Dave Matthews as one of them and he said he had never heard of Dave. I was incredulous so then I looked for some DMB on Adrian the Bartender's iPod. Unfortunately, no dice.

The rest of the night was fun and uneventful for the most part. I headed off to Florence this morning. After I got slightly lost leaving the train station I found my hostel. It is built in a really old building, possibly an old castle. Oh wait, no. It smells, so make that the old castle's stables. And I ring this doorbell and open the medieval door. It is dark and I cannot find the light switch to save my life. Then, I saw it was supposed to be on the 1st floor. I ascended into the darkness. And there was no sign or anything. So I called out, Hellooo? and this small voice responded back, Hi. That was it, nothing about come up, go down, turn the lights on, yes you are in the right building, no you didn't just walk into a random old apartment complex... it could go on and on.

But I made it and the room is just about as bad as I imagined. Hopefully I can get the hell out tomorrow and go stay at a different one because it creeps me out thinking I have to stay there. First of all, it is just a huge room reminiscent of the ward they kept Nona in in Como. Second, it smells. Bad. Third, there maybe one other person in the room. Not a good sign that this place is nice.

So after I got settled in I headed out into town. I managed to find the markets, not hard, and more miraculously managed to not buy anything. I went to the Duomo and walked up it. 463 steps... creepy. But the view was amazing and I was glad I did it.

Alright, off to sort out what to do tomorrow seeing as how I need a new room...