Day Three: our lives… not so bad
June 24, 2008
Let’s start this post with the two most commonly used phrase by Leslie and me this evening:
1. “This seriously can’t be real”
2. “Our lives… not so bad”
Since our last post Leslie and I have (thankfully) slept, bathed, taken a train to Florence, and had the most relaxing and gorgeous evening out… ever.
First let me wrap things up with Rome: After I (finally) posted our last entry it was, I believe, 8AM. We pulled an all-nighter down in the bar with hostel-John and, for a long while, that guy I mentioned before (the one I started talking to who is traveling alone – his name (it turns out) is also John but I know him as “Lithuania” [mainly because he’s pure Lithuanian… and 
that’s pretty nifty]). He was in a lot of pain (he [literally] broke his neck about seven months ago and somehow that injury has caused the nerve that runs from his butt to his toes to shoot pain sometimes. So I was sitting up and trying to be nice and sweet because 1) being in pain sucks and 2) being in pain while being alone in a foreign country has got to suck even more. So he showed me lots of pictures of his travels and I tried to pay attention while also desperately trying to blog (hence the grammatical and spelling errors… please forgive!)). So eventually I finally posted and then Leslie and I were supposed to sleep for two hours and see the Colosseum. That didn’t end up happening – Video One will 
explain.
So instead we just got on the train from Rome to Florence. At this point, having had something like five and a half hours of sleep, I was ready to spend the next three hours taking lots of pictures out my train window. I also spent about one minute taking some super flattering shots of Leslie sleeping (she loves me). I also fell asleep for about an hour in there. The train, we’ve decided, is the way to travel in Italy.
Except for this one thing!! So be forewarned before you travel!! Apparently when you buy your ticket you aren’t buying your ticket for a specific train ride. So, to be clear, we went to the train station lady and said we wanted a ticket from Rome to Florence. She then told us the price and the time of the next departure. However!! We didn’t need to take that train – our ticket was good for any train ride in like the next month or something. What you’re *supposed* to do is stick your ticket in these (seriously tiny and non-obvious) yellow ticket-validating things before you get on the train you get on! So there we were on the train chit-chatting 
when the train conductor dude came through and asked to see our tickets. I was holding them and so I got them out with a skip in my step and handed them on over. The guy then looked at me and said “You speak English, right?” and then….
Me: “Yes”
Train Guy: “You’re not from Europe – you’re from America”
Me: “Yep”
TG: “You’re supposed to get this ticket validated before you get on”
Me: “Oh… but we got this ticket for this ride. See… the lady wrote the time of this train right on it for me”
TG: [insert big explanation]
Me: “Oh…”
TG: “Usually that’s a 50 Euro fine”
Me [and Leslie… in her eyes as she gazed at me]: “!?!?!?!?!???!?!??!?!?!!?”
Me (in my sweetest tone): Oh no, I’m so sorry but we didn’t know. See how she wrote it on there – it didn’t even occur to me. I really thought I was buying this ticket for this train specifically.
TG (looks me up and down… not in that way… more like an adult-looking-over-a-kid-who-just-got-in-trouble way): “Alright, 5 Euro this time.”
Me: “Sold!”
We then gave him the cash and thanked our lucky stars we weren’t out 100 EURO!!!!!!! So, REMEMBER THIS: Validate that ticket in the ugly yellow little box by the train!
After that little scare we arrived in Florence. And oh my goodness let me tell you- it’s gorgeous. And so very very different from Rome.
Whereas Rome has this hot crowded (so many cars and scooters weaving around… I can’t believe we weren’t friggin hit!) young 80’s-ish vibe going on, Florence is slower, more open, cleaner, romantic, and has this pulse of Cirque du Soleil artsy-ness going on. And, whereas the colors of Rome are warm oranges and cement, I declare the colors of Florence to be darker blue-grays with shocks of color – like yellows, greens, and reds. There are hardly any cars or scooters (though more bicycles…which makes the city even more awesome) but there are a lot more people (especially families and people who obviously have cash to 
burn) strolling around. But, I think the coolest part is that while walking down these gorgeous streets you just stumble upon the most grandiose pieces of architecture. We were just roaming and we stumbled upon this massive church (I mean seriously MASSIVE) – and right next to it were the Gates of Paradise – which I learned about in art history class!! And, with further random roaming we, I’m not kidding here, stumbled upon the Loggia dei Lanzi – where we saw (just randomly mind you!) one of the sculptures I was most fascinated by when taking lots of art history classes at UCLA - “The Rape of the Sabine Woman”. To be honest, when I first spotted it I was convinced it was just a replica. I mean, the thing was just sitting outside – people were just walking past it as if nothing was there! It was just one of dozens of statutes out there. How could it be the sculpture?! But, it really was!!
Leslie made a keen observation during our stroll that I want to repeat: Whereas in Dublin it would feel wrong to have these huge buildings, in Italy, it fits. And she’s so right. While these buildings and all this art are on a massive scale, for some reason it doesn’t alienate you. You feel like they belong where they are and they welcome you in. You turn a cobble-stone-y corner and are see this huge castle (basically) but, instead of feeling overwhelmed, you 
feel it inviting you over- these things create a space for people to gather and mingle. It’s awesome.
[*note*: This holds for all big buildings in Italy save for Vatican City, which I found (especially St.Peter’s church) to be overwhelming such that you felt a bit uncomfortable standing on its steps. But I guess that makes sense… anyways!]
Eventually Leslie and I settled on a restaurant, got two pasta dishes to split and a bottle of wine and watched the stars come up at the Loggia dei Lanzi. At the end of our dinner fireworks could be heard in the distance. Our 
waiter let us know what was going on so we paid and ran towards the scene. We made it for probably the last 15 minutes of a spectacularly picturesque fireworks show over the silhouette of tree covered hills - with a river and bridge (and a zillion people) in our foreground. It was pretty much perfection. I tried so hard to get a good picture, but I think I failed.
On our way back we stumbled upon the coolest artsy store where I wanted to buy everything- especially the paintings and Moreno glass jewelry (I love colorful funky romantic stuff). For now we held off – in Venice we plan to go to Moreno anyway.
After that we got the most delicious gelato, made some videos, stumbled upon some cool stuff on the way back to our hostel (see videos) and called it a night (well… she did… I’m committed to posting every day so help me!)
It was just a very relaxing wonderful day.
… and I bet now you can see why our most commonly said phrases were what they were.
Tomorrow will be a day full of art (which I am SO looking forward to) and hopefully more delicious gelato, wine, and exploring.
Ciao!
Oh and for all our pictures from this entry (with pithy commentary added for no additional charge!), go here
Comments
5 Responses to “Day Three: our lives… not so bad”
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Is there a Google office in Florence?
Hey Leslie and Heather!
Leslie - this is Kelly from work. It looks like you are having an AMAZING trip. It is great to see all of your adventures - it looks like SO much fun.
Everything is going great back in the office. I want to hear more about your adventures when you get back!!
Best,
Kelly
How AWESOME is it that you guys are blogging and posting pictures and videos. I feel like i’m there with you! Love you Leslie! Be safe!
Your lives… not so bad. Not so bad?!?! More like AMAZING!!!
Florence sounds (and looks) amazing!!
I’m loving the blog and videos and pictures. Why is Europe so much prettier than US?!? Oh well..
Miss you!! <3