Journal Entry: Pisa

I am in Pisa. I have seen the leaning tower and paid €2 to go in the church. I did not pay to climb the tower. 

This morning at 4a my phone started beeping because it was dying. It probably woke everyone in the room. The nice guy at reception let me charge it in their lock box. Very nice feature of that hostel. Again the only problem with that hostel was the water not staying hot. 

This morning it was still raining. It had rained hard in the night. I t finally stopped a bit and so I went down to the “souvenir market.” I bought a leather jacket! It looks fantastic on me. It had been €690. I haggled the man down to €175. They had a store but also a stall on the street. 

It feels like very nice leather. I hope I made a good choice. [I did, I love this jacket, and everyone says it looks great on me.]

I managed to save some money this evening. I went to the store to buy breakfast and lunch, well dinner for tonight. I had two hamburger patties with a fried egg on top. For breakfast tomorrow, I will have pancetta and eggs. Cost me €7, plus I bought a stick of butter for cooking and two bananas. Not bad! 

The hostel is very clean, but Spartan. No saop in the bathroom. That’s how a lot are in the UK. I am in a three bed dorm. And the bath is ensuite! No one is in here so far. Could I be so lucky to have the room to myself? I dare not hope. 

Hostel Common Room

It stopped raining about half way to Pisa which was nice, because it was a very long walk to the leaning tower. 

I leave on the train to Nice at 9:31a tomorrow morning. 

I had weird dreams last night. I dreamed of Zech and Jacob when they were children. There was more to the dream but I do not recall it. I lit a candle (an electric one) for Zech in the church here in Pisa. I’m still sad. 

 

Pisa Cathedral

I did not go in the Duomo in Florence, except the cupola the first night, because  the line was around the building.

Journal Entry: Raining on my Parade & Get Out of My Face

It is raining pretty hard now. It was drizzling earlier, and if you stick to the side of the buildings you won’t get very wet. I put on my packaway jacket to go get dinner. I decided to eat a pizza just this once, since I am in Italy. I asked the guy at the front desk where the best pizza was and he told me, a place called “Pizza Man.” I got the “Napoli.” It had sardines on it, which was a surprise. I thought the menu had said anchovies, but perhaps their English is a bit mixed up (or mine is!). [LOL I was so tired, I was thinking olives, which is not the same at all.] I really liked it although it was nearly cold by the time I got it back to the hostel, what with the cold rain and all. I heated up two slices in the toaster oven. This hostel does have a nice kitchen. I don’t think they’re supposed to be able to have one, but maybe because there is no stove it doesn’t count. 

 

Pizza and a Birra Moretti

Hopefully I’ll sleep better tonight, as I have an extra blanket for my feet. If the rain keeps up, I may have to either buy an umbrella (not from the street sellers!) (one of which I said “basta!” to tonight because I was sick of having them step in front of me and shove an umbrella in my face)** or take a cab to the train station. That would be an interesting ride. I think an umbrella would be cheaper. My pack is water resistant, but not water-proof.

I bought Jan a scarf from a merchant’s stall. I hope she likes it. It sounds like what she was looking for.

I am already toastier with my extra blanket. The desk guy and I were talking about down comforters while he was fetching me a blanket. He didn’t know what they were called in English. I told him I sleep with one year round. He said he’d just put his away and it had turned cold again. It is very cold here compared to Texas, and colder than Naples too. I hope the change in weather doesn’t give me a cold! 

If it’s not raining in the morning, I am going to go to a market that takes place on one of the squares, almost between here and the train station. Also, I will have American Breakfast! 

**The umbrella sellers were the most obnoxious part of this trip. These were the same people selling fake purses (which are ILLEGAL), and the second it started raining, the purses would disappear, and the umbrellas would come out. Except,  they didn't keep the umbrellas on the ground like the purses. No, they would step out into your path and shove the umbrella nearly into your face and keep saying 'brello, brello, brello' while trying to follow you as you attempted to avoid running into them. Absolutely annoying. They were all over Florence and Pisa, and I would think twice before going back to either because of them.

Journal Entry: Florence is Over-rated

Florence is completely over-rated, unless maybe you are looking to buy leather goods. The Uffizi and the Accademia are both way over-priced for what they have. I was totally unimpressed. There were three paintings in the Uffizi that were worth paying for, Boticelli’s “Primavera” and “Birth of Venus” and Artemisia Gentileschi’s “Judith Beheading Holofernes.” However, those even were not worth €15! And at the Accademia, the famous Michelangelo’s “David” was nice, but I hate to say it, I’ve seen better! Yesterday in fact, Roman sculpture at the National Museum (well the day before that actually). And the price was just ridiculous. The Louvre is cheaper. The Louvre that would take a week to go through doesn’t cost €15!!!**

The Uffizi took me about an hour and fifteen minutes. The Accademia took forty-five mintues, and I looked at every piece! The National Museum in Naples took longer and I thought it was small. In fact, I would bet the Asheville art museum is bigger than the Accademia. 

The only cool thing in the Accademia, besides the “David” was a room full of plaster casts. The gift shops were also extremely over-priced. 

All in all, I don’t think I’d bother coming to Florence again. Unless I want to buy leather goods.

There was a leather coat factory outlet I went to. They had some nice coats for €149. They were originally €400-€700. I would have bought one, but all the ones they had in my size were either too short or not my style. There were two longer ones I liked a lot but they were too small.

 

I really wanted this coat, but I'm not rich - it was €1700(!)

I went to another store and the salesman was uber-pushy. He gave me a good price on a jacket but I didn’t really like it. I think he was offended. I hate pushy sales people.

The hostel is okay, but I just about froze last night. I am going to ask for an extra blanket tonight. I woke up with my hips hurting this morning. 

 

There was a leather outlet store on this piazza where the salesman was obnoxiously pushy

Oh, and I finally got my eggs for breakfast! €7 for two eggs, 2 sausages and I had asked for two pieces of Panchetta (which is bacon) but the waitress must have heard “pancakes” LOL because they brought me pancakes. That also included a Cappuccino.

I wonder how many miles I’ve walked this week. It seems like a lot. 

**[I love art, I'm an artist, and I think the Accademia and the Uffizi were rip-offs. You have to pay extra in advance to secure your ticket or wait for hours in line to get in. You cannot take pictures, even without a flash. Currently as of 2014, the price to do this is about €42 for both. I call BS.]

Journal Entry: Florence First Evening

This hostel in Florence is good, there are some minor things that could be better. Like fans in the room. It’s too quiet.

 

Hostel Courtyard

The water in the shower also does not stay a constant temperature, it goes from hot to cold every other minute.

I found the American breakfast place where Lizzie ate! It’s called, hell I can’t remember, but it’s on the corner of the square by the duomo (called Astor).

I climbed to the cupola in the duomo. It was worth the €8, although part of the way is two-way traffic in a very narrow,  and very steep corridor. I am going to the Accademia and the Uffizi in the morning. I will stop by the duomo inbetween perhaps. I did not see the main part of the church yet. 

 

From the Cupola of the Duomo

There are really too many tourists here, it’s one big tourist trap really. Might be better in the off-season.

Oh, and here there are some foreigners, I’m not sure their ethnicity [south-east Asian?] that were selling the same kitsch [and fake purses] that the Nigerians were selling in Rome. They had set up their goods on sheets in the square of the duomo. As I was trying to find the hostel, the lot of them suddenly gathered up their goods and ran like mad through the square. I suppose the police were coming, although I never saw the police. [It was an impressive thing to see.]

The door to the hostel is very old and very short. I hit my head coming in, pretty hard. I have a pump knot [for those of you not from western NC, that's a goose egg, or a lump] on the top [of my head], the guy who runs the hostel was so nice, he gave me some ice to put on it.

The gelato in Portici is better [and cheaper].

Gelato

I am going to order four eggs for breakfast. Watch me.