Rodey on the Road

The second part in the increasingly adequately named trilogy of lessons learned on the road.

1. Meeting new people never gets old.
2. On the road, you have new best friend every night, you tell each other your life stories, you get along splendidly, you part ways never to see one another again.
3. Italian food and large amounts of quickly consumed wine sit better than mexican food and guinness.
4. Make friends with the people at the reception desk, then the curfew wont apply to you.
5. Take the scenic route
6. When crossing into Italy over any border, time speeds up and your train slows down.
7. Kebaps are God’s gift to travelers.
8. The scenic route makes you appreciate chairs.
9.There are people who appreciate good hockey all over the world…there are leaf fans everywhere too.
10. Large amounts of coffee are the only way to recover from two hours sleep.

The David. It is the reason most people come to Florence. The line snakes down the road, around the corner, as people wait eagerly for the chance to view this man of stone. It is not uncommon to see people in that same line, three hours later, no more than fifty feet closer to the door than when they were last passed. The people who come for the David are a dedicated breed, their desire is so strong that nothing can deter them, no storm can discourage them. They would wait until the end of time.
I lasted 15 minutes.

So having resigned myself to not seeing the David today, I began my wanderings. It is my last day in Florence, there was nothing in particular I wanted to do, so I decided to go and explore the other side of the river for a time. About an hour later I decided it would be a good idea to head back to the hostel for a time, perhaps for use of the internet, a banyo and to rest my tired legs. It should be noted here that I have not once been lost in a city I have been in thus far. If I have no map, and I do not know where I am or where I’m going, I cannot be lost. If I do know where I am going, or am trying to get to a certain spot, I just sometimes happen to take the scenic route. Today I took the scenic route for a solid 20km before finding the hostel.

Other than that no big news, I met a bunch of aussies and canadians last night, and we found a store that sells three bottles of wine for 10 dollars, and there was an irish pub down the street, and there was much merriment, laughter, singing and there may or may not have been a no pants party, and I may or may not have been the only participant. Heavy on the may.

The plan for the night is to get some bread and meat, make a sandwich and go watch the sun set over Florence again. Tomorrow…to Rome.

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