florence.

bryndia boarded the train to florence sunburned and drunk at four in the afternoon. because of this, they didn't make it to pisa for the leaning tower day trip they had planned. instead, they got into florence with the sun setting and spent a solid hour trying to locate their hostel that was, apparently, two blocks from the train station. after wandering in circles (and walking right past their hostel's front door more than once), india stopped a stunning dark haired woman in a red trench coat who turned out to be armenian and a little angel who brought them to her apartment, googled the hostel, and walked bryndia (ahem, around the corner) to their new digs.

by now, bryndia was exhausted, and rather grumpy with each other. most of the time, they've learned, this is because they are hungry. the two approached the front desk clerk at the hostel who informed them that they would have their own hostel room for the night which instantly changed their moods, but when the two asked where to eat he informed them that the only thing open in florence at 10 pm was mcdonalds. (weirdly enough, this turned out to be a lie. and the first sign that this hostel blew hard.) so bryndia decided to take matters into their own hands and find some grub that wasn't puffy with preservatives. surprise surprise! two blocks away from their hostel was a fabulous little italian place with cheap sparkling wine and a crowd of late night diners. bryndia ate pizza and pasta and loved italy all over again.

the next morning, they made their way into the center of florence. walked in the crowd of tourists and italians, body heat blending with the scent of cooking crapes and melting gelato. the sun was out! spring was here! bryndia was happy! they ate breakfast criss cross applesauce in a small patch of grass in a tiny square next to the piazza del duomo before walking to the galleria dell'accademia to check out how big david really was. (he's big! he's so big!) bryndia played the game of "which painting do you like the best on THIS wall" and meandered throughout the gallery, recognizing plaster molds for marble statues that they had seen in the louvre in paris.

more walking, more wandering. through the piazza della signoria, across the ponte vecchio. falafal and sparkling water and complaints about how expensive everything seemed. eventually, bryndia found a park that didn't charge them to enter, and they walked on shaded trails until they found a horse race track with dozens of italians rushing to the windows to place their bets before the gun went off. india cooed over the horses and convinced bryn it was a bad idea to put money on an italian horse race they knew nothing about, and they retreated back to the cool park where they played cards on a park bench for the rest of the afternoon.

that night, after a dinner of lamb pasta (for bryn) and veggie risotto (for india) at an all together WAY too expensive (but very delicious) restaurant, the pair got a hold of india's old friend amy from back in her tulane days. amy was living in florence for her junior year abroad and had an understanding for the city that bryndia was excited to learn. they met on the steps of the duomo, amy looking very italian with her long dark hair and crop top. the three of them bought a bottle of wine and a couple of cans of beer and met amy's friends in a tiny square tucked into the back streets of central florence that was packed with italians of all ages pregaming their saturday night outside. to feel so local, so part of the scene in a foreign country, was special. after an hour, the crowd began to disperse, each sect making their way to a different bar around the square. amy led bryndia to a cute bar that had a large seating area in the front with people chatting, drinking & smoking joints which led to a banging dance club in the back that was dj'd by two fired up lesbians playing LOUD house. (house, is bryn's new favorite music. look at that, connor hyde: you are no longer alone in your uhn-tsha uhn-tsha love!) bryndia and amy kept the dj's spinning until early morning.

when bryndia finally got up the next morning, the previous days bright warmth had disaperated into heavy clouds and pouring rain. the two experimented with travel options and decided to each take a different train to rome. the plan backfired when bryn's train was high speed and india's was local and she got lonely and cried on the five hour journey to rome. they reunited in the capital city. they weren't going to try that again.