Firenze

Found our friendly hostel Dani House with relative ease. The other travelers and staff were really friendly. Popped out for a quick pizza and returned for free wine (made by the hostel owners father) and snacks from 9-12. Lots of interesting people and very drinkable wine (perhaps because it was free). Good nights sleep and a new friend Matty B. Matt we discovered works in the mines in Perth and had a prominent Aussie rap career in the late 80s. Lots of time spent on YouTube listening to his stuff and hearing his stories of partying with chopper read followed. First day in Florence was a tour of the beautiful attractions and their enormous ques of tourists. We spent most of the day enjoying picnic lunches in the gardens and browsing in the classic Italian shops (ferregamo, D&G, Gucci and any shop that stocked leather loafers for Oscars). That night we spent hours looking for an affordable restaurant in the city centre. And settled on an Irish pub and local beer and wine for dinner with a handful of English tourists and the football on loudspeaker. Not the most cultural evening but enjoyable nonetheless. Our last day in Florence was for ticking off the sights. David and the Ufizi were fantastic with shorter ques today. Local markets were fun and affordable. Good luck to those selling leather jackets in the 30+ degree heat. We packed up our gear at 3 and said farewell to all of those at Dani House and jumped on a local train to Certaldo.