Florence!

Oh Florence! I am definitely going again, mostly because it was a holiday (For St. Florence btw, who knew?) so everything was closed early. The train ride there was almost as unbearable as the one we had out of Milan.... and then we chilled in the station for longer than was necessary. Everybody (our group was 9 people, ick) aside form me and the other veggie Leah, ate at McDonald's. And can I just tell you how much better their menu over here is than the states? A Greek burger? Caprese and Greek salad? Sweet deal! Moving on. I didn't get a chance to look at the super cheap backpacks that I kinda actually need because my group was on a dash for I dont even know. My feet still hurt from Milan by the way, so I was not able to keep up like normal, and I am no pansy when it comes to walking. I am a trooper!
Moving along, we got the best gelato yet (7 euro, eek!) but I guess Florence is where gelato was conceived so I brushed it off. I mean, It was pretty freakin' delicious. Then we breezed through the square, did NOT get to go into the Duomo, lost our tour guide, found our tour guide and then Meredith, Leah and I broke form the group because it was just too many people. We took our time wandering. Chilled in the M.A.C. store for a while contemplating make-overs. Got some white wine and some sankes, then got boxed Italian wine and went in search of a place to watch the sunset. Found a wall over looking the river instead and took a seat and waited to see what all the hub-bub was about as there were people gathering. Apparently there were fireworks at 10, which was nice.
We decided to head back and catch the next train to La Spezia but got some really good food on the way and met a nice guy who lives in La Spezia. The next train didn't leave until 12:30, and as it was only 10:45 we decided to search out a bathroom and got some cheese and drinks at another restaurant. Met up with the group we ditched and hopped onto the train and passed out only to wake up to a cranky conductor who was upset that we hadn't stamped our tickets, never having done this before we were all rather confused. He charged us 10 euro instead of 25 (5 for each who didn't get a stamp) and let us go.
Woke up in Pisa for the 1:30hr layover I wasn't aware of. And then we went on a hike to the Leaning Tower at 2:00 in the morning. At this point, I have blisters, I am not only fatigued but sleepy and rather confused. But we got there, and with some help from a nice police officer, managed to take horribly tourist-y pictures like you do. Then we hiked back. Then we waited for our delayed train, only to discover that there were no seats left in the rooms. So we sat on the ones that fold up into the wall and managed to sleep like that.
Come 4:30 in the morning we arrive in La Spezia! Hurrah! Needless to say I missed language class. And I leave for Rome tomorrow morning! I'm just running all over the place! I'm either gonna be on a roll or keel over when I get home.