Florence, Genoa and Milan...and home!

Ok so I'm home now and didnt get a chance to write about any of the 3 places in the title! (Money got very tight and internet access points very few!)

Anyway from Siena to Florence, nice and easy journey on the train. once we got off the train it was a different matter. We couldn't find the bus stop so decided to walk to the campsite...only 15 minutes according to the directions! What we found was it was half way up a mountain on the other side of town so arrived very sweatily. Mind you, the views were spectacular of the city.

Florence itself disapointed me a little. I don't know what I expected but it certainly wasn't it. Don't get me wrong it was very nice but for the capital of the renaissance I expected more from the town in general. Bologna and Siena were far more beautiful for me. One plus point was the statues (or copies!) in the square. Michaelangelo's David was cool and Ronnie seemed to have an avid fascination with the depiction of a rape scene! (Seriously he took about 80 photos of it!) Also the ponte vecchio (old bridge) was impressive.

The campsite was fine, tents were boiling in the tuscan sun and we had Bono singing the night away at a nearby bar keeping me up. He sang a medley of about 50 songs with no break inbetween, literally all merged into one another with more than enough U2. I wouldn't book him for the Irish club!

Travelling from Florence to Genoa we needed to change at Pisa...what better chance to see the leaning tower in the hour and a half we had to wait. So off we trotted, had a quick look, took a few photos and sprinted back to the train station arrive with 30 seconds to buy a ticket. Not that we could get on the train anyway as there were no seats. Somehow inbetween buying a supplement for the next train and getting on it I managed to lose my interrail card meaning I had to pay for the last train from Genoa to Milan...I wasnt too happy with myself!

Genoa is basically a very hilly seaport. There are lots of boats and lots of hills, not a lot to do touristwise (apart from the aquarium where we almost saw dolphin sex...interesting!) but its quite a cool town just to walk around and soak up some culture. The main piazza was nice with a big fountain and there are loads of little alleyways I would avoid at night scattered around. But still I liked it.

We stayed at a youth hostel full mostly of families and middle aged german men. There was one wierdo in our room who decided in the middle of the night that he would sleep on the floor! He also snored!

And so finally, sleep deprived we arrived in Milan for an eventful hour. We got to our hotel only for the owner to announce that he didnt have our reservation and he had no rooms! Despite me showing him the reservation and saying we had payed a deposit he told us that he didnt check his email, it was worthless and we should have phoned! All in italian too. I was impressed with myself for attempting to sort it out but to no avail. In the end, very pissed off we went 30 mtrs down the road and booked into the next place. Slightly more expensive (grr) but very nice and with great air con (essential!)

I wasn't sure what to expect of Milan. So many people had told me it was rubbish and horrible but I really liked it. Its definately more cosmopolitan and modern than a lot of Italian cities but there again people actually live and work there!!! The cathedral is cool and its great to just sit outside it and people watch. Milan seems to be the only place with the most fashionable and the most chavvy in the same street in the world!

And so eventually we returned. Im now skint for university :( but my italian is quite good and it was definately worth the experience.

Goodbye. x