Lost and found - aka a funny thing happened on the way to Florence

The day started with an early morning Mass at St. Peter in Chains church, and a view of Michaelangelos Horned Moses. An impressive piece of work to be sure. We then packed up our belongings in our ever growing backpacks and checked out of the hostel. The night before we had found what we hoped would be a great room in Florence, and we were eager to get there. The promise of air conditioning was too great to stay for a moment longer.

At the station we found that we had an hour to burn waiting for the train to leave, and Michelle had the bright idea to visit a bookstore. And that is where the fun really began. The English section was on the top level, not air conditioned of course, so Tim and Michelle headed downstairs to leave the store, while Duane and Brandon stayed behind to finish their purchases. A promise was made to meet at the bin (train platform) for the train to Firenze (Florence). Tim and Michelle ended up "waiting" for Duane and Brandon outside of the bookstore instead of moving to the train dock directly. Unfortunately, there are two exits to the bookstore, guess which one Duane and Brandon took, versus the one that Tim and Michelle were waiting at? You guessed it, opposite exits were chosen by each group. And to make matters worse, our train was not ending in Florence, so that Florence would show on the platform, but was ending in Bolognia. Our stop was one the train was making along the way. Added to the confusion was another train that was ending in Florence, but was leaving at a earlier time. Since Duane and Brandon did not have the tickets, they did not know the train number and so could not find the right bin. Or so Tim and Michelle thought. It turns out they did locate the right train, after thoroughly checking the wrong train, while Tim frantically raced up and down the platforms trying to locate them. Michelle was guarding their baggage from the thieves (there really were none, but of course she was panicked the whole time). Finally, as the clock ticked down (less than 10 minutes until the train left, and still separated) Tim and Michelle made their way to the train to get an announcement made over the loudspeaker paging them. Tim went to find a conductor near our train, and Michelle had just turned to begin her own frantic sprint around the train station when she heard a loud "Michelle" said by Tim. She turned the corner again and saw the most beautiful sight she had ever beheld: Brandon and Duane, packs in tow waiting by the train. Later we found Brandon and Duane had made their own search for Tim and Michelle, making two laps inside the train checking every seat. We must have missed each other on several occasions by seconds. Our God is so good.

Safely on the train, and again dripping sweat (did we mention it was hot over here!) we had made the train by 2 minutes. It was now a first class ride to Florence with the first activation of our Eurorail passes and our new home beckoning. The ride was 1.5 hours through some of the most beautiful countryside in Italy that we have seen so far. And after the stress that preceded it, the ride was a welcome moment of relaxation.

Once in Florence Tim and Brandon adeptly navigated the crazy streets. The streets are not on 90 degree angles, which makes it difficult to see where streets begin, as there are many new ones that will pop up as off shoots of other streets. And to make matters more confusing, there are at times two names for the same street (sometimes with one sign right below the other) and the street addresses indicate different things. Address numbers in red indicate businesses, addresses in black indicate private homes. So you could have the same address in two different colors on the same street. The only way you can prevent yourself from disturbing a private family at an early morning hour is to know the color difference. They also don't number their buildings consecutively, so building number 41 could be next to building number 78 and the next one could be building number 5. This all makes things, shall we say, a little difficult to navigate. :)

Once we found the building we were greeted by a very nice woman speaking very little English. We found towards the end of the conversation that she did speak Spanish fluently, so that made things a lot easier, as Duane could communicate with her well. So you students out there, if you want to travel, learn another language. It can come in handy someday!

The room we have is amazing, especially compared to the last room. Vaulted ceilings with tile floors, a tv and three separate beds (Tim and Michelle actually get to sleep in the same queen sized bed - there are a few perks to being married). There is a fridge with coffee, tea, and snacks as well as the best air conditioning ever! It was our shangrala.

We quickly turned on the tv and tried to follow along with the Italian channels. Ironically enough, and to Brandons immense pleasure, the only channel in English was MTV. This was discovered while Duane was in the shower, and we were solidly hooked on it by the time he emerged. When he came out, he stared at the tv quizzically and said "Wow, my Italian is great, I can understand everything they are saying!". We all erupted in laughter when he realized it was English, and even now as we write this it still is making us laugh hysterically. It was great that we were still able to laugh together after the stress of traveling.

After we recovered, we did not last long and were soon fast asleep. First to drop was Brandon, then Tim, and then Duane, after assuring me 2 minutes prior that he did not need a nap and was not tired. Sensing defeat, Michelle set the alarm and gave in to sleep as well.

Once we awoke, we left the room to do a walking tour of Florence. As Tim said, "No maps this time (they were still in our pockets), we are going to get lost in Florence". We meandered around the city, found a good place to eat, and kept right on going.

Ok, we are getting cut off from the internet store. They are closing. We will fill you in more tomorrow!