The Plus Florence Hostel
After eating so much Italian food we were craving something a little more then pastries for breakfast, we stumbled across this cafe selling omelettes and managed to get some basic scrambled eggs on toast, but they were the best scrambled eggs on toast I have ever eaten... who would have thought. They don't really do iced coffee in Italy which is weird because it is so hot but we also managed to get something resembling an iced coffee too yay :)
We got tickets for the hop on hop off bus for a day of exploring- This is a good option for a cheap tour of the main attractions of the city. You get a audio tour guide that while basic does give you a general idea on weather you want to hop off at that particular sight or not. Also its a double decker bus so sitting up top gives you a nice cool breeze! Just what you need in 35 degree weather!
The view from the Piazzale Michelangelo is well worth the trip up.
The next day we took a day tour from Florence to Siena to San Gimignano stopping off at a medieval castle town on the way called Monteriggioni.
The Tuscan backdrop of Monteriggioni.
Lovely little streets of Monteriggioni where the population is only around 60 people.
We had a guided walk through Siena.
The Tuscan countryside, view from San Gimignano
Exploring the areas of Tuscany was so surreal I would defiantly recommend a day trip to Siena and the surrounding towns we went on a Ciao Florence tour and it was really well priced, we had a guided walking tour of Siena, a Gelato tasting in San Gimignano and then finally a wine tasting in the Chianti area at a rustic winery in the countryside.
The next day we got up early to catch a train to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower.
Pisa only needs a 1/2 day as a stop over so we left at about 3pm to catch out train to Rome but not before getting completely ripped off at one of the cafes there!
It was an unbearably hot day and after wondering around for a few hours we decided to grab a drink in one of the cafes, after having a look at a few different options we decided to just sit down at one. What we didn't realise is that unlike all the other cafes in Pisa this particular one had no prices on the menu and after looking at the other cafes we assumed the prices would be the same. We made a rookie mistake because the cafe owner then decided to charge us a ridiculous price for our food and drinks and there was nothing we could do about it. So we left Pisa with a bit of a sour taste in our mouths :( I later looked up the cafe on Trip Advisor only to find it had over 200 reviews by people who got ripped off just like us. At least we weren't alone! This was the only time something like this happened to us in Italy thankfully.
We arrived in Rome early evening and decided to check out how much a Taxi would cost to take us to our hotel, about 2km away. When I asked a taxi driver how much it would cost I thought he said 50 Euro which was way way to high, so I got Dan to ask around while I looked after the luggage. Dan came back with a guy who was saying 10 Euro, thats more like it! he took our bags and kept walking past the row of taxis and around the corner to his little old VW golf that looked a bit bung up, he proceeded to put our bags in the boot but I was not having any of it, this guy wasn't a taxi driver he was just some random trying to make some money. We were both a bit delirious so could have easily just gone with him, but luckily I managed to pull our bags out of his car, this guy could have been a psycho! After all this I was almost willing to pay the 50 Euro it wasn't until we tried again with a proper taxi driver that I realised he was say 15 Euro, all the drama for nothing. We managed to get to our lovely hotel safe and sound. Not a good start in Rome!
Our Hotel was right by the Colosseum so we had a lovely dinner with it as our back drop and then grabbed some Gelato to do some night time exploring.
The next day we did a tour of the inside of the Colosseum.
My favourite time of day in Rome, searching for somewhere for dinner when the sun had cooled off (slightly)
On our last day in Rome and in Italy we just explored the city a little more, we were only in Rome a few nights so will have to go back as I feel we didn't get the full experience! Im sure there will be plenty of time to do so!
We are now in London after arriving quite late we caught our first tube to Acton where Sue was kind enough to pick us up. We are staying at Sue's house in Shepherds bush where we are looking after her cat while she is on holiday. We are busy house and job hunting in the biggest city we have ever been...so far so good, I will keep you updated! xx
epic you guys! looking good as always x
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