Arrival in Florence

We had reservations for the 10:15 train, 1st class coach, from Rome this morning which arrived here in Florence at 11:50. This is the first time we've had free refreshments served by attendants on the train, just like on a plane. The countryside from Rome to Florence is really pretty with lots of rolling hills, farmland and vineyards. The hills of Tuscany around Florence are especially nice.

We've learned to pick our hotels based on price, security and cleanliness in the reviews on Hostelworld but also on proximity to the train station, air conditioning and free WIFI. The last place we didn't have airconditioning was Barcelona which was okay but lately it's been in the mid to upper 30s so you really need somewhere to cool off in the afternoon. Once again we're in a modest but quite nice hotel with all of the above plus ensuite bathroom and continental breakfast for 58 euros a night.

Florence is quite compact with all of the interesting sites within easy walking distance. We wandered a bit this afternoon and toured the "Cattedrale di Sante Maria del Fiore" better known as Il Duomo. It's a fantastic building with the exterior in patterned bands of white, pink and green marble. We may go to Mass there tomorrow done in Gregorian chanting (don't read too much into this - I did go to Russian Orthodox Mass in a cathedral on the edge of Red Square in Moscow too).

Even with a few hours wandering, we've seen all kinds of buildings and sculptures from the Renaissance that are hard to believe. A lot of sculptures from 500 years ago, like the Fountain of Neptune, would cause major outrage in Barry's Bay today for showing nude figures. However, we do have a plane on a stick.

We've found a restaurant listed in one of the guides that we intend to try tonight. It always seems like the most difficult part of travel is the arrival in a new city in the heat, carrying your pack and trying to figure out where the hotel is, but we've narrowed that down to about 15 minutes. After that, everything falls into place.