Europe adventure. Day 19 of 34.

Written at Sofiane's apartment in Paris on day 27.

I have gotten very behind on this blogging thing. Now I have to sort through my six pages of notes and figure out where I left off. All the way back in Florence? My god. That explains how I am halfway through my second book. I've been reading instead of writing. Well, I'll at least do a little this morning before I go wander around Paris some more.

It was my last full day in Florence. I was staying at the Tasso Hostel with Michael as my roommate. I woke up that morning absolutely covered in mosquito bites and sweat, yet somehow felt a bit rested anyway. I took a long shower and went downstairs for breakfast.

The common room was hushed. It's a big room and there were a few people there, but they were all talking in quiet voices. It almost felt uncomfortable to me. No one said anything as I served myself chocolate puffed cereal (who knows if it was gluten free, but it looked like Koala Crisps, so I risked it) and tea.

Thankfully as I was finding a seat there were two girls from the US also getting breakfast and looking around the room uncomfortably. I started talking to  them as an attempt to break the almost silence and they seemed grateful. We chatted as we ate and then they left to go see the city. I took my time with breakfast, making myself some gluten free bread with jam after the cereal. I had tickets to Duomo, the main cathedral of Florence and a very cool building, but I didn't feel like I had to rush over there.

I took my time getting there as well,since it is very hard not to window shop while walking through Florence. My ticket had many parts of the cathedral and area around it included in the price. The first thing I saw was The Baptistry, a relatively small octagonal building with an amazing ceiling. The pictures came out badly, though.

After I waited in line to see the inside of the cathedral, which I didn't actually need a ticket for. Free entry or not, however, they didn't just let throngs of people go in all at once. That makes sense, really. It is a church. So I waited, said hi to a young English couple behind me in line, and speculated if the inside would be boring compared to the beautiful outside.

It was. I don't remember any stained glass or beautiful statues, just large stone arches, pews (that's what they are called, right) and one beautifully painted dome ceiling far above. I wished a little bit that I had not bothered. I was more interested in going up the tower or the dome, which were part of my ticket. I started with the bell tower, because there was no line.

So many stairs. Just up and up and up. I had thought after walking everywhere for weeks I would have had no problem, but by the time I got back down my legs were shaking. The view was beautiful, but I was almost too tired to enjoy it. I decided after that to get some lunch and rest.

I went back to the first place I had eaten in Florence, and instead of the ravioli, this time I tried the prosciutto pizza. My waiter was an older guy than the first time, and in my opinion much better. He brought me gluten free rolls with olive oil, which I devoured. And unlike the servers at the other restaurant, he didn't seem so annoyed when I just ordered water.

I loved the pizza, though prosciutto is very salty and there was a bit too much. Easy enough to pick some off. After I ate I asked if they had any desserts that were gluten free. The man I asked said that they didn't, but sometimes they had a delicious homemade chocolate cake and if I wanted to come back that night he could ask his boss to make it. Of course I said yes to that idea.

I left the restaurant and found myself walking into shoe stores along the street. I bought a cute pair of flats for only €12.50, and was very proud of myself. Than I carried my new shoes back to the cathedral and got in line for the dome, trying not to think about another 400+ stairs.

It was a long line. I read my book and snacked on leftover pizza. A little kid was also bored and trying to entertain himself by playing with a yoyo. He was really good, and people started watching, much to the kid's delight. He got a couple of claps and a lot of smiles. An hour and a half later we started up the stairs.

More stairs. So many stairs. It was very cool this time, though, with the way the path twisted and arched it's way around a round structure. Old stairs are not always the safest, and that made it fun. Seeing the art of the dome up close was also fascinating. Giant, vivid depictions of heaven and hell.

The view was very beautiful, too. Of course,  I had just seen it from the bell tower, but I still liked it. And you know what I liked even more? The chocolate cake. So worth the crazy price. Warm and gooey and fantastic with a little drizzle of raspberry. I can almost taste it right now.
                             
Back at the hostel I spent 7 hours straight blogging. You all better have liked that, because that is a bit crazy. I was exhausted by the time I finished writing the last post, but I felt very accomplished. I went up to the room to find the AC on and Michael already in bed. AC, thank god. It was some of the best sleep I've ever had.

So I am in dire need of breakfast and a shower now. Hope that's good enough to tide everyone over until I can write more. Bye!