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Chio Bella!
Chio is Italian for hello, good bye and so forth. The guys here say 'chio bella' to pretty much everyone who passes by. Speaking of passing by, the street vendors are pretty out of control! They sell everything on blankets so that they can grab the corners and run away if the police come by. They have watchers on the corners to keep a look out. They tend to blend in with the semi-legit vendors that have proper booths. We were told that if we get caught buying anything from the sketchy vendors we may be subject to a £2000 fine. In which case you may as well buy the real Prada purse.
Florence was beautiful! But a tad wet. It looked like a gorgious day when we went into town but mid-day it began to down pour! We started the day with a leather demonstration and how they can make jewelery boxes entirely from hardened leather. She also taught us how to spot genuine leather versus fakes (please see above re: blanket sales). After the demonstration I ran into a guy from my first tour in the next room - strange (but comforting) seeing a familiar face in a forgien city!
The girls and I toured the market and picked up some gifts and then met the tour guide for a brief spin around Florence. The guide was really informative. In many European cities it's illegal for our tour managers to give us any info, you have to hire guides specifically for that city. The guide told us all about the statue of David and many others repilcas that are on display outdoors. We walked along the only major bridge that survived Hitler's path of destruction (likely because it had too many shops and apartments on it to make it worth blowing up). He took us up to the Duomo where it promptly started to poor rain and we all got soaked. Katie and I hid together under my umbrella but our shoes were soaking. The line to get in wasn't too bad but we couldn't muster the energy to climb to the top of the dome- wish I had though... there's always next time right?!Katie and I explored more markets and musems for the rest of the afternoon. The weather cleared and we had a really fun day. Lots of funny stories and adventures.
That night we went to a Tuscan restaurant. The moment I got off the bus a really big Italian man dressed as a monk grabbed hold of me and continued to sing an entire song to me. Very embarassing but funny. He then turned and did the same thing to the next girl behind me. Lots of pictures of that too.
The dinner was really fun. They had a band who played the whole time and an Opera singer who came out periodically. The wine was included in the meal so by desert everyone was up dancing and singing. My monk found me again and we had a dance (more pictures).
That was Florence!
Laura
previous travel blog entry
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