Pfff, whatever

I'm already forgetting about the unpleasantness of last night. We'll just leave it at that I had to spend the night on a cot in the hostel's basement where they store linen, cleaning supplies and occasionally staff. It was weird and it wasn't even the weirdest part of it all, but enough about that.

Venice can wipe away all your worries. It may be hot and crowded, you will most certainly be lost and everything's expensive, but there's no automobile traffic, the canals cool the breeze and.. well, it's friggin' VENICE. There really are funnily dressed men oaring boats through narrow canals and waterborne cabs deliver passengers in both the busy canals and in the quieter areas. I didn't take many pictures because you've seen Venice. There are countless photos and movies done by much better photographers than I, who have the option of clearing the streets/viewpoints when necessary.

The mandatory train reservations in Italy are a joke. I was the only one on my 92-person car for the first three stops. At its peak, it held about seven people. Why did I have to plop down fifteen Euro to secure a place instead of just hopping onboard with my railpass? Ok ok, more money, I can answer that. Still, grr.

The hostel here in Florence is a fortress in a warzone-like city. No one comes here to look at the city itself, just a couple of sites. Heat, lawless traffic and pickpockets encourage you to move quickly from site to site, which means it's really nice that the hostel has a both a bar and a restaurant with decently priced, good food. I don't have to venture out into food-poisoning land (hello Youngest Sis) AND they serve BREAKFAST!!! Full English all-you-can-eat BREAKFAST! I'm so excited I don't know what to do.

The Uffizi gallery is free tomorrow, so after BREAKFAST! I'm going to hustle down there and wait in line. Hooray art!