Yesterday, we got up super early (4 am) to take the tube to Liverpool Street, so we could take a bus to Stansted airport. We were not optimistic about our flight being on time because London was supposed to get the worst storm in 25 years! Nevertheless, we got to the airport, and once there, we went through security and then waited until the gate got announced. Then everyone ran like madmen to get to the gate as there are no assigned seats! We were about 20 people back in line. Unfortunately, the previous plane had not departed. While waiting in line, we watched everyone on the tarmac fight the wind. It was pouring and the winds were spectacular. Time passed, no planes were taking off or landing, more time passed, more wind and rain, you get the idea. Finally, they announce our gate has changed so we made a mad dash to another gate about 15 gates away and ended up first in line! We boarded (we got to walk onto the tarmac, I was really excited!) and took off, about an hour behind schedule. Thankfully, the storm had cleared up by the time we took off so it was a smooth flight. I got a quick nap in, saw some beautiful mountains, and then we were in Italy! After a quick bus ride from the plane to the border patrol office we got our passports stamped and then boarded another bus, this time to Milan.
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| On the plane! (Notice the tacky yellow!) |
Once in Milan we wandered around. It is a cosmopolitan city and a little difficult to navigate. I was hungry so I got a pizza that was absolutely delicious. Mollie and I enjoyed walking through the city, but at a certain point we decided to just try the metro. We ended up hopping onto the metro to go to the duomo. We were able to buy tickets in English and the system was similar to the Underground so it was not too difficult to navigate. We knew we wanted to take the red line towards the station starting with M or B, not S. This may be ridiculous, but we got to the right place! It was a spectacular church surrounded by a beautiful square. I did not take pictures (you had to pay 2 euro to take pictures) so you can look at it online (
http://tinyurl.com/mpmmr59). We took the metro to the train station and then took the train to Florence.
We arrived at about 7:30 and Florence was much busier and more alive than Milan. We had a 2 km walk to our hostel and found it without too much difficulty. Even though we were late to check-in, they were super accommodating. They gave us a bottle of water, a map, and then gave us a run down of the city, what to see and do, etc. Our room is perfect. We have two beds, a chair, a closet, and a SINK! (It really is the little things...). Eleanor and I relaxed for a bit. Then, at 9 we went to the common room because every night at 9 they have free wine and snacks. We got to hang out with the other people staying in the hostel. They are also Americans going to school in London and they are really nice!
