Italy, part 3

next stop Florence. we arrived around lunch time, a little later, but we left early so we only ended up with about three hours or so. the moment we arrived we walked to a main plaza and took the group photo. then we walked to a leather shop and saw a demonstration. then we had about half an hour or so to meander until meeting for our guided tour.

this tour was just as good as the Rome one, but we didn't see as much stuff. but the guide was nice and she stuck around to receive a tip afterward. it ended at the Duomo, so i went in. no cost to get in, but if you wanted to climb to the top of the dome or tower, you had to pay. i didn't need to do that. the Duomo was big and pretty, as usual (unfortunately i didn't write down any details about this place in my journal, and now i can't remember what it looked like).

after that i walked back to the main square, stopping to window shop along the way. i went inside Santa Croce, paying five euros to get in. the main altar area was, of course, covered up in scaffolding. just my luck. but inside this church are buried a bunch of people including Michaelangelo and Galileo, so i saw that and then left to meet the group to leave.

we drove to the hotel (Best Western), checked in, and cleaned up and dressed for dinner and disco. we drove through the some Tuscan hills to our optional Tuscan dinner. it was beautiful and up high and there were lots of groups there. we were given a welcome cocktail and let to our tables. we were entertained with piano and accordian music as well as a female opera singer. there was even a little bit of dancing, during which i was being encouraged to go ask Eelco to dance with me, but i didn't. i wasn't drunk enough. *L* he and Rachel were sitting in the back of the restaurant with the other tour group leaders, so had i gone over to their table and asked it would have been pretty obvious.

anyways, the food was really good. a four-course meal and wine. appetizers were buffet-style, but the rest was served to us. lots of appetizers to choose from, all very tasty. then out came the second course, strips of steak with lettuce. third course was lasagna and penne pasta. (dessert was something i can't remember now. :-( but it was GOOD!) there was champagne, as well. and eventually we left to go to the disco.

our admission included a free drink (i guess i should admit now that i drank my yearly quotient of alcohol in a matter of days, but remember everything and was responsible through it all). we started out in the karaoke bar and then went upstairs to the regular dance club part. a couple more drinks and a lot of dancing later we left. but not before an interesting encounter with a very forward Italian man...

so i'm dancing, everything is going well, a man shows up and starts dancing with me and twirling me around. he talks to me, asks my name, we converse, etc., all while dancing. but a bit later he leaves to get a drink or something. a bit later another guy shows up. we dance a bit and then he leaves. and then, a cute guy walks by and i make the mistake of saying, "ooo, ciao!" well, a bit later he comes back and grabs hold of me. we dance very tightly together for a bit, all the while i'm trying to put a little space between us but he's not having it. eventually he starts kissing my neck and working his way up. oh my! after several successful attempts to keep him from locking lips, i finally give in. i thought, "well, this could be the only chance i get to kiss an Italian man, i might as well take it!" *L* so we kiss for a few seconds and then i push him away. i was getting tired and ready to go anyways, so i chose to go downstairs and pay my bill so i didn't drink anymore. paid and went back upstairs to get my taxi group. started dancing some more with the same guy and kissed him some more. why not? and then we all left. overall, it was a really fun night. :-)