The train journey to Florence was an experience. We actually slept quite well in the cramp sleeper carridge, which we shared with two other people. We were woken up at about 6am by the rude Itaian conductor, who shoved us a greasy cake each and some strong coffee. Next stop Florence...

It was quite a change for us to be out and about so early. We had to get another train to the main train station, then it was a short walk to our hostel. It was a nice sunny day. We were too early to check in, but we had a quick look round the hostel. It was really nice and new, and had great facilities, inclduing free pool and fitness area which we were very pleased about. We left our lugguage at the hostel. Then after a quick breakfast our the sangwiches we had made at Sian's the night before, we headed out into the town. It was only about 8am.

We wandered round the streets for a while, taking in the city which was very beautiful. We then came accross a sculpture museam, which was half price for under 25s so we were straight in there. They had some impressive statues by famous artists. (See photos). We spent a couple of hours in there looking around, soaking up a bit of culture for a change.

After that, we went back to the hostel and checked in. We cooked ourselves a quick lunch of pesto pasta . Alan nipped out to buy some swimming trunks and then we hit the pool, after a quick session on the treadmill/stepping machine. It was a good way to cool down and relax. We also made use of the sauna and steam room: luxury.

In the evening we ate pizzas in the hostel restuarent which were pretty tasty. Then we headed out for a walk around the city which is very nice at night. We walked along the river and across the old bridge, which was all lit up. Then we strolled back to the hostel for an early night, as we were quite tired from sleeping on the train.

The next day we got up and checked out by ten. The we went straight to the Uffizi gallery, which is apparently the second biggest art collection in Italy, after the Vatican. The queue was massive, so after standing in it and not moving for about half an hour we decided to pay a bit extra to skip it. While we waited for our time to go in, we had a quick walk over to the church were Michelangelo is buried but we didn't have time to go in. We also popped into the large cathedral, which was not nearly as impressive inside as it appears on the outside.

The gallery was massive and we spent several hours there. There were thousands of paitings. We recognised one which is really famous, by Boticelli. It is a picture of Venus on a shell. There was also quite a lot of sculpture on display.

When we left the gallery we had to rush back to the hostel, grab our bags then catch the train to Rome...