Oh how I wanted to sleep in this morning.  I woke up to the sounds of someone banging around in the kitchen.  It was not very pleasant.  I tried to lay in bed and rest but I wasn't very successful.  

My plan today was to catch the sightseeing tour bus I had purchased with my train rail pass.  I wasn't sure where it would stop.  There were two routes: A and B. I thought I'd try B first because it was longer.  I went to the stop they indicated oh the ticket. It was very vague and there were no signs at the stop.  The craziest thing is, of all the days to pick a tour bus trip, leave it to me to pick THE worst day.  There was a marathon on this morning.   Picture it, streets closed, thousands of runners and I'm waiting at a bus stop!!   It was not a good moment for me.  I waited til 10:30 and  by then the traffic did start up again but no bus.  Then I thought I could make the A route bus leaving from the train station.  I walked there at before 11:00 and looked for the double decker bus.  No luck.  

So, I wasted about 3 hours today waiting, walking, frustrated and confused.   I realized I could do one of 2 things, let it ruin my day or have a coffee!   That's right, I picked the latter.
I had not had my coffee and it was just after 11:00.   So, I popped into a McDonalds (it was the closest place! Really!!!)  and started to think of plan B.

Plan B was to see the Statue of David. I found it, and waited almost 2 hours in line. Yes, 2 hours.  But really it was worth it.  The David statue is massive. I snapped a couple of pictures.  One of the agents yelled at me! "No photo! Nov photo!".  I didn't realize I couldn't.  Oops!  I walked around the rest of the museum, got yelled at again because I snapped another photo!   Oops!  I was pushing my luck!  

Since I was having a bad day, I thought about cheering myself up. What better way to do that than with GELATO! Mmmmm. I'm sharing it with you...well, I tried. Enjoy the picture anyway!

I walked from there to another piazza which I don't recall the name because I lost my map!  Arr!  It had crowds of people!  Wait. I think it was Piazza Vecchio.  Beautiful old building and the detail was incredible.  There was another museum here but the line ups were way too long.  It is culture week in Italy and all state museums are free. No there are tons of students and class trips happening this week.  Everyone knows how I love my free stuff!  BONUS!

I made my way to another museum called Palazzo Pitti, which included Boboli Gardens.  These were great to see, and FREE!  Oh wait, did I mention they were F R E E ! ! !  

I was surprised with the gardens. I thought there would be way more colour.  I did like the view of the city from the top.  

Thankfully the sun was out today. I was hot and sweaty.  I made my way back to the hostel, had some dinner, rested a little and freshened up to walk about at night.   I'm getting use to the streets and where things are located.  I am recognizing more landmarks too as I'm walking about.  

Tomorrow I plan to go see Pisa.  I have to catch the train early so I can be back by noon.  I want to try the sightseeing tour bus. 

Oh!  Guess what I saw on my way back to my room.  A big red double decker sightseeing tour bus.  

I think my day worked out better than I imagined.   Don't you? 

Q20

True or False 

Florence has a subway system.