Florence

our traveling buddy almost got mugged, but we met some really nice Albanians and a Tunisian instead.

Freedom Square, near the hostel we stayed at

Not supposed to take pictures.... oops...

The Duomo. It has a loooong name that I can't remember. It is huge, this picture doesn't do it justice.

So intricate, I can't imagine the work that was put in to create this. The inside was just as fancy.

We climbed the bell tower of the Duomo, it was pretty tall!

So many old buildings nicely laid out in straight lines (much different than Venice!)

Leaving the most awesome hostel ever. See the big wood door on the left with the giant metal door knocker? Yes, that is the entrance to the hostel!

Some famous bridge in Florence....

Some famous place where lovers add a lock and throw away the key... again I don't know much about it.

Be sure to look at the size of the people on top of the dome... this building is GIANT!

Florence at night, from atop a hill at the edge of the city. We proceeded from here to walk a LONG way to a restaurant only to find it closed. That's okay, we found an awesome restaurant around the corner.

I suppose I can't leave the mugging story untold...

We (Matt, Megan, Megan's friend and myself) went out one of the evenings to meet up with some friends we met at the hostel. The meeting place was at the steps of a cathedral we had all seen earlier. While waiting, Megan's friend decided to go looking for cigarettes, and walked off by himself. Some local drunk kids came up to him and tried to mug him. Matt ran off to assist, and soon they were out of our sight. The drunk kids noticed that Megan and I were watching their actions, and headed towards us. We felt like we were in a safe place, it was a well-lit open plaza with lots of people around. As they drunk kids approached, we walked over to the next bench and introduced ourselves to a group of (presumably)  nice 20-something guys. Turns out they spoke very little English, and were students in Florence visiting from Albania and Tunisia. Matt and Megan's friend soon returned and thanked the guys for their assistance. We all went for some drinks and got to know some very nice Albanians and a Tunisian. 

Next up, Lyon, where Megan learned an important lesson about tripe.