Leaning towards Pisa

Ciao a tutti!

I've been bad about updating my blog, mainly because until now there weren't a lot of amazing things to report. How can I put this nicely...in the words of Bender.... Florence can bite my shiny metal a**! Bologna turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, although I had amazing sorbetto and even ricemilk softserve (let's just say that despite everyone's worries, I've been fattening up well with sorbetto and gelato galore, finding vegan food without even asking for it wherever I go, today I had ricemilk gelato that was melting before I could eat it, and it tasted much better than it sounds), and my host in the heart of Bologna was the nicest, most caring Israeli guy. I decided to skip Venice due to technical difficulties and the lack of a lover, and decided instead to head straight to Florence. Everyone says Florence is beautiful, so they must be right, right? WRONG!

At first, I must say, Florence looked promising. My couchsurfing host took me on a very scary scooter ride to see the center, and it was really cool. We went to see his painter\lawyer friend, who lives in a building from the 15th century. Then things took a turn for the ugly when I dropped and broke my brand new point and shoot camera, and my host started hitting on me and left me feeling extremely uncomfortable. That night, I got about 20 mosquito bites and my legs looked like they had sprouted tumors on them. I tried to to tear my skin off scratching the bites. Never mind, I thought, and walked to the city center. It was polluted, dirty, and PACKED to the gills with tourists (I do realize the use of the caps lock key, excuse me if it's starting to wear you out). I walked for over an hour, trying to find the camera place to fix my little broken gadget, only to discover they only deal with Nikon and that the cost would be more than buying a new camera anyways. Sadness. The next day I worked hard on finding a new host as well as paying a visit to the famous Galleria Dell'academia, to see one famous small-membered marble statue in the name of David, aka my husband in the bible. I was very excited but after paying 14 euro I was shocked to discover the gallery consisted of David and two more monotonic rooms filled with 14th century paintings that all depicted christ or the virgin Mary. 30 minutes later, I regurgitated myself back into the scorching heat and headed back home.
After spending a night at a different host's apartment, I moved on to my 3rd host in Florence, who turned out to be a nice man from Argentina. He gave me a ride to the Pitti Palace, which was great. A beautiful palace with beautiful gardens, was my experience in Florence to be remembered. Back at his place, I discovered he was also hosting a girl from Argentina at the time, so I spent a couple of days with her. It was nice but we didn't do much...I wanted to get the hell out of Florence. Decided to skip Lucca and head straight to the Cinque Terre, where I was guaranteed some amazing sights and the cool sea to bathe in.

This is where my trip took a turn to the amazing. I was feeling like I should give up, go somewhere else, but I'm glad I persisted. Pictures coming soon of one of the most beautiful places I've seen. I didn't even mind the tourists. I spent two days taking the train from La Spezia to the Cinque Terre and spending the day there - 5 villages built on cliffs on the coast of Italy. The water was amazing to look at and to swim in, the buildings in the villages painted brilliant colors, people eating gelato everywhere. I traveled with a Brazilian girl named Carol, who was staying with me at our host's place. On the first day we explored the last village of the five named Monterosso, and on the second day we hiked from Corniglia to Vernazza. It was a beautiful hike along the coast and now I'm a bit sore from hiking and swimming (ah...the sea...)
Our host was probably the best CS host I've had. On the first day he waited for us with a scrumptious dinner (someone remind me to make the onions-in-wine dish please!), and on the second day he picked me up from the station on his scooter, waited for me to pack and took me back to the station and waited with me for the train to Pisa. He made me feel the exact opposite of the slimebag in Florence, and for that I am grateful.

-Pisa-

One train ride later (I have to say, I like long train rides, they're comforting. This was only a 90 minute train ride and I wished it were longer) I found myself walking to the Piazza Garibaldi to meet with my host. He lives right by the famous Piazza, and I had a long, good night's sleep. I woke up lazily and read some Harry Potter (yes, geek) before heading out for yummy lunch and vegan gelato with a Spanish CSer who lives in Pisa. As he left, I got a text from Italian CSer who came to hang out in Pisa. He was great, we met up with his friend and spent a few hours sitting on the grass in front of the tower. I haven't taken the corny picture with it yet (it was amusing seeing all the people suspending their hands in midair for the famous 'I'm holding up the tower of Pisa' pose), but rest assured I will tomorrow. From here, I might make a beeline to Munich to see my friend Stefanie, or else head into Umbria before going to Rome and Naples. What does the future hold for Michal? The nearest future isn't certain, although the less near future holds a flight to Athens and a superferry to Santorini!

p.s. has anyone else besides a kind informant noticed the url to this blog can be read 'Michal strip in Europe?'