It was my idea to watch the sun rise on the last day in Florence, so I woke Amy up at 5:20 to start on our way. We would head up to the Piazzale Michelangelo which is a looking point over the city. We took the Flume Arno all the way down which was so peaceful this early in the morning, no hustling and bustling around town. We had to climb up to the point which was about 50 long stairs, but the view at the top was spectacular. Sun just coming up past the homes, we took some time to enjoy the view and just take it all in--we would be back in the US in just 2 short days so we wanted this lasting impression. I know Amy was not excited about getting up that early and heading up those stairs, but when the sun peaked out, I could she really enjoyed it. There was no one else up there which was lovely, so we stayed up there for about a half hour and then went back to the hostel.
I brought some cream of wheat so we cooked that up, packed up our stuff, and heading out to the city. We crossed the famous bridge again--this time because it was day not like the day before, the stores were beginning to open and we could see all the jewelry being sold. We kept wondering around and ran into some markets on the street. They sold a lot of leather items here in Florence which is the material they are known for. There were many jewelry, t-shirt, shoe stands---Amy and I got a few necklaces with the large pendants while we were there (it was only .5Euro).
Then we went back to the train and ended up getting on an earlier one that we had planned. We got to everything we wanted and wanted to spend a little more time in Rome so we jumped on a 11:15 train. I journaled for a bit and had a packed lunch (pb and j, chexmix and a nectarine), and then slept. Because there was a fire a couple weeks prior at one of the stations, many trains were taking different routes and had to go on different tracks, so we had to switch trains at a station called Orte which was the one right before our stop. Luckily a woman next to us who spoke English told us this change because all the announcements were in Italian and we had no idea what was being said. This second train was a lot nicer--the coaches were nicer--more cushion, cubicles to sit that had drapes, and could lay all the way out on them if no one was sitting by you, door to close the room off to reduce sound. The stops were all very smooth. The only thing I didn't like was they we kept going in and out of tunnels. These tunnels made my ears pop and leave them feeling like they need to be popped and I couldn't pop them so that was kind of irritating.
We made it to Terminin though and Amy had an errand to run so she met up with Jo and I went off to the Boca del la Verita (Mouth of Truth). I had to catch a bus and this guy from Africa started trying to talk to me. I freaked out a bit but tried to give him the hint I didn't want to talk but he kept asking questions and kept the conversation going. He was really freaking me out though--asking about the government, saying he was here for 3 months and working as a Politician. We couldn't communicate very well so he pulled his phone out and could look up different words and show them to me---the first was politician but the second one was asylum (which made me really uncomfortable). I had no idea what he was trying to tell me. He smiled at me a few times and just tried to keep the conversation going and going and going. Luckily in 10 minutes (the longest 10 min of my life), he got off and I could relax. I found my stop about 5 min later.
To get to see the mouth, I had to wait in this line for about 20 minutes. It was this big face which I had to put my hand in for a picture. If the mouth bites down, you are a liar, if it doesn't, you don't lie. I think the mouth only took off a couple finger tips with its clamp....! The couple behind me thankfully took my picture and then I headed back to the bus stop to Jo's.
No was there when I got there, so I started packing up, showered, and when Jo, Fabio, and Amy returned they ran to the grocery and got some Mexican supplies for chicken and shrimp fajitas. We all cooked dinner together and ate the last meal together. They were delicious with some grilled onions, peppers, lettuce, and shredded cheese. We all talked for a bit and Amy finished packing. We would spend the last night at Alessandro's since it was very close to the airport. Fabio and Jo dropped us off at his apartment. He usually rents his apartment out because he has been traveling for the year and mostly in the US, but the guy who rents it wasn't using it for a month so we could stay there for the night. I was very thankful. He gave Amy and I the brand new Queen-size bed in the bedroom which was super comfy. We talked until about 12:45AM and then I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and had to lie down. I was out within seconds.
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