Florence

So...went around Florence this afternoon and was great. I think I forgot to mention earlier that I got to where my hostel should have been -number and everything- and there it was not. So asked around and this Italian guy was like oh you have the red number 94 you need the blue one. Yes thats right people apparantly the colour of the street sign matters! Oh well. I knew there was no chance of following the street signs right to the Duomo so just headed in vaguely the right direction and got to the end of this little cobblestone street and amazingly there it was! And believe me it was amazing! My guidebook says that it was comissioned in 1296 to be a cathedral that was so magnificent it would be impossible to surpass and you know from the outside certainly I think they may have achieved that. I cant even begin to describe it! Then after all that strenuous work, you know, twas time for a gelato so I found a place called Grom that my guidebook recommends and time for a piccolo cono coco -a small coconut cone but sounds so much more interesting in Italian doesnt it! Loads of yummy looking flavours and was really good. Then I wandered down to the Uffizi but had a last minute change of heart and decided to go to Palazzo Veccho instead. It had beautiful paintings all over the walls and ceilings and, interestingly a modern art display -collections of drawings paintings carvings newspaper cuttings etc by an artist called Georges Adeagbou scattered all around and some placed on these ancient carved thrones. It was really interesting with the modern stuff mixed in. Then wandered down to Ponte Vecchio -the oldest bridge in Venice. Really typically Italian. So...thus far am loving Florence. More than Rome actually.