Going places

I think I mentioned in my last post that I'd gone back to Perugia with Matteo to see our friends who live there... even though I had an absolute blast I had no idea that in a matter of weeks I would be practically living there myself.  Between the youth group meetings and just hanging out, I think I've actually spent more of my "out-and-about" time there than here in Todi-- and I know that I've seen more of my friends there than here!

But right now I'm not going to write about Perugia.  Because it's not just at Perugia that I have new friends, but there's a large group over in Florence as well.  As soon as we got back from the retreat we started talking about visiting them, but it took a while to decide on a date and it was just last week that we had a definitive date:  August 2.

I don't know whether it's just because I had Matteo (who plans most of the transport for us, since we're pretty much the only ones from Todi), but from what I saw there was remarkably little planning that had to go into this trip.  A couple of days beforehand Matteo messaged me about the train we were taking, and we (he) asked a friend to pick up tickets for us, but that was all. 

So Friday morning I got up early-- early enough to see my dad and my sister off-- and went down into the piazza to wait for Matteo's father, who was driving us to Perugia.  We got there in plenty of time, exchanged sleepy greetings with some of the others, and got onto the train.  Easy.  Two-and-a-half hours later, time filled with guitar-accompanied singing, we were there in the cultural capital of the world.

The Florentine contingency was waiting for us at the station, about twenty of them, which added to our group made around forty teenagers.  The Florentines had clearly been looking forward to the visit as much as we had been, because they had the whole day planned out... even from the start when we got on the bus.  "Don't we need tickets?"  "Don't worry," Pietro told us, "we've already bought them."

Our first stop was a panoramic view of the city.  These kids were obviously very proud of their city (and, I have to say, rightly so) and they enthusiastically pointed out all of the most important sights, often adding a short history or a little story, and answered our questions.  Next we went to a church, and I should be able to tell you what it was called but I can't remember, but Pietro gathered us all around and gave us the history and little tidbits about it ("See the way it's built with [two types of stone that I can't remember]?  That's a typical Florentine design-- you'll see it also in the Duomo."), as good a tour guide as you could ever hire.  And their knowledge really was amazing... they were able to answer questions about all kinds of stuff, from the cathedral to the fortress on the hill to where to get gelato.

After a bite to eat in (well, actually on the curb outside of) a sandwich stand that boasted having been established in 1875, we headed up to the Boboli Gardens.  Those who were under 18 (about 2/3 of us) got in free and the adult EU citizens paid 5 euros.  However, because I didn't have my British ID on me, it looked like I was going to have to pay 10... and Pietro came up and quite happily pressed 5 euros into my hand.  "Don't worry," he said, "we'll spring for half of it... it's the least we can do!"  Fortunately though, they let me in free even though I only had American ID.

Once in, we found a nice shady spot and hung out, playing guitar, singing, having water fights... it is, after all, just a park, albeit a gorgeous one.  And an added bonus is that there are a large number of good singers in our group so it actually sounded really good; a lot of people stopped to listen, some for as long as a half hour!

After a little more wandering around and sightseeing, 8 o'clock came around and it was time to catch the train back home.  Our hosts accompanied us to the station and saw us on the train-- and wouldn't accept any payment for the day.  "No, no, it was our pleasure!"

And that's what I did with my day.  Just took a day trip to Florence with my buddies.  Have I mentioned that I love it here?