Today I woke up at 6 because Kellie originally told us that breakfast would be at 7:15. But then it got changed to 7:45, so we had extra time. Oh well. Bags to coach was at 8:15, and we left at 8:30 to go into Florence. The first thing we did was the included leather demonstration. It wasn't so much a demonstration as much as an excuse to get us to buy leather products. I wasn't impressed, but a bunch of people did buy things, so I guess that's why Contiki makes us go there.
After the leather demonstration, we had an included walking tour of Florence. I thought it was a really good tour. Then we had a little bit of free time in Florence afterward. I went inside the Duomo (Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore) and got some pictures. I was planning to get lunch but that never happened. I did get gelato again, though. This time it was Nutella flavored. Mmm. I got back to the meeting spot early and read on a bench near the Basilica di Santa Croce until it was time to get back on the coach and drive to Rome!
When we got to Rome, Ricardo drove us around for a quick orientation of the city from the coach. Then we got out and Kellie gave us a walking tour. She wasn't technically allowed to guide us because you have to have a license to give tours in Rome, but she pulled us aside and gave us information before we got to each of the sights. We saw the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, etc. Basically all the big touristy things, except we were saving the Colosseum, Forum, and Vatican for the following day.
We had a little bit of free time in Rome to get dinner, and I went with the Singapore Girls (Pei Yi and Yan Xuan) and the San Diego Girls (Rhiannon and Kim) to get some pizza. It was cheap, but they gave us a lot, and it was pretty good. It amazes me how even cheap pizza in Italy can be so much better than any of the pizza in the states.
When we finally got to the campsite, we realized we had no toilet paper! Such a fun surprise. Luckily Jane and I each had a pack of tissues, haha. I was in bed by 11, which is good because we had to be up really early the next morning.
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