Landed

It's been a long day/night of traveling, but here I am in Florence! And it's so hot that the sweat is just pouring off me - I think I may lose ten pounds on this trip from sweating, if nothing else. The hostel is clean, and the hostel owner seems lovely. My lack of ability to speak Italian has not turned out to be a problem yet.

It amazes me that my trip was pretty much without incident - my flight was on time (even a little early), my bag appeared almost as soon as I got to the baggage claim, I didn't really have to go through customs, and my train connections at the airport and in Rome went smoothly. I was able to sleep on the plane a bit, thanks to my friend Dramamine, and I'm in pretty good spirits now, if a bit tired.

Did you know that you have to pay to use the toilet in the Rome Termini train station? I feel like this is a policy that could have disastrous consequences.

On the way from the train station to the hostel (a longer walk than I expected), I passed by Santa Maria Novella. I can't wait to stop in there tomorrow and see if I'm fooled by the linear perspective in Masaccio's Trinity.

I'll post some pictures as soon as I take some - I was feeling a little shy on the train about taking any, and I don't think anyone really wants to see what I look like right now. Also, I'm going to have to find my camera cable in my bag before I can start uploading pictures. I'm sure I will have more to report soon!