A longer update

Hello everyone!

We found an internet cafe in the Florence train station, and as we have a few hours to kill before our train arrives, we decided to do a better update!

Our plans have changed a bit. We decided to go to Paris instead of Nice. The timing just seemed better, and as we both got a bit sunburned yesterday, the beach no longer sounded quite as appealing. We also thought we might try to hit Versailles, but we shall see what times allows. I think we will have to miss the Louvre as it would just be a cruel tease to only see a few hours worth. On that note, we did get into the Ufffizi today! We waited in line for about an hour and a half, not too bad considering how long the line was. The art was amazing! We both enjoyed it a lot. It was a grand way to say ciao to Florence.

Our accomodations have been a slight upgrade at this hotel. Though still in a tent, it is more of a canvas room with an actual door. It is blazing hot during the day, but it actually gets a little chilly at night. It has been quite comfortable. Sadly, there is no pool at this one, so we haven't been able to cool down quite as easily as we did at Rome.

In other news, based on my poor decision, we walked into town the LONNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG way. We didn't realize it was the long way until the way up. The way down was quite an enjoyable walk, in the shade and all downhill. But, after six hours of constant walking, we were tired and that hill was a killer. Last night we went for a view of Florence at dusk (our campsite is on top of hill with a great view of the city). We walked about a block to try to get a better view and saw another path into the city, probably half the distance of our earlier walk. Oh well, good exercise I guess (even though I don't think we really need it at this point!).

This morning as we were packing up, a little Italian woman knocked on our tent and wanted to clean. She was speaking to us completely in Italian, and somehow we managed to have a conversation with her. We told her we were leaving in a few minutes, and somehow she communicated that she would give us a ride to check-out in her golf cart. Then she told us to lock our door... how we understood this, I still don't know. She also continued to talk to us the entire ride up to check-out. Her son is studying in London, but that was about the extent of what we could pick up. Funny, but a good time.

We are starting to feel the constant going; we're tired! But tonight we are hanging out on the train, a good chance to rest. We are learning to eat less and not complain about the weight of our luggage as much. We are also embracing the rejuvenation effects of proper hydration.

We love you all much, and hope to be hearing your voices soon!

Love,
Duncan and Whitney

P.S. Southwood- sorry you broke your tailbone. I definitely need to hear more about that later :) I said a prayer for you in a Cathedral yesterday- hope the trip is everything you were hoping for, I love you much and miss you a lot.

P.P.S. Mom Meadows-- you had better be taking a lot of pictures! Have a safe trip home.