A Long Walk Home: 17 Foot Statues, Church Processions and Cross Dressers... Oh My.

Hello again to all my friends. This will be a successful next day post. Woot woot! I am a little uncertain on how to exactly start this so I think I'll try to skip some of the pleasantries and just jump awkwardly back into the story.

We arrived in Florence around 10:30 in the morning on the train from Rome that I slept nearly the entire time on. I woke up about 25 minutes from the station with my head propped a few inches above the table by my arms and a pool of drool underneath it that had started dripping off and onto my right leg a few inches above my knee... I hope I wasn't snoring too. Woof.
When we got to the station we met up with Kyle's friend Anna who was letting us crash at her place for the night (we were only in Florence for one night because we took a sleeper car to Munich the next night which was a whole new experience in itself). This proved to be yet another lucky draw for us because Anna was not busy and able to show us around the city similar to David in Rome. It was also still free week in Italy, so we did not have to pay to get in anywhere! Can I get a what what?
Anna showed us around the whole city and we saw all of the major things like the Medici Palace and gardens, the Basilica Santa Maria and the Duomo, an areal view of the city (that she gets to see everyday from her school), and a museum that had all kinds of statues and paintings that also included Michaelangelo's "David." She ended the tour by bringing us up to a church on top of a hill on the outskirts of the city that had a great view of the city and a really cool cemetery. While we were in this church they started a small service in the back, but I still didn't stay for it- partially because I didn't understand it and partially because everyone else was leaving. The service began with some of that old school chanting, similar to the stuff you hear the monks doing while they're walking in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (minus the Bible face smash). They then proceeded to do the mass in Latin with chanting in random places throughout the next ten minutes that I stayed to watch.
We returned to Anna's place with sore feet and empty stomachs and I don't know if a couch has ever felt so nice to sit on. We also decided to call my friend Jenna and her friend Emily (who were also studying in Florence) to see if they would like to go out to eat with us that night. They agreed and we set a time and a restaurant to eat at- I think it was called the Yellow Bar or something and it had good pasta. We decided to bathe and have a few glasses of wine before we went out to eat so we weren't smelly, awkward Americans at the restaurant. I thought it would be best to dress my best for the occasion, so I put on my only nice shirt that I packed, a long sleeved black button up that went great with my only pair of blue jeans.
We met the girls at the restaurant and ate our food and all was well. Someone threw out the idea that we should be like true Italians and grab a couple bottles of wine and drink it in a town square- which is legal as long as it is before midnight. We were sitting on the steps of a building in the square talking and having a good time when all of a sudden a huge crowd of people carrying signs, candles, crosses and a megaphone approached us and stopped right in front of the building we were at not twenty feet from where we were sitting. I realized very quickly that this was a holy procession that was celebrating what I believe to be Semana Santa or "Holy Week" which is the week before Easter. I was uncomfortable. I know we weren't doing anything wrong (the building we were in front of wasn't even a church), but the little Catholic boy inside me said that there was something sinfully wrong about drinking a bottle of wine on the steps of a building that has a crowd of 300 people signing psalms and clutching holy relics in front of it. Apparently, I was alone in my sentiments. Kyle stood up on the steps and began snapping pictures of the crowd while a few of my other compatriots continued to consume and giggle through the event. I hid my bottle behind me and tried to blend in with the stone.
Although I found the procession to be very interesting and I was fairly certain they wouldn't come back I was a huge advocate for the "no more drinking in public squares tonight" campaign. Thankfully everyone felt similar and we all decided to go to a bar called Naima which Jenna and Emily frequented.
When we arrived at Naima Jenna and Emily introduced me right away to their friend and also the manager of the bar Sergio. Sergio and I got along right away and I ended up not having to buy a drink for the whole rest of the night. I also met Sergio's coworker and good friend Jermaine, a tall cross dressing black man with a diva's attitude that would make Tyra Banks shake in her boots. They were very interesting people to say the least.
After a drink or two, Alex, Josie and Kyle were ready to go back to Anna's, but Jenna said that she was probably going to stay a little while longer and I could crash at her place for the night if I needed to. So I did. We had a few more drinks then said goodbye to Sergio and Jermaine and walked back to her apartment.
I woke up on her couch early the next morning and had no idea how to get back to Anna's place. I also had left my phone in my bag at Anna's apartment and had no contact with the rest of my group, so I hung out with Jenna and Emily for a while. I took a shower and ate some cereal and watched some Italian television, I even helped them pick out the outfits they would be wearing to a fashion show that night (like that was a good idea on their part) and we set off for Anna's place. On our way I stopped to get a panini. I don't know why, but for some reason, the lady gave me a discount. I think it was the nice black shirt. When we got to Anna's I found out that Alex, Josie and Kyle had gotten on a train to some other small city near by and also that Anna was going to have a pre-fashion show get together with some of her friends. She also informed me that it was probably a good thing I stayed at Jenna's the night before because apparently they had a few more people than anticipated sleep at their place and there were about 6 extra people sleeping on various cushions and rugs and whatnot scattered about her apartment.
The pre-fashion show party came and went fairly uneventfully and soon I found myself all alone in Anna's apartment. I decided to pack my stuff and read a bit and within a half hour my three travelling buddies had returned and it was about time to get on the train for Munich.
Florence was a great city. Lots of beautiful sights and art and I had a great time. I would have to say that my two favorite things to see were the statue of David and also this other statue I saw in the garden that was of a fat guy riding a turtle. David was actually unbelievable and I was much more impressed with it than I anticipated. It was absolutely huge and the amount of detail that it had was amazing. You could see veins in his arms and toenails and everything. The fat guy on a turtle was just funny.

Tomorrow's post will include the train ride to Munich (which won't be much) and then all of the stuff about Munich.

And now, pictures jumping on trampolines! (Shameless Man Show reference...)