Chianti/Florence (Tuscany), Italy

Warning: the first part of this blog was writen when I was sick and tired.
I caught the 3hr train to Florence instead of the 1hr train, because it was cheaper and so I could just relax. When I finally arrived in Florence (worst train station yet-barely any signs), I thought "this is not how I pictured Tuscany". Thankfully I was staying at a hostel out of the city, in the middle of nowhere. The bus ride there had much better scenery and that was when I was convinced that I was in Tuscany. It wasn't easy getting here though. First the station, then of course the one time i didn't make a copy of the directions to the hostel, they get erased from my iPod. Luckily there was an Internet cafe nearby and then the bus driver was really nice and droped me off pretty much in front of the hostel, otherwise who knows where I would have ended up. But the problems didn't end there. It was freezing outside and the hostel's heating system was practically non existant. So I thought a nice warm shower would help...nope. The maximum temperature was more like medium and the pressure was pathetic. I came out of the shower colder than when I got in. Then my one last hope for something good was shatered when I found out the Internet wasn't working. Checking my emails is probably one of my favourite things to do on this trip. I would end up just going to bed (froze the entire night) and decided to call this day as it is: a crappy one.
Friday, Victoria, myself & Betty (girl I'm staying with here in Tuscany) caught a bus to Siena. It was still freezing (it ended up snowing at night) and I don't own a sweater. I bought a scarf in the meantime. Turns out Siena was kinda boring. I enjoyed the bus ride more, because it was heated and the scenery was nice, but I can get that at the hostel. Today I should have taken the bus to Siena, then another to Pisa and then a bus back to the hostel, because at this point I'm not going all the way back out just for Pisa, there isn't enough there. Tonight the Internet was working (yay!), so I wanted to catch up on my emails and blogs, but there's a group of young rowdy german guys staying here and they were celebrating their friend's birthday and wanted us girls to join them. But they're very polite, I hope they are a preview of what i should expect of German hospitality. %%%%
Saturday was the first day that I did absolutely nothing touristy. Well I went for a little walk so that I wouldn't be in the hostel all day. But it was still so cold. I wore my jacket and scarf in the hostel all day. But this rest has done me some good, I'm finally starting to feel better. I also learned that Germans really like fishing and when they hear Canada first thing that comes to mind is "good fishing in Canada". It's going to be weird going back to the city tomorrow.
So I have to start paying attention to what day of the week it is. I knew before hand that Sundays had a reduced time table, but I didn't know that it was Sunday. So I spent another day at the hostel waiting for the 4pm bus. I thought I was so clever putting the directions of the hostel from the bus station on my iPod, but I started walking in the complet wrong direction. After 20 minutes trying to ask people where to go, I gave up, walked back to the train station and caught a cab, because I couldn't breath at this point my lungs hurt so much. Tonight I met a couple of other Canadians. It was great how we just instantly clicked. It's also really easy to connect with Australians.
Monday, one of the Canadians and I wandered Florence. It was a nice city, but again I felt like I got my dose within a day. Next was Venice. At this point I'm starting to feel like everything looks the same. I'd rather experience the culture than visit the touristy sights.