Tuscany, in general terms

Good Afternoon and Good Morning All!
This is another post (and yes it has been awhile) from Michael

Hello Follower's of our fantastic adventures. I hope this blogging finds you well, in good spirits and good health. I hear that the Spectre of Swine Flu has ripped through the country of our Mexican friends to the far south. I am saddened, if not surprised to hear about the recent developments. I think everyone should take this as a warning not to fraternize with Swines (pigs, or pretentious English gentlemen) as well as all manner of Mexicans. Anyway, now that i have appropriately warned you, i will move on to our adventures.

Florence, Florence - it's a hell of a town, The Duomo's up, and the gypsies are down. Florence, Florence...Florence Florence!!!

Having just come from a week of staying in hotels and eating out everyday (not that it was a bad thing, other than the costs involved), it was nice to arrive in at our hostel in Florence. We were staying in an apartment style, which means we had our own bedroom, shared two bathrooms with the rest of the floor, and a common kitchen. We did luck out though. The hostel appeared to be brand new, and because of that - empty. This is a great thing if you enjoy your own space, as most people tend to. So, since were the only people on our floor, it was a lot like having our own apartment. We did some cooking and got to leave things in the fridge.

Florence is a town that was ruled for years by successive generations of the Medici family, so they have left there permanent stamp on the city. Along with being brutal tyrants, warlords and cunning merchants, they were also great lovers of the arts. One of the greatest galleries of Renaissance art can be found at the Uffizi, directly across from the Palazzo Vecchio ( The Old Palace) which each Medici lived in. The Gallery and the Palace are also connected by a underground passage (for those in need of a 3am - 'cruxifiction painting fix'). The city features many works by Michelangelo, including the famous David, and more 'Baby Jesus with the Virgin Mary' paintings than one person could possibly digest in a single day. But the city was indeed beautiful and the people were every friendly and generally helpful. Expect one day, when Rose and I had just finished up using the Internet, we heard wailing that could wake up the dead - followed by cries of 'MUSAFA NO!'. As we poked our heads in the street we saw several people trying, in vain, to restrain an incredibly angry young man, bent on stabbing someone who we could only assume was the ill fated Musafa in question. As the crowd of people grew, and slowing careened down the rather narrow alleyway towards us, we - along with many other passer-bys, decided that it was most likely in our best interest not to get stabbed that night, and began walking purposefully down the street. As we walked away, we continued to hear the shouts of, 'Musafa NO!', but now they mixed with the sirens of the pursuing local police. I assume Musafa got away, and that the young man in question spent a rather rough night with the police. I don't know what Musafa did to deserve such treatment, but I composed a song in his honour on our Spanish/Italian cellphone (contact me directly after we return to hear it for yourself).