Photoless Florence post

Again I'm using a hostel computer that doesn't allow me to attach my camera. I'd love to be uploading all my pub challenges right now, but maybe I'll get a chance later tonight. Instead I'll decribe all the things I've done in the meantime.
Yesterday I got up way too early due to a stinking hot room after having gone to bed at 4 in the morning. So what did I decide was the best thing to do whilst incredibly tired with a headache in 30+ degree humid heat? Walk across the whole city and climb things of course!
Leading across the river, Fiumo Arne, is a fascinating bridge, lined on either side by overpriced goldsmiths. Originally the shops on the bridge had been stinking butchers, but as it became a main throughfair the then ruler of the city decided to replace them with the more sanitary jewellers that still take up residence there today.
Walking along the far bank one comes across a steep road leading up into the hills and to the Piazzale Michaelangelo with yet another copy of the statue of David and offering spectacular views of the city.
Heading back into the city I passed by the Cathedral - Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Flore. That's the tastelessly ornate cathedral in my last post. Thinking I hadn't looked at the city from above enough yet I decided to climb the free-standing bell tower. I wasn't disappointed by the climb this time, unlike the boring elevator in the tower in Venice. In fact it was an incredibly hard slog, and I was thoroughly soaked in sweat by the time I got back down.
And then the monsoon came. About five minutes after I stepped back out onto the street the heavens opened up and it bucketed down like I haven't seen it in a very long time. But whereas everybody else hid under their umbrellas and tried to find whatever shelter they could, I marched gladly into the refreshing rain as if I was reenacting that scene from the Shawshank Redemption. I became thoroughly saturated, but utterly refreshed. Those wimps hiding under the shadow of nearby buildings didn't know what they were missing out on.
So then I returned to the hostel, hung my dripping wet clothes next to a pedestal fan and had a long nap. When I got up I went to a pub. That was my second day in Florence.
This morning I decided to actually go into the giant Cathedral. I waited in line for about twenty minutes, and the interior was kinda boring. However entry was free, so it didn't bother me. I did have to pay 3 Euro for the crypt though, but at least that was interesting. It wasn't actually so much a crypt as the excavated remains of the original 5th century church which the current 13th century building replaced. Large sections of broken mosaic floor lay about everywhere and it was interesting to try and reconstruct in my mind how the original church looked.
Stay tuned later for an update with pictures, pub challenge and the rest of my day today in Rome!