Heading for the canals.

Oh, what a day! I got to spend the entire afternoon in the leather market for starters, which is always a plus in my books! And you should see my gorgeous new purse…and scarf…and bracelet…ok, so I went on a shopping spree. But I rather figure I'm getting all the things I held back on last time because I didn't want to have to carry them, and since this is so much shorter of a trip I feel comfortable carrying things. I held back on the coat though. All the ones I was drawn to were very similar to those I already own. And then later on several girls complimented the coat I was wearing and asked if I had bought it here in Firenze. I am, in fact, wearing my pleather jacket John bought me in Vegas last year. I think that is a massive win, and it makes me love this coat even more than I already did, which was a lot.
Later on in the evening I met up with Martha, which was exciting. She couldn't believe when I whipped out a six pack of bagels for her, including the last orange cranberry of the day from Monday. She's going to be the envy of the GU Florence kids, as they apparently all know her from the bagel shop and are always talking to her about bagels. I told her she should just walk down to breakfast with one tomorrow and tell them, "Yeah, the Ultimate Bagel delivers now. Even cross continent."
We had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant Martha had picked out. Free wine since she was a student. We caught up on gossip and had a lovely meal. I had the spaghetti alla carbonara and we made a toast to Jinnie who the meal reminded me of greatly. Then we had a slow amble back across the river, though we stopped on the pont for awhile to watch the sunset, and then went to Perche no! for dessert. Delicious as always, and Martha had never been! She said she hadn't been able to find it, so it was neat to show her a good little spot as well.
When I got back to my hostel, there were a couple of Argentinian girls in my room. They were very nice, and we commingled a conversation together between Spanish and English. They were pleased to hear that I could understand their English so well, though they said it was easier for them to understand Scottish accents than American ones. We had a very pleasant evening before they headed out for their last night in Florence. They were bound for Rome in the morning. I, however, had a wonderful nights sleep. I highly recommend that hostel to anyone staying in Florence, I've had fabulous experiences every night that I have stayed there.
I am now on the train to Venice, and I always am blown away by how beautiful the Italian countryside is. I am highly amused that every time I prepare to change locations I get really nervous, to where my stomach feels a little off kilter, but as soon as I step onto whatever my form of transportation is, I feel nothing but excitement. It's worth the anxiousness every time, though I still can't figure out why I feel like that each time. You think I would be over that by now.
I have been looking in my rail book that I picked up in London off my hostel's bookshelf to plan out the rest of my week. There is a sleeper train from Venice to Vienna every night that gets in at 8:30 in the morning. Not only that, but it is the only train on that route which stops at the station I need. This trip is just piecing together so beautifully! Now I just need to see if I can book that train for tonight as soon as I come into Venice. Then I can spend a whole afternoon exploring and travel all evening. Completely ideal. Plus the fact that I haven't taken a sleeper before, and I am rather excited for that. Hopefully it all works out, though I brought a list of Venetian hostels in my ipod just in case.
If these trains work out too, I may get to make a quick pitstop in Germany on my way north too! Do you think I could hit more cities any quicker than I am? Probably not, but I am loving every extra city I get to see. A lot of it will depend on Prague though, and how much I love it and how quickly I can get through the things I want to see. I probably will have to decided between the concentration camp and Germany though, and I think I'd rather see Germany. Less depressing, though I would be very interested in seeing the camp too. And I had been thinking of flying into Copenhagen, but now I'm thinking I'll still just train in. If I do, I get to go on a train ferry, which just sounds cool in my mind. Though that one would also be a night train, so I don't know how much of it I would see. You never know though. That is still several days out, and you all can see how at whim my travel plans are still changing. Rather impressive I think considering what a tight timeline I am on. Somehow though, I will make it all work.