Last day in Florence + Pisa + being detained...

Our last day in Florence was really fun for a few reasons.

First of all it stormed, which you might be thinking...

"oh yea that's totally not something you'd want happening on your holiday"

Well I personally love a little storm, this Texas girl has missed her

thunderstorms since they rarely happen in England.

The only downer to the downpour was lines.

We had to stand in one line for over two hours

which is when the rain started to creep in.

Thankful for umbrellas!!

The other reason I loved our last day in Florence

was because it was our museum day.

That may sound nerdy but Tom and I are culture vultures

and we really wanted to see a few indoorsy things before we had to leave.

The image above is of the line we waited in for over two hours

just to climb to the tippy tip top of the Dome of the Duomo.

So we waited in line so we could climb a bajillion stairs.

It's like waiting in line for a workout.

It's really crappy!!

However the view at the top was well worth it.

It was even worth it to Tom who's not a fan of the tiny

spiral staircases we had to climb that he barely fit into.

After climbing the Dome we headed over to The Accademia 

which is where Michelangelo's David resides.

A tip to anyone wanting to visit this museum..

General admission is 11euro and you get to wait in a really

really really long long line.

A reservation ticket with a specific time for you to show up

is 15 euro and it's a short little baby line.

I'm confused as to who would pass that up.

After standing in a two hour line for the Dome we

got ourselves some reserved tickets and i'm so glad we did!!

I never really put much thought into the David.

Maybe it's because i've seen loads of Statues before

and while they're all amazing "The Thinker, Venus De Milo"

They were what I expected and pretty normal to me.

However, that's not really the case with The David.

When we entered the museum he was not in sight at first.

You round a corner and the BAM, helllloooo David.

You're not supposed to take photos of the statue,

there are loads of security lining this hallway in pursuit of

all disobeyers of the no photo law...

I really didn't want to but in the end I had to...

This epic statue was large, like huge, so much bigger than this picture lets on.

We took a little time to just sit and take him in

like the snobby art people that we are ;)

I just kept thinking how amazing it is

that talents like Michelangelo were truly cherished

enough to save their work for the future generations to see.

I mean just think of how much we'd be missing out on

if the people who kept these treasures alive had not done so.

It's just mesmerizing to sit in the midst of a great artist like Michelangelo,

it's something i'll remember forever.

After this museum we were real tired from all of the standing in lines

and walking up spiral staircases so we took a nap.

Afterwards we went to dinner at a swanky Italian Restaurant 

that we were literally lured into..

We were looking at the menu and this peppy woman came out

and pretty much stunned us with her pep that we couldn't say no...

The place was real fancy and we...well...were not.

We got two decently priced salads and a side of fries.

All class I tell ya!!

We then took to the streets of florence to find the other Statue of David.

The fake one that sits or stands in the Piazza Della Signoria.

Well here's a fun story...

On our way to the other David

I realize that I really need to pee.

TMI, so sorry.

But it's true.

I needed to pee so bad, like tears bad.

Like Tom almost saw me in tears because

that's how badly I needed to pee.

Tom was really wanting to go see the square and I

was seriously considering leaving him to find it while I

ran as fast as I could back to the hostel, or into another fancy restaurant...

whichever came first...

He mentioned a museum that was near the square so maybe it had a bathroom.

The square was closer than the hostel so I stuck with Tom.

We got to the museum and it was still open at like 10pm??

So strange but i'm not complaining...So we go in and I see a restroom sign.

PRAISE!!!!

I see a sign as I get closer and it states that you must be a ticket holder to use the restroom...

At that moment. in that museum, I really almost

collapsed unconscious because of my need to pee.

The world was against me in my hour of need!!

Tom, the hero that he is, bought us tickets to the museum

so I could use the bathroom and so he could see the museum ;)

I get to the bathroom and the ladies one is being cleaned...

I won't lie...I was all wet from rain already, there was very little

stopping me from just peeing right there.

I'm all about honesty.

I went out to Tom, tears in my eyes and said it's being cleaned.

He told me to use the men's room...

HA! I'll hold it...

Thankfully there was a disabled toilet

that I was able to use once the woman who took about

a million years in there finally came out...

Now that I think about it I'm pretty sure I cut in front of two women

to get into that disabled toilet...

Sorry bout that...

Anyways, so the pee landed us at the Palazzo Vecchio.

Which turned out to be a really cool museum.

It was actually once home to the Medici family.

Soooooo thanks pee??? 

The Museum is open till Midnight which is awesome.

There was only about 10 other people in there with us.

Definitely something to see if you're in the area.

Plus it has a really cool room with old maps and a globe

that i'm basically obsessed with.

After the museum we wandered the streets back to our hostel

feasting on Nutella filled waffles and sights of the Duomo.

Florence was amazing.

I'm so glad we were able to explore it

together as first timers.

The next day we set off to Pisa to

hunt down the Leaning Tower before we

had to jet off to England.

We walked from the Train Station in Pisa

to the Leaning Tower.

It's about a 15 minute walk, not bad at all.

The Tower was amazing.

I love seeing places i've read about my whole life.

You kind of get chills like when you see the Eiffel Tower for the first time.

It's really cool, and it's really leaning.

I wanted all three of us in the picture...

Tall boyfriend and tall tower don't leave much room for a little Emily...

Pisa was great, we were only there for a little over an hour

but it was more than enough time to take in the sights.

We were now on our way back to England.

Should be easy right???

Remember that one time that I came over here???

And I was really nervous about customs thinking I was crazy

for staying over here for so long???

Yea, so I was detained at Liverpool Airport.

The woman who decided I was detaining worthy was actually really nice.

She just had MAJOR concerns that I was trying to permanently dwell in the UK.

I didn't have my return flight information on me so I couldn't prove to her

that I did have a return flight...

I was finally able to when Tom gave me his phone right

before he was led away by a random customs guy who apparently told him..

"Come on sir, out in the waiting room, she's fine, she can't go anywhere"

I was detained...It felt scary but also thrilling.

I won't lie I got a little adrenaline rush from it but I don't plan on making it a regular occurrence.

The woman asked if she could speak to Tom to verify my story

and I told her, with a bit of an attitude...

"Oh, you just missed him, he was just whisked away by your men"

Said with a smile...

She asked for a photo of him so she could go find him, I showed her

and off she went to find Tom...

She told me to sit and wait by the line that I was now holding up.

Whoops, sorry guys, I know you have places to be but this

lady thinks i'm a criminal sooooo.....

It was awkward..

Finally she comes back, she found Tom, everything lines up...

She however still has big concerns...

Probably because she see's the love in our eyes

and however could a couple this adorable be separated 

by an ocean for any length of time???

Trust me lady, I know how you feel...

But in the end she just said that i'm not

to enter the UK again for another 6 months.

Duh, I won't...Tom's coming to Texas lady!!

Sheeeesh...

So yea, we're back, i'm a free woman...

however i'm pretty sure they've got a red flag next to my name...

Oh the adventures of living abroad.

;)