Buona Pasqua

Well, it's Easter Sunday in Italia and it's actually pretty much a miracle that I'm a living, functioning person right now. Yesterday, Jones, Anderson and I went to Florence after our field trip to meet a friend of Anderson's who is studying in Edinburgh this semester and came to visit for his spring break (because some study abroad programs actually get a spring break, thanks for nothing UGA). We hop off the train in Santa Maria Novella, excited to drop our bags at the hotel and maybe run around Firenze for a little while before Rob was supposed to show up. This is the scene that unfolded in the hotel lobby, which was, by the way, a dump:
(Jones puts email confirmation on the desk)
(Man looks up)
Man: No.
Jones: Um, what?
Man: No.
Jones: No what?
Man: No reservation. No.
That's pretty much it. Turns out, the internet booking service we used was some sort of scam (or maybe the hotel was) and we had no reservation. I don't know if you've ever been in a major Catholic city the night before Easter, but hotel reservations (at least those under 500 euro) are not too easy to come by. Jones, Anderson and I spent the next 2 hours running around Florence looking for a hotel. We finally found one at about the 20th place we tried. It was a single room for 100 euro. We ended up putting 4 people in a room meant for 1. In America, this is not so much of a stretch, but in Europe, a single room means a single room. The bed was surprisingly big enough for 2, but the floor was hard wood. Also, there was very little space around the bed for sleeping, which meant that Rob and Anderson (later, I ended up switching with Anderson because of my inability to sleep in a bed with another human being) were a tad cramped. Actually, Anderson (later me) was fine, but Rob, whose nickname is Big Rob, may have felt a little squished. Also, hard wood makes sleeping on your stomach very painful, so Rob had to sleep on his back, which meant Rob snored. By "snored" I mean he made a sound like he was eating his snores. Luckily, we had gone to Tijuana that night. Tijuana is the only Mexican restaurant in Florence, and they have very good margaritas and cheese dip that tastes surprisingly like Cheetos. Well, before that we drank 2 bottles of wine at dinner and liquor drinks at the Lion's Fountain (not to be confused with the Lion's Well of Cortona). After the 2 pitchers of margaritas, we (and by 'we' I mean Jones and myself) decided we needed a pitcher of beer. Of course this all led to a rousing game of Never Have I Ever that got real graphic, real fast. After my giggle fit subsided, falling asleep was not a problem. Then I woke up and went to church. The scene from this morning, after I crawled out of the bathroom.
Anderson: How are you feeling?
Me: I think I'm dying.
Jones: There's a bottle of water in my backpack if you want it.
Me: Really?! THANK YOU.
Florence was cold and gray and rainy and we almost didn't make it back from the train station. It's been a long, silly 24 hours. I am so tired. Also, Anderson sleep in a belt, which is weird. It's just my opinion, but it's true.