Meeting new friends

I quickly realized one of the best parts of being in Europe is going to be meeting wonderful new friends. Couchsurfing happen to have their monthly meeting in Florence on my second day in Italy. It was so fun meeting travelers from all over the world. I especially enjoyed meeting Nico, a Frenchman studying in Germany, and Phillip and Rui, two guys from Portugal. I invited them to meet me the next day for a tour of the Accademia to see Michaelangelo's David. The next morning I got up early to visit the Uffizi Museum before meeting the guys. As I was walking thru the exhibit, I noticed a gal walking next to me. I quickly noticed her Rick Steves Florence book and realized that we were both listening to Rick Steves' audio tour of the Uffizi. I decided that she must be a kindred spirit. :) At the end of the tour, I walked up to her as I do with strangers all the time and asked, "so, how do you like Rick Steves?" That question was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. We had lunch together and she joined me in meeting up with the guys and hung out the whole day. Here we are eating gelato, again! Sadly, we lost Michelle when she went back to her hotel to get something and couldn't find each other again. I ended up having dinner with the guys lamenting our loss of Michelle and had to drink lemoncello without her. :)