So our apartment is wonderful (pictures soon to come!!) But we were missing a few miscellaneous things here and there. One of the most important were hangers! We have a bar in our room to hang our clothes but nothing to hang them with. We searched all over the city to find hangers. We went in dollar stores and supermarkets but could never find them. So we decided that this morning (Sunday morning) we (Kat, Karyssa and I) were going to take a 20 minute bus ride to Ikea to get these simple things for cheap!
We had head that there was a free bus that left from the train station that stops right in front of Ikea. So we got up early and walked to the train station. Once we got the the right bus stop (which took us awhile to find asking a few people in my broken Italian how to get there) we realized that the bus on Sunday only comes every hour on the hour. And at that time it was 10:10. A guy at the stop overheard our dilemma and said the bus he was going on stops about 2 minutes from Ikea. So we decided to wait since the bus was coming in about 5 minutes. Once we got on I held onto my bags LIKE CRAZY! There were a lot of odd people on the bus and I definitely didn't want to be pit-pocketed.
All was fine and dandy on the bus until we realized that this particular bus we were on was not free. We saw people with tickets in there hands and we started to get nervous, since there was a sign that said there was a 240 euro fine for those who did not have tickets. It took longer on the bus than we expected but finally we got off the bus (without or tickets being checked or being pit-pocketed) and a lady had said she was walking to Ikea so we followed her through a VERY sketchy area (sorry Mom)!! Luckily it was close and we saw the huge blue and yellow sign and I suddenly felt at ease. Luckily they had very cheap plastic hangers and other random things we needed. And we got cheap lunch there as well. We had to take the bus back though so our first bus experience was pretty much just like the first. Worried and scared of the people around us and of the bus driver checking tickets (since the only place where you can buy bus tickets are at stations and the tobacco shops) we still had no ticket for our return. Luckily we got off the hook and got a free sketchy bus ride to Ikea.
Moral of the store is..... I will not be riding the city buses in Florence anymore haha. The city is BEAUTIFUL but as soon as you drive 5 minuets outside it's very different, poor, and scary (at least for three 21 year old American girls on a bus with local older men). (Again... sorry Mom!!)
The rest of my day has gone better though!! I rested and took a quick trip to H&M and bought a few cute things :)
Ciao, Erica xoxo
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