My Favorite Hostel in Florence

I've stayed in hostels all over the world, but the one that sticks out the most is the Hostel David Inn Florence in Florence, Italy. Florence itself was beautiful and my experience was made even better by staying at this particular hostel. Nadia greeted me by name with cookies at the ready. She was very welcoming, the beds were clean, the people were nice and there was a kitchen available for my use. I personally like to have a kitsch available so I can save some money and cook my own dinner

I really connected with the other guests and actually wound up going out to eat with people from Canada, Japan and Korea too! It was a really amazing experience. It almost felt more like staying at grandma's house than a hostel.

Here I am (right) with Nadia (center) and a new Canadian friend!

The hostel was much smaller and intimate than most hostels I've stayed at. I actually found that I liked it! The only downside was there weren't any lockers available and I tend to like to lock up my bag before heading out for the day. Other than that, it was great! It definitely helped that I was staying with a great group of travelers, but Nadia (the host) was very sweet and even offered to do my laundry at no charge because it rained and I got soaked! I ended up just line drying my clothes, but it was a very genuine and kind gesture.

The hostel was also remarkably close to several must-see sights! It was a short walk away from the legendary Duomo and it was literal steps away from the museum where the Statue of David was housed. Nadia was always ready to offer advice on where to go, what to see and of course, help us find the best gelato!

All in all, Florence was a wonderful experience, and I'm lucky to have found such a welcoming and affordable place to stay. If you'd like to plan your own adventure to Florence (hostels or hotels) I'd be happy to help! MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.

Venice to Florence 1/5

Today was the greatest. I managed to navigate my way through the city and find the most beautiful bookstore I have ever seen. It was just absolutely unbelievable. I can't believe how many books there were! They were stacked all over the place! They were stored in random things like bathtubs and gondolas! This may be my favorite part of my whole trip. I grabbed me a beautiful old book by Sinclair Lewis as the perfect souvenir. When I went to cehck out there was a cat eating breakfast where you should pay and a very Italian man smoking away. He told me "If women are flowers, you are a bouquet." Craziness! There was also a weird erotica section... It was quite the experience and probably my favorite part. It was quirky and literary! There was even a staircase built of books out back so you could climb up and watch the gondolas go by! BEAUTIFUL. You could also watch the gondolas from the best reading nook in the world...

Anyway, afterwards I husteld back to my hostel and grabbed my stuff and headed off to Florence! I got to the train station alright and boarded with no trouble at all - except apparently I left my toiletry bag... Womp Womp. I have everything else including my makeup and liquids. I'm really just out my shampoo bar (Which wasn't all that great actually - I don't think I like this variety as much as the green kind), my deoderant, tooth brush and toothpaste, and my hairbrush. All in all less than $10 worth of stuff. Hey if I have to lose something that's the bag I would choose to lose. I must have missed packing it in my bag. You can bet I'll be triple checking when I pack up from Florence!

Once I was in Florence I got to my hostel, no problem. My first stop was a grocery store to stock up! Now I won't have to buy breakfast, lunch or dinner for several days. That will save me a ton! I wandered about the Duomo and even bought myself a nice fancy leather jacket! I'm so excited about it. I have been trying to figure out what I want my big souvenir to be and I think I found the perfect. one ;)

Anyway, I go to see the statue of David first thing tomorrow morning so it's bed time for me!

Lots of love,
Malena