hello from florence!!
a delight away from rome..
so: if you have a reservation for the Uffizi gallery, heres my suggestion: take the reservation, and either tear it up in very small pieces, or create a cool origami duck out of it. rick mentions the "200 yard line" of questionable IQ.. add another .5 miles..NO kidding, and three accross..as far as getting there 10 min before, make it 30, and possibly add another 10min, THEN wait in the OTHER line for about 15 min, THEN as a reward, you get to be neck deep in TOOOO many people, impossible to really enjoy anything.
the best deal: the Cezanne exhibit..uncrowded, and wonderful.
found a cool hostel: Soggiorno Pitti...45e single room, plus..for those whose ankles had enough stairwells, has a small elevator!! right next to internet cafe..BTW: did you know you can make calls to US for .37 via internet?..very close to the ugg..uffizi, laundry, cool local artists..
ciao
jim