Hostel Life in 7 Santi – Florence

I had quite an interesting time at Hostel 7 Santi. Nights were spent explicitly loitering around the hostel in Florence chatting with fellow travelers, drinking wine, smoking, and *smoking*.

It all started with me and Scruffy going for smokes and would linger out in the cold patio just outside the main entrance of the hostel. I for some reason decided to ensure my good night sleep in a 10 bed dorm by indulging myself with 99cents wine box every night. Instead of bottles the Italians do sell wine in a box in supermarkets like those of milk cartons and I chose the cheapest stuff they had. It tasted great to me but heck I was not a wine drinker. I barely touch the stuff in my life till I reach Italy and have yet to develop the fine art of tasting wine.

So we have Scruffy with smokes and his bottle of water and me and a box of wine. We chat about almost anything under the sun from people, lifestyle, culture, and politics to lame shits. People would walk by every night since it was just outside the main door and one by one like bees to honey they would somehow join in to chill and entered our vast and sometime disturbing discussion. At the peak point I would have counted a dozen or more in the group.

Some of the interesting stories I remembered …. *Drum roll* ….

The Backpackers Story

This was unavoidable. As new blood joined in the fun their individual background story of why travel would be shared and likewise the rest would share a brief summary of theirs. Most were just traveling to see the world and each would have their reasons. Information was always good as people exchange experience and learns of new cheaper ways to survive the harsh backpacking budget.

Go to the Vatican on the last Sunday of the month …. It’s free …. (My small contribution)

I am a writer, professional wine taster, love spliff, teacher in a university ….

The hands down best story teller of the group goes to *Dopey*. Dopey was in my dorm entering the same day as Puppy Eyes but only joined us at night during chill time. The first day he was a writer from Genoa, Italy whom had retreated to Florence for inspiration and alone time to write. He was the center of focus …. Maybe it was the big stash of hash and spliff he had on him. Still without a doubt he was interesting as hell.

His English was not the best being Italian but he would manage with the little vocabulary he had with pantomime of charades. Italian also had a hundred and one facial and hand expression which somehow everyone could understand. His interest in practicing English was commendable, ignoring all the laughter. His obsession of a phrase that would make Scruffy teach him time after time:

“I am rolling a spliff”

The second day he was a professional wine taster. Dopey finally barked at me for drinking dirt cheap wine in Italy. It disgusted him I could even swallow the vile stuff. It tasted fine to me by the way.

“I am expert wine taster; tomorrow I bring you good wine. Throw that away”, Dopey said.

I was not going to waste a good box of wine so I continue drinking. He did however the next night procure a bottle of wine to his liking and shared with all of us. The clan all gave the *muaks* sign for good. Lacking the taste bud I could still tell the difference. Still I was contended with cheap wine but the next night I upgraded to a bottle. Still dirt cheap!

The third day, he introduced himself as a university lecturer … I gave Scruffy the look … Yep best story teller of all time. We enjoyed his company nonetheless

I am a Vegetarian

It took me a while before I realized Scruffy was vegetarian. Only when another girl from Australia *Lily* asked about food in Florence did I know he was vegetarian. He was the best food guide for her I guess. I never really thought much about it because I never had a need to eat meat or a requirement for anything when it comes to food. Thinking about it I followed Scruffy for two days and didn’t realize I was eating a vegetarian diet.

They asked about Asian and vegetarian. You will fit right in I said. I have many friends who shun the meat for almost all reasons. From the types that just pick out the meat and put them aside to those who would allow themselves to eat egg and fish, to those who will not touch even garlic and onion. There could be a whole topic in writing just about vegetarian people but one thing is for sure … if you are a traveler … there will always be some compromise/sacrifice vegetarian or not.

Look Guys, I have an Ipad 3

*Booger* was an American backpacking around while testing the new Ipad 3.It was not out at that time and he was happily showing it off to people saying he was beta testing it for Apple and getting paid for it. He came across as an overconfident guy who knows it all with an aspiring view of trying to jump line into being an architect. Puppy Eyes was an architectural student … and didn’t say much about it.

He showed me his design and glowed about sustainability and modular recycling techniques. Thing was …. It was a poor sell like someone reading Google for a while and claims to be an expert in something.

“Nice design …. Might not be structurally stable thou”, I said

The European Goodbye

I could not remember the name of the guy who told this story; so shall he be named *Hornbi*.

Hornbi told his story very much close along the line of the movie Eurotrip. His main focus however was the crazy European sex that the movie depicted. Naturally his story brings him to a girl whom he had been traveling for a while and he had somehow developed a small feeling for her.

Random bump in hostel and deciding to travel together for a span of the backpacking journey is common. Sometimes it’s a hit and miss but you could always ditch with no hard feelings. Hornbi met a hot girl and traveled with her for a few days and actually told her the story of a European goodbye.

Meaning hot sex when you say goodbye in Europe

The girls respond with a laugh he said but replied that he won’t be getting any European goodbyes from her when the time comes. When the time comes however when she left him at the train station, he was somehow crazy enough to jump onto the train without his backpack or stuff and find the girl. He found her eventually before the train left the station and said his cheesy line of

“I have to have one of those European goodbyes”, Hornbi said to her

Hornbi claims that he had his European goodbye with the girl at the back toilet of the train and left before the train departed. That left everyone in the patio either laughing or giving him the raised glass.

He then eyed the girls whom all said … “NO WAY” …. *raise eyebrows**Grin*