Elissa in Italy

Elissa's been in Florence for two weeks - sounds like things are off to a good start:

I am loving it here. I'm running about 5 or 6 miles a day every morning. My roommate thinks I am a little crazy in that I do a core workout most nights and I use the exergenie pretty frequently. I have yet to find a decent gym (the only one I found close to my apartment is called Nordical and has huge posters of Arnold Schwarzenegger all over the place and no women seem to go there. Scary.) but I did find a good swimming pool. I plan on finding a way to swim more frequently, but the great thing about Florence (and Italy in general) is that I am constantly on my feet and walking everywhere. Last weekend I think we walked about 8 miles in Pisa and Lucca just going to look at churches. I know this is not exactly typical training, but I sure do feel the walking in my calves! Anyway, this weekend I am hiking in Cinque Terra on Saturday. This is a hilly hike through five coastal towns and it is about 7 miles from one end to the other. I was planning on walking one direction with my friends, giving them my bag while they take the bus back to the first one, and then running back in the other direction. Should be fun.