studentsineurope

Finger Puppets and Silent Discos in Florence

What a show it was!

Sometimes while you are backpacking around Europe you just can’t find a good party. Whether it is because you are trying to save money by not going out, because you are in a small town on the wrong night, because you are there at the wrong time of year or simply due to bad luck you should keep in mind that there are always a few people in the same boat.

In Florence I was having a few drinks with a couple of like minded individuals in my hostel but we didn’t want to splurge on a night on the town because, lets face it, we were all backpackers on a tight budget. But how can you continue to enjoy yourself and have a good night when it is getting late in a hostel that has multiple guests trying to sleep just through the wall of the common room?

Who needs the clubs?

Don’t give up hope! If you can’t find a spot that is big enough, and more importantly sound proof enough, for all your antics then you can always improvise. On this occasion we utilized the growing fad of the silent disco. Instead of blasting tunes out of speakers that would surely draw complaints we all scurried off and gathered up our ipods and mp3 players and met back in the common room to dance around like lunatics…as quietly as possible. Swapping music and trying to sync up our dance moves ended up being one of the funniest and most entertaining times I had at night in the city, including the bars and clubs that I visited.

As the disco started to wind down there was nothing to do but take some crazy photos with the finger puppets one of the girls had recently acquired. There is nothing like an international finger puppet show to round off a good night. In fact it is little toys and accessories like these that often spark all sorts of conversation and introductions in hostels and among backpackers. So if you are bored with nothing to do in a hostel just get everyone to have a look through their backpacks. The right people can have a good time with all sorts of little trinkets.