After catching an early morning train out of La Spezia,
Lauren and I arrived into Florence at about 8 a.m., where we met up with our
group for the next two days. Our first stop, of course, was breakfast and the
closest option for us was a McDonalds, so we decided to try it’s Italian
counterpart. I think we can all attest that it is definitely better than
American McDonalds. I got a McToast, which had prosciutto and cheese, and I
loved it.
We ventured into the center of town, where our hostel was
located and immediately became pleasantly surprised at our accommodations. Our
hostel private room consisted of a two-story loft, with two beds on each story.
Definitely cannot complain about any of our places we stayed over the course of
the whole weekend.
We then decided to just venture out into the city and take
in all the initial sites. These included the outer views of the beautiful Duomo
cathedral, the Ponte Vecchio bridge, and the random beautiful architecture all
over the city.
(Side note: the Ponte Vecchio bridge is one of the four
bridges in the world that has shops and cafes on it. As previously stated,
Lauren and I went to another one of the four in Baths, England, so now we’ve
gone to two out of four. Just two left!!)
Next we hiked our way up to Piazza Michelangelo, which
overlooks the entire city of Florence and gives some more amazing views. We
also took a quick flight to China and saw the Great Wall of China. (Well,
Florence’s version…)
Next, upon the recommendation of a friend, we went to this
hole-in-the-wall deli style sandwich place. We were immediately struck by the
sheer line that wove down the street coming from the tiny little place. When we
ate the sandwiches though, we immediately saw why it was so popular. They were
amazing! Mine had freshly sliced prosciutto with a mound of fresh veggies,
spiced vegetables, and olive oil all on fresh baked bread.
After stuffing ourselves with this lunch, and of course
gelato, we went inside the Duomo. The inside was just as impressive as the
outside, with a breathtaking painting inside the dome of the Cathedral.
(Another side note: apparently, it’s not acceptable to show your knees or
shoulders in many churches in Europe, so some of us had to don modesty ponchos,
and a couple of us had to tie jackets around our knees.)
We spent the rest of the afternoon just venturing around the
city taking in the sites and also hitting up the open market, which is full of
the three things Florence is known for: leather, gold, and scarves. I can say
that I did not give into temptation and buy any of these, even though the
vendors thought they could tempt me with calling me a basketball player.
Apparently in their minds, that would automatically make me want to buy things from them.
After working off the big lunch we had, we all made our way
to another restaurant we were recommended to. This one was Gusta Pizza and is
widely regarded as one of the best pizza places in Florence. Luckily we made
reservations, because the line was out the door once again, and this small
little restaurant definitely offers the best pizza for 7 pounds could ever buy.
After all finishing our pizzas, we got gelato (again..) and
walked to the river to watch the sunset. The Italian sunset was absolutely
beautiful and the perfect ending to our day.
After, we met up with some more friends that were in
Florence and went out to celebrate one of their birthdays. Lauren and I made a
vow that we would receive flowers from random Italian men, and our vow paid off
as displayed below. (Or we just asked to take a picture with a bouquet a guy
was selling.. one of the two.)
After such a crazy weekend, we decided to take an easy next
morning and split up to all just do what we individually wanted. For me, that
involved roaming down the random Florence side streets and venturing into all
the cute little shops that sold a variety of things from mosaics to leathers to
paintings to antiques.
When I first got into Florence and saw the river, I saw that
there was an area down actually on the river that had a covered patio and
lounging on a small green patch. Since it was a very nice day out, I decided to
find my way down there. I saw an open door with a staircase going down, so I
explored down and found a lavish indoor lounge with 3 bars and a restaurant. I
kept walking through and eventually found the exit to the riverside seating.
After sitting there for a while, I noticed that everyone was staring at me and
that there wasn’t a single non-Italian to be seen. As I was leaving, I looked
around and saw only Italian posts and signs. I exited the door only to see a
sign for the first time that said something along the lines of not a public
place in Italian, and found out that I had broken into a private society only
for Florence citizens. Guess that’s what they get for leaving the door open…
After this realization, I hastily made my way back to the
hostel where I met up with the group and we made our way to get one last
amazing Italian meal before our flight. We went to this pasta restaurant where
I got Fettuccini Bolognese that was to die for. Everyone else thought the same
of their dishes, until Cat started to have an allergic reaction to hers and had
to be rushed away to the hospital. Granted the fact that we only had an hour
till we had to be at our flight, we all had to leave Cat and Meg in the hands
of the Italian doctors. They ended up having to stay an extra night in Florence
and came back the next day. Thank god she was alright, but next time I don’t
think she will take the phrase food to die for so literally…
We had a smooth journey back to London and are now resting
up for Paris adventure this next weekend!
Cheers,
Elyse
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