Hello all! I know…..I know…. It’s been forever since I’ve posted. I have been very busy traveling, exploring, and o ya…midterms L. Rough life I know. I visited my friend Amanda in Florence Feb 27-30. I took the train for the first time and Amanda picked me up at the central station. The train was very peaceful but unfortunately it was dark when I was traveling. Thursday night we planned out our spring break trip, which is where I am going right now, and Amanda put to use her newly acquired cooking skills and cooked me an amazing Italian meal. We headed to bed early Thursday so that we could do some sightseeing on Friday morning.
I guess I didn’t realize how small Florence is. All of the main attractions are very close together. I am used to Rome where you spend 45 min on a bus going from place to place. Amanda and I walked around in the morning. She showed me her school, some different piazzas, and a couple markets. She attends a culinary school in Florence and it is very well known. I got to see the kitchens that they cook in and their tiny classrooms since food is a priority there. We walked to an indoor market that Amanda loves. It is 3 floors of fish, vegetables, meat, fruit, and pasta. It smelled a little funky because the meat and fish were the first floor, but it was a cool sight to see. This market was a lot less intimidating than the one in Barcelona. There were a lot less people and a lot more room in between the stands. I took this opportunity to try something different, and I got a bag full of different dried fruits. I have discovered that banana chips are my favorite.
After the fresh market, we ventured over to the leather markets. This was another thing that I wasn’t aware of about Florence, it is known for its good, but cheap, leather. In Rome there is a huge market but only early on Sunday mornings, so we don’t go very often lol. We walked around for a while just gazing at possible items to purchase, and I bought a few cashmere scarves that are made in Italy. We made our way over to the Museo D’Academia which is where Michelangelo’s famous statue “The David” is housed. The museum is really tiny, and really the only thing to see is the David. It is 17 feet tall, and is famous because it was the first statue of the Biblical David, to portray him as a strong man instead of a scrawny boy. The statue was originally supposed to be placed on top of a building and that is why it is so large. It was placed outside for a few years and then was seen as too beautiful to be outdoors and was moved inside. Leonardo DaVinci said it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Of course, like many beautiful things in Italy, we weren’t allowed to take pictures. There were guards everywhere telling children to be quiet and confiscating camera cards.
Florence is like what I initially pictured Italy to be like. The streets were very small, with few cars, and the lifestyle is even slower. ( Yes, I know….hard to believe) We went up to Michelangelo’s piazza to watch the sunset. It is a LONG hike up to the top of the hill. The piazza overlooks the entire city on one side, and the other side shows the hills of Tuscany. We saw a beautiful sunset with a couple of Amanda’s new friends, and headed home to cook some dinner.
Saturday morning Amanda’s friend Katherine was coming in from the States to visit. She went to pick her up at the airport, and I got up to explore. I made my way over to Ponte Vecchio, which means “old bridge”. It is a very famous bridge because it was constructed by the Medici family who was in rule for a long time. The Medici family was so powerful during its time that the Popes would avoid Tuscany all together when they were traveling north. The family was nervous of attack and sabotage that it created an above ground tunnel from their palace to other parts of town. The bridge has a tunnel overtop and cars are not allowed on the bridge. Jewelry stores now line the bridge along with a few gelato shops. I then went two streets over to the Duomo, which is their famous church. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed when I walked in. I have been spoiled by seeing the Vatican before other churches. I then slapped myself and said, Hello this church is better than any church in the States. I have to often remind myself where I am and how lucky I am to see sights like these. I opted out of climbing to the top because I wanted to save some things for when Sarah and Jaimie get here.
Afterwards, I walked back through the leather markets and narrowed my selection of purses down so that I could make a purchase later. I loved walking around Florence by myself. It was very relaxing and I was not rushed to do anything. I made my way back to the river, and sat for awhile. Amanda and Katherine had arrived, and they met up with me to show Katherine around. We looked at some shops, and made Katherine taste her first gelato. We showed her the streets and markets. I finally made a purchase, well two purchases. I bought a large black leather purse, and a white leather purse for the summer. I also bought a few more scarves because they are just so pretty, and they will be great gifts ;-)
We had to have pizza for dinner to have Katherine try it, and then went back to Amanda’s place. Katherine was exhausted so we took a nap before heading out for the night. Sunday morning I left early because midterms were the next week and I decided to finally look at my material.
Some of the things I didn’t like about Florence however, were all the Americans there, how small the actual city was, and the fact that Lent started that week and I gave up gelato!! I felt like I heard a ton more English in Florence and when I tried to speak Italian, they would respond in English. I didn’t like this very much. But overall it was a great weekend and I can’t wait to go back with Sarah and Jaimie.
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