Our group consisted of 3 of my roommates and 2 other girls from our program. Our train had been delayed by 2 hours leaving Rome, so we sat and enjoyed some drinks at the train station. We finally left Rome at 10:30 pm and arrived in Florence around midnight. We knew our hostel was only ten minutes walking distance, so we weren't too worried. However, walking into the hostel was a different story. It was pretty dingy, VERY smelly, and tiny. That night was pretty rough, and I actually slept with my coat over my head because the smell was horrible! Thankfully, my roommate Katie told her mom about it that night and by the morning her mom had booked us a new hotel for the following night. The next morning we packed up our stuff and left around 9 am to check into the new hotel. After putting our stuff in our new room, we headed out to explore the city.
First, we visited the Duomo. We went all the way to the top, 432 steps! And obviously the views were amazing! After taking a multitude of pictures with everyone, we made our way back down, and decided to go to see the Ponte Vecchio, the picturesque bridge full of little shops. They were mostly very expensive jewelry shops :( but it reminded me of something out of beauty and the beast, or a little quaint town in France.. just a very cool and unique place! We decided to walk to Piazza di Michaelangelo, a square that overlooks Florence in its entirety. We climbed up a series of steps that had the stations of the cross along side with the Tuscany countryside in the background.
These steps led us to the square up on the hill, and this was when I had my "Oh my gosh, I'm living in Italy. I'm living in this beautiful and historic place" moment. I was absolutely in awe of the view.
I can't even appropriately describe how breathtaking it was, to see the elegant and timeless countryside existing right next to the city of Florence, with its orange rooftops cramped together and gathered around the Duomo and the surrounding cathedrals. It was something I had only seen in pictures, and I knew I was very blessed to have the opportunity to visit the historic and magnificent city and take it all in for myself. It was a truly humbling experience, one that I will absolutely never forget.
After being blown away by the view, we made our way back down the hill, and decided to climb the tower right next to the Duomo. This tower had 416 steps and we felt every single one. It was a pretty rough climb (we're all extremely out of shape given all the pasta consumed so far) but we made it! It was so windy up there, we didn't stay too long. Just enough for a few more pictures. After that, we were pretty burnt out so we headed back to the hotel and picked a place for dinner. We went to a place right on the river which had a great view of the Ponte Vecchio, needless to say it was full of carbs and chianti which were both GREAT. That night, we explored a few local clubs where the students go and had a lot of fun all together!
The next day, we visited the local leather markets and vendors and explored some backstreets before visiting the David. The detail and the size of the statue was incredible, I still can't believe how he created that! It was so impressive! We got lunch at Gusta Pizza near the river and it was the best pizza I've had so far, HANDS DOWN. Holy moly it was delicious, I highly recommend it!
All in all, my step counter said we walked over 20 miles on Saturday. My calves are still burning from all the stairs (~1700 steps in total). It was an exhausting, but very fun and amazing weekend. We ended up getting back to our apartment in Garbatella around 10 pm.
Today after Italian class, I had my At Home in Rome class, which is a culture & history class about the city of Rome. It is basically a 3 hour block every week touring the city with our own tour guide ( aka professor K. ). She is an amazing story teller and I've already learned so much history about the city. We went to so many places! We went to the Vittoriano, also known as the wedding cake because of its appearance, to Piazza Navona which was featured in Angels and Demons, which has the fountain where a cardinal was almost drowned. However, the fountain isn't that deep and it couldn't have happened.. haha. We saw Piazza Fornese and Piazza Argentina. That is where Julius Caesar was stabbed to death! Finally we saw the Pantheon. Did you know that the Pantheon currently standing is the 2nd version built in 118 a.d because the first was destroyed? Me either!
I swear, I learn more in a 3 hour span on a tour of the city, than I would in a month in a classroom back in Michigan.
I love this place more and more every day.
Although, it would be nice to understand the language and be able to efficiently communicate with locals. I can't wait to go to Spain and finally be in my element with the language and my love of Spanish music. Hopefully I'll make it there soon!
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