Florence

Ah, finally made it to my final stop in Italy: Florence!! I arrived around 8:00 pm and easily found my hostel, a short two minute walk from the Duomo. So yes, I saw the Duomo for the first time, lit up, about five minutes after I had arrived in Florence. I gasped when I saw it. It is so beautiful and most definitely a sight to see. I had a feeling I was going to really love Florence. I settled in at my super trendy hostel, showered, and fell asleep. I woke up pretty early the next morning to make sure I could hit all the hot spots the city has to offer. I got some breakfast and was out the door. The first thing on my list was to check out The David. I made sure to get to the Accademia Galleries early before the line got too long. I bought my ticket, went inside, and BAM! There he was...just chillin’ under the dome, being absolutely gigantic and all. It really was incredible. As Lani put it, there is nothing like seeing the real deal. And she is so right. Even the replica is nothing like the original. I mean, the detail of the sculpture is incredible...the outline of the muscles, the veins in his hands! I stared in awe for quite some time, circling him, trying to wrap my mind around how creating something so amazing was possible. But I was sure to explore the rest of the gallery as well, which was also quite enjoyable. I then headed out to the leather market (where of course I bought nothing, for obvious reasons) and walked by the Medici Chapels. I then went inside the Santa Maria Novella, a beautiful basilica, both on the inside and out. From here I walked along the river and made my way over to Ponte Vecchio. This bridge is lined with fabulous jewelry stores and offers a great view of this part of the city. After crossing the bridge, I stopped for another delicious meal (tomato and mozzarella on some seriously great bread) and made my way to the Boboli Gardens. I checked out the Costume Museum which showcased examples of women clothing from the 1700s through today, and a few other small museums. I enjoyed all of these, but nothing compared to the gardens. It’s a bit of an uphill walk to the top of the gardens, but the rewarding view makes the trek totally worth it. At this point in the day, I was starting to feel a bit sleepy, so I enjoyed the view of Florence, and then popped in my headphones and found a nice shady spot on the grass. Now that’s carefree living! After about an hour, I decided I should do some more exploring so I visited another church and the synagogue of Florence; both were extremely beautiful. 

After a full day in Florence, I decided I really loved the city. It was definitely super touristy and full of lots of sorority girls studying abroad for the summer (which was a bit frustrating at times), but these small inconveniences were definitely outweighed by all this city offers. It’s a small city, very walkable, which I totally appreciated after five months of public transportation in Paris. It’s small but still big enough to offer enough excitement. The yellow and orange buildings offered a nice change up from Parisian architecture, and the cliché Italian feel was exactly what I was hoping for! And of course I stopped for some gelato. This time, I forewent the chocolate and opted for a fruity kind...shout out to my mom on this one, because the coconut flavor I got was to die for! 

Around 4:00, I headed back to the Duomo to meet up with my friend from UConn. She lived on my floor last year, and she is abroad in Florence for the summer. It was so nice to see a familiar face after having traveled by myself for so long. We hung out at her place for a while, and then we went to happy hour with some of her friends! We had lots of fun catching up and enjoying the city. After dinner, we took a stroll around the city and watched the sunset. It was a great nice, and I was so glad we were able to meet up! When it got dark out, I headed back to my hostel. Now, here’s where the story get’s a bit confusing. That night, from Florence, I left for Switzerland with a trip called BustoAlps. I was there from Thursday night through Sunday afternoon. The bus left from Florence and returned to Florence. We got back to Florence late Sunday night, so I checked back into my hostel and then spent all of Monday in Florence before flying back to Paris. 

Here is where I will continue with my final day in Florence (after having visited Switzerland). Monday morning I woke up super early with the intent of visiting the Ufizzi Galleries. Well, like many other museums throughout Europe, they were closed...wow, Katie, you’ve been in Europe for five months and still couldn’t have planned that out. So, I felt pretty stupid and was bummed I wasn’t going to see them. Guess I’ll have to come back! Instead, I took some time just strolling along the river and then headed to the Central Market. I poked around there for a while, and then waited in line to enter the Duomo. Of course it started pouring while I was in flipflops and a dress...Anyway, I finally made it into the Duomo. It was just as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside! And the ceiling is another Sistine Chapel OMD moment! I also decided to climb to the top of the dome...which was actually really hard. It was a trek up hundreds of stairs and lots of steep inclines, especially when I got inside the dome! But the amazing view was totally worth it. The city just looked so wonderful. And by the time I got to the top, the rained had passed, and the sky was clear again! It was lunch time at that point, so I headed to the oh so famous Il Vegetariano (recommended by Lani, my travel book, and a girl I met in my hostel). So I figured this was a must try! But of course, because it was Monday, it was closed...I was disappointed to say the least. No fear though, a veggie calzone was waiting for me around the corner! By then, it was time to catch my flight back to Paris. I had an amazing week in Italy and ate five times my weight in gelato!