We got up on Tuesday and went to the leather market. We only had about a half hour to look around but there was so many leather products, it was crazy. Florence is known for their leather. We were suppose to meet up with Melissa's friend Emily who lives in Florence. We all got separated in the leather market but luckily I found Olivia and Jolz and the three of us went to meet Emily at the Duomo. We didn't know what Emily looked like but there was a girl that looked like she was waiting for someone so Olivia started saying Melissa hoping to catch her attention and funny enough the girl was Emily. She had to run to work quickly so we decided we would meet her again at 1:30. We had about an hour and half to kill once the whole group was back together. We decided to go into the Duomo which is the main cathedral in Florence. Once again I am in a beautiful church but the outside was my favorite part. The architecture and painting was beautiful. It was all painted during the Renaissance time. We climbed to the top of the Bell Tower so we could see the view of the city. You can also go up the dome but we heard the bell tower was better because you were looking at the dome. It was a long walk up. There were 4 different levels that you could stop and take pictures at. It had some great views.
We met back up with Emily after that. She walked us all around the city showing us all the important places and telling us about all the history of the city. We went to places like the Piazza Signoria and the Ponte Vecchio. The Ponte Vecchio has been standing since the 1200's. It's amazing how long all of the structures and statues have been around. Piazza Signoria has many different Statues of famous artists and other people of Italy. The fake Statue of David is outside of it. We never went to see the real one because it was slightly expensive but Emily and a few other people we talked to said that it is almost cooler to see the fake one because it is the exact same size and is in the spot where the original one originally stood and they look exactly the same. The Ponte Vecchio houses all of the gold businesses. Florence is also famous for there gold. All of the jewlery was beautiful! Not going to lie I might have picked out my engagement ring (now I just need to find someone to give it to me). The jewelry was all very expensive. If I had been studying in Florence I definitely would have splurged and bought myself something but I decided to save my money.We ran into the group from BU when we were at the Ponte Vecchio. Funny how small the world is.
For dinner, we went to this little pizza place. Italy definitely has the best food. The pizza was delicious and the employees were lots of fun. They sat with us and gave us a free bottle of wine. We hung out there for a little and then went back to Emily's apartment for a few minutes. After that we walked up to Piazza le Michelangelo. you get the best view over the entire city from up there. Emily gave us two rules for going up there. 1- bring wine and 2- don't look back at the city until you reach the top. It was not that bad of walk up. We sat up on the Piazza le Michelangelo for a little over two hours, drinking wine, talking, and just taking in the view. The sun had gone down by this point. The city was beautiful at night. You can see 3 big buildings that standout fromt he rest of the city. They are the Palazzo Vecchio, Duomo, and Santa Croce. It was definitely a great ending to my first day in Florence.
We got up around 9:00 on Wednesday. I had to be all packed because I was not going back to the hostel. We went to the Leather Market first again so we could have more time to really look around. I bought a cute little leather bag that is perfect for going out and stuff. It was fun to buy from people there because you can try to haggle and get the price down. I got a few euro's knocked off so I guess I didn't do to bad. we then Headed to the Palazzo Pitti which is the Medici Palace. We walked through the gardens a little but then it began to rain. I guess you can't always have perfect weather while traveling. We walk around parts of the Museum inside the Palace. This one was set up differently than the other Palaces I have been in. It was more of a museum rather than actually have the rooms set up like they use to be with all the old furniture. They had a lot of cool things in it though my favorite parts were the Jewlery collection and the Costume area. They had tons of old jewlery from the Medici family. The tiarra's and necklaces were beautiful. I don't even want to imagine how much all of it cost. The costumes were really cool to. The were all different ball gowns dating from the 1700's till current times. Some of the dresses were amazing. I can't even imagine being able to wear some of them.
We met back up with Emily after that. She brought us to look at cheaper boots and I bought a new pair of comfortable black leather boots. My black slouchy boots have been destroyed through all my taveling and had some pretty bug holes in the toes and my feet always got soaked when it rained. Now I have a more practical travel shoes plus my other ones I have had for about 2 years. It was time for the new shoes. She then brought us to the Sciola del Cuoio which is the Leather School. This is where the make the best leather in the entire world. Everything was very expensive but you could tell the quality was amazing. Again I decided to save money since I bought a bag at the leather market but if I was studying I Florence I definitely would have made a purchase from them.
At this point I split off from the rest of my group. Andrea is studying in Florence and we made plans to have dinner to catch up. I met her outside the Duomo. We walked around a little to find a place to eat because the place she wanted to bring me wasn't open yet. They don't eat dinner until about 7:00 in Italy so some of the restaurants weren't open yet. We found a little Italian place that she had never been to before and it was really good. Like I said Italy wins for best food. Who would have thought when we were in Kindergarten that 16 years later we would be having dinner in Florence, Italy! While we were having dinner Andrea's roommate and her parents came in and were seated next to us by coincidence. They were really nice and paid for our dinner with out us even \noticing. We had no idea until her roommates dad said it was all set. We were both shocked and gave them a huge thank you. It was so nice. I went back to Andrea's apartment with her while she finished getting her stuff together. Funny enough she was going to London. We kinda switched places. We walked to the train station together and said our goodbye's. It was so good to see a face from home and to catch up with Andrea. I am so happy we were able to work out seeing each other while we are both abroad. I think I needed little taste of home.
Florence was definitely my favorite place in Italy. I loved the two days I spent their. I understand why everyone who studies abroad their loves it when they come home. It does not have a city feel and it is beautiful with all the Renaissance art everywhere. I really started noticing the Italian Language in Florence as well. Many people spoke English but it was fun to listen to conversations in Italian. The language is beautiful. Also Italian wine is way better than wine in the States and just in general. Even the cheap bottles we got for Tuesday night were so good. I wish I could have figured out how to ship some home.
That concludes my second stop in Italy. Now I am off to Venice.
Chaio,
Allie
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