Thursday morning we were off to Florence. We arrived in Florence around 11am and headed to our hostel. It was really sunny out, and it looked like we would finally have a full sunny day in Italy. When we made it to our hostel, we checked in and put our luggage in our room. The hostel was huge, and it had internet! So we all checked our email, and settled in before going out to explore Florence. We started walking to the city center and stopped for lunch at Birrificio. I had a greek salad saving room for the dinner we planned for later!
After lunch we walked through this huge market located on a few of the side streets! The market had everything from scarves and ties to leather purses and wallets! We split off and shopped for awhile checking out everything in the market... When we met back up we walked to the Duomo. The Duomo in Florence was probably the best church I saw in Italy. The outside alone was beautiful. We went inside and walked around, and then waited on line to climb to the top. While we were waiting online, Amy and I played our April Fools joke we were planning the day before. We bought cookies with creme in the middle, took out the cream and added toothpaste. We offered the cookies to Anisha and Grace and it was so funny! Definitely one of the better jokes I have seen. But any ways, the stairs in the Duomo were the steepest stairs I think I have ever climbed in my life, but when we got to the top it was worth it. We had the most amazing view of Florence. We took a bunch of pictures before heading back down. On the way down, we were able to see the painting on the dome up close. It amazed me how large the painting actually was!
After we left the Duomo, we stopped for some gelato... Florence after all is the home of gelato! We walked towards the Ponte Vecchio stopping to try on some Italian shoes along the way! We passed through the piazza near the Ufizzi and then finally made it to the Ponte Vecchio. After taking a few pictures, we were all starving and ready for dinner. Tonight was going to be our big dinner in Italy. We wanted to go all out and get all courses. We found this small Italian restaurant on one of the side streets near the Ponte Vecchio and went inside. We had the whole place to ourselves. The waitress was really nice, she brought us all wine and appetizers on the house. The appetizer was a type of cheese soup. We also all tried the Bruschetta. We had our first course - pasta - and I had the special, pasta Bolognese which was amazing, definitely the best I have had yet! For our second course - meat - I had meatballs in potatoes which were really good, even though they weren't traditional meatballs. I was so full but we still all ordered dessert to complete the meal. I don't remember what mine was called, but the waitress picked it out for me, and it tasted really good! After dinner we were all so full, we made it back to the hostel and called it a night.
The next day we checked out of the hostel and then headed over to the train station. We checked our luggage for the day and then grabbed a quick breakfast before heading over to see the David. We waited in line for about a half hour before being let in... but it was worth it! The David was one of the most impressive things I have ever seen in my life, and it was much bigger than I had ever expected!!
After seeing the David, we stopped in the post office to pick up stamps, and then made our way back to the Ufizzi. The line for this was extremely long. Apparently approximately thirty people are let in every half hour. So while we were waiting in line, Anisha, Grace, and I headed back to the market to find ITALIAN SHOES. I bought a pair of Italian leather sandals which I LOVE!! After we finished up at the market we went back to the Ufizzi and waited a little longer before we were finally let in! I think it was about a two and a half hour wait... but we went inside and wandered through the galleries for awhile.
When we left the Ufizzi, we had an early dinner at the Suncafe before heading to the train station to catch a night train to Rome. It was my last mean in Italy, and soon to be my last train ride in Italy as well! Next stop Rome... but only for the night haha...
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