We arrived in Florence around 2:30 in the afternoon, and we were already exhausted from traveling all day and barely sleeping! My first impression of Florence: IT WAS HOT! 95 degrees +. Our walk to our hostel was a rough one, carrying back packs, rolling a suitcase along the cobblestone streets, and sweating profusely! The walk to the hostel was amazing though because we got to walk right past Santa Maria Novella, the Duomo, and many other amazing buildings. We finally found the hostel, checked in, attempted to cool off (even though we had no air conditioning).
Then we were off to begin sightseeing. First we saw San Lorenzo, one of the many Brunelleschi churches we had learned about in Architectural history class. Based on the outside (very plain brick with little to no decoration), I was shocked at how beautiful the inside was! The Church is based off of a grid, which was very precise and clearly marked out in the floor pattern. Next we walked through the Leather Market, which was right outside the church. The market was HUGE, and we could have spent hours there… but we knew we would be back with the rest of the girls.
Next we went to Santa Maria Novella, which again, we had learned so much about. The Florentine Gothic interior was, once again, beautiful. The art inside was awesome as well. Next was the Baptistery, one of Florence’s oldest buildings. Its foundation dates back to the 4th or 5th century! The doors (or at least the replicas) by Ghiberti were amazing and so intricate! It was impossible to get a good picture of them because there were so many people in front of them!
Then we climbed to the top of the Campanile, the tower right by the Duomo. What a steep hike, but well worth the view. The city was amazing. Everything was yellow-ish and had terra-cotta red/orange roofs…such a beautiful view.
After working up quite the appetite, we went to dinner at a place recommended by a friend. We show up, and of course, it wasn’t open yet. Luckily it was opening in an hour and a half (they eat so late in Europe!) Throughout all of our trips we have run into so many closed restaurants and shops because people in Europe go on holiday (vacation) in August. So, we decided to go around the corner to this cute bar/wine cellar for a drink. We got a pitcher of the most delicious frozen strawberry margaritas! The owner of the bar, spoke perfect English, and coincidentally had been to Ohio (Kent University) to visit friends many times. Random. Most people have no idea where Cincinnati is. If you aren’t from California (which is most people’s guess.. maybe because we are blonde?), New York, Vegas, or Miami, then they pretty much don’t know where in the US it is.
After drinks we proceeded to dinner, which was so good! We got a bottle of wine, bruchetta, pasta, and enjoyed ever last bite.
After dinner we walked along the Arno River, crossed the Ponte alla Carrala bridge, and got some of the BEST gelato! 3 scoops for me- Strawberry, Lemon, and Mixed Berry! Yum Yum. We continued to walk along the Arno on the South side. Then we climbed up with Piazzale Michelangelo to get a great view of the city. We had to work off the gelato somehow!
After the view, we walked back to the hostel and called it a night, for we had a long day ahead of us!
In the morning, we woke up early, grabbed pasteries to eat on the walk, and we began our day 2 in Florence. We walked along the Arno, and it was so beautiful in the morning. I wish I had brought my running shoes! We walked to Santo Spirito to go to church at 9am. Santo Spirito is not open to the public, except for services, so we figured “why not?” It was very interesting going to mass in Italian. I could understand and follow everything going on. I just couldn’t understand the readings or homily.
After church we walked across the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge with all the jewelry shops. It was so cool, and they had some of the most beautiful jewelry! We proceeded to the Piazza della Signora, which is a striking square adorned with statues. The largest statue, Neptune Fountain, is nicknames “the big white man” by the locals because they hate it!
We walked to lunch, a place recommended by a friend, and of course it was closed. So we walked to see if we could get reservations at a place for dinner for Caroline’s birthday. Of course it was not open during the day, so I figured I would just call later.
So we found a pizza place to eat next to Piazza Santa Croce. Next we toured Santa Croce, where Michelangelo and Galileo (among many others) are buried. The church was, or course, beautiful inside.
Then, we went on a search for a cake for Caroline’s birthday. Little did we know that there are pretty much no chocolate cakes in Florence. We searched for probably about an hour, until we FINALLY found one… right before they arrived.
We met the girls at the hostel around 2:30, celebrated with cake and presents for Caroline’s 22nd birthday, and then continued sightseeing.
We climbed to the top of the Duomo, which was awesome. Such an amazing church! Next we went to the Galleria dell’Accademia to see the Statue of David, along with the rest of the art in the museum. The Statue of David was so cool, and so much bigger than I expected!
Then we walked through the leather market again, looking at all the fabulous leather jackets and purses.
We went back to the hostel to get ready, and I tried to call the restaurant, with no avail, about 30 times. It was constantly busy! So we figured we would just get ready and head over to see if we could get a table.
We walked though Piazza Santa Croce, and arrived at the restaurant. Of course, they were completely booked for the night. Bummer. So I told them that we had attempted to come earlier to make reservations and I had called a million times. I now knew why the line was busy- it was ringing OFF THE HOOK, for just the 15 minutes we were standing there. They told us to come back in an hour and they might have an opening. We figured we would go somewhere and have a drink, and try to come back. We were several (and I mean several) blocks away, and the hostess came running up to us. In her broken English she explained that someone had just called to cancel, and she could get us in right away! We were ecstatic! I thanked her a million times for getting us in, and for running after us! I explained we had heard such great things about the restaurant, and that it was Caroline’s birthday, so we wanted to go somewhere special. So, we got back and they told us to wait a minute to set the table up. Little did we know they were just adding champagne glasses to the table because as soon as we sat down, they popped open a bottle of champagne on the house for Caroline’s birthday. We got a bottle of white wine and a bottle of red to share between the 6 of us. We ordered an appetizer, but before we knew it, they brought out a HUGE sampler appetizer on the house for us to share. It had 6 different appetizers (6 pieces of each), so we each got to have one of each. It was so good! We ate Rabbit liver, bruschetta, stuffed zucchini, grilled veggies, fried cheese, and I forget what else. It was awesome. We all got our meals, which were amazing.
Then, after dinner they bring out a HUGE chocolate cake with lit candles and sing to Caroline. Again, on the house. And lastly, they asked if we wanted anything else, and we were so full and satisfied, we said no. However, they proceeded to bring out an entire bottle of Limoncello for the table, on the house. The waiter poured the limoncello, and said, “enjoy your life!” it was fabulous! The best dinner (and birthday) we could have asked for.
We left dinner, walked by the Duomo at night, and we were off to bed. The next morning I went for a run (in my new shoes), we showered, grabbed pastries for breakfast, and went to the Uffizi Galleria. Then we toured the Laurentine Library by Michelangelo, and lastly walked back through the leather market. We got some pizza on the way back to the hostel, got packed up, and headed to the train station, which was taking us to Venice. What a great trip in Florence!
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