Friends & Firenze

Oh, I wish we had more than a day in Florence! Originally we thought one day would be fine. Florence is a smaller city, and for us it was easy to pick just a few things we had to see. We definitely wanted to see the famous Duomo square. The colors were beautiful and the doors (although I know they are replicas) of the Baptistery are amazing. The other two things on our must-do list were Ponte Vicchio, the famous bridge lined with jewelry shops, and Piazzale Michelangelo. Oh, and of course find some really good gelato because Florence supposedly has the best gelato in Italy.
We didn’t get to our B&B until noon, and my mom was exhausted. After a quick nap, we grabbed the best meal we have had in Italy yet. We split a mixed crostini plate and some red wine. For our entrees my mom got a pasta dish with a mushroom cream sauce and I got a spinach parmesan risotto. The risotto was A-MAZING. No joke, A-MAZINGGG. The creamy spinach and cheese sauce was so deliciously parmesan-y and we decided we could’ve have just split that one dish and been full.

After lunch we headed toward the Duomo and stopped at a ceramic store on the way. The man sells all these beautiful hand-painted dishes. Shortly after we got to talking with him he asked if we lived near Maryland. Turns out he ships his products to a store he owns in Bethesda! Since we have limited suitcase room we figured that would be a great way to take a piece of Firenze home. We will have to visit his store after we get back!

The Duomo was stunning (as expected) and I could just tell Florence wasn’t going to be as hectic of a tourist town as Venice. Sure, almost everyone we passed was speaking English but the atmosphere was so much more relaxed. That was nice because it made it easier to enjoy just one day in the city without feeling the need to run around to ten thousand different monuments like a chicken with its head cut off.

From the Duomo we walked towards Ponte Vecchio, which offers a stunning view of the city along its river. We actually avoided the jewelry shops because we were there to enjoy the scenery more than the shopping and tourist hawking.

Past the bridge we headed up Florence’s big hill toward Piazzale del Michelangelo. This spot has such a pretty view, and per my friend Monica’s advice we watched the sunset here over a glass of wine. We actually forgot to grab our own bottle on the way up, but there was a restaurant on a terrace overlooking the river, Ponte Vecchio and the entire city of Venice. Surprisingly their prices weren’t outrageous so we grabbed dinner there too. The sunset was gorgeous, I just wish I had a better camera to capture it. Imagine my pictures but 10 times prettier (at least).

After sunset my mom headed back to the B&B and I went to meet Monica and Lindsey at Santa Croce!! We grabbed drinks at a nearby bar. I can’t get over how fun it is to find friends in Europe! It’s the coolest thing that I have a handful of friends scattered across the continent. Every time I meet one it reminds me how much I love/miss school (that does not change the fact I don’t ever want to go home though haha). It was awesome to see them, and really the only thing that could have been cooler would be finding Snooki.

Florence was just amazing. The people were so nice (I think they are just sick of tourists in Venice… hey I can feel that). And can I say it again? I love Italian and I love trying to speak it. Our server even practiced numbers with me after I asked for the check, which sent my mom and I down the hill repeating, “Oono, doo-e, treyy… kwatro, chin-kwe, say… se-te, o-to, no-ve… dye-chee!!” Sorry to all the Italians we passed. We weren’t trying to butcher your language. We just really want to know how to count to 10!

Arrivederci! xoxo.

-T