Leather + Wine = Florence.

After staying in Venice for two days, we took a train to Florence (which is where I wrote my previous post, even though I just posted it a few minutes ago). We arrived late at night, so decided it was best to take a taxi to our hostel instead of searching for it in the dark. We our taxi driver dropped us off at the address we gave him, we were almost positive there was no way this place could be a hostel. All we saw was a big wooden door with a doorbell. No signs or anything. But we rang the doorbell, then the big, wooden door unlocked, and we went inside. The best way to describe it was that it was like an apartment building, where one of the “converted apartments” was the reception for the hostel and then we climbed a few more flights of stairs to get to our actual room in another “converted apartment”. We arrived at 11:20 and check-in closed at 11:30 PM, so we got pretty lucky with that one.

The whole place seemed a little sketchy, especially compared to our previous hostel in Venice because that was exceptionally nice. When we saw our room, we all just sort of stopped and laughed. They had painted the beds and walls really random pastel colors (I think in an attempt to spruce it up a bit), but it ended up looking like we had just walked into the Seven Dwarfs’ bedroom. But in the hostel’s defense, at least it was clean and there were only five beds in our room, meaning we didn’t have to share with any strangers. And even though there was only one shower/toilet for the entire floor, it was clean too and had toilet paper, both of which are always a plus.

Our first day in Florence was spent exploring the city by foot. It is so much easier to get around than Venice because it’s more organized and doesn’t have as many curvy little side streets. We had breakfast at a cute little café near us – I actually think I had a slice of vegetarian pizza because it looked so good! Then we crossed Fiumo Arno (the main river in Florence) to get to the central part of the city. We mostly just stumbled into different piazzas and discovered really awesome buildings and statues – like Piazza della Signoria, which has the faux David statue by Michelangelo, and Piazza di San Giovanni, which contains Il Duomo. Il Duomo is a cathedral that is seriously humongous. And I know I’ve seen a lot of cathedrals and I always say that each one is better that the previous one I saw, but this one was seriously amazing. It was gigantic, colorful, and incredibly detailed.

After we gawked at Il Duomo for a awhile, we made our way to Galleria dell’ Accademia, where the real David statue by Michelangelo is kept. It used to be displayed in the piazza where the faux one is now, but they moved into indoors for safe keeping. The real statue is amazing. To even think how someone can look at a rectangular block of stone and create a statue as precise and detailed as David is remarkable. I mean, we’re talking serious muscle definition and veins in the hands showing – that’s just crazy! I was reading about the statue in the gallery and it basically said that this statue is the model of perfection and you probably won’t be able to find one that is more realistic. Kudos, Michelangelo.

After that, we went to a market (because that’s always a must) and then had lunch at a little outdoor pizzeria/café. I got something called Florentine crepes (similar to lasagna, but without meat and very little sauce), which of course I thought was delicious. Then we went to Santa Croce, another church in Florence, but we went inside this one because it contained the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo, and a tribute to Dante. Again, very beautiful. My only issue with this church was that it had people buried under the floor, so it was like you were stepping on them. That just creeps me out a little bit, and I don’t understand why it’s necessary to do that. The rest of the day was spent eating gelato, buying bottles of wine because that is one of the things Florence is famous for (besides leather, but you know I’m not all into that), and chatting with the girls at another little café because none of us wanted to go back to the hostel earlier than necessary. :)

The second and final day in Florence wasn’t as busy as the first. We checked out of the hostel, had breakfast at the same little café, and then took our luggage to the train station so that we didn’t have to wheel it around all day. Then we went to Giardino di Boboli, which is a huge area full of trees, gardens, and statues, and just walked around that for most of the morning. There was one place in there called Forte di Belvedere which gave you beautiful views of the countryside. This is what I would image Tuscany to be like, and since we didn’t make it there on this trip, I’ll just have to find out what it’s like on my next journey to Italy. :)

After that, we had a little lunch (veggie pizza for me – surprised?), did a little random shopping, and then headed towards the train station to catch our train to Rome. Florence was a lovely city, just like Venice, but definitely more commercialized and city-like. It’s not a place you would vacation for a week, but it was nice to visit for a few days.

The post about Rome will be coming soon – hang in there!

Until next time (which will probably be later today),
Rachel