Spring Break: Florence

Ciao!

I’m sitting here on the train from Florence going to Rome!  The craziest events happened in Florence and it is safe to say we loved Florence but Florence did not like us back.  I will explain.

After getting to Florence from Venice, we had to take 2 buses to get to our hostel.  Within that time frame, Bridget ended up getting pick pocketed and they took her phone.  As bad as the situation is, her camera was broken and she couldn’t take pictures and her WIFI never connected so who ever did this probably thought he was getting a great phone but no.  The person (we don’t know who it was and we were sooo confused by how this happened) only took her phone so luckily she still has her wallet, money and camera.  This was the starting of the unfortunate events that were to come for us.

Don’t get me wrong, Florence itself was amazing.  After we got to our hostel (which was one of the better ones we’ve stayed at), we met Bridget’s friend from home who studies abroad, Tori, for lunch.  We went to a really cute café and ordered panninis and coffee.  The place was filled with American students who are studying abroad there doing homework.  There was cute decorations all over the walls and we sat there for a little bit since it was raining outside.  Tori had come to visit us in Barcelona a few weekends ago so it was a lot of fun to see her again!

After a late lunch, she showed us around Florence.  We walked across the Arno River and took pictures by the bridge that crosses it.  She also showed us a pretty church that was close to our hostel.  Finally, we found our way to the Duomo.  I had seen pictures from other people’s study abroad pictures from Florence but it is so different to see it in real life.  I have never seen such a massive building in my life! “Duomo” means “dome” and the one on top is the biggest one! It is in the middle of a Piazza (which means square, not to be confused with pizza which is circular…) that is surrounded by high end stores and restaurants.  All around the Duomo were Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton and more.  While walking around, I found a Pandora store to get a charm to add to my bracelet.  The charm I got was one with a Fleur de Lis, which is the symbol of Florence and also had a wine bottle which is very fitting. 

We decided to walk around for a little longer and bought a legit jug of wine.  We were each going to buy our own bottles but this jug was 5 liters and it was cheaper for all of us to drink this one and it ended up more wine for each of us this way.  I’ve learned that Europe has no open container policies so everyone is always drinking in the streets.  We sat in another little piazza with a carousel and had a few glasses of wine before heading back to the hostel.

Later that night, Tori had to go back home to her host family for dinner but she gave us a great recommendation for dinner.  It was called La Prosciuttoria and it was all meat and cheese platters.  It was perfect because we were still full from our late lunch but still wanted to eat dinner.  We ordered 2 bottles of house wine and a meat and cheese platter that came with salami, prosciutto, different kinds of ham and a few kinds of cheeses.  It also came with a lot of bread, which we loved.  It was so good and we left there feeling really silly and full!

The next morning, we got coffee and stood in line to climb the bell tower that is part of the Duomo.  We wanted to go the top of the dome instead but the line was almost 2 hours long and we had a lot to do during the day.  In order to get to the top of the bell tower, we had to climb 414 STAIRS. THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY TO GET UP THERE.  The stairs were so narrow and it smelled really musty and gross and you could barely pass by other people as they were walking by you.  Every 100 steps or so (Bridget started counting but then lost track), there was a look out point and places to rest.  It was seriously a hike but it was an amazing view of the city when we finally got to the top.  We could see everything from the top and we realized that our favorite views that we have seen have been from up high where we can see everything.   

After the 414 steps back down, we went to a local panini place called Vino Voe recommend by Tori.  I got a panini with pesto, brie, turkey and caramelized onions.  It was so yummy and a perfect size for lunch.  We then walked to the Academia where the David was and were so excited to see it.  However, it was closed on Mondays so we couldn’t go inside and we were really sad.  We wanted to see the David!  Then we decided to go into the Basilica of the Duomo instead.  We waited in line but then they didn’t let in Alyssa, Bridget or Lainie because they were wearing short dresses.  They would have let me in because I had a sweatshirt and a long maxi skirt so once again, Florence did not like us.  Strike 3 already.

Finally, we decided to get gelato instead to brighten our moods.  Since we were feeling sad, we each splurged and got a cone with chocolate and nuts.  I had chocolate mousse gelato and it was so rich that I couldn’t finish the entire thing.  But of course we had to get gelato because we were in Italy!

Tori met up with us again and she showed us around the leather flea market.  They had so many bag, purses, wallets and belts but I was surprised how expensive it would be. Usually flea markets are really cheap but maybe because these were made of leather they were more expensive.  You could still bargain with the vendors but they don’t decrease the price that much.  I liked walking around here because it was fun to look at all the bags and get inspiration for the next one I want!

After the flea market, she took us to Piazza Michelangelo, which we had to get to by climbing more stairs!! When we got to the top, we sat on the steps that over looked the whole city.  There was a man playing a guitar and singing songs.  It was nice to sit for a while after walking around so much!  It started to get really windy so we headed back to the hostel.

That night for dinner, we went to a restaurant again recommended by Tori.  It was one of her favorite Italian places where a lot of abroad students go.  We ordered 2 bottles of the house wine again and this time, I got 4 cheese gnocchi with chicken.  Alyssa got penne alla vodka, Lainie got cheese risotto and Bridget got tortellini.  The food was amazing and on top of that, we got a lot of bread! 

Tori met us when we were done eating and took us to one of her favorite bars called the Lions Fountain.  It is a total abroad bar because on the ceilings, there are different college t-shirts and you sign the shirts of your school when you go.  I found the UMass one but it was too high for me to sign but I took a picture! Bridget signed her SDSU shirt she found.  We weren’t there for too long because Tori wanted to take us to another bar after.

The next bar we went to was also a popular study abroad place but this one had locals as well.  We sat at a table for a little bit before heading out.  I saw some UMass girls that I knew there too!  On the way back to our hostel, Tori showed us the secret bakery.  They are open late at night and they serve nutella croissants.  So yummy and sweet! We ate them on our walk back to our hostel.

On Tuesday, we had a 1:10 train to Rome.  We were going to try to get up early and see the David but we slept through our alarms.  Instead, we went back to the café that Tori took us to on our first day and I met Anna there!  I hadn’t seen her in so long and was so excited to see her!  She could only stay for a few minutes because she had to go to class but I was so happy to see her for a few.  She doesn’t come home until the end of May because after her program she is spending 10 days in Greece.  Lucky girl!!

After getting our food to go, we were super crunched for time and we had to rush to get to the train station in time.  We probably looked funny walking quickly throughout Florence with our huge bags of clothes for 10 days.  We were so stressed about printing out our tickets on time and making the train but we made it with plenty of time.  However, our tickets didn’t have seats assignments on them so when the guy came around, we had to pay an extra 5 euros each because we didn’t get it validated.  Strike 4.  On top of that, this train is almost 4 hours when it should not take that long to get to Rome at all.  But when you study abroad you need to save money somehow!

So here we are, sitting on the train for 4 hours so we can get to Rome.  We loved Florence but Florence did not like us back.  We’re off to our last Italian city that we planned on our own.   Hopefully, we can see the Pope and the Colosseum without any problems.  Until then…

Ciao!

Spring Break: Venice

Ciao from Venice!

Friday started my Italian Spring Break adventure! Spring break is so late for my program because it has to do with the Easter schedule and after my week here, I have 4 days left of school which are my finals! Crazy to think of how long I've been here but I still have so much ahead of me and all of Italy to explore!

Friday morning, Alyssa, Bridget, Lainie and I flew from Barcelona to Venice.  When we got to Venice, we had to take a bus from the airport to the train station that was a quick walk from our hostel.  We weren't really sure what stop it was and since we forgot to ask and thought we knew what we were doing, we ended up getting lost.  Of course within one hour of being on spring break we were lost in Venice.  Luckily, the bus driver was a very nice man and he saw how lost we were and drove us back to the stop we missed.  After that, we knew we would like Venice.

And we have...Venice is absolutely amazing! After dropping our bags off at our hostel (something I cannot wait to be done with), we took the bus to the island of Venice.  It was only a 10 minute bus ride and the buses come really quick. When we got there, we were so amazed by all of the buildings and the canals that were everywhere.  There were bridges that lined the canals and the buildings were so old and cute.  I loved all the shutters and the houses that were there.  Every house we walked by we kept saying "that is the cutest one!" or "that's my favorite!" because every one was so new and different than the one next to it.  After getting lost walking the streets (but the good kind of lost), we found a pastry shop, got little bottles of wine and sat by the edge of a canal and watched the sunset.  We took so many pictures and saw such a pretty sunset.  Even though it was kind of cloudy, we loved seeing all of the boats go by and we really took in that we were finally on spring break.

After finishing our bottles of wine and the sun went down, we walked along the street where many restaurants were.  Most of them had outdoor seating but it was getting to be really cold so we sat inside. We were all so excited to have our first meal in Italy that we were really aggressive and ordered 3 pizzas and a salad.  They told us the pizzas were individual sized but they were very wrong! We ordered a spinach and ricotta, 4 cheese and one with mushrooms, ham, pepperoni and artichokes.  We could only finish the first 2 but felt bad about not eating the last one so we had to eat it! We left feeling SO FULL and we immediately realized that we were going to gain at least 20 pounds during our trip with all the pizza we were going to eat.

This morning (Saturday), we woke up, got ready and headed to the main island.  Since today was our only real full day here, we had a lot to accomplish.  We found a little place to have coffee and later got a pastry and again sat at the edge of a canal but this time at a different place.

Once we were done, we decided to get a bottle of wine and go on a gondola ride.  We each got the cheapest bottle we could find then bargained with a gondola driver so we could have a cheaper ride. Our gondola driver was named Rafael and he couldn't be more cool! He was so nice and loved that we each drank a bottle of wine.  We offered him some but he kindly declined.  He was loving our funny comments and our happy vibes that he played a song on his iPhone, the song "Happy" by Pharrell.  We laughed because we sing that song all the time when we are having a happy time! Every other gondola that went by he told us the name of the driver and we said hi to everyone! The gondola ride was amazing.  Rafael took us down the main canal and down some side streets and we saw more cute houses with flowers and balconies.  The canals and the gondola was exactly how I pictured Venice...perfect!

After our gondola wine, we took a ferry to the island of Burano. In order to get there, we had to take another ferry to the other island of Murano.  It was a quick ride from the main island of Venice and we stopped to walk around for a little bit.  There were so many glass stores and bead stores and I guess thats what Murano is famous for - glass!

The next ferry took probably a half hour to get to Burano.  When we got there, it looked like a unreal place.  All of the houses were painted different bright colors and like the main island of Venice, there were bridges and canals all over.  Most of the stores there were were again glass or had clothes and handkerchiefs with lace.  I was so amazed by all of the different color houses, it was definitely my favorite part of the island! There also were no cars on the island, everyone got around by little boats.  It was so cool to see a town like this because it was so different than anywhere else, even the main island. It would be so cool to someday own a vacation house there; it would be such a cool getaway from reality!

After a long ride back to the main island, we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner.  We had been talking about getting pasta all day so we were so excited to finally put some in our bellies.  Alyssa and I split 2 dishes: gnocchi with scallops and spaghetti with clams, shrimp, calamari and mussels.  SO GOOD!! After walking around the city for a little longer after dinner, we were tired and ready for our busy day of traveling the next day.

I'm already in love with Italy...next stop, FLORENCE!

Ciao!