Firenze

I can almost say that the most exciting part of going to a foreign country is the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel. At this point in your trip, (if you are me), you know a lot about a certain place that you’ve never seen with your own eyes in real life. The suspense is practically unbearable and to make matters more interesting, everything seems to be coming into your mind just a bit slower, assuming you took a red-eye and got zero sleep like me. By choice of course, too many movie options!(I am beginning to think I am the main character in Eat Pray Love)

            My trips have always made me realize that there are two types of people when it comes to the first day in a new city. There are those that look forward to tucking into the hotel's (hopefully comfy) bed for a few hours midday in a European city to “catch up on some sleep” (losers—Ace Ventura style, La-hu-se-hers…if you think I am out of my mind right now watch this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kz7YUdy-Cg). The second type, (perhaps the better—I’ll say I’m kidding even though I’m not really), are the people that will throw on the sweater-dress and stockings closest to the opening of their suitcase and search for a shop open between twelve and two (finding a shop open during siesta= not easy/near impossible). Unpack? Ya, right. Hopefully I made it obvious which “type” I belong to.

            Growing up, I would idolize the hotel rooms that would fill the last few pages of Conde Nast Traveler. Typically the last page would show an image of a gorgeous suite with an enormous, sweeping window facing the most iconic landmark of any given city. I’d hope that someday I’d stay in one of the rooms featured in the magazine. As soon as I walked into our mini-apartment, besides for noticing that it was the quintessential Florentine decorated pad, I noticed that we had huge windows that were a mere fifty feet away from the walls of a Florence Cathedral/Duomo. There was nothing obstructing our view, nothing (besides for cold glass) standing between me and the Duomo. The only downside about my “Room With a View,” was the pack of punks/teenage boys (I make it as if I am not a teenager myself and I do enjoy dressing punkster occasionally) chanting at the top of their lungs at 12 midnight. But that is what we get for choosing to stay in one of Florence's most busy piazzas. 

My view

            Day one was unfortunately shorter than I had expected. We landed in Florence at 1 PM and were out and about by 2! We toured the Florence Cathedral, saw the David as well as many other Michelangelo masterpieces at the Galleria dell’Accademia. By the way, let me get this off of my chest once and for all…why don’t any museums let me take pictures inside! (Common Uffizi Gallery!). We had a delicious first dinner at a restaurant called Yellow Bar, right near the cathedral. This was when I realized why I love Italian people. Girls on dates were eating entire pies themselves! I am exclaiming in praise, not in shock…(they also manage to stay thin while doing it). I ordered a Pasta alla Carrettiera, which was so spicy I probably drank three giant water bottles by myself.

A less popularized view of Michelangelo's David

            During our second day we toured small villages in Tuscany and Siena—about an hour outside of Florence. On our way we stopped to take pictures in front of Piazza di Michelangelo—a.k.a the view from which every tourist who visits Florence takes a picture in front of. There is a good reason why…it is simply beautiful! Our guide explained the very interesting (and everlasting) rivalry between the people of Siena and Florence. The people of Siena despise those from Florence. Not only is their architecture more medieval and traditional, their mindsets still are as well! The Duomo of Siena is a direct response, more so challenge, to the Duomo in Florence. (If you ask me, the façade and interior of Duomo of Siena is much nicer). After strolling through the winding, narrow streets of Siena we were ready for some lunch at the Piazza del Campo. I was craving my second bowl of pasta in Florence. I actually ended up ordering a soup/meal called ribollita that was on almost every menu in Florence. It was an extremely tasty vegetable-bean soup, thickened by the mushy bread mashed inside of it. Even though I kind of made it sound gross—it was delicious. After, we took a scenic drive to Saint Piano for wine tasting in Chianti. One of my favorite things about Tuscany (besides for the never-ending hill-tops and the rich greenery) was that the entire region seemed to smell like a giant fireplace/ski town, without the snow (Thank God!). Later that night we had an amazing dinner at La Giostra (fried artichokes..yum).

     

            By the third day we were ready for shopping (and art)! We started off at the Uffizi Gallery and saw some Botticelli, Titian  and more then we headed over to H&M…and I know what you are thinking, “They have the same stuff everywhere.” There is just something about being in a foreign country that makes it all more exciting. We shopped at many other small boutiques like Ethic and Patrizia Pepe. Dinner was at an unnamed tourist trap that had the best desserts I ever tasted in my entire life!

            Wednesday was one of my favorite days, for we hit up the “Shoeseum.” Yes, someone combined my two favorite things—fashion and museums—and made a place as beautiful as heaven. It was Museo Salvatore Ferragamo featuring life size shoes and an extremely interactive learning experience. I could probably write an entire blogpost about this place, but I wouldn’t want to bore anyone to death (if I haven’t already). We also had our best meal of the trip on that day. Take a picture of the gnocci at Osteria Santo Spirito (as I did below) and you can make almost anyone’s mouth water (as you will right now). We also had a meal at 4 PM (which is totally acceptable since we were “walking around so much”—ya right) at Caffe Rivoire where the hot chocolate resembles and tastes like hot nutella.

One of the things that I loved about Florence was the sense of relaxation and simple idea of taking one’s time. I am most certainly not a relaxed person. But there is something that makes me want to be relaxed when I’m in Florence. I mean, even the faucets are on a three-second delay as if they are trying to say themselves, “why does water need to come out so fast?” But the absolute best thing about Florence is that you think every meal was “the best meal of your life” until you have your next! The worst? (it’s only fair) Every dog in town seems to have a bad case of diarrhea (sorry for the grossness).