First let me say that this is way over due, and thank you to those who have continued to check and read my blog….

In Perugia it never really feels like a city, more like the town of Freeport that I have come to love. However, Florence is a different tale. It was massive, much like a section of Boston or a piece of the Big Apple. We arrived on Thursday night and had no idea how we were going to find our hostel in the dark. The street sounds were overwhelming and I have never seen so many vespas in my entire life (and I plan on somehow riding one before I leave, and for those who do not know a vespa is like a moped). It didn’t hit me that I was actually in Florence, one of the most well known cities in Italy, until I saw the Duomo. I could have sworn it was a backdrop for a movie set, taking up the majority of the Piazza and standing taller and more beautiful than any other structure I have seen. Even in the dark you could see the pinks and greens decorating the entire building, and the Giotto tower next to it looked so inviting!! In complete awe we finally stumbled upon our hostile just a few streets down and were pleased that our private hostel room was actually more of an apartment! We all decided right then that we could not count this as our first hostel experience, it was way too nice.

Day One:

Once the sun rose and we got ready for the day we grabbed a quick cornetto (croissant) and cappuccino and headed back to the Duomo. In the sun it was even more beautiful and the details along the doors and walls were very impressive. We didn’t waste any time, the sun was bright the sky was clear, and we were going to climb the Giotto tower! Let it be said that this tower has 414 steps to the top, a real thigh burner… but boy was it worth it. At the very top you could see all of Florence and stare eye to eye with the top of the Duomo. The gold reflecting off the top of the Duomo’s dome was a perfect foreground for the many pictures of the Florence landscape that I captured on my camera (once again picture slut). The air seemed so fresh (even though Florence is one of the most polluted cities in Italy) and I could have stayed up there all day.

One interesting thing that I learned on the top of the tower was about love-locks. My friends explained to me the meaning behind a lock that I found around one of the bars on the top of the tower. Apparently couples buy a lock and together they fasten it (some place where they hope it will last) and throw away the key. This couple had apparently thrown their key off the tower. This is a symbol of their undying love for one another. Being a hopeless romantic I fell in love with the idea, and it made me think about my trip to Paris this upcoming March. Since my family (on both sides) has a lot of French in them, I would like to put a lock in Paris somewhere for my family, our undying love for one another remembered in the heart of our deep past.

From the tower we made began to make our way towards il porcellino (pig) which apparently determines whether or not you will be returning to Florence in your lifetime. I was excited to see this statue made of bronze, but I was quickly distracted by two women who I saw in the distance: gypsies. Yes, they exist, these women who go around and ask for money and during the height of tourist season are known for pick pocketing while distracting you with children or babies. However we were in no danger as there were only two of them. One of my friends and I immediately began chanting quotes from Borat “give me your tears gypsy… I am going to look upon your treasures gypsy, you understand?” and she bet me 10 euro to go and ask for her tears in Italian. Since I had no idea what that phrase was in Italian I was out of luck, but we enjoyed ranting and raving every time we came across one of them as they stood their with veils on their heads and cups in their hands. Anyway, we eventually made our way to the lucky porcellino. Apparently it is good luck to rub its nose, so I did…a lot. Then in order to see if you are to return to Florence you must place a coin in its mouth, and if the water coming out of its mouth guides your coin through the grate below, then you will return to the city some day. On the first try it was determined by the pig that I, Nicolette, will be RETURNING to Florence :D

Next walked towards the ponte vecchio (old bridge) which is one of the most well known bridges in Florence. I quickly understood why. This bridge hosted all jewelry stores, and nothing else. Its buildings were half on the bridge and half hanging off the bridge over the Arno river. At the center of the bridge you are able to look out over the Arno and see the other bridges that are making it capable for cars to zoom across. In this tiny section of the bridge there was also a statue with a gate around it, and on the backside of the gates there were TONS of locks (the lovers threw their keys into the river).

After some lunch we went to the Boboli Gardens, containing beautiful statues and fountains. It was like being in the Sound of Music and we sang and skipped under the archways covered in vines as we went from opening to opening. It was nice to be surrounded by green, a pleasure that is hard to find when in the middle of the city. As the sun was setting we heard an announcement in numerous languages asking us to kindly make our way towards the exit as the gardens would now be closing. With Florence slowly being blanketed with the dark we made our way back to our Hostile to get ready for dinner and a night out on the town.

Uncle Joe had asked if there were any problems with language barriers. Thus far there had been no serious issues, because at least one person in our group would be able to understand or read the Italian. However, it was in Florence at dinner that we had our first issues. We decided to eat at this small little restaurant, where everything about it was Italian, especially the menu. I have ordered Italian food many times up to this point and I always understood what I was ordering, as my food vocab was progressing quite nicely. Yet, this time I couldn’t understand half of what was on the menu. So I turned to my friends and asked for some help… they had no idea. The waiter helped with a few words, but the language barrier was full force. Finally I ordered something that I knew had tomatoes, mushrooms, and cheese in it and hoped for the best. Once he left I realized what I had done. I tried to remember how the menu was set up and turned to my friends and claimed that I was pretty sure I had ordered three soups… And as it turns out that is exactly what I had done. My food came and on a circular plate divided into three sections I had the pleasure of tasting three different soups. I laughed it off, and did not complain because those were the BEST three soups I have ever had. So I guess everything worked out for the best. We enjoyed dinner was some wonderful wine and tried to figure out what club or bar we would end the night in. We found a “bumpin” place called Astor that had dancing on the lower floor of the bar before we made our way home for the night.

Day 2

Once again we woke early and grabbed a quick breakfast before heading back to the Duomo to start the day. This time we were going to climb the dome of the Duomo. The climb was a little more intense as we had to go through some more narrow areas and the incline was much more evident. About two thirds of the way up we entered through a little doorway and realized we were inside the Duomo right at the base of where the dome actually started. This gave us the best view of the painted ceiling, which had some of the most vivid depictions of heaven and hell that I have ever seen. After being scared by the image of devil looking creatures stabbing bodies and throwing them into the pits of hell, we finished the climb to the top of the Duomo where we were able to put those images in the back of our minds. We were lucky it was another beautiful day, and the views were just as gorgeous as they were from the tower. After a few moments of pure bliss we climbed down the steep stairs and made our way to L’Academia, the residing place of the statue of The David.

Pictures will never do The David justice. If you have seen a picture of this statue you may think that it is a decent size and beautiful in appearance. But, when you actually see it you cannot believe your eyes. This statue is HUGE, one of the most beautiful pieces of art I have ever seen. I was lost for words, never having marble take my breath away before. The intensity of his eyes was too real, the veins and muscles of his body were perfectly human. If that statue took a breath you would almost expect it to be normal. People were flocking all around him to get a good look at every angle of him, not wanting to miss any tiny detail.

After lunch we decided to go to Santa Croce and sit on the steps with some gelato (delicious). With our bellies full we went inside the church and saw the tombs of Dante, Michelangelo and Galileo (just to name a few).  Just like all the churches I have entered, it was beautiful. High ceilings with beautiful frescoes, paintings that seemed to real to just be on canvas, and beautiful displays of different stories in the bible. We soon headed back to our hostile because we needed to get ready for the OPERA!

Dressed in our finest attire we went to dinner at a restaurant called Yellow, and had some of the most delicious pasta ever. Full and satisfied we asked the waitress if she would call us a taxi to take us the opera, and within a few minutes we piled into a mini van and asked to be taken directly to the Opera house. Taxis in Italy might be more scary than taxis in New York. People barely make it out of the way before we went by, and I am 100 percent positive that we were driving on the “sidewalk” for part of the time. Luckily we made it there alive…

The opera was beautiful and the voices of the actors were breath taking. The entire performance was in Italian, so between scenes we would lean over and ask one another what we thought they were talking about. We were able to follow along and get the overall idea of the performance and when we got back to the Internet we checked to see if we were correct. The opera was Lucia di Lammermoor, which was about a woman who was arranged to be married to a man because it was what was best for her country. However, she was in love with another man and they secretly promised to be married to one another. Her brother however, made her marry the man she did not love, and when her true love found out he became mad with her and left. Lucia being so upset ends up killing her new husband and becomes so upset that she was not with her love that she ends up dying. Upon hearing of Lucia’s death her love comes to see her body and kills himself. In other words, it was pretty much a Romeo and Juliet that took place in Scotland.

After the opera we managed to get another taxi (which was just as scary as before) and went back to the hostile, completely exhausted from the days events. After a good nights sleep we got up and made our way through the rain to the train station and headed back home to Perugia…