Ciao Firenze!

Jumping back in time a little bit… The weekend before my wonderful expedition to Poland I got to go to my dream city-Florence, Italy. Cailin and I had bought really cheap tickets on a whim and headed to Florence for 4 nights. Best decision ever! Instead of wearing green and drinking beer on St. Patrick’s Day, we flew to Tuscany to enjoy a weekend of wine, pasta, and art!

We caught a flight from Weeze to Bologna where we had to get a train to Sanata Maria Novella station in Florence. The train was the swankiest I have been in yet though the ride was only about 45 minutes. Because it was dark by the time we flew in and caught the train, we didn’t get to see a glimpse of Italy just yet. It took a little while to find our hostel after getting off the train because anyone who has been to Italy knows that the streets don’t make any sense! After asking 3 different people, requiring my rusty Italian skills to be tried out, we found ourselves at our hostel, about a 5 minute walk from the station. The hostel didn’t look too promising as we walked up the walkway through the “patio garden” aka plastic chairs around an outdoor table on fake tile in an alleyway. The guy at the desk was really nice and we asked about any late night food we could grab, he handed us a takeout menu for a pizza place and a phone so we could get it delivered while we unpacked. Our hostel friend showed us to our room which was supposed to be a 4 person one but only had three beds. This was fine though because Cailin and I were the only ones in the room so it ended up being a private room with our own bathroom! The room was quaint like that of a typical pensione but it was perfect. Our pizza was brought up to us by our hostel friend and we devoured our first taste of Florentine pizza and went to bed early so we could get a full day in the next day.

The next morning we decided the first place we wanted to head was the Duomo- the main cathedral of Florence. With the weather in our favor (65 and sunny), we headed out to explore my beloved city. At first we were concerned that we wouldn’t be able to find the Duomo but that fear was quickly extinguished. From just about anywhere in Florence the top of Brunelleschi’s Duomo is visible in all of its splendor. When we reached the piazza that the Duomo dominates, we stopped dead in our tracks. The Duomo, along with the campinelle (a bell tower) and the baptistery, surrounded us with white, pink, and green marble. Seeing this iconic landmark and the symbol of Florence made me tear up. I couldn’t believe that I was actually in Firenze, the city that had always been number one on my bucketlist. Cailin and I were in awe and speechless as we entered the Duomo and stood underneath the dome, staring above our heads at the frescoed ceilings that seemed to reach up to the heavens. Tears kept coming to my eyes as I took in everything around me, soaking in the feeling of being in Florence.

We had an incredible lunch right by the Barghello-the national sculpture museum. I had delicious ravioli and Cailin had pesto gnocchi. Our idea for this weekend was to take pictures of us eating every meal because we both have a passion for food. We split a carafe of house red wine and ended up slightly tipsy as we headed over to the Barghello to look at some art. It was really cool because we got to see a few pieces and works that we had seen in class which was really great because I could really appreciate the beauty and craftsmanship of the art. I also got to see FOUR Michelangelo statues. Yes, that’s right, FOUR OF THEM! I held my breath looking at them because they are so incredibly beautiful in person. The way he could breathe life into marble is moving. Each figure, each part of nature in the statues looked as if it was real. After I dragged myself away from the Michelangelo statues, we wandered our way over to the Arno river to soak in the sunshine. On our way we saw the Or San Michele, a church we studied in class. There are niches on every side of the building in which famous sculptors such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, and Donatello carved statues. After getting slightly lost, or as we put it “wandering,” for a while, we headed back to our hostel. Because we had a huge lunch, we decided to make dinner for ourselves in the hostel, consisting of a caprese salad with sundried tomatoes and fresh bread from a local supermarket. And what Italian meal would be complete without a bottle of red wine? The rest of the night was spent relaxing in the hotel room and talking, which was really wonderful. Cailin is wonderful to travel with and really made the trip amazing.

The next few days are too much of a blur to do chronologically, but I do remember some highlights. Cailin and I went to the Uffizi Museum-a place on my bucketlist that I had to visit! There we saw masterpieces by Donatello, Reubens, Raphael, Titian, Verocchio, Massacio, Ghiberti, and other artists we studied in class. There were amazing views of Florence from the windows and roof of the museum. We also visited La Casa di Buonarrotti- Michelangelo’s house. You would think this would be the highlight of my trip right? Wrong! It was basically just filled with stuff his descendents thought were cool. There were only two of Michelangelo’s works there, which were incredible. They were his first two works, made when he was only 15. To see the genius he had at such a young age is truly remarkable. We also went to Santa Croce- a gorgeous cathedral where Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli are buried. Though parts of it were under major renovation, it was still beautiful.

We spent a lot of time at the San Lorenzo Market-the most famous market in Florence. There were streets upon streets of vendors selling all kinds of goods. I ended up getting a purple leather wallet which I love! Another market we stumbled on was an eclectic antique one hidden away in a small piazza.

Because Cailin and I are foodies, a lot of our weekend was devoted to food. We had a delicious dinner one night that consisted of an appetizer of pate on toast and tortellini in wild boar sauce. So good! One day for lunch we had pizza in a small pizzeria by Santa Croce. I have never had fresher pizza! We literally watched the guy make our pizza and put it in the oven and were handed it freshly off the tray. The day we saw the Michelangelo house we went to lunch at a restaurant next door. The waiter spoke impossibly fast in a mixture of Italian and English that I could barely understand, though I had to translate for Cailin. We ended up getting farfalle salmon and a veal stew with roasted turnips. Again, so delicious. Every day we had gelato which was fantastic! I had kindersopresse which is a mix of milk and white chocolate. Cailin had a sesame honey one that was delicious! The best gelato I have ever had, though, was in Bologna. Cailin and I sat on the street and literally ate in silence, it was that good. I had a mint and chocolate one that was incredible.

We ended our trip by spending Sunday wandering around Bologna. We got there without a map or any clue what was in Bologna so we set out to see what we could in six hours. A lot of time was spent just moseying our way through the streets and window shopping. We also stumbled on a food market where we got free samples of sausages and cheeses.

My Italian vacation was so, so unbelievably incredible. A lot of it had to do with the company I had. Cailin and I travel really well together because we both look to get the same things out of traveling. Plus, we both really enjoy and appreciate food which made meals a wonderful experience. We did a lot of talking and bonding which was really, really nice. I don’t think the trip would have been even half as good if she hadn’t been there.

So now all I have left to catch up on is Vienna and Berlin, which can be done semi-easily (hopefully!). My family and the Cardones come to Well tomorrow which I can’t wait for!!!!!