Monday, March 28, 2011

Firenze, Italia.







Florence, Italy.

Firenze. D: We hopped on a train to get to Florence from Rome. Most beautiful train I’d been on (at that point in time, anyway..) Lots of quality time with my mp3 player, in any case, and drifting off to sleep. In Florence, we ended up staying at this absolutely brilliant little hostel. The owner was an absolute gem; completely friendly, knowledgeable, full of tips, and we had breakfast in our room each morning. I remember being in a cranky mood which neither of my traveling partners particularly appreciated, especially as I didn’t want to go to any museums. I’m glad that they talked me out of it, however, because the Galleria dell'Accademia was pretty cool. Highlight was definitely David. THE David. He was pretty huge, honestly. I mean, there are lots of replicas of him, and photos, etc, etc, but mainly he is completely gargantuan when you get near to him and look up close. There was a lovely little room full of busts though, which I always really enjoy. Lots of medieval artwork as well. Overall, fine by me and I’m happy that Georgie and Laura made me go in.
Later that evening, we met up with Laura’s friends once more, who had taken a train in from Rome only an hour or so after us. We ate at a lovely little restaurant with delicious food and delicious waiters (;]) I can’t remember what I had exactly, or if I even knew what it actually was, but I do believe that Ruth and I agreed it was absolutely amazing. We parted ways, and it began to drizzle. Then began to actually rain. Georgie and I were sans parapluies. We somehow managed to get lost for at least a halfhour, walking in circles in the rain, stomping angrily or laughing hysterically or pretending knowledge of map-reading… In the end, we made it back to our hostel safely, if a bit soaked.


(Looking displeased about something...)

(And then terrified?)

(nomnomnomnomnom... dinner with Cara and Ruth!)

The following day, we decided to go to the market, buy some bread, meat, and cheese (and a delicious red pesto that Georgie picked out!) and head up to a huge green space on the map. Turns out, the huge green spaces were actually part of this museum + park thing, so we had to pay to enter, and though I was reluctant because I was quite frustrated with having to pay double because of my nationality despite having a full residence visa for France/EU, Georgie and Laura saved the day, as per usual, by being lovely and telling me we should do it. It was compleeeetely worth it. I really enjoyed the Giardino di Boboli.

(Sooooooooo cute!)

(More nomnomnom...)

(View from the garden.)

We ended up getting into one of the museums that exhibited some clothes of days gone by. Interesting, but we mainly went in for the bathrooms… Our lunch was yummy, we enjoyed the nice weather, sunshine, and blue skies, and then… Well, and then… I can’t quite remember. I would like to say maybe we just returned to our hostel to relax for a bit before heading out for dinner and gelato.




(Ponte Vecchio. Super famous.)(In front of the duomo.)

(Santa Maria del Fiore)

(CANNOLI, CANNOLI, CANNOLI. And a pistachio gelato + waffle for Laura.)

Ah! In fact, at some other point in the stay in Florence, we’d been navigating the markets in the morning.

(My market face. ... )

They were really neat, with lots of leather products. The one I specifically remember must’ve been in late afternoon, and I remember a lady selling pressed flower earrings. They were beautiful, but we ended up not buying any. I did, however, buy my first gelato that day.

(Mmm, fragola.)

We had dinner that night and then went out for gelato again.

(Very well mannered at dinner.)

:)

At the Gelateria, we were enjoying our ice cream when a couple came and sat next to us. They were obviously American, and I was so excited I could barely contain myself. It turns out they were with their daughter on a school trip. Got to chatting more, and it turns out they were from New Jersey, their daughter is going to West Chester in the fall, and the woman loved going to the VF outlets in Reading.. So coincidental! The next morning we had breakfast and made our way to the train station to get to Venezia!


(Once more, a bunch of these photos are actually Laura’s, so …credit where credit is due since they’re so beauteous!)

À bientot!

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