The summer after my junior year of high school I went back to Connecticut to visit my old friends. One of the days, Melanie, Stephen and I went to New York City to see the Broadway musical The Light in the Piazza. It was a beautiful show set in Florence, and we immediately fell in love with it. It was that day that I also fell in love with the independence of navigating a city - it was the first time I had been in New York without parents, and it was so fun just being there with friends and feeling like we were grown ups. I remember heading on the train back home that day with a special feeling inside - maybe it was the show set in Florence, or the exhilaration of being on our own. But I knew that was a feeling I wanted to capture in a bottle to one day, open and feel again. Who could guess four years later I would be doing just that in the actual city of Florence with three great friends during the best semester of my life?
After resting yesterday afternoon, we walked around some markets, and then went out to dinner at a cute cafe right in the heart of the city. We had wine and enjoyed the fixed menu, which treated us to specific choices - I got the penne pasta with homemade tomato sauce, chicken Florentine and spinach - which were all delicious. We were a bit disappointed by the bread - it was actually really hard. But the conversation and the rest of meal was so relaxing and refreshing. Sitting outside as the sun set, without freezing our butts off, and enjoying the food and wine in the quiet piazza was really nice. We truly felt as though we were on vacation. After we took a stroll along some streets, stumbling across some delicious gelato (which has the frequency of a Starbucks in London and New York - gelaterias are EVERYWHERE - every corner, so hard to choose which one!), we came upon a cute Italian waiter who convinced us to come in for some more wine and bread at a chain restaurant called Segafredo at a discounted rate because we were soooooo beautiful....yea yea....they all say that to you so you will buy stuff! And we did....we are such suckers!
It was a perfect evening that ended with wine, candlelight and music playing in the square... so romantic, I know!…at the ripe time of 7:30pm - don't judge - WE WERE EXHAUSTED! So we came back to our comfortable hostel (which we might as well call a hotel it is so nice) and met a girl from South Carolina who is staying in our room. She is very sweet, and we were glad to not be staying with any weirdos.
This morning I woke up - unfortunately still stuffy headed, but excited - after 11 hours of sleep! It was wonderful to sleep, but strangely we were still pretty exhausted this morning- maybe we overslept or maybe all the hustle and bustle of London life has finally caught up with us... but regardless we pushed through the sickness and our tired eyes were quickly widened the second we stepped outside, felt the warm air and remembered we were in Italy.
Our tummies were still hungry from a scarce breakfast at the hotel - it was complimentary so we didn't expect much – but we bypassed the lovely cafes to get to the Accademia Museum on time for our reservation to see the statue of David. I must admit, the 14 euro charge just to get in, plus another 5.50 for the audio guide was a bit steep for a pretty limited gallery – they charge you more if you HAVE a reservation – how does that make sense? So to budget, we shared one audio guide, and realized it is the artistic landmark of the city and could not be missed - no matter the price :).
I was actually really taken by it - so amazing how Michelangelo sculpted such a true masterpiece out of a previously used and discarded piece of marble. I feel like we do not have that kind of artistic innovation these days - it is as if the current technological age has stunted artistic potential - or maybe we evolved out of such greatness - because you simply do not have that kind of creation from my generation - maybe I am totally off, and you can think of a million examples to prove me wrong, but no rebuttal could compare to how incredibly gifted Michelangelo was. The rest of the gallery was okay - paled in comparison to the main attraction, but needless to say, all of the artwork in Europe is astounding and out of this world – to my surprise my finger paintings with the kids this summer did not even hold a candle :).
After seeing the David, we walked through the cobblestone streets of Firenze (it is so interesting to me that their city names are different in Italian - London is just London, no matter what language...right?) to our next stop - a hidden treasure recommended by our guidebook – Ghirlandaio’s Last Supper – similar to the classic Da Vinci’s, but packed with symbolic additions and much larger in scale. The entrance was to the left of the Church of Ognissanti built in 1251 by a colony of Lombard monks. It was so beautiful – and as previously discussed I am not a huge church person – but this was gorgeous and off the beaten path, which I loved. And 1251! I cannot even begin to grasp how historic this entire continent is. It really illuminates how young America is in comparison. To get to the piece we walked down an entryway into a quad, then followed through a cortile past a small guard’s desk and into an expansive room with the masterpiece on the wall ahead. It was so stunning and quiet – no one was there. It was like we discovered it and it was painted and tucked away just for us to enjoy. The large fresco was painted by Domenico Ghirlandaio in 1480 and covered the entire wall with vibrant color. We stared and read about it for about 45 minutes, as a couple of people came in and out – but nothing near the hordes of people circling the David just hours before.
Amazed, we left and walked around some more. We decided we were hungry so we crossed over the Ponte Vecchio – meaning Old Bridge – which has been around since Etruscan times in the old 14th century by Neri di Fiorvanti – and found another restaurant with a set menu to have a hearty lunch since our wine tasting was going to be our dinner. This food was even better than the night before! I do not know how Italians are not all obese with all the delicious pasta!
After our long lunch, we walked to The Boboli Gardens behind Pitti Palace. We sat on the sloped incline gravel outside the palace for a bit, debated going in, but didn’t want to pay the outrageous charge for it, so we headed instead to Plaza de Signoria to see the fountain of Neptune! It was a busy plaza lit by the afternoon sun – and the fountain was really beautiful. Along the side of the plaza were tons of market stands, and beside that was a woman selling knock off purses, like in New York City. Funny story - did you know that it is not only illegal to sell but TO PURCHASE these bags in Italy?! Who knew, because in NY I don’t think it is illegal for the buyer and I have bought many purses in NYC without such a fiasco….enter sketchy situation: Upon asking about them and reaching for my purse to buy, they suddenly pushed me out of the way, yelling “go, go go!” I was stunned….and confused! Don’t worry, I had no run- ins with the law, but I had no idea I was even breaking it! They were off before I could purchase…thank goodness – I am not a lawbreaker. Later we found a passage in our guide book telling us all about how illegal immigrants being used by their suppliers sell these stolen bags and we should NEVER BUY THEM….I guess I accidentally overlooked that section….Oh well, what an adventure, and what a good laugh J
We then went to the Piazza de Lorenzo and did tons of LEGAL shopping, bargain hunting and exploring. It was a blast and I picked up some great gifts! So much cheaper than in London, that is for sure!
Before we knew it, it was time for our wine tasting at 5pm. I have never had a big appreciation for wine – in fact, I rarely drank it, and hated the taste! Well, being in Europe, and especially Italy, I figured this is the place to learn to love wine… and I have been a great student J. So in keeping with this “goal” the girls and I decided to do an authentic wine tasting at this quaint Italian wine bar called Sei Divino. Our host was Christian, a charming Italian man who owned the bar. Two ladies visiting from London also joined us! It was a fun group of six as we drank our four glasses of expensive wine – including a white that the Pope drinks and three reds, that I actually LIKED - complimented by some of the most decadent cheeses paired with sauces – some of the pieces had been aged and stored in caves for years – amazing! (Mom – you would have loved everything about it! The atmosphere, the wine, the cheese – I can tell why you were inspired to open up a restaurant from your experiences here J. )
We walked home with rosy cheeks and happy hearts J. We decided to rest a bit before heading back out for the night. There are tons of opportunities for going out, but after coming home and laying down, the exhaustion set in. I think being sick and trying to do it all catches up with us come the end of the day. So I showered and got in my pajamas for a night in with the girls in our warm and cozy hostel. We have tons of nights ahead, but since tomorrow we are doing the Duomo and a bus tour of the city, we thought best to be rested. Plus it is our last night of guaranteed hostel luxury since tomorrow we take the evening train into Rome – where Christian grew up, so he gave us some great recommendations – so why not live it up J.
After a day of walking through piazza’s, seeing statues and hearing the stories of this amazing city, I couldn’t help but have the songs of that musical running through my head every time I saw or heard the word Firenze. It is amazing how far I have come in the past four years since that trip – I never could have imagined I would be visiting the places I saw on that stage or experiencing the exact same, if not magnified excitement and independence of traveling with friends as I did on that day – but here I am, and the beauty is, it feels great.
Ciao mi amores!
Jenny
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