Well you can start with a beautiful picture of us on the Ponte Vecchio
*yes we know we are twinners*
Wow! This morning was an adventure to say the very least. Katers and I woke up at 5:45 and had planned enough time to eat our breakfast, make our way through St. Mark's Square, over to the vaporetto #2 stop, and get to the train station with enough time to double check that we had printed out the right ticket stub for our train ride to Florence which left at 7:47 and grab cappuccini.
Our first problem started when vaporetto #1 showed up which is the slower one. Vaporetto #2 takes about 20 minutes and #1 takes about 45. Although this put us a little behind schedule it was okay, we would just do without our cappuccini until Florence. We arrived at the station and immediately got in line to check with the staff that we had printed out the right paperwork. We just wanted to make sure that we had an e-ticket and not just a confirmation number. Well, the lady looks at me as says in a very thick Italian accent " you are at the wrong station. You need to be at the next one." I replied "Huh? There are two? Where is the other one?" She told us that it was about 5 minutes away by train and that the train was leaving platform 12 now. Katie and I took off dragging our suitcases through the station and jumped on board literally right before it took off, without a ticket. Once we got on my anxiety sky rocketed not only because we might miss our train but because I might get a huge fine for not having a ticket for this train. That thought hadnt entered my mind until we were already on so Katie and I tried to not show how paranoid we were when the security people passed. We literally counted down the 7 minutes it took to get to the station and when we arrived we jumped off. We had one minute to get on our train. The sign said platform 6 and I confirmed that with an Italian man. Well with only about 30 seconds until the train was supposed to leave there was an announcement that said the train was leaving platforn 5. Shit! Katie and I grabbed our heavy luggage and ran our asses down the stair over to the next platform and jumped on the train with about 10 seconds before the doors shut and it took off. Once we sat down we laughed about it. It added some spark to our trip, but man were we afraid that we were going to miss our train and have to buy more tickets.
The train ride was totally easy once we got on board. It was straight 2.5 hour ride with no transfers and we read our books the whole time. Katie finished Pilot's Wife and I finished P.S. I Love You (which was wayyy better than the movie).
Once we arrived in Florence, we made our way to our hostel, Luna Rossa, which is amazing! We are totally glad we decided to stay here. It is just around the corner from San Lorenzo Market and just a few minutes from the gorgeous Duomo. Everything in Florence is close together, about 20 minutes is the farthest you really have to walk. The first day we got here we just checked everything out. Walked through the market, by the Duomo and into some piazzas. We grabbed pizza for dinner and went to bed at a decent time so we have lots of energy to explore fully the second day.
Our second day in Florence we spent seeing as much as possible and managed to find a used english bookstore. We tried to sell our books back but they didnt take hardbacks so we settled and spent some Euro on some more books. We have been reading so much here that it was well worth it. Katie has already finished a book in Florence and I am just about done with mine. Anyways, after finding the bookstore we walked through the market again, by the Medici-Riccardi Palace, around the Duomo (Katie's favorite building in Italy so far), down Via Calzaiouli (the main shopping street), to all the main Piazzas, over Ponte Vecchio where we saw all the gold and silver shops, around the Pitti Palace, then over to Santo Spirito, and just as we were headed over to Piazzale Michelangelo we heard thunder and saw some clouds rolling in. Since we are Southern California girls we decided that we would start to head back rather than get stuck in a down pour in the middle of some gardens. Luckily we did that because half way acroos the bridge it started to rain and about 5 minutes before we made it into our room the rain was increasingly getting heavier. It rained for about an hour or so. After the rain subsided we ran out to get some dinner. This is really hard to admit but the food was terrible. Not just for Italy, but by any standard. We were so upset. After dinner we walked back into town to see the Duomo again and to find a good pasticceria (pastery shop). Our stomaches were upset from dinner so we did something unheard of. We decided not to get dessert! That is also hard to admit. I got a cappuccino instead and then we went back to get to bed early for our super early reservation to see the David the next morning.
Katie passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow. I on the other hand have had so much trouble sleeping because everyone is hasseling my about my future. It is really starting to wear on me and I havent been sleeping well now. As soon as I try to close my eyes I am consumed with what I am going to have to do when I get home. It has started to give me terrible anxiety. It is truely taking all that I have to enjoy myself here sometime cause the reality that I am going to be forced to face soon sucks. During the day everything is still amazing and I am having so much fun, it is just at night that my mind races and races. Its okay though, maybe it doesnt hurt to start to think about it a little here. It is just forcing me to take little naps in the afternoon, and I love naps so its cool.
Today, our third day in Florence started out amazing. I woke up at 6:30 to run downstairs and grab a cappuccino and brioche. Then I woke up Katers and we got ready to go over to the Academia where we saw Michelangelo's David and some beautiful paintings, frescos and alter pieces. The David was such an amazing sight. We had seen some beauiful statues in Greece and I saw so many in Rome, but nothing compares to the David. I mean, obviously people dont make such a fuss over it for no reason. It is not only huge but every detail was simply perfection. The fine detail that Michelangelo paid when creating this statue exceeds all expection. The muscles on his back are exact, his eyes look alive although they are carved in marble, his hands have veins sculpted into them. I could have sat and starred in amazement all day long. Not to mention his ass is fab! (oh yeah one more observation, since I have a love for feet, I noticed that his second toe is longer then the first and third...perfect...hahaha) After going to Academia we ran into a market where we found some Frusi, these amazing yougurt-ish things that Tara's roommate introduced us to. We havent been able to find them since we were in Milan so we were really exicted. We also bought some sando stuff and made lunch in our room. At 2:00 we headed out to get to our reservation at the Uffizi Gallery to check out the "greatest collectionof Italian paintings anywhere." Just as we were about to arrive there my hands started to burn a little and when I looked down they were swelling up and getting a rash. Katie and I thought it would be better to get some Benadryl and not spend the 40 dollars in case my hands got really bad. I was really bummed and sorry that I made Katie miss the gallery, although we both agreed that we would be back sometime soon so it was okay. We were just super bummed :(
The combination of the Benadryl and lack of sleep knocked me out for a good two hours which left Katie with plenty of time to finish her latest book, Love the One Your With by Emily Griffith. We decided that for dinner tonight we would go to an aperative (like a happy hour at a coffee bar) where we could just eat some sandos, bruschetta and cappuccini and then maybe grab some gelato. The aperativo was really good, we were so full and satisfied that for the second day in a row we passed up dessert. Who are we?
We are now in the room packing our bags and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow starts our excursion though some Tuscan Hilltowns and then on the 2nd of August we head the Riviera for some hiking and sun. We have some fun, fun, fun days ahead of us!!
Below there is about a million pictures so enjoy looking at them!!
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Piazza della Repubblica
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