July 12^th, 2012

Day 54: Rome, Italy & Florence, Italy

This morning we made our way from Rome to Florence via a 7:15 train from the main station. Luckily we were about 2 blocks from the station, so the travel in the morning was easy! We arrived in Florence around 8:45ish and using Stephen’s iphone map, found our way to the hotel!

We were unable to check in that early, so we checked our bags in their storage and headed out for the day. Our first stop: breakfast!

When in Italy, right? After we enjoyed our food, we made our way to the Duomo, which we passed as we tried to find the hostel. A gigantic building with so many details. Completely breathtaking.

Then we went over to the Arno river and the Ponte Vecchio. The views were absolutely gorgeous and the bridge is certainly something to see! It’s a semi-enclosed arched bridge over the river with stalls for things ranging from diamonds to string bracelets. A lively place to be on such a gorgeous day! We wandered around here for a while and then I bought a bracelet that the street vendor made right in front of me- it’s my name in silver wire held around my neck by a silver chain. I love it!

We made our way to the Pitti Palace, which was where the Medici family once called home. There is a beautiful garden behind the palace but it cost money to go into the palace and the gardens so we just admired it from afar.

After we took a short break in the Piazza in front of the palace, we made our way to the Piazzale Michelangelo (as suggested by Sarah!). I didn’t realize how much of a trek this would be (up a steep hill and then 3 separate long flights of stairs that got periodically steeper as you went up), but after seeing the panoramic view that the Piazza offered, it was well worth it!

We made our way back down the hill and then stopped at a small shop for some paninis (again, per Sarah’s suggestion). While they weren’t the same kind of paninis we get at home, they were delicious nonetheless and it was nice to sit and relax after a long morning.

On our way back to the hostel, we wandered to the plaza where ‘The David’ stands in its original location. This isn’t the statue that Michelangelo slaved over and proudly displayed as a finished product at the age of 29- it’s a replica. The original statue stands in a museum that costs money to get into and we both decided that we’d be happy seeing the replica (same size, shape, dimensions, and even in the original location!).

We spent a few hours back at the hostel after that, figuring out train times, relaxing/napping after an early morning and getting things (like blog posts) done. We went back to the train station to book our seats on some of our upcoming trains and after about an hour’s wait, were semi successful. We’ve still got to figure out our path from Monaco/Nice to Barcelona, but that’s TBD.

We were starving by the time we left, and set out to find a good pizza place to grab some dinner. After wandering for a while and trying to find a restaurant recommended by my travel book, we decided that it had probably closed and settled on a small bistro in a Piazza a bit out of the way. The food was incredible- we split a pizza with ham, mushrooms, and 4 different cheeses as well as a piece of bruschetta that was to die for.

Props to Sarah for leading us to the best gelato place ever and suggesting we check out Grom. It was literally the best geltato I’ve ever had. The flavors I chose this time were mint & milk and hazelnut. We’re certainly spoiled with the amount and quality of gelato we’ve been eating; I’m going to miss it when we leave! We hung out by the Duomo for a bit and enjoyed our gelato- got some great night shots!

We grabbed a bottle of wine on our way back to the hostel and hung out in the lobby for a while skyping friends from home, catching up on blogposts, and relaxing. It was a long, hot day in Florence and it was nice to just take a deep breath!

Favorite part of the day: Our trek to Piazzale Michelangelo. I really wish I knew more about him as a person and artist, but the view that his namesake’s piazza offered was incredible. A perfect reminder of how lucky we are to be where we are, doing what we’re doing.