Firenze, ITALY

Bonjourno from Firenze (Florence)!


3 MORE DAYS!!! I miss you guys so much. Rome was great…but Florence is amazing!! And plus it didn’t rain the whole time so that was great! Instead it was sunny and HOT the whole time….I wanted to throw on a swim suit and lay out everywhere. However, that wasn’t possible because I would be mauled by Italian boys…on top on the continuous harassment that my friends and I received this whole weekend haha. Italians don’t really wear shorts or skirts or dresses and we were wearing all of the above so we got some weird looks and some interesting comments haha! Italians are crazy!!!

The drive from Rome was about 3 hours of incredible Italian countryside. There were tons of vineyards, Mediterranean houses and gardens and colors. It was a great distraction from the time and it was beautiful. We arrived in Florence around 5pm and got to our hotel room that overlooked the roof tops of all of the Mediterranean houses and an incredible skyline. It was so picturesque. The fact that we have internet is also picturesque. We got freshened up and walked around the city to enjoy the great weather and take pictures. We started at the Academia gallery because it was still cultural week when we got there so we didn’t have to pay to get in. This is where the original statue of “Real David” is. This is known as the model of a picturesque man…or if it isn’t, then it should be. The square in the Central of Florence called Piazza del Signoria is where the Uffizi Art gallery (the grandest art gallery in Italy) is and also where we sat and ate dinner the first night. It was great weather and great people watching in the square. I ordered Spaghetti with meatballs and we got two bottles of wine. Florence’s famous wine is called Chianti. We got a bottle of this and it was really good. I think you would have liked it daddy…I wish I could bring you some. A 2 man band came and played at the restaurant and it was so romantic. After dinner we went to a gelato shop in the square. I have found that Gelato in Florence is wayyy better than gelato in Rome. I think its known to be the best in Italy…but I’m not sure. I got a pretty large cone with Strawberry and Chocolate and I turned around and looked at my friend Chelsea’s cone and it was about three times bigger than mine. I said “Chelsea! How much is that cone” and she said “I have no idea I just said that I wanted a waffle cone” and I said “hahahaha!!!” We walked up to the counter to check out and he said “4 Euro” to me and “12 Euro” to Chelsea. I lost it and started laughing so hard!!! Her cone was 12 Euro which is about 15/17 US Dollars!! It was hilarious. She had to try and talk her way out of it and get the woman to take back her cone. The rest of our group was standing outside trying not to pee our pants because we were laughing so hard. We walked back to the hotel and talked for a while and then went to sleep. We decided not to go to the disco because we were getting up early for Pisa the next day!

Monday- We woke up and had breakfast (much better than Rome) at the hotel. We walked to the train station and got a ticket to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower! The train ride was about an hour long and then we had to walk all the way to the other side of Pisa to get to the Tower…we realized that they put the station there because if people saw it immediately then they would just take a picture and leave haha. So they decided make everyone walk straight across town so that they could be harassed by street venders and creepy Italian men. We finally got there…and I was on the verge of sweating because it was so hot (Happiness). We automatically started taking all of the necessary pictures that one takes at a destination such as Leaning Tower of Pisa. Pushing the tower down…holding it up…hugging it…jumping…walking…singing…dancing…and everything else. We got some great pictures and I cant wait to show you all of them! Me, Chelsea, Emily, Jessi, Jeryn and Kara were walking back to the train station after looking through venders and we stopped at one on the way back. We were looking and a creepy man on a bike stopped at the vender and started yelling stuff at us and the men that owned the booth tried to get him to go away because he was smiling creepily at us and making us really uncomfortable. We thought we would take advantage of the situation and have some fun so we started growling at the man and screaming and we ending up laughing so hard at ourselves that it was hardly affective. He rode his bike off somewhere and we continued to walk back to the station and the next thing we knew…he was following closely behind us on his bike. We started walking faster and he rode in between us and we tried to stop and he would stop right next to us…we started yelling at him and telling him to leave us alone and he just smiled and would leave us. We got a little freaked out and tried to run but he wouldn’t leave us. Then we started yelling Polizia (Police) at him and he saw them ahead by the bridge we were about to cross and rode off. It freaked us out a little…some more than others and was super creepy. Italians are insane. We got back to Florence around 3pm and went to all of the markets around the area to shop for leather goods and fun Italian stuff. We spent the rest of the day in the markets which was so much fun and we got a lot of great stuff. The leather markets are GIGANTIC! There are tons of different things and it is really fun to negotiate prices with people. It was annoying how everyone kept hassling you from every booth. If I got a dime for every time I heard “I give special deal for only you!”…then I would own Donald Trump. We also got to walk around most of Florence and see and of the monuments and take pictures by them because we knew that the forecast for Tuesday was rainy and most of the places were closed on Monday. So we enjoyed the sun and warmth and walked around to the Santa Maria Novella (famous Florentine Church), San Lorenzo (church and also where largest leather market is), The Duomo and Baptistry (where Dante was baptized), The Uffizi (art gallery), San Croce (famous Florentine church), and Ponte Vecchio (Famous Florentine bridge…and the only bridge over the river that wasn’t destroyed by the Nazi’s in WWII…and it is now famous for its jewelry venders and great view). We happened to walk by the Disney store and there was a TV and it was playing a High School Musical video in there so naturally, I walked in and started singing and dancing. It made me so happy and so excited to come home and watch the Disney channel!!! We had a great day and went to eat at this restaurant that some of our friends ate at the night before. They continuously gave us free liters of wine and the food was great and then the owner bought all of the girls in the restaurant roses!! It was so much fun and such a traditional Italian restaurant. We came back to the hotel, talked, and hit the sheets!

Tuesday – We woke up and ate breakfast again! This day we went around to all of the same monuments but went inside them. It wasn’t much different than Monday. We went to the leather markets and other venders today again. First we went to San Lorenzo, then Santa Maria, and then the Duomo. The Duomo was not as impressive as other churches but the outside is incredible. Most of the churches here are made of pure marble on the outside…which makes them so unique and amazing to behold. I had gelato for lunch…yes I know…and then we went to the famous jewelry bridge – Ponte Vecchio and looked at all of the jewelry that was leagues out of any of our budgets. But it was fun. Jessi and I went and made an appointment at the Uffizi Gallery for 3:30 because the wait was longer than 3 hours without one. WOAH! We came back to the hotel and we took a snooze and then hit the gallery! It was a great collection of Italian art…and had the famous painting of The Birth of Venus (google it if you don’t know what it looks like). There were a lot of MichelAngelo, Rafael, and Da Vinci works. We had a lot of fun with all of the art and culture. We met up with everyone else and walked around and then came back to the hotel, ate some snack for dinner, and then watch The Hangover. Yes…we all watched The Hangover in Florence. But hey, we made sure that we conquered the city before doing so. Now we just chilled in our room and got ready to leave tomorrow and enjoyed being with each other.

I am going to bed…anticipating the coming days in Venice and the coming years in AMERICA AND TEXAS! Haha I cant wait to come home. We have all been in disbelief of the things that we are going to be able to do THIS WEEKEND!! What?!?! We will be able to drive? Have free water? Get refills on coke? Have ICE in our drinks?? Not have to pay double of what things actually cost because of the exchange rate? I get to sleep in a bed that doesn’t gouge into my back or strange stains? The realizations are endless and I cant wait to share them with all of you! You are going to get so tired of it haha! I miss you guys so much and I love you so much and I cant wait to see all of you and I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!! AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great rest of the week and I will see you this weekend! (unreal)
Pictures when I get home!!

Ciao!

Me at PonteVecchio Bridge

Me pushing the leaning tower of Pisa

Me and the girls - Chelsea, Kara, Jeryn, Jessi, Me, Emily

At dinner with our free roses and free wine!

Chelsea, jeryn, Me at leather market