I'm in love. I'm in love and I don't care who knows it. I'm in love and I want to shout it from the rooftops, write poetry about it, compose a song about it, get it tattooed on my forehead, wear it everyday on a t-shirt.
Who am I in love with, you may ask. No. The better question is where am I in love with?
Florence.
I know Rome is supposed to be the "Eternal City," yet something about Florence felt much more eternal. Mostly like an eternal flame of love I have for the city. And all this after a mere three days spent there.
On Friday, we had a class excursion to Florence and myself and three other friends decided to stay the remainder of the weekend (most of the rest went to Barcelona for the weekend, which you can read about at my friend Chris's blog HERE)
The first stop on our class excursion was the Uffizi, which is a beautiful building commissioned by Granduca Francisco de' Medici in the 1500s. The building originally contained offices and rooms for bureaucratic meetings, but obviously nowadays the Uffizi is one of the most impressive art collections in the world.
my favorite painting in the museum, The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, circa 1484
my favorite sculpture in the museum, Sleeping Ariadne, an example of Ancient Roman Art from the 2nd century AD
I've always been interested by art and art history, but I'm definitely NOT the most knowledgeable on the subject. Even so, I couldn't help but be blown away by the Uffizi. I've always appreciated art, and I've learned enough in my classes to find an even deeper appreciation.
Speaking of deep appreciation, our next stop was the Galileo museum. There is a class some of my friends are taking on art and science and how the two are related, so they definitely got the most out of this visit, but it was still an amazing place to visit. A lot of the actual tools used by Galileo were contained in this museum - a LOT of telescopes of all sizes and lengths. We even got to see Galileo's finger! Catholics and their relics...
GALILEO'S FINGER!!!!!!
Then it was time for all our friends to leave and go back to Siena or to Barcelona, and then it was just the four of us on our own. We checked into our room for the night and then we all promptly laid down for a power nap. Hey, remember we ARE college students!!
That night, we went to Piazza San Spirito - recommended by our Air BNB host for places to eat - and found a small restaurant to eat at. The servers were all younger males, so naturally they loved a group of young American girls - we got free prosecco! No complaints here when free alcohol is involved (keep in mind, I am 21, so this is allowed). Three of us went out - the other friend met someone she knew studying abroad in Florence - and we all got different dishes and shared it with each other. I ordered a small appetizer, a small "cake" with artichokes and eggplant, with a pecorino cheese sauce drizzled generously over top of it. Delicious!!
After dinner, at the recommendation of a waiter at our dinner restaurant, we headed to a bar with live music. Let me tell you, the type of American music Italians like is NOT the type of American music Americans like. The live band had a band playing that sounded like bad surfer music. A couple drinks in, we decided we couldn't handle it anymore so we bar-hopped to a few places then headed home for the night.
The next day we were a little slow to get out of bed - not because of the night before at all!!!!! We found a place to get coffee (in Italy, coffee = espresso), and our morning jaunt took us right past the Duomo. A quite imposing sight, I will admit - I am rather particular to the Duomo in Siena (the facade is just incredible), the Duomo in Firenze dominates the skyline and is breathtakingly beautiful.
The next day we were a little slow to get out of bed - not because of the night before at all!!!!! We found a place to get coffee (in Italy, coffee = espresso), and our morning jaunt took us right past the Duomo. A quite imposing sight, I will admit - I am rather particular to the Duomo in Siena (the facade is just incredible), the Duomo in Firenze dominates the skyline and is breathtakingly beautiful.
the Firenze Duomo
After a rather humbling trip to the inside of the Duomo (everything is just so large and they had no modern machinery to help them build it!!! just think about it!!!), we did what any sane person spending a weekend in Florence would do - SHOPPING! Luckily for you all, I didn't take pictures of the shopping. If I did, it'd be like a montage from an early 2000s movie where someone breaks their glasses, discovers a comb, and magically discovers money for a whole new wardrobe - fashion show with cheesy music!
That night, I dragged my friend Andrea to a Mexican restaurant called Tijuana - a good place to go if you're ever in Florence and dying for Mexican food - where we had the hugest margaritas I've ever seen. Well, maybe not ever, but they were pretty big for being the normal size.
I got a cranberry margarita! Thanks to Andrea for the picture
After dinner, we went to bed pretty early - around 9pm! Some party animals we are.
The next day, we took a walk (and by walk I mean hike... it was all uphill!) to Piazzale Michelangelo, which had a fabulous view of the entire city of Florence, plus the surrounding countryside, the beautiful rolling Tuscan hills.
walking across Ponte alle Grazie
the walk up to the piazza - you can't see but behind it there are twice as many stairs to walk up!
view from Piazzale Michelangelo
Next up, we decided a trip to the Galleria dell'Accademia was a must-see for our time in Florence. And yes, it was a must see. If anyone tries to tell you the only thing worthwhile at the Accademia is Michelangelo's David, spit in their face because the museum is chock full of wonderful artwork. My personal favorite was the collection of musical instruments - as a music minor, dating a boyfriend who graduated with a major in music education, I found it all to be incredibly interesting.
set of kettle drums and various other percussive instruments from 1837
The David shines amongst all the other things housed in the museum, however. Words cannot describe how realistic and yet perfectly unrealistic it is. If you ever find yourself in Florence, a trip to the Galleria dell'Accademia is a must-see.
Michelangelo's David - pictures don't do it justice!!
I was very sad to leave Florence, but my one consolation (and a big one) is that I get to come back here in a few weeks with my mom!! I know that I will find myself falling in love with Florence again and again through my lifetime, and I know anyone who visits there will too.
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