After our train from Rome to Florence, we attempted to find our hostel. Luckily Julianne, Sarah, Lindsey and John were with us and they were staying in the same hostel so we were lost together. After calling the man who runs Hotel Marcella and trying to communicate that we were lost, we finally figured out that there are 2 sets of numbers in Florence for buildings. There are red and black. So while Hotel Marcella was black 58, we were pleased to know that the cinema we were standing in front of was red 58. haha
We arrived finally and the man was a little old Italian man with broken English. I am not going to lie, when we first walked in, I was a little nervous. The place was up 7 flights of stairs and was quite outdated. Upon entering our room, Chelsea and I discovered that we had a magnificent balcony looking over the housetops of Florence with Italian hills in the distance. That definitely cheered me up a bit, but we still slept with the light on the first night. And to add insult to injury, there was no running water randomly.
The next morning, we met up with Jenna, Ben and Chris. They weren't able to find their hostel, but luckily it was on the same street as us so we led the way. We later found out that their hostel was directly next door to ours!
After they checked in, we decided to head to the San Lorenzo leather market. When I tell you I fell in love, I MEAN IT. The market was endless and there were souvenirs and bags and shoes and jewelry. It was so wonderful. It was difficult to contain myself. After a while, we decided it was time for some food. We went to this little restaurant and ordered pizza which was massive, and a glass of wine. After we inhaled our food, we went BACK to the leather market, did some more shopping. We then began to wander around a bit and decided to go find some of the "must see" sights in Florence. We went to see the Duomo which was atop a beautiful cathedral. The intricate designs everywhere just continuously blew my mind. I lit a candle and said a little prayer. We then headed to the Ponte Vecchio bridge. It is lined with incredible jewelry stores which were definitely for window shopping, not buying. After snapping some pics, we grabbed some gelato. It was unbelievable. They had so many great flavors and it was made fresh.
We got dinner at this buffet style restaurant that Jenna's friend had told her about. You buy a drink and then get to eat as much as you want. Our drinks were massive and quite good (strong! but delicious). We stuffed our faces and then headed off to a bar. The bar we went to offered 3 drinks for 10 euro. We sat around and talked for about an hour or so and I even had my first lemoncello shot! After we finished our drinks, we decided to try and find this American bar that Jenna's friend had also told her about. After wondering for a bit, we finally found it. The place was flooded with Americans, but it was definitely super fun. The ceiling was covered in college tshirts and people's signatures were all over the walls. Ben was sure to leave our mark. We bonded with some other Americans, took some pics and had a few drinks and then headed back to our hostels. It was a great first night!
The next morning, we arrived at the train station for our wine tour that started at 8:45 AM. It was an all day affair and toured through San Gimignano, Siena and Chianti. San Gimignano was beautiful. It was a small little village with a few shops. We tried some wine and tried some fabulous cheese that left me dreaming about it all day. We also bought a quick pastry before we boarded back onto the bus.
Next was Siena. Siena was by far my favorite stop on the tour. We ate at a restaurant with a number of other people on the tour. It was 10 euro and unlimited wine and food! It was incredible. There was pizza slices, pesto (which I tried AND had seconds of), some meat and cheeses as well as some beans and dip and lots of bread! The wine was also quite good. It was a beautiful day so things were fabulous.
After lunch, we had an audio tour. The audio tour was pretty much useless because we couldn't hear anything/ the woman's accent was a little too thick, but it was nice to see a lot of beautiful sights in Siena. We then bought some gelato (naturally) and laid out in the sunshine in the middle of a square where tons of people were enjoying the beautiful weather. I fell asleep for over an hour! I was so genuinely happy and in love with my surroundings.
We boarded the bus again and headed to Chianti. Once there, we got to do a wine tasting at a private winery! Marco (the owner) was such a nice guy and we tried 4 different wines, a selection of cheeses and olive oils and even some salami. and YES, I tried it all. My mouth was in heaven. We even bought "grandpa" (our hostel owner) a bottle of wine to thank him for all of his help and his kindness. He definitely loved it.
At this point, it was around 7 and everyone was so tired from the walking and wine. We headed back to Florence. Once we got there, John, Lindsey, Sarah and I went out to dinner and then grabbed some desserts. I had my first real cannoli! It was lovely.
The next morning, we headed out to the Accademia and saw the David! Of course we weren't supposed to take pics, but I sniped a few. The sculpture is unreal. It is much larger than I thought and the incredible and impeccable detail is just mindblowing. We just stared at it for a good 20 minutes just to take it all in. After the accademia, we went BACK to the leather market, did some more shopping and then grabbed lunch at the same restaurant as the first day. This time they tried charging us a cover charge, but I nipped that in the bud saying we didn't have to pay the first time!
After that, John, Chelsea and I headed back to the hostel while Julianne and Lindsey checked out another museum to see some artwork. We sat out on the balcony and drank wine before meeting back up with them for some gelato by the Ponte Vecchio once again. We had fantastic weather all day which made me love Florence even more.
For dinner, we went to a restaurant that was EASILY my favorite meal in Italy. I ordered gnocchi with some sort of tomato sauce on it. I inhaled it and then was dipping my bread into the sauce because I couldn't get enough. We had wine that we had tasted the day before and just had lovely conversation over our delicious feast. Everything was incredibly fresh and the atmosphere was terrific. We then drank some of the wine we had bought back at the hostel and just chit chatted until it was time for bed.
The next morning, Julianne, Chelsea, Lindsey and I packed up and headed off to Pisa! With a hole in my leggings and a broken boot and a suitcase that I had to perch myself on to close, I was ready to take on the city! We decided there wasn't much to do besides the leaning tour. Jenna had told us about this fantastic pizza place. We decided to try it out. It was a METER of pizza. You can bet your bottom dollar that we ate every last bite as well as had an ice cold beer.
We then headed over to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and took a whole bunch of cliche shots. We were laughing hysterically as Julianne tried to booty bump is, Chelsea tried to lick it and Lindsey and I tried to hug it. We got some gelato and then headed to the airport. We were super early for our flight so we sat around for a bit. I took a quick nap to pass the time along with Julianne. Before we knew it, we were on our way back to London!
The flight was just a joke. Every 5 minutes they attempted to sell us something. They were constantly talking on the loud speaker and the child behind us that kept kicking our seats didn't help the situation!
All in all, we had an absolutely amazing time in Italy, but I was happy to be back in London! It definitely felt like coming home. Seeing everything in Italy and experiencing the culture helped me fall even further in love with Europe. I can't believe the opportunities I have been given and all of the things I do on a day to day basis. I am one lucky girl, that's for sure.
first lunch in florence! Margherita Pizza and a glass of wine
San Lorenzo leather market. Definitely put a large hole in my wallet.
The candle I lit within the Duomo
GROUPPPP SHOOOTTT.
The Ponte Vecchio Bridge
On the Ponte Vecchio Bridge, all the jewelry shops and whatnot
Best Gelato in all of Italy (in my opinion of course)
Lemoncello!
American friends!
Bogart goes to Italy!
Some shots from our tour of Tuscany
Wine and Cheese Tasting! SO DELICIOUS.
Julianne and I bein gangsta in Siena (this is where we took the hour long nap in the sun!)
From Left to Right: Sarah, Julianne, Chelsea and myself.
The winery!
I do not understand why my pictures do not rotate when I upload them!
John pouring us some afternoon wine to enjoy on the terrace.
Our view from the balcony!
Street Artists!
One of the greatest meals I have ever had.
A meter of pizza!
Chels and I enjoying our beers waiting for our pizza!
From left to right, Julianne, Chelsea, myself and Lindsey.
Trying to fix the leaning tower, yanno, usual day.
Chelsea and I
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