It was a very quick and easy ride from Roma to Firenze – about an hour and a half. Mom and Roey met me at the Florence train station, and we walked to the hotel (which is right next to the Uffizi Museum and is weirdly and awkwardly positioned in an alleyway) to drop my bags off. Roey and Nanny shared one room and Mom, Tara, and I got another. I had my own private, little loft area in ours.
We left the hotel and got lunch at a not-so-satisfying restaurant with a creepy waiter who loved (almost in an inappropriate way) Roey. We had some time to kill, because our reservations for the Uffizi museum were at 3:15. We were able to forgo waiting on line and go right through security. The Uffizi, according to Mom, is one of the most famous art museums in the world. It was pretty neat but LONG and really tiring by the end; it took about two hours to get through. There were some pieces that I recognized from Art History sophomore year which is always surreal to see in person. I was especially excited to see the Birth of Venus and Madonna with a Long Neck.
We walked around a little bit that afternoon exploring sites in the city such as the Duomo. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to go to the top of the Duomo to see the views due to limits on time.
That night, Mom, Roey, Tara, and I went to eat at a restaurant that Christine recommended and it was so good. I got the penne vodka – MOLTO DELIZIOSO!
Friday morning (3/19) we woke up and headed to the Galleria Academia where Michelangelo’s David is. We waited for about 45 minutes because, unlike the Uffizi, we didn’t have reservations. Photos are forbidden in the Academia but I’ve seen so many pictures of David on Facebook that people took so I figured that it wasn’t hard to get some. When I walked in, I got two pictures – one from really far away and one kind of blurry. I got closer and tried to get another; as I was sneaking out my camera, I looked around to see if anyone was watching me. I thought I was being stealthy but a woman, who I didn’t realize worked there, caught me and pushed down her hands motioning me to put my camera away.
It was so funny watching people trying to get pictures. The women that worked there were literally jumping in front of people’s cameras. They shouted “NO PHOTO” every few minutes. There were poles that Tara and I saw so many people hide behind to get pictures. It was hilarious. One couple must have gotten like ten photos – all with the woman posing in front of the David. How the workers didn’t think that this chick just standing and smiling there was suspicious is beyond me.
The one thing I absolutely LOVED about Florence was the shopping. They have the San Lorenzo market every day where there are hundreds of vendors selling scarves, leather goods (purses, belts, wallets, luggage, jackets, etc.), jewelry, and more. I thought that the Porta Portese market outside my apartment every Sunday was good, but if I was abroad in Florence, I would have a field day (a very costly field day). I got a black leather belt, a small purse to use for when I go out, a silk scarf, and leather bracelets. There are SO many scarf stands – they literally had every single kind of scarf you could possibly want. Between Mom, Tara, Roey, and Nanny, they probably purchased 12-15 scarves. Tara also bought really nice brown leather boots as a birthday splurge.
We walked across the beautiful Ponte Vecchio Bridge which is the only bridge in Florence not destroyed by the Germans during World War II. The bridge is mainly comprised of jewelry shops -- really EXPENSIVE jewelry shops.
That night we went to another restaurant by Christine, Acqua al 2. They are known for their samplers of salad, pasta, meat, and dessert. Tara and I didn’t want to do the sampler because the chef just gives you whatever he chooses that night, and we didn’t like the idea of not being able to pick our dinner. Tara and I both chose pasta with vodka sauce (second night in a row for me), and we split a salad. Mom, Nan, and Roey split the salad, pasta, and meat samplers. They were given three types of salads and meat and five types of pasta.
Mommy, Roey, Nanny, and Tara’s flight back home was at around 10:15 AM out of Florence with a layover in Paris. They left the hotel at 7:45 and I woke up to say goodbye to them. I was planning on going back to bed but I decided to just get a jump on the day and take an early train home.
I ate breakfast at the hotel and left for the train station. I used one of the self-service ticket machines and bought a ticket for the express train at 9:40 AM. I got back to my apartment in Trastevere at just about noon. I used the rest of the day packing for Spring Break in Greece!
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