Italy Part 2 - Florence Baby

Our drive from Parma to Florence was exciting. First off, Sarah Beth and I partied next to each other on the bus. Secondly, we visited Ducati. Ducati was sweet. The process was interesting because there were more people than machines. Since the plant only produces 35,000 bikes a year they spend more time on the bikes, ensuring that each bike is perfect. After each process of the bike, someone has to sign off on the bike. There are several tests that the bike goes through before it is sold or shipped. I enjoyed Ducati more than BMW because we were able to tour the factory and see the process. Also, we were given a voucher to there store. Ha! What a joke. If you cannot buy the bike, you cannot afford their clothing. However, each of us tried on a leather jacket and jumped on a motorcycle. We enjoyed doing that, but it would be nice to actually one of those jackets.

I cannot tell you how much I love Florence. Even though it rained a ton while we were there, I enjoyed it that much more than if it were dry. My dad would have been tired of the rain, but I simply enjoyed it. At certain points in the day my clothes were soaking wet that it did not matter if I decided to walk in a puddle. Ha! To add to the rain, the humidity was bad. Ha!

We arrived to our hotel in Florence around four o’clock. The hotel was actually a convent. There were a couple of did walking around the place, but other than that it felt like a hotel. The hotel reminded me of the hotel in Venice that I stayed at years ago, but this one was a little bit scarier. The showers were separate from the rooms, so we had to walk down the hall to these creepy bathrooms that reminded me of the movie psycho. I did not make this judgment about the hotel until later that night. When we arrived at the hotel, we dropped off our luggage quickly in order to see the city. Of course I was the tour guide because of my previous experience. Our whole entire group met in the lobby, but not everyone came with my group. Some of the people in my group wanted to keep the group small, so we left and accepted everyone who followed. The group consisted of Bristal, Adam, Sarah, Suz, Janelle, Christina, Shardae, Ashlyn, Michelle, Butters, Heather, and I. Hopefully, I did not forget anyone. Ha!

Our first stop was Pitti Palace. However, when we arrived we learned that the gardens were closed and would not open until the 9^th. We did not buy tickets into the place because I told everyone that the gardens were the best part of the palace. We moved onto our second goal, which was the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. Luckily, the city is close together because it only took about five minutes to walk to the bridge from the palace. The bridge was as I remembered; however, it was a lot smaller than I thought it was. The shops lining the bridge looked smaller, but the view from the center of the bridge on both sides was everything that I remembered. I took a similar picture on the bridge that I took four years ago with my family. Walking the bridge reminded me of walking with my family. Everything about Florence reminded of my family. When we arrived in Florence, we went around a roundabout that was very familiar. Four years ago, we were lost at this very roundabout trying to find our hotel. I remember calling Juliann and asking her for directions. Ha!

The bridge was a fun experience with everyone, but I kept pushing everyone onwards so that we could make it to the Duomo. Our next stop though was at Della Signoria plaza, which is where the fact David is as well as the famous clock tower and entrance to the Ufizzi gallery. We walked around there for about twenty minutes before we walked over the Duomo. By this point the rain was coming down even harder. We arrived at the Duomo and learned that we could make the last trip to the top of the Duomo. We quickly bought our tickets and began scaling the dome. The spiral stairs will not be missed in States when I arrive home. However, I will miss the view from the top of sites like the Duomo. The view was incredible.  The rain though was so strong. It was hard to take pictures because everything was getting wet. By the end of the Duomo, we were all drenched, but we enjoyed the experience. I took some good pictures, so I was fine with the water.

Once we descended the dome, we regrouped outside the baptistery. Our next plan was to find food. Food would not be hard to find, but finding a place that offered good food for a reasonable price is hard around the touristy parts. I took the group to the location of my hotel four years. On our way there we found Gelato shop that was pretty good. I always enjoy Stracciatella, so it is not that hard to disappoint me. I asked one of the employees about a good pizzeria and she pointed down the street and told me it was a three-minute walk. The restaurant she told us to go to was the place that we had dinner at. The food was good. I of course ordered my Margarita pizza. I have ordered it every meal since I have arrived in Italy. Ha! My dad probably would harass me and tell me to order something else, but I love it so much. It is simple and the cheapest item on the menu. Ha! Following our meal, we headed back to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. We stopped at the bridge before the Ponte, so that we could take pictures of the Ponte Vecchio. We stumbled upon Michael, Jon, Cortney, Luke, Brittney, Hannah, Kelli, and Harsh. I would guess that we were on that bridge for a good thirty minutes and we took over a hundred photos. We all had fun on that bridge. What made the bridge sweet was the fact that you could climb over the bridge and walk on the pillars supporting the bridge.

After the picture taking was over, we walked across the Ponte and took more pictures. However, my goal was to find the wall that looked out over the city. What I though was the wall ended up not being the wall. We went on an hour walk that did not earn us anything but a workout. We climbed up a hill that took forever. Ha!

Day 2 Florence

Can I repeat again that I love Florence. It is by far one of the cities I would visit again in a heartbeat. Not only is Florence is sweet, but it is the central to Pisa, Siena, and San Gimignano. For most of the group, our morning started early. Sarah, Christina, Bristal, Shardae, and I went to the Lorenzo market at nine am. Christina, Bristal, and Shardae wanted to purchase most of their items, so that they could go to Pisa later that day. Sarah and I were just there so that we could get a head start on our shopping. We only shopped for an hour because we were going to meet everyone else outside the Academia at ten. Sarah, Bristal, and I each bought eight ties, which was great. I love ties, but I knew I would buy more before the day was over. Ha! My dad would tell to buy something else that ties. Ha!

Sarah, Bristal, and I met up with group around ten where we waited in line for about an hour at the Academia before we realized that we were never going to make inside the gallery. We ended up making reservations, so that we could go to the Ufizzi gallery with the rest of our group. Before we met up with the rest of the group, Sarah and I went ring shopping on the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. Actually, she went ring shopping and I was there to help her pick something out, but we did not find anything that was cheaper than 200 Euro, so it was not worth it. After a while of looking, we joined the rest our group outside the Ufizzi. The Ufizzi was not that exciting. We were in and out within 45 minutes. Ha! If there was more art that showed landscapes, I would have stayed, but it was not wroth. The David was though. After the Ufizzi, we had our reservation at the Academia, so we had another gallery to enjoy. However, the David was all you need to see. The David is amazing. I forgot how big it was. The details are amazing. Michangelo took on the challenge of sculpting out of the most fragile marble of the time. The marble that the David was sculpted out of arrived to Florence twenty years before Michangelo was even born. The David is one of my favorite works on this trip. I am biased though because it reminds me of my mom and the inside joke that we had when we were here last.

Following the David, our group split into two: those that were going to Pisa and those who decided not to go. I was in the group that decided not to go because I have already been there. Sarah, Ashlyn, Michael, Heather, Suz, Janelle, and I shopped around for another hour. I bought some presents for people and then four more ties. Ha! I would have bought more ties if I did not think about what my dad would say when I told him I bought 12 ties. Ha! After we were done shopping, it began to pour. We walked over to another market to learn that it was closed because there was something else occurring in the square. Walking back to the hotel, we had a series of misfortunate events that were amazing. I have always wanted some of these events to occur. It was pouring rain and my clothes were drenched, so I decided to walk through puddles and get even more wet. Second, while we were walking the puddles in the road were deep and long and I knew that a car was going to splash us. The first two cars dodged the puddles, but the next three cars nailed the puddles. Ha! It was hilarious watching everyone scream. Ha! That experience was well worth staying in Florence.

We dropped out bags off at the hotel and went back into the city. By this point it had stopped raining. We grabbed dinner in Della Signoria. I bought gelato at the place where you could put it on a waffle. It was delicious. We walked to Ponte where we had planned to meet the rest of the group, but we did not see anyone. Forgetting the rest of the group, we walked to the wall that I had wanted to climb the previous night. The view from the wall was amazing. It was actually a plaza. At the plaza there was another David. We stayed here an hour because we wanted to watch the sunset as well as watch the city light up. I love Florence. The view was a great way to end my experience in this city. Sadly, I will be leaving tomorrow morning. I hope to visit Florence again.