Firenze Part One

FRIDAY
The train to San Benedetto was only about 40 minutes so we were in San Benedetto pretty quickly. We all thought that the trip was going pretty well up to this point….that was until our train from San Benedetto to Faenza decided that it would take the day off. It literally just did not show up…you gotta love the European Public Transportation System.

So, once we found out that the train just wasn’t coming…we had to figure it out for ourselves because no one decided to make any sort of announcement…we looked into taking the next train. The next train to Faenza wasn’t for another two hours so we sat at platform number 4…and waited…and waited…and then we decided that we would act like typical Americans and eat our boredom away, so out came the nutella and cookies, and the cheese and crackers. We sat and ate amidst the skinny Italians, while they watched us stuff our faces and scarf down the jar of nutella. By the time the train came, the only residual sign of the nutella jar were the smears of chocolate hazelnut spread on our faces and clothing.

Luckily,the train was a Euro Star train! This was such a nice surprise! The Euro Star trains are faster and more luxurious than the regular trains….they also cost more which is why we didn’t book this train in the first place. We had bought tickets for the regular train but we boarded the Euro Star train anyway because that was the only option we had to get to Faenza and still catch our train to Florence. We grabbed seats on the train, and a few minutes into the ride a man came by checking tickets. When he asked us for our tickets, we knew we were going to either get in trouble or have to pay more….so we just pretended that we didn’t speak or understand ANY Italian WHATSOEVER! Unfortunately, this plan that we though was sooo amazing didn’t work out too well…primarily because the man spoke English, but also because apparently none of us can act. We ended up having to pay an extra 7 euro, but all in all, I think that the Euro Star was worth the extra money. It just seemed like it was so much cleaner and almost luxurious compared to the other train.

When we realized we had reached Faenza (because at first we weren’t paying attention since we were so into our conversations and almost missed our stop), we literally got off one train, ran down the stairs, under one railway, and up the stairs on the other side and boarded our other train to Florence. We JUST made it…talk about cutting it close. The ride from Faenza to Florence was pretty uneventful. Just a few smelly people sitting near us for the nice our and a half trip…

When we reached the train station in Florence we regained our bearings and headed out in the direction that we thought would bring us to our hotel. After a little walking and navigation with our handy dandy pop-out map of Florence, we found our hotel. It was right in the middle of everything!! SO PERFECT! Five minutes from the train station, five minutes from the Duomo…perfection. Our hotel was a little sketchy at first. We walked through this massive doorway and there were two sets of stairs…one to more stairs and one to an elevator. We went the stairs route first…which epically failed when we realized that we couldn’t find a light anywhere and the spiral staircase was a little too much for us to handle with our overstuffed backpacks. The elevator route was next. We walked up the stairs to the elevator and pressed the call button. When the elevator showed up, it only confirmed my assumptions that ALL Italian people are smaller and skinnier than pretty much ALL Americans. This elevator could literally it one of us with our backpacks on.

So, we checked in and dropped off our things in the hotel rooms (which were GORGEOUS and complete with baroque artwork) and then headed out to get down to business….time to get gelato and shop…not necessarily in that order. We ended up shoe shopping and then stopping for a gelato break. We went to a few places comparing prices and settled on this one place that served the most delicious gelato flavors. Thinking back now, I should have known and taken a hint when I realized that the name of the gelato place was “Very Good”, but I just didn’t take the God given hint. We all ordered gelato and when it came time to pay, we all almost passed out (and not because the gelato was so amazing…because it wasn’t). THOSE STUPID GELATOS COST US A TOTAL OF 39 EURO!! SOO MUCH MONEY! ON BAD GELATO! They averaged 8 euro each!

We finished our shopping, headed back to the hotel and got dressed for dinner. We met up with one of the girl’s friends who is studying in Florence and got dinner with her and her friends. I ate dinner quickly because I was so excited for AFTER dinner. I had plans to meet up with Lorelle’s (one of my really good friends from home) sister, Amanda, after dinner. Amanda studied in Florence two years ago when she was a junior in college and decided that she wanted to live there after she graduated. We met up in front of the Duomo and went out for a drink and some catch-up chit-chat. So much fun! We called it a night around 12am because we were all so tired from our journey, and decided we would wake up early the next day to take on all that is historical in Florence…which is pretty much everything.

SATURDAY We started our day off Saturday with a free breakfast from the hotel. Hearty corn flakes...mmmhhh and nutella. We had reservations to see the Galleria degli Uffizi at 9:30. We spent TWO hours just going through the Uffizi. I saw paintings by Botticelli like The Birth of Venus and La Primavera. I honestly can’t describe what I felt walking through the Uffizi. There were so many gorgeous statues and paintings. It seemed as through they just stretched on forever.

After the Uffizi, we went for a little walk through Ponto Veccio. In case you didn’t know, Ponto Veccio is known for it’s gold. I went to Ponto Veccio with the intention of buying a necklace and a pendent to remember my trip to Florence. When I browsed a few shops…I realized I wouldn’t be purchasing ANYTHING from Ponto Veccio. Let me put it this way…If they sold gelato on the Ponto Veccio it would be even more expensive than the 8 euro gelato we got the day before. It would be more like 200 euro gelato.

After the Ponto Veccio we grabbed lunch at a little side pizzeria and got in line at the Duomo. We only had about two hours before our reservations at the Galleria Academica. We were in line at the Duomo for about 10 mins (did I mention the weather was AMAZING that day? Definitely in the 60’s). We paid our entrance fee and began our ascent to the top of the Duomo. When the sign said 436 stairs, I was expecting a few stairs and a bit of a climb. I definitely was not expecting a verticle, dizzying, spiral ascent that involved claustrophobia. Ohh the Duomo. When we reached the top of the dome, I realized that it was totally worth it. The climb up was actually pretty fun once I stopped psyching myself out