We woke up the next day ready to explore Florence! Since Briana and Delaney had been there for over a month they knew everywhere that we should see, which is awesome when traveling to new places (like in Munich we did not know anyone, so we felt that we missed out on some of the must-sees of the area). Anyway... we started the day by climbing the tower in the Basilica of Saint Mary the Flowers--The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore--which is next to the Duomo. Some people climb the Duomo instead because the top is higher, however the girls told us that we would want to see the Duomo + Florence from above (like climbing the Empire State Building and not being able to actually see the state building..) so this was the better choice. Hundreds of steps later we understood what they meant. The view from the top of Florence was amazing, I don't even think amazing explains it. The city looked like a painting and the mountains in the distance only added to the beauty. We walked around every side of the lookout area and could see for miles and miles.. I had now seen Cork, Munich and Florence from the top and was able to compare. They are all SO different, but the way that green blankets Ireland-- this shade of peach does to Italy. Both are stunning in their owns way.
Following the climb we grabbed breakfast at an American diner (in Italy lol, but it was nice to have some traditional States food) and then had a quick photoshoot on the terrace of their apartment. We next went into town where Sarah and I decided that we wanted to try fish pedicures... We sat down with our feet hovering over the water for an extremely long amount of time and then with racing hearts and loads of anxiety lowered our feet in (I made Sarah go first..) Once we found out that the fish did not actually have teeth it became a tad less horrid, but it was not really enjoyable. They all swarmed and it felt as if an electric current was running through my feet, like when I get that treatment done at the chiropractor. We then shopped our way through Florence, where I found a nice leather shop. Upon walking in and meeting the designer/owner, him picking out a jacket for me and placing it on my body I of course had to make a delightful purchase ("treat-yo-self ). He rubbed a lighter off the sleeve to prove to us that it was true Italian leather and then proceeded to give us discounts and then his card with an email if anything went wrong. Great salesman, but the smell and feel could have sold the jacket by themselves. Once we worked up an appetite, the girls brought us to one of their favorite food spots and I tried my first pasta in Italy. WOW. Sarah and I split a vegetarian ravioli dish and (this deserves its own line)
PESTO PENNE. ** drops the mic **
GAME* CHANGE * ER * (insert clapping hands emojis in between each word for extra emphasis)
The pasta was perfectly cooked, slightly chewy or al dente (as dad would correct me). The sauce was light, buttery and had just the right amount of pesto. I do not think that I refuse to order this meal anywhere until I return to Italy or find somewhere with an amazing Italian reputation (maybe Federal Hill in Prov, MAYBE). It was that good. It was that pasta dish that you always dream of being heavenly in Italy. It made the trip that much more memorable. The pizza may have been a 9.9, but baby this was a 10. I can't even talk about it without getting teary eyed. I wonder if it thinks about me as often as I think about it.... I am losing it. PESTO will forever more be my favorite type of pasta sauce (I used to be a die hard alfredo girl growing up. Ask the fam. This is a big step.) We all enjoyed our meals in silence, savoring every single bite and sipping some afternoon wine.
The day continued beautifully. 4 of us girls decided to go get a couple bottles of wine and spend the sunny day people watching and relaxing on the Arno, with a fabulous view of Ponte Vecchio. We talked and laughed and drank for hours..while tourists walked by staring at us since we had open alcohol bottles in public (I swear it is legal there! Dumb tourists, you are obviously doing Italy wrong lol). We stayed here for most of the day, then met up with the rest of the group to go up to Piazza Michelangelo to watch the sunset and take part in the GELATO FESTIVAL, which just happened to fall on the weekend we were visiting (thank you Jesus). We only caught the end of the sunset because the walk took longer than expected, but trust me.. the gelato made up for it. There were over a dozen stands each with their own three types of homemade gelatos for us to sample. The event was almost overwhelming. Every flavor was more rich and delicious than the one before. Dark chocolate, mocha, raspberry, nutella, peanut butter, salted caramel, coffee. You name it, they had it. We tried little spoonfuls of each and then bought a card which allowed us to get 5 mini cups as well, those were extremely hard to decide upon because they were all SO good!! After an hour of so we couldn't eat any more/were going to be sick, #NORAGRETS. Certainly the most enjoyably earned stomach ache of my life. We grabbed something small for dinner, for those who could even look at food at this point, and then went back to the apartment.
Side note, I was having such an amazing time in Italy that I had my mom and I both trying to call the airport all day and night to attempt to switch my flight to a later time the following day. My Monday class was canceled and I did not want to leave!! Unfortunately, we were unable to make any switches.
We went out for one last time, left the bar early to grab some late night pizza (Had to. Last pizza in Italy maybe EVER) and then said our goodbyes before our early wake up. The alarms went off before dawn the next morning, we took a train back to Pisa and then were on our way back to Dublin. This was certainly the first time that we had traveled away and I wasn't dying to get back to Ireland.
I fell in love with Italy, hard. I am still so happy with my choice to study in Cork. I don't think that I could live in a busy busy city like Florence for an entire semester (I know my jeans say I can't lol) but it was a lovely visit to say the least. I will find a way to come back one day.. Here's to hoping that our coin in the drain counted for something! Italy you will be missed <3
Bye for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment