Italia Part Two: Firenze

Apologies for the delay in part two of this Italy post, springtime has arrived in Tudela and I couldn't drag myself away from the sunny plazas to get any work done this week!

My hostel

Florence is one of the most incredible places I've ever visited. Yes, it was swarming with tourists, yes almost everything about it was touristy, and no I can't see myself in a million years every living there, or even studying there for a semester. But the art, culture, history, everything in Florence is overwhelming, intoxicating, inspiring, and I loved being there.

There's the Duomo, with Brunneleschi's impossible dome.The 460ish steps to the top of the dome would be worth it just for the view of Florence, but even more incredible was seeing the interior of the dome, looking down on the floor of the cathedral and being close enough to almost touch the frescoes covering the inside of the dome.

A visit to the Galleria Academia, of course. Nothing could have prepared me for seeing Michelangelo's David in real life, the moment when you turn a corner and there he is, at the end of a corridor of unfinished Michelangelo statues. He was so much bigger than I expected, beautiful and captivating, it's impossible to tear yourself away and move on to the rest of museum, which although overshadowed by its most famous resident, was really interesting as well.

David's not-nearly-as-impressive twin

The Uffizi museum, which was simultaneously amazing and disappointing. Unfortunately entire rooms of the museum were closed for restoration and I left feeling like I'd missed a lot. What was there though was wonderful. The museum was also so crowded that it was difficult to enjoy the experience.

View from the Uffizi

And the jewelry stores and views along the Ponte Vecchio.

The "must-sees" in Florence are amazing, but some of my favorite parts of the trip were a little more off the beaten path:

A lunch at the Trattorio San Lorenzo where I tried the Florentine steak. A tiny little Italian restaurant, filled with Italians, cute little wooden tables shoved in next to each other, the walls covered with bottles of wine and a collection of currency from around the world. I had salami and bruschetta to start, then steak and potatoes for the main course, that looked so good the table next to me actually asked what I had ordered so they could get it!

This sandwich, my lunch on Sunday. I found a sandwich shop around the corner from the Uffizi exit with a line down the street, which is always a good sign! Overwhelmed, I took a risk and told them to make me their favorite and got this delicious sandiwch with salami, fennil sauce, and some other unidentified food. Yum yum yum.

The San Miniato del Monte church on a little hill outside of Florence. The interior was my favorite of the churches I saw in Florence, the views were amazing, and I had the place pretty much to myself (a rarity in Florence)!

And Sunday afternoon, when I accidentally stumbled into maybe the coolest thing I saw the entire weekend! By 6:00 Sunday afternoon, I was exhausted and sick of Florence. I was walking down one of the typical Florence streets, full of shops, restaurants, and tourists, when a little old Italian lady stopped abruptly in front of me, turned, and climbed up the steps of a tiny church I hadn't even noticed so I decided to follow her inside. Turns out I stumbled into a free organ concert in the Santa Maria dei Ricci church.The church was dark, cool, empty, everything I'd been desperately searching for. And while it was simple, the organ echoing through the small church made it seem so much grander. Churches are meant to be viewed with organ music!  It was magical, and perfectly summed up Florence for me. I couldn't tear myself away.

Although I had been a little worried about spending the entire weekend alone, within an hour of arriving I had already made new friends, two girls from Boston who were studying in Madrid and invited me to join them for dinner. First stop was mojitos at Le Art Bar, a recommendation from a sister who had studied in Florence, followed by a cheese and prosciutto plate for dinner.

Passion fruit mojito

Saturday night, I joined a group of new friends from the hostel for dinner (linguini with truffle sauce! incredible) and an unforgettable night in Florence that included joining a jazz club in Florence (I guess I'll have to go back to Florence now?) and buying donuts for 1 euro at 2 in the morning from a "secret bakery."

Waiting in line for the door to open

Finally!

It was the perfect trip, just the right mix of art, food, and fun, social and alone time. And even though I'm never sad to return to Spain, it was really hard to leave the magic of Florence and go back to real life!