Florence

I am currently on the train leaving Florence and going to Padua to go back to my first host family and stay with them for a couple of days before I head off to Dublin. Florence was great with tons of history both medieval as well as the Renaissance. Florence is a tourist capital not like anything I have experienced yet in Italy. EVERYONE spoke English. It was ridiculous on how much English was spoken by everyone. And I don't know if that turned me off to Florence but I didn't love it. I liked it, and I would for sure go back, but I only liked it.

My first day in Florence I just walked around looking at the sights. Generally what I do when I first get into a city is walk to the center of the area without a map, literally getting lost in the city and then find my way back somehow. It has been a great system so far because I have always found some of the coolest things that way. Anyway, after I left my stuff in the hostel I just walked to the domes of Florence that you so often see in postcards and pictures. On my way there, I found a bunch of cool shops and leather goods. After looking in the stores, I rounded the corner of one street and there stood the Duomo or Cathedral of Florence. You have seen the Cathedral from aerial views hundreds of times, maybe thousands but to see it up close, with the intricate detail and colors that you have almost never seen is completely surprising and breath-taking. In my opinion anyway. I was so surprised that the front or the sides of the Cathedral are not photographed more. As many of my readers are also my Facebook friends I will mention that when I got to the Duomo the first day it was closed so I could not go inside. The next day is when I went back and climbed to the top of the Duomo to take my aerial shot of the area.

So walking around, I found this piazza, Piazza Vecchio that has lots of statues and is just a fun place to be around. I found the replica of Michelangelo's "David" in the piazza which was cool. It was the original place he was displayed representing a sense of freedom. In the 1800s, he was moved as a museum, the Academia Gallery was built around David and I eventually went to go see. My recommendation: Don't wait in that line without a ticket and don't buy your ticket online. Go to the little office across from the museum and make a reservation and buy your ticket. I waited 5 minutes to make a reservation the next day in the morning before lunch. So I went the next day, went to the museum which was kind of surreal to be seeing this famous statue that you know all about, and about this artist that you have studied even if you weren't an art history person and the statue being right in front of you. I walked around the whole thing and then went to get lunch. All in all a good day.

I went on a walking tour of the Renaissance architecture of the area. It was pretty cool and I learned a lot and it was cool to see the differences between the buildings of Medieval times, next to buildings of the Renaissance next to some newer buildings that kind of just built up around the original buildings.

And as previously mentioned leather goods....in a previous post I mentioned on how I asked a host mom where I can buy leather goods. The words "Florence" or "Firenze" never came up in that conversation. But holy cow, there are shops after shops and little booths after little booths of places to buy leather goods ranging from gloves, to bags, to shoes, to belts, to wallets, to anything you want to be leather. After a while of shopping around, I bought several leather items as presents (sorry folks, can't reveal it here) and on my last day, found a leather jacket. I had resolved to not get a leather jacket because they were too expensive. Way out of my price range. And I had thought, I could buy one in California from Italy cheaper than buying it here. Oh well! And I had gone to buy myself an "Italia" jacket, a blue one just like the one I had been eying all summer. After I bought it, I saw "Made in China". I was so disappointed that I went to go buy myself another jacket that said "Italia", a green one that was specifically made in Italy and that will be accompanying me across Europe. And I was ok with the purchase of two jackets since I had not gotten a leather jacket. However, as I was walking around with some people I met at the hostel who were also in the market to buy leather goods. As I was showing them around to the shops that I had found, there it was, standing out in the middle of one of the stalls, the jacket I had to have. I went from the little booth to their store because I hadn't found a leather jacket in my price range, in my size or in the color I had liked in 6 weeks, it wasn't going to work out now right? Oh but it did, and it was meant to be! I went in to ask for the style I fell in love with but in black. The guy ignored me and grabbed me a dark red one because it was in my size....it was beautiful and beautiful on me. He then pulled out the black one which looked good but the red was good against my skin tone. After I said, "nope, gotta have the red one" he then told me that he knew it would be perfect for me, that's why he pulled it out first and then the black one later. Tricky tricky, but he was right! I cannot wait to go out somewhere so I can wear it! Too bad it won't be for another 6 weeks because I do not want to take it to rainy countries only to get ruined before I have a chance to wear it. Le sigh...but I have a beautiful jacket to wear when I get home!

Now talking about hostel life. SO I was in the hostel for 4 nights/5 days. In a previous post I mentioned the Australian who flashed me. She was only my roommate for 2 days. Through her I met other Australians and a Kiwi, and some guy from North Carolina who reminded me of Jeremy Piven a little too much. After she left, this guy from Chicago who looked 35 but was really 19 was my roommate along with this girl from Kazakhstan who made up for this guy I know from Kazakhstan. She represented really well and made up for the guy I know who I think is one of the worst people I have ever met. Anyway, this 19 year old Chicago guy was touring Europe as long as he could to look for party places to take tour groups of college kids around to party it up. I asked him if he had heard the book "Party Europe" which is the same idea (And I only know about it because I found it in rooms during check out) and he did not so I just helped a business right there grow. He was nice, and I assumed from money because that was his 8th time in Europe and he had no plans to go back. He also told me about his dreams as he rolled a joint and talked to me in the bed across from me. The next day, I met this girl from Canada moved in to the bed next to me who it turns out was doing the same Italian English touring company as me and we bonded over that. We bonded so well that we are going to see the Dr. Who Experience together in Cardiff! Eek so excited! The guy in the room turned out to be from Los Angeles, and when I asked where because I was from Los Angeles, he said "North Hollywood". Then I saw him addressing something and he was from Studio City. First of all, why not tell me the truth and second of all if you are going to be vague, just say The Valley. I would have stopped asking after that. Anyway, we went out to dinner, saw the Duomo and because we had all been traveling alone for so long, able to get in our funny shots with people that would wait for us to pose as opposed to asking complete strangers to wait for us to pose.

The next day, we walked around and shopped and then I headed back to Limena; where I started it all. Soon, my adventures will continue! On to Dublin!