Florence is the trip that made my study abroad experience feel real to me. It was such an amazing experience to be able to see another major city in Italy that while similar to Rome, was an experience in its own unique right.
After an easy hour and a half train ride we managed to find our hostel, The Alex House, after a much longer route than necessary. The Alex House was a charming hostel with really nice staff that resembled a bed and breakfast in my opinion. We spent our first night in Florence checking out the Duomo, the Golden Doors, and then having dinner at the well-known Za Za's.
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| The Duomo |
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| Pizza at Za Za's |
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Golden Doors
The next day we woke up early to go see The David, the leather market, and the Ponte Vecchio. I truly feel that pictures do not do any marble sculpture justice, and The David is no exception. The accuracy of the human body that is chiseled out of marble will never cease to amaze me. Later we headed to the Ponte Vecchio to see the sights of Florence from the bridge and afterwards climbed up a hill to see an amazing 360 degree view of the city.
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The next day we headed over the Uffizi Gallery and saw famous works of art by Michelangelo, Rafael, and Da Vinci to name a few. After touring the rest of the museum we stumbled upon the leather market, which was a completely different experience than shopping for a leather jacket back at home! Four leather jackets later from our new best friend Massimo definitely made the day an unique experience! We had dinner at Acqua al Duo, known for their balsamic and blueberry steaks, which had a really cool atmosphere.
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| View from the Ponte Vecchio |
Some stand out experiences food-wise in Florence was Vivoli Gelateria, argued to be the best gelato place in all of Italy and Florence's secret bakery only open from 1-4 a.m, but that's a place everyone needs to figure out how to get there on their own!
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| The view overlooking Florence |
