Firenze

On Top of the Bell Tower

We left Pisa early Saturday morning to catch the train into Florence, which was our last stop together. We had originally planned to visit Cinque Terre Saturday, but the weather forecast said 100% rain. Cinque Terre is a beautiful place by the sea, but not a place to visit when the weather isn't sunny. It's definitely a place that you should Google! Seriously, look it up.

View of the Duomo

We walked outside just as the taxi was pulling up. The driver helped put our luggage in the trunk, then off we went to the train station. We arrived a bit early, so after buying our tickets we headed to the McCafe for some breakfast. Chocolate croissants was obviously what we ordered plus two bottles of water. Zach also ordered a coffee to go, then we headed to our platform, but not before we validated our tickets! We were sure never to forget that again! The train to Florence was a bit sketchy. It was definitely an older train, but we survived!

With the help of Google Maps, we made our way from the train station to the Hotel Marriott! We arrived early and at first the lady working told us there were no rooms ready at that time. Yet, somehow five minutes later a room was available, which was great because we were exhausted and hot. The lobby was like a sauna for some reason. I'm not even kidding. 

Our room was nice and clean, but the view from the window was not. Our window overlooked apartment buildings that were a bit run down with laundry hanging on lines outside, even in the rain. Pretty sure that defeats the purpose.

View from the Belltower

After freshening up, we headed out to explore the city. There was a train that stopped near our hotel which took us close to the city center in just one stop. Our first place to visit was a restaurant. We were starving. We ate at this cute cafe with seating outside in a covered area. Then we went to The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as The Duomo. We decided to climb the 414 steps to the top of the Campanile or bell tower. The staircase is narrow and spiral, which isn't a good combination when numerous tourists are ascending and descending these stairs each day. There were a few rooms connecting the staircase, which allowed one to sit and rest before continuing the climb. But it was also a bit of a cruel trick because we thought we had made it to the top, but in reality we still had lots of stairs left to climb. Once arriving to the top, the view was beautiful! We had a perfect view of the dome on the cathedral and also a lovely view of the city. It was worth the climb. Going down the stairs went much quicker and after exiting, we entered the Cathedral. The interior of the dome has a magnificent fresco of "The Last Judgement", which was amazing to see! Afterwards, we went to the basement or Crypt where archeological remains of the Santa Reparata cathedral are kept and also tombs of past bishops of Florence. It was really interesting. 

The Last Judgment 

Of course, after climbing all those stairs we deserved some gelato. So we went to Grom, where they supposedly have the best gelato in Florence. We both ordered the house special, Crema di Grom. After trying it out, we concur that it is the best gelato.

Grom Gelato

We walked around the city and stumbled upon Palazzo Vecchio, where we thought we had found the David statue. Although, I was certain I read it was in the Accademia. We were very confused. Later we realized the statue in the Palazzo Vecchio is merely a replica, standing in the square where the original once stood. The real David is now protected in the Accademia. 

Double Rainbow Over Florence

It began to rain so we busted out the umbrella and decided to walk to a museum, but we never made it. The weather cleared up quickly so we walked to a place to get a good view of the Ponte Vecchio. This bridge is Florence's oldest bridge and only surviving bridge from the Medieval days. The bridge is lined with jewelry and tourist shops now, but was once lined with butcher shops. On our walk back, we saw a double rainbow! It was so cool to see a double rainbow in Florence, Italy. I mean, how many people can say that?! 

We stopped inside the Galileo museum, considered buying tickets, but decided against it. The weather was still nice so we walked across Ponte Vecchio. It didn't seem like much of bridge with all the shops lined up on either side, but it was cool! We explored this part of the city a bit and then headed back towards the train station to go back to the hotel before dinner.

Ponte Vecchio

By this time my knee was hurting a lot. It had started hurting that morning, for reasons I don't know. We grabbed dinner at a cool restaurant next to our hotel, so I wouldn't have to walk far. I ate a cheeseburger, which wasn't too bad and I believe, Zach ordered a pizza. We also ordered an appetizer of bread. The waiter brought out the appetizer fairly quickly, but our entrees took forever. Zach said it was probably because we hadn't finished our appetizer. I didn't think so, but he was right! As soon as we put the last two slices of bread on our plates, the waiter delivered our meal. So strange. After dinner we returned to the hotel room because I could barely walk.

First thing on our list for Sunday was the Accademia! We stopped by a bakery for some croissants before continuing on our journey to find this museum. Along the way, we happened across a building with $1 bills on the outside. It was the strangest thing. A random man was standing outside a shop, so I asked him if he knew about the building across the way. He said, "Someone has too much money. A very rich man put the money up there." All along the bottom half of the building there are marks where money used to be, but people snatched 'em all up!

Dollar Bill Building

The Original David

We got to the Accademia just before the crowd hit. We toured the entire museum, but our main reason for going was to see Michelangelo's David. It was such an amazing thing to see this piece of history. To see this masterpiece in person, instead of in the history books. Very very cool. Although photos weren't allowed, we snapped a couple. Some people weren't so sneaky though and got yelled at.

The Hard Rock Cafe Florence

Lunch time came so we headed to The Hard Rock Cafe! I find it quite interesting to eat in American restaurants in different countries. I like to compare and contrast. This Hard Rock was quite similar to those found in the States with all the memorabilia. The food was good, also. Afterwards, we headed to the Chocolate Festival! Once a year all of the best Chocolatiers around Florence come together. Zach and I just so happened to be in town during this wonderful event. There were so many types of chocolate! Obviously we bought some and it was, of course, delicious.

We climbed, technically rode, like five different escalators, to the top of a department store to a little cafe on the top where there was a nice view of the city. It was super windy though so we only stayed long enough to snap a few photos.

Chocolate wrenches, guns, horseshoes, etc.

By that evening my knee was really bothering me, so we went back to the hotel so I could rest. Zach headed back out though just in time to catch the sunset in Michelangelo Square and to walk around a cool local part of Florence. That night, we met back up at the department store entrance before dinner. We went to a little pub for pasta, only they no longer served pasta. However, it was listed on their menu and written on their window. Anyways, we ended up at a fairly nice restaurant where we both ordered some pretty legit pasta. I'm starting to think that all food in Italy is just delicious. We walked around a bit before going back to catch the train to the hotel.

Monday morning came quickly, but we didn't have many plans. It was our last day together in Florence, so we went out for breakfast. My knee was still giving me issues. I could barely walk, so we went to the restaurant by our hotel. We had no idea it was a bakery too! They had every kind of sweet one could want. We settled on croissants with nutella and got bananas, as well. We were bummed we discovered this place on our last day. It was such a good breakfast stop! We had already checked out of our hotel, but we went back to hang out in the lobby before heading to the train station. We tried watching the Olympics, but couldn't find the right channel. We decided to head out a bit early so we could grab some food at the station before our trains left. I got a mozzarella, tomato and basil sandwich. It is one of my new favorite foods, for sure!

My train left a few minutes before Zach's train, who by the way, was headed to Rome! Way better destination than where I was traveling to. We said our goodbyes, then I hobbled to car number five to board my train home.