Taking Florence- Part 1

Florence is the capital of Tuscany and the leading city of art in Italy, if not the world. Florence preserves some of the world’s most famous artworks and Renaissance architecture. Famous architecture of Florence can be seen throughout the city and famous artworks can be discovered in museums, such as the Uffizi or the Pitti Palace. There have been controversial debates that Florence is the last Renaissance city in Italy, but by far it is one of the most popular. Florence is home to many famous shops, markets, and tons of tourists. When the weekend came, I looked forward to seeing all the glory of Florence once and for all.
On Friday, February 18th the group went on a weekend trip to Florence. We left the Palazzo heading to the bus station at around 1:35 p.m. in order to catch our 1:45 p.m. bus to Arezzo. The bus ride was one hour long and seemed better than usual. I did not get nauseous; thanks to my sea-sickness bracelet I brought from the farmacia in Sansepolcro. I prepared, therefore, nothing could spoil my trip. Once in Arezzo, we took a train that would transport us to Florence. The train station was very crowded, since it was Friday and people were trying to get home for the weekend. Due to the overcrowding, directions at the train station were confusing. However, Dr. Webb was there to assist us in locating our train. We boarded it, and comfortably situated ourselves for the one hour ride to Florence. It was pleasant; I looked out the window and listened to my iPod the entire time. As we traveled quickly down the tracks, I noticed all the appealing landscapes and graffiti. We passed mountains, rivers, trees, buildings and before I knew it; we were in Florence. There, Dr. Webb taught us how to read the arrival and departure times for trains correctly, and then we were on our way.
With John Rose serving as our tour guide, the group strolled along the cobblestone roads through the city in search of our hotel. Along the way we saw many beautiful buildings, statues and local markets. Although it was very tempting to stop to take pictures, shop, and eat; we did not and instead pushed onward. John Rose put me in charge of the map, which was a good lesson to learn for our future excursions. After a wrong turn, tons of streets signs, and motor bikes; we found our way to our hotel. The name was Convento della Calza. Everyone was so relieved to have finally reached our destination. We quickly received our keys, divided into our assigned rooms, and rested for a while. Once we put our bags down and got situated, some of the girls separated and walked around the town. Megan, Lilly, Shannon, Kelsey, and I explored the town in the hunt for gelato. We walked around for about thirty minutes then decided to head back to the hotel in time for dinner. At 8:00 p.m., we were all welcomed to dinner at the hotel. Not only was it delicious and free, but it was convenient as well. We had pasta for our first course, chicken and cauliflower for the second, and a chocolate treat for dessert. I was full after dinner and could not think of anything but sleeping. The night ended on a good note and we rested up for our long Saturday adventure in Florence.
The next morning, we all woke up at eight in the morning to have breakfast before leaving. The breakfast was small, just as all Italian breakfasts, but it was just enough to fuel us for the day. We all went to buy bus tickets after breakfast, then patiently waited for the bus to arrive. The bus carried us to the train station in Santa Maria Novella. We thought it would be a great place to start and work our way southward as the day progressed. With me placed as map manager, we headed to our first destination. This was the Accademia Museum, but somehow we arrived at the gallery instead. We peeked in and figured out it was the wrong place, so we went a few doors down only to figure out that we had passed it in the beginning. Well, after that little hiccup, we entered the Accademia Museo. It was smaller than expected, but still impressive. The big highlight of this museum was the sculpture of David. David was enormous and way bigger than I imagined. The sculpture actually started off as an unused slab of marble and was turned into a masterpiece by Michelangelo. This statue holds a significant meaning; he represents David of “David and Goliath” from the Bible. The Biblical story explains why David is holding a sling and a rock. The sling and rock were two tools that David used in his battle against Goliath. The sculpture was symbolic and moving to those viewing it. After looking at all the pieces in the Accademia Museo, we went to a shop across the street and bought postcards. Mine were funny postcards of David to send to my friends and of Florence for my family. Next, we set off wandering around in a nearby market, buying scarves and other items that could serve as souvenirs. I ended up buying three scarves, two wallets, magnets, and plenty of souvenirs. Once we finished we the market, we arranged to meet up with the other half of the girls for lunch.
At about 2:00 p.m. we all met up with no idea where to eat. Most of the girls suggested a recommended sandwich shop, but it was closed when we arrived so we had to find a restaurant. Just one street away from the sandwich shop, we came across one called I Ghibellini. It was able to seat all eight girls so we decided to eat lunch there. My meal was amazing; I ordered penne pasta with hot pepper and a side of French fries. I was stuffed after lunch, but I needed the food to help energize my body for the remainder of the day. We had a very nice waiter and he actually gave the group a discount, so everyone ended up paying ten dollars apiece. After lunch all the girls, excluding Kelsey and me, went to climb to the top of the Duomo. Both Kelsey and I wanted to go with the group and see the amazing view, but could not due to health issues. Kelsey has asthma and I recently had spinal surgery, which prohibits me from participating in activities such as that. I was really sad, but decided to go shopping to feel better. It did not last long, so Kelsey and I took a look inside both the Duomo and the Baptistery. After looking around in the Duomo, we met up with the remainder of the girls and went on a hunt for gelato. Not too far from the Duomo, we found a cute little gelato shop. The prices seemed affordable so everyone brought two scoops of their favorite flavors. I had chocolate chip and coffee. Once we finished, the group divided yet again. Some girls wanted to go shopping while others wanted to view more museums. I went with the first group. We searched around for a reasonably priced market and began bargaining. It was fun to bargain with the vendors and then walk away when the prices were too high. All the markets had the same things, so it was easy compare prices and buy sensibly. We shopped in the market into nightfall, but our day was far from over.
We agreed that it would be nice for everyone to meet up again for dinner, but this time we would try a location closer to the hotel. We intended to have dinner at 8:00 p.m., therefore around 6:45 p.m., my group decided to head back across the Ponte Vecchio to get to the hotel. We brought bus tickets at the station, but it was just our luck that we got on the wrong one. Instead of boarding the bus going south towards Via Porta Roma, we got on one that went in north. We rode for about five minutes, and then as the bus grew bare we noticed we were going the wrong way. All of a sudden, we hopped off and scurried into a farmacia. We asked where we were and the clerk laughed. He informed us that we were far away from where we needed to be and must take two buses to get to the Convento de Calza. We were nervous, mad, and scared all at the same time. No one knew what to do, so we just sat at the stop asking every bus driver were they heading to Via Porta Roma but we received the same response every time: NO. Shannon suggested that we take a taxi, but the only problem was how we would flag it down. Then suddenly we looked up at the red light a saw an empty taxi, so we made a run for it. The driver agreed to take us to the hotel and we hopped in. We safely arrived at the hotel in about 15 minutes. We were hungry and tired, but most importantly, we were thankful that we arrived safely.