I've finally developed my taste for coffee back. Funny how I had to come to Italy where all they drink is espresso to like coffee again. Of course, this is beside the point, I mean to write about my trip to Florence over the weekend, not coffee or my new found enjoyment of it!
We left for Siena early Friday morning, have lunch and then catch another train for Florence where we would stay the night in a hostel and then spend the next day roaming the city. I had to get up at the ungodly hour of 5:30am. Nikki (my roommate), Jessica, Amanda, Katie and I all met at the Roma Termini and took a train towards Siena. It was my first train ride ever! And my first time out of Rome since my arrival, thus you can understand my excitement at the prospect of seeing something not Roman. What I wanted more then anything was to see some country, grass and trees. Three things that almost seem alien to me now after the constant stone, concrete and tall buildings that is called Rome.
The train ride was beautiful, we chugged right through the hills of Tuscany with little villas spotting the hillsides, vineyards and orchards still brown from winter were being pruned.
We arrived in Siena a couple hours later and took a bus with some other students we happened to find, who knew where they were going.
Siena is very different from Rome; I was actually surprised at the difference. Instead of cobblestones, the streets were paved with big blocks and the buildings were taller and streets more steep. We found a little cafe for lunch which offered a pasta dish, bread and a glass of vino for only 7.50£! We thought this a great deal! When the waitress brought us the food in little plastic trays we realized why it was such a deal, it was microwaved meals! We were so bummed! Who would have though in Italy! At least the vino was good.
We then wandered into the main piazza in Siena called Piazza del Campo. Beautiful doesn't quite make it; it is one of the biggest piazza's I've seen with little restaurants and cafes everywhere. All the cafes have tables and chairs laid out covered in bright, cheery colors. We got gelato (Italian ice-cream) and laid on the stone in the piazza in the warm Tuscan sun! Yes, we were "under the Tuscan sun" be jealous!
After our sun bath we caught an hour and a half train to Florence. It was getting close to dark so as soon as we arrived in Florence we looked for a bus to take us to our hostel. We found a bus, jumped on and headed off into Florence. No one really knew where we were going or what stop we needed to get off on but after about twenty minutes we stated to worry that maybe we had missed our stop. And when we realized we were the only ones left on the bus and we were driving through an abandoned car lot we started to worry that maybe our bus driver was taking us someplace to kill us! Then we realized the driver was a girl and then Nikki had the bight idea to go up and ask her when our stop was, she had already passed it and we were stuck on the bus full circle 'til she came back to it! Thus the tem minute bus ride turned into a forty five minute adventure.
We finally did arrive at hour hostel. It was very nice and comfortable, I was so tired (and still sick) thus the sight of a cozy bed was the best thing I felt I'd seen in months!
That night we went out to dinner and went to a fancier restaurant than what we would usually allow ourselves. And then went to our hostel for much needed rest.
The next morning involved roam the streets and markets where Amanda, Jess and Katie all bought leather jackets as this is the time for sales (saladi) in Italy.
We climbed the duomo, 400 steps to the top and almost died carrying out bags up that many steps! But the view was so worth it, so that once we got to the top we forgot about the scary steps.
We visited two museums. I felt silly as I think I walked around with my mouth hanging open most of the time in awe. I saw the statue of David and the famous painting of the birth of Venus, and many other amazing and famous pieces of art.
The train ride home was mostly uneventful, asides from the bottles of vino and snacks we brought along for the ride to keep us company for the three and a half hour trip. I will definitely be going back to Florence; I think it has become my favorite city in Italy, out of the two I have seen so far!
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