Thursday
This weekend we got Friday classes off, so we got to leave for Tuscany (an area that Florence is in, not its own city I found out after an embarrassing status update) on Thursday afternoon. I am getting more comfortable with changing trains, missing trains, sleeping when I can on trains, etc. which is nice. Upon arrival in Florence, Italy, our group (14 of us) went to eat at a restaurant called Osteria Gatto. It was a family style dinner with more than enough food and wine for 15 euro (the first of too much money spent this weekend). After dinner, we went to a club called Astor. This was where I first learned how creepy Italian guys are. We all stuck together though, and made it through our first night clubbing in Italy.
Everyone but Marlee (Near the Ponte Vecchio)
After the club, Whitney and I were supposed to go back to Marlee’s friends apartment to sleep. After an unsuccessful attempt at finding Marlee, we ended up going back to where the rest of our group was staying (a hotel room for 14 of us that slept six). We ended up sleeping on a very uncomfortable floor, and (believe it or not) getting a pretty horrible night’s sleep.
Friday
This was our day of touring Florence. We went inside and to the top of the Duomo (engineered by Brunelleschi), saw the David (MUCH larger than I was expecting) and other artwork at the Accademia, and toured the Uffizi Gallery (thanks to my fifth grade teacher Mr. Daum, I recognized a lot of the paintings which was pretty cool!). After that we went to the famous bridge in Florence (Ponte Vecchio). Ashvin (one of the guys on our trip) fell for one of the Italian men trying to sell things, and he paid 10 Euro to get a caricature done which was pretty funny (and surprisingly good).
On top of the Duomo
Replica of the David
(I'm the tiny person staring to give you a reference of size!)
Sitting on the Ponte Vecchio
Friday night we got pizza for dinner and just hung out in the hotel for a while. Then we went to a very American bar where literally everyone was a study abroad student, so that was fun but not a very culturally inclined decision. That night, I came home early due to exhaustion. I had the room key, but not the key to get into the building so I had to get creative with getting into the hotel. I found the restaurant connected to the hotel, and got them to get me in so I’m glad that worked out because I would have had to wait outside the hotel for everyone to get back! I got ¼ of a king size bed that night, so a huge improvement from Thursday night.
Saturday
Saturday consisted of shopping and a wine tour (two things I love, so I knew this would be a great day!). In Florence, there is a leather market and lots of street vendors, so we had a blast (even the boys found some good stuff). I got a scarf and a red satchel.
The wine tour started at two when we met outside the train station and got bussed through Tuscany with a lady giving us some tips and facts along the way. Our first stop was a small town outside Florence with amazing views. We were only here for about 15 minutes taking pictures and walking around before we were off to our second and final destination, a castle. This castle was not only in a beautiful location, but it was PRIVATELY owned and the owners lived there year round! We got a tour of the castle and the wine cellars, and ended our day with a wine tasting in a building next to the castle. The wine was called Chianti (which only comes from Florence), and it was amazing. We tried two different Chiantis, then we tried an after-dinner holy wine with biscotti to dip in it. This wine was very strong, but delicious as well.
Part of the Castle (Castello del Trebbio)
Me, Whit and Marlee at the wine tasting part of the tour
When we got back to the hotel, we all napped for a few hours before going to Gatto again for our final Florence dinner. We went to Gatto at nine, and the owner told us to come back at ten so we could all be seated together. At ten, we waited an hour before we were finally seated and got food around midnight. As you can imagine, we were all starving and grumpy but the great meal made us feel much better… so good in fact that I did not go to sleep Saturday night…
After Gatto, we went to a club called Twice. We skipped to the front of the line (I was probably mistaken for a super star). We danced for so long that by the time we went to the bar to ask for water, the bar tender told us the club was closing. Six of us decided to walk to the Piazza Michelangelo (a court yard overlooking Florence which holds a replica of the David) to watch the sun rise. We went back to the hotel to get snacks and a blanket, and off we went. Three miles later, we were standing in the freezing cold, huddled under the blanket, waiting for a sun that would never come (no sun, just light… Stupid clouds). It was a pretty spectacular view though.
Whit, Miles, Marlee, Jacob, me and Ashvin
At the Piazza Michelangelo waiting for the sun to rise.
View while watching the "sunrise"
After arriving back at the hotel to a dumbfounded 8 people just waking up, we all showered, changed and made our way to Pisa, Italy to see the leaning tower of Pisa. We missed our first train, got one an hour later, then missed our train back. A stressful and anxious morning to say the least. The leaning tower of Pisa was exactly what I was expecting, but pretty cool to take the classic touristy pictures with it. We paid 8 Euro to reserve a different train, and we eventually made it back to Lugano where I slept for 12 hours.
On Thursday, we have our final presentation in our Consumer Behavior class, then we are done with that class- so strange how quickly these classes go. Italian we have for three more weeks, but our midterm is also on Thursday. On Saturday, we are leaving for our first ten-day. We will be going to Dublin, London and Amsterdam. I am seriously on the trip of a lifetime.
