Firenze e Pisa

Another week has passed and I am again writing about another great weekend abroad. This time I went with my study abroad program to Florence and later to Pisa in a three day trip within Tuscany. Although it was our last trip with API, I couldn't be happier in all that we got to do in such a short amount of time.

Florence was stunning and easily my favorite of the Tuscan cities. It is a perfectly-sized city that houses an amazing and traditional art collection within the walls of a modern city with an active nightlife. Even though I loved the place, I couldn't help but be glad that I chose to study in Rome as opposed to Florence or any other Italian city. I just love the incredible size of Rome that will never get boring, no matter how long one lives here. Even though we only had about two days in Florence, I felt like it was the near-perfect amount of time to see the majority of what Florence has to offer.

So our weekend started out rough having to get up at 6 AM to make the API bus that picked us up near our school. Going to bed after 2 AM was certainly not conducive to getting there on time but we made it without any problems. We at least got to sleep during the 3+ hours on the bus and we were fortunate to arrive in Florence at a pretty early time (about 11 AM). We checked in to our hotel and got some free time for lunch and got a quick look at the city before our walking tour. We immediately became familiar with the Duomo and the central piazza along the Cathedral which was conveniently right next to our hotel. This was probably my favorite place in Florence and it became our meeting point throughout the weekend.

The Duomo.

Our walking tour was excellent even though we were all freezing while we walked throughout the city center (Florence was easily the coldest place I've been to in Europe so far). We did a quick loop and got to see a couple of the major landmarks which were all beautiful and well-preserved. It felt like we were right in the middle of the Renaissance, the epitome of Florentine living.

The Piazza della Republica

The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge across the River Arno)

Piazza della Signoria, outside Uffizi gallery and holds copy of the David.


After the tour we met up with our friend Ally and headed to the Uffizi Gallery, one of the most famous art museums in the world. This had some of the most important and beautiful works of art I have ever seen in my art history studies and it was fascinating to see them in real life. The highlights for me included the first room that had the three original proto-Renaissance masters, Giotto, Cimabue, and Duccio's Maesta's, Boticelli's Birth of Venus, Hugo van der Goes' Portinari Altarpiece and Da Vinci's Annunciation. There were of course many other greats but I thought these had the most impact on me when I got to see them in person. The museum was unfortunately pretty crowded so we kind of breezed through the galleries and I didn't bother to try and take any pictures of the art but that was okay. We did go up to one of the outside patios and took some pretty good pictures of the Duomo and the group:

After the Uffizi we had some free time for a much needed nap before dinner. We then me up with our program managers to go to this great restaurant near the Duomo. The food was really excellent and was very vegetable-oriented which was a nice change. For dessert we had a pretty interesting cookie-like bread bits that were supposed to be dipped in a sweet wine and it tasted pretty good.

After dinner we went to the steps of the Duomo and waited for everybody to meet up with us. It was really nice sitting in such a beautiful and relaxing setting compared to any piazza we would find in Rome. The night was a much more laidback setting compared to the high amount of tourism during the day. After sitting there for a bit, went to this bar nearby called Naima which was a really good time. They had great drink deals and I really liked the atmosphere. We got a few more drinks and hung out on the couches for a while as more of our friends joined us. All in all it was a great night for just our first night in Florence:

We woke up the next day to a nice complementary hotel breakfast before checking out and heading to the Galleria dell'Academia to see the real David. The museum had a lot of other great stuff like a wing devoted entirely towards classical musical instruments that were pretty unbelievable and bizarre-looking. But at some point we couldn't wait any longer and had to go see the David. I must say that the original sculpture is so much better than the outside copy. The room is designed to be all about it and for good reason. It is so massive and perfect that it is a wonder a human was able to create it. Once again I am blown away by Michelangelo. First the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's design and now this?

We stared at the David for quite some time but eventually had to move on so we met up with Ally to see the church of St. Croce. This was another breathtaking cathedral and is the largest Franciscan church in the world.

I loved the cavernous, high ceilings and the wall fresco remains within the central nave:

The best part of St. Croce were the burials of many famous Italians like Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli (!!!). It was definitely worth seeing, considering how these greats have influenced even the lives of us today.

After St. Croce we met up with everybody who decided to stay the extra night (Vince, Justin, Jeremy, Sarah, and Mildred) and checked into our hostel to drop off our stuff. This was a great hostel experience and I was pleased with the amenities and closeness to the Duomo

Great view of the Duomo from our room.

After checking in, the group split up and Mildred, Sarah, Jeremy and I headed towards the Cathedral to climb the 463 steps to the top. It was a strenuous climb but so worth it. The 360 degree view was breathtaking and in some ways better than St. Peter's because it is right in the city center so we could see everything. Florence is so beautiful and even more so around sundown which was the perfect time for us to be up there:

We didn't want to leave but it was getting pretty damn cold up there without sun and a ton of wind.

From the Duomo we met up again at the hostel and got ready for the night. We ended up eating, much to everybody's excitement, at a MEXICAN restaurant. Alas, after what felt like years without it, I had a BURRITO and I literally wanted to cry. It was like I was eating all those flavors for the first time so of course it blew me away.

Eating MEXICAN FOOD was such a trip-booster and energized us for the rest of the night. After wandering around the city for a bit after dinner, we decided to go to Space, hands down the coolest club I have ever been to in Italy. It was a two-story club and was a lot of fun. They had raised platforms to dance on and great music so we were all going crazy.

What a great way to end our last night in Florence.

In the morning we barely had time to get ready, check out, and get on a train to Pisa as a stop on our way back to Rome. This was so worth it for so many reasons. Not only were the tickets actually cheaper this way, but we had such an enjoyable afternoon that was the perfect day trip in the small town of Pisa. From the train station we took a direct bus (the town seems completely oriented for tourists heading to the tower) which dropped us off in the main Cathedral Square. This opening consisted of a couple sprawling lawns amongst the Baptistry, Cathedral, and of course, the Leaning Tower. The sunny weather made the grass so appealing that we went to a supermarket and bought a picnic lunch.

Unbeatable lunch, and we got to take our shoes off, in November.

Of course we had to take an absurd amount of pictures to document the peculiarities of the Tower. A couple of highlights:

After a close call making the train on the way home, we eventually got back to Rome that same evening. What a great weekend.

I can't believe I only have four more left in Europe! That just means I have to make the best out of every moment left.