First Stop: Florence

After suffering through an entire semester with not so much as a long weekend, we were rewarded with Innovative Learning Week, which would ideally be used to go to many of the academic events on campus; however I thought I would learn a lot more if I went to Italy!
I actually did plan on learning a lot more Italian before I went and that was supposed to be my "innovative learning," but I think I actually did learn a lot on this trip (and I'm not just saying that to justify going on holiday!).

The Saturday after lectures ended I hopped on a plane with my backpack and headed to Italy. I went to Florence because Nikki's (my flatmate last semester) high school best friend, Stef, who I met when she came to Scotland, is doing a year abroad there. Was that too confusing? She actually was in Rome when I got there so I was in a hostel for two nights.

I got in just after sunset on Saturday night and when I went down to claim my luggage, I discovered that it had not made it to Italy. I wasn't really surprised because my layover in Frankfurt was about 30 minutes long. Once I realized I wasn't getting my bag, I went to the desk and the woman there told me someone would drop the bag at the hostel in the morning, so it wasn't the end of the world, just a bit inconvenient (at least so I thought). Not having my bag did make it a little easier to navigate the Florence bus system, but I would have traded that hassle for a shower and a change of clothes. In the end, I decided I couldn't really complain because although I spent Valentine's Day alone in a hostel in the clothes I had worn all day, I was in Italy.

The next morning I slept until about 9, when the woman at the airport said my bags would be delivered. They weren't there yet, so I came back in 30 minutes. Still nothing. An hour and a half later I realized that Italy was just on a different schedule and I would have to go out in the same clothes without a shower and Florence would just have to deal with it. I was kind of in a funk all day. I didn't really feel that great and I wasn't that happy. I spent the day walking around and getting a feel for the city.

First sighting of il Duomo!

The one really nice thing I did was go to a restaurant right around the corner from the Duomo. I had the eggplant parmesan, roasted polenta, and a blackberry tart. It was probably the most expensive meal I had the whole trip (even though it was still pretty reasonably priced), but it did boost my mood significantly.

But by about 3 in the afternoon I was ready to go back to the hostel. When I got back, I asked the woman at the desk at the hostel if my bag was there, and she told me they weren't. She told me they would probably be there the next morning. I was in disbelief, but when I went into the storage room it was sitting there! I took the bag up to my room and before I could get ready for a shower I fell asleep. After a nice nap and a shower I was feeling a little better, but I spent the evening in bed and didn't leave the room. I can't describe it in any other way than a funk. It was sort of a wasted day, but everything did eventually work out, and it was all uphill from there.

The next morning I woke up fairly early to walk across town to where Stef lives so I could leave my stuff with her and we could go out. The first stop was Santa Croce. She actually gives tours there, so she told me all about the history and the art. I was very impressed!

Santa Croce is actually where Michelangelo is buried

The next stop was the Galleria dell'Academia. Unfortunately, it's closed only on Mondays and we didn't know that. We decided to get lunch at one of Stef's favorite panini places and then go from there. The panini place is called Antica Sosta delli Andobrandini. It was pretty good and paninis are only 3.50 euros, which I think is pretty reasonable. After lunch, we decided that I would go do the Duomo and then I would meet back up with everyone in the evening.

I waited in line an hour and a half to climb up the Duomo, and it was worth it! The weather that day had been pretty bad, but by the time I got to the top, I had a pretty spectacular view!

After climbing the Duomo, I went into the cathedral and also climbed the tower.

Over 1,000 steps later, I had some time left before things were going to close, so I went to Palazzo Vecchio, which was the Medici palace. It's got some of the most amazing art in it and I thought it was a really interesting museum.

After that I went and got dinner and then went back to Stef's. We ended up going to get gelato later (first gelato experience of many on this trip!). Then I went to bed as early as I could because the next day I had to be a the train station at 8am to go to Rome!

Click here to read about my time in Rome!