Firenze

On January 28th I took my first weekend trip while in Italy. A bunch of people from my program were headed to Florence for two days. I was excited to start traveling and really feel like I was abroad.

View of Florence from the Bell Tower.

After a short 1 1/2 hour train ride we pulled into the Florence train station. It was freezing when we arrived. Luckily, the hotel that Meghan, Kathryn and myself were staying in was only a 5 minute walk from the train station. We stayed in a small budget hotel where a bunch of other CUA students were also staying. We decided to drop our stuff off and go get lost in the city while waiting for some of our other friends to get settled in. After getting lost and some intense map reading we managed to reach the Duomo and begin checking off the sightseeing we had planned for the trip.

The Duomo was beautiful from the outside and a lot bigger than I had imagined. We went inside and took some pictures but were a little disappointed that we couldn't stand under the actual dome. We then decided to climb the Bell Tower so we could see the city from the top. The 400+ steps it took to reach the top certainly made up for my lack of exercise since being in Italy. The view was absolutely incredible. I recommend for anyone planning on visiting Florence to climb the Bell Tower rather than the Duomo because you can get a beautiful view of the Dome from the top.

View from Piazza Michelangelo right before sunset.

After our climb we felt that we deserved some lunch, so we crossed over the Ponte Vecchio and ate in a pizzeria where we each got individual pizzas and relaxed for a bit. Afterward we braved the cold and climbed up to Piazza Michelangelo. This was my favorite part of the entire trip. The view was absolutely amazing. Before traveling to Florence, a friend told me to go to Piazza Michelangelo for the sunset and I am so happy that I did. We sat on the steps that overlooked the city and listened to a woman perform Italian and American music with the sunset as her backdrop. We were surrounded by other American students studying abroad. I was surprised to hear so many English-speaking people and see so many Americans just hanging out and drinking wine on the steps.

We later met up with some friends to eat dinner. We ate at small restaurant and then went back to our friends' apartment for some wine. The apartment was beautiful and could sleep a lot of people. I will definitely start searching for apartments to stay in while traveling in the future. I decided to call it a night and get some rest after a very long day of walking and sightseeing.

The next day began with an overpriced breakfast and cold walk to the leather market. I managed to bargain a great price on a brown leather jacket in the Mercato Centro area. The rest of the day was more sight seeing around the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio. We did everything that we had wanted to do the day before, so we decided to take it easy and just shop around and enjoy the city. Florence is a very walkable city, which worked out for us, since we didn't know how to use the bus system like in Rome.

I really enjoyed my time in Florence and cannot wait to travel more during the semester!

Useful Information for Visiting Florence:

1. Travel on a Saturday-TrainItalia had a buy one-get one deal for train tickets purchased for Saturday travel
2. Climb the Bell Tower-The top reveals a beautiful 360 degree view of Florence and of the Duomo
3. Buy Leather at Mercato Centro- most vendors have student discounts
4. Bargain!-try to bargain down the price with street vendors, most likely you'll get a better deal
5. Visit Piazza Michelangelo at sunset- stunning views of the city and countryside, beautiful sunset and sometimes live music!