Today began with a short breakfast of Nutella and croissants. We then journeyed across the bridge (literally) to the train station. We hired a porter who assisted us with our luggage since the bridge was all steps. We arrived at the train station and found our platform pretty easily... this was just the beginning. As we got on the train, we quickly realized that we were going to need to put our luggage up over head. With each suitcase weighing 40 pounds or more, this was not an easy feat. After help from kind strangers, we finally managed to get the bags up and took our seats. Our train speeded off, and Allie and I quickly fell asleep.
We arrived in Florence (known as Firenze) and knew that it was a 15 minute walk to the hotel. So away we went with our 4 suitcases, 2 backpacks, a purse, a duffel bag, and a bag for souvenirs. We were definitely a sight for sore eyes. In true Lerman Family fashion, we arrived an hour and a half later. We dragged ourselves across the threshold of the hotel, sweaty and tired. We were able to store our luggage and then we hit the streets to find a place to eat. We were directed by the hotel to a tiny cafe that we got some sandwiches and Dad got pizza. My sandwich was ham and cheese on bread that tasted like a puff pastry! It was delicious!
As we wandered outside, we caught sight through a corridor of a beautiful looking cathedral. That cathedral turned out to be the Duomo! We had no idea we would be staying so close! We walked all around it taking pictures and marveling at it's grandness and beauty. We then walked over to buy our tickets to be able to visit next week while we are still in Florence.
Of course by then we had worked up quite a sweat (it is very hot in Florence) so we stopped for some gelato. The woman working gave us quite an Italian lesson and taught each of us the correct pronunciation of the flavors we were ordering. We then enjoyed our sweet treat while continuing to take in the Duomo.
After our snack, we walked back to our hotel to check out our rooms. Allie and my room is very large, by Italian standards. We congregated back in the lobby and headed out to find where our tour started. Though the instructions said it was 3 minutes away, we were still a little nervous from our train debacle from earlier. We were able to find it easier, and met our tourguide Brenda.
Brenda was fantastic! As we walked towards the Academia, she gave us some history behind Michaelangelo and his most famous sculpture, David. Giving us this information helped put in perspective the sculpture and what it meant to Florence, as well as the rest of the world, at the time and now. As we walked into the large room made especially for David, we were more than ready for our first introduction. Our jaws dropped. Though we had seen many pictures of David before, we were not prepared for seeing him in person. The first thing we noticed was the size. David stands over 16 feet tall. Then, we noticed the amount of detail. In David's hands alone, he had finger nails, knuckles, and veins that started leading up his arm. I've never seen a statue that looked so lifelike. Brenda walked us around the entire sculpture, stopping to point out different details, give us different stories, and tell us why it was so important to take in David from every perspective. As the tour was finishing, we all agreed that it was well worth it to take the tour. We were able to appreciate David so much more with the help of Brenda's expertise.
We walked out of the museum (after of course buying a magnet) with the intent of doing some shopping. Street vendors are a huge part of Florence. However, it was late in the day and most vendors had already packed up or were currently packing up. So, we decided to look for a place to have a glass of wine. By the time we found a place and sat down, it was already 7:45. We decided to get wine and an appetizer. As we began eating, we realized that we were hungry. They brought over a pizza for us to share, so we began eating that. At that point, we decided to eat dinner and ordered 2 pastas and a steak dish. We all agreed the lasagna was our favorite. They also brought over limoncello shots for all of us. I learned how to say Happy Birthsay in Italian. In the restaurant, I was mistaken for Italian by our waitress! I felt pretty good about that! We walked out with full bellies and lots of laughs.
We decided to head back towards the Duomo to see it at night! We capped the night off with gelato and I finally got the cannoli I've been craving. In Italy, they fill the shell after you order it. They did not pipe the cream in, but instead used a scraping tool. It was an amazingly sweet ending to a great introduction to a new city!
10 minutes until my birthday starts! I can't wait!!!
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