Florence

13 & 14 June

Off to Rome! Yes, this is another train post, and if I could manage to hack the Wifi on the train, then I could post from somewhere in the middle of Italy. That's my next priority. Alright, on to Florence.

The first night we did a sunset bike tour of Florence. It was pretty awesome, we got to get out of the city center and ride around. None of us got hit/hurt/ran into someone/something/died, which I think is more of a miracle, considering the way everyone drives over here. We learned a ton of stuff about Florence, leading dad to say, "Don't stand on a marble circle in this  city. Either something gets dropped on your head, or you get dropped on your ass." The two marble circles we saw; the first was where the golden ball from the top of the Basilica fell after it got struck by lightning. The second was in the market where they publicly humiliated people if they owed money by lifting them up naked and dropping them on their ass. Crazy, I know.

The second day we were there we spend most of the day just walking around. We got up in the morning and went to the accadameia to see Michaelangelo's David.  Our hotel was right by the huge market centrale. There is a huge bulding which has all the food vendors in it, and on the outside are all the dry goods, like clothes, shoes, etc. We spent awhile just wandering around the market and found a few neat things. Dad and Michelle walked up to the Piazza d'Michaelangelo, which is a piazza on the south side of the river overlooking the city. Mom and I knew that with our knees, we would not be able to make the walk back down, so we just sat at a snack bar and had a drink. For lunch that day we found a restaurant that serves gluten-free pasta for Michelle, so she was excited that she got to eat pasta in Italy.

Oh and also, when we went to get the bike tours, we walked down a street and noticed a bunch of people crowded around this restaurant with security guards. I walked up and asked what was going on, and they said, “That’s MTV, they are filming Jersey Shore in that restaurant.” So yes, Jersey Shore was in Florence with us. If I wanted, I could have signed a waiver to eat at the restaurant and possibly be on the show. No, I did not do it. I don’t like that show, I think it’s stupid. BUT, the next day, we were walking around again and we were walking down the street where MTV had the camera set up on the boom and were getting aerial shots. So yes, I might be on Jersey Shore. Those of you that actually watch it, let me know if you see me.   

Florence wasn't as crowded as Venice was, but it was still very tourist-y. I think that it would be neat to come back and spend time in more of the museums and looking in the churches.