Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Florence smells intoxicatingly wonderful with the leather aroma hanging around the city!
- I came to Italy with the intent of buying a nice pair of leather loafers. I was not coming back to the states without them.
- Post-Italian elections this past weekend the Euro’s value is declining against the dollar so it is a perfect time to spend money.
- It is also off season for tourist to the prices have not gone up yet!
- It was also in the 60s while we were in Florence.
So Friday afternoon we had a bus of about 60 people leaving
for Florence which is about a 3 hour drive away. We got to our hostel around 9
and almost all 60 of us were staying in the exact same one so check in was a
mess and we had dinner plans at 11 so everyone needed to get into their rooms
and get ready. One of the guys in our group has a buddy who has been living in
Florence for a good number of years and works in the restaurant/club industry
so he had planned a really fun night for us. For 20 euro we had a phenomenal
dinner (potentially better than the Formal Dinner) of antipasti, steak and
potatoes (again), cappuccino, and unlimited wine AND UNLIMITED WATER!!!!! The 20 euro also included free drinks at one
of his bars plus free entrance and drinks at one of his clubs. We all also got
a voucher for buy one get one free breakfast at one of his places that serves
American style breakfast. Needless to say we had a great first night in
Florence and the fact that the city is so small but still such a huge study
abroad destination spot makes it even better.
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| So much Leather! |
When we got up Saturday morning we were ready to hit the
ground running. After breakfast at the hostel we were off to see The David.
That boy is huge. Everyone said The David is much taller in real life but I
mean wow. And the amount of detail in his body is unreal, and to think that it
is all from one block of marble! The veins that are carved in his hands and his
feet were probably the two parts of him that I was most fascinated by because
they seem like they would be such minor and unattractive parts to sculpt. After
walking around in the museum for a little bit longer we decided that it was
time to shop. There are leather markets everywhere, I cannot possibly imagine
where it all comes from but my goodness the streets smell wonderful. All of us
girls had an item in mind that we wanted to buy so we all decided that we would
not buy anything else until we bought that one item. Keep in mind that we all
had specific “criteria” so we were not looking for just any leather item.
Unfortunately, we all purchased scarves first. I got a beautiful 100% Italian
silk scarf for 20 euro. I’m pretty sure it was stolen from a high-end retailer
at some point but I paid in cash and it’s back in Paderno now. The first person to buy something was Kaymon
and she got her leather purse from one of the vendors. Next was Alexa’s beautiful
tan leather jacket which she was able to get for such a steal! Note: you should
never buy anything for full price in Florence. While is sounds and looks so
easy to find leather in Florence Julia and I were still struggling to find her
boots and my loafers. After lunch Alexa and Kaymon decided to head back to the
hostel for a nap while Julia and I decided to keep searching. After walking
half way around the city, in and out of any store with shoes in the window,
through and indoor market and always ending up back at the historic Duomo, we
finally found Julia’s boots! The store was filled with boots and Julia got the
most beautiful pair of boots that she later found out is made out of some of
the best leather you can buy in Florence, I also got a recommendation of a
place across the Ponte Vecchio where I could find some loafers. We were supposed to meet up back at the
hostel at 3 to do some sightseeing and didn’t think we had time to go to the PV
so instead we decided to get some gelato and hang out in a piazza. Plus, I was
suffering from not taking a nap so I needed a pick me up. We went and
accidentally got the best, biggest, and most expensive cone of gelato in all of
Italy. Mine was a dark chocolate and cream mix and Julia had the same chocolate
and coconut mix. We decided to walk around the city a bit to “burn off the
calories.” We found a really fun and lively piazza that had a carousel, live
music and entertainers, and a mini market filled with different types of olive
oils, breads and cheeses. We walked down a street that was lined with Prada,
Gucci, Tiffany, Channel, LV, Dior, you get the idea. Just like in Rome, we rounded
a corner, and BOOM there was Fiume Arno aka the Ponte Vecchio! We took some
pictures and I debated going to look for my shoes but by that point it was
already almost 3 and Florence is so small that our hostel was only 15 minutes
in the other direction so we decided to go back and get the girls first.
After booking it back to the hostel and then back through
the city we made it to the Ponte Vecchio. In the Fiume Arno there were groups
of young boys rowing up and down a small stretch of the rive which was really
neat to watch. Of course we took even more pictures but I was itching to find
my shoes. Just like my directions said, cross the bridge, walk for no more than
one minute and it will be store #10 on my right. Well there it was, there my
shoes were not. You can only imagine my disappointment. The small of leather
was becoming nauseating because I was so upset and my head hurt so badly. Oh
yeah, I had a headache the entire time I was in Florence. Have no fear, not
even 100 yards away, diagonally to the left there was a leather shoe store
filled not with boots but genuine Italian loafers and dress shoes! I swear this
store was the only one in all of Florence where I had any chance of finding my
shoes. I wish I could say it was like a Cinderella moment when I put the shoe
on but we defiantly had some debating between options going on. In the end, I
walked out of the store oh so very happy and content with my purchase. It was
almost time for sunset and we head that the view of Florence from the Piazzale
Michelangelo was breathtaking so being that we were already on that side of the
river off we went wearing our new Italian leather. The hike to the Piazzale was
so wonderful. It was just Julia, Alexa, Jake and me and it was warm, it was
beautiful and it was so Italian. We made it just in time for sunset and the
city looked golden, unlike the bronze copy of The David that is also in the
Piazzale Michelangelo. There were a lot of people there, a lot of American
students especially. The view of the city was spectacular. We could see the
Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, and the Dolomites created the most perfect backdrop. As
the sun began to set we headed back down, across the river and into the city.
At 7 Julia, Alexa and I had dinner with one of Julia’s friends from high school
who is studying in Florence. We went to a great Italian restaurant (typical)
and had a nice time. Unfortunately my head hurt too bad to go on the bar crawl
with everyone that night so after dinner I headed back to the hostel to sleep.
Fun fact for the day: the bar crawl ended at Space which is the club the Jersey
Shore cast went to when they were in Florence so no real great loss on my part
there.
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| The Shoes! |
Sunday morning we got a late start leaving us with only
about 4 hours left in Florence because we needed to leave by 4:10. After a
quick brunch we attempted to climb to the top of the Duomo but it was closed so
we headed across the river. On the way over we stopped to purchase more leather
items. I wanted a new purse, a wallet, a belt, and a portfolio but instead I
just got a really awesome gift for Alex as a Confirmation/Birthday gift! You’ll
get it when I get home buddy!! We heard that the Boboli Gardens are absolutely
beautiful and the weather was so spectacular so we decided that the gardens
would be a good place to start our day. I don’t know if the weather was just
that nice or the gardens were just that beautiful but my gosh what a
spectacular place. All I could think about the magnificent garden parties that
used to be held here and how much fun it would have been to be a little Italian
princess running through the pathway. Nothing was really in bloom but that
didn’t matter to us. The gardens sit behind the palace which is situated on top
of a hill overlooking the city of Florence and the country side. There were so
many people just lying out in the grass enjoying the sun or having a picnic. I
was super jealous, I could have stayed there all day but the clock was ticking.
On our way back to the hostel to pick up our luggage we had some time to kill
so Julia, Alexa and I split a lemon and strawberry gelato while sitting in a
Piazza listening to more live music and watching the crowds walk by.
At the end of the day, in true CIMBA style we all
congregated at the train station and off we went back to good old PDG! I am
adding Florence to the places I want to go back and see again in the
spring/summer. I can only imagine what the city looks like when it is in full
bloom!
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