I must also point that the term "Bella Firenze" might be grammatically wrong in that the genders of both words don't necessarily mesh up. (GEEK ALERT) Italian is an off-chute of Latin, of which I took two semesters my freshman year. In Latin (and French, Spanish, and Italian), nouns are given genders and adjectives are given various forms depending on the gender of the noun they compliment. In this case, "bella" is the female-gender form and "Firenze" looks like a male-gender noun. This does not fly in a language with gendered nouns because the gender of the adjectives are supposed to be the same gender as the nouns. So whether the actual term should be "Bella Firenze" or something else, please know that I intend to say "Beautiful Florence" in Italian. (It's times like this one that make me consider Linguistics as a possible area of study beyond undergrad.)
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5 Dec:
We got up later than we anticipated. I had set my alarm for 7:30am so I could get ready and a decent hour and we can eat breakfast at 8am, but I didn't wake up until ten to eight when I heard Becky and perhaps Abby stirring. So we had a late run. Took fifteen minutes to get ready, about, because we had to catch that 8:30a train to Florence! Scarfed down our chocolate croissants. Abby brought hers along because she was drying her hair when Becky and I came down for breakfast. I got to chug her orange juice.
Speed walked to Termini station, bought the tickets, literally RAN down the platform. And just our luck, the train wasn't just at any platform, it was the platform furthest away from the station! UGH! Becky proved herself to be more in shape than I for jogging longer than I did. Abby wore her boots, which have 2" heels, so she couldn't fun very long or very well. But we finally made it to the train on time. Found a compartment to ourselves so we could sit and gasp and pant by ourselves. Phew!
I like trains better than planes and buses. Cars are more intimate, but car rides are really scarce when no one you know can drive nor owns a car. So trains it is. Besides, if the destination is close enough, they're really cheap. Not as cheap as buses, but still better in terms of travel, methinks. There aren't any odd things that happen on trains.
Some pictures from the view going to Florence:
So we finally get to Florence. After getting lost (our only map came from a four year old guide book Abby picked up at the hostel -- I call this legit), we found a tiny cafe to eat because were really hungry. Abby ordered some hot chocolate. But the guy made two much to fit into the mugs he had, so he poured the rest into a second mug. He had a surprised look on his face when it didn't all fit in one mug. It was funny. I remember I had a breakfast sandwich type thing with egg and ham. It was good but sort of lacked actual flavor. Becky's was really good, and Abby's was alright. The cheese was too thick for my tastes.
We asked the guy at the counter where the Academia building was (because that's where the Statue of David was). I think we only said "Academia?" because he didn't speak English and we didn't speak Italian. Ah, language barriers. We understood his gestures, though. So that's good.
Once we got the Academia building, though, we were in for a disappointment:
No joke. No giant wankers for us. (You all are aware that's why a small group of college girls would want to see David, right? Right???) In any case, Becky was pissed. Seriously mad. She didn't kick the ground or anything, but she did complain a lot about it.
So we did the only thing we could do -- we moved on to the Dome where we could climb 500 steps to see an awesome view of the city.
Except the Dome was closed too. This for a better reason than a strike. The Dome is closed on Sundays because the church the Dome resides in holds mass on Sundays. It's a sign of respect. I can . . . well . . .respect that. I asked if there was anything else we could do, and the woman at the desk told us that we could climb the bell tower just next door. It's 6 Euro to climb and roughly 500 steps but not as tall as the Dome. Since we had to do something, we decided to take that route.
Not before I lit a candle in the chapel for Ellie. Said a little prayer for her too. RIP Ellie Smith. I'm thinking about you.
The stair well in the bell tower was really skinny. A lot of people stopped to let others pass them by. It was mostly the people descending letting the people ascending pass them. How nice. You don't want to stop easily once you get going. It's hard breaking a rhythm when exercising.
The view from the first level was incredible. Then there was a second level, then a third. And FINALLY you can get up to the top most level of the bell tower, above the bells, and onto the roof! So pretty!! I love Tuscany! I shall be back one day!
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| Several levels high in the tower. |
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| The Dome we WANTED to climb plus the view we got anyway. |
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| Isn't it gorgeous? I love courtyards! |
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| Me and the view (and the the anti-suicide fence) |
So we rested at the top and took pictures and I was just in awe of everything. Seriously, the fresh air, the different scenery, the mountains in the distance. It was really awesome. It was a cloudy day, but I still fell in love with Florence harder than I fell in love with Rome. I think it's partly for the small-town feel of Florence. I'm a sucker for the lesser metropolises.
Afterwards, we wandered around for a bit in search of the fake David that would have to be our substitute for the real thing. Along the way, we ran into a small market where I got my little brother his Graduation Present. You'll have to ask what it is because I don't know if he reads the blog or not, so I'm keeping quiet.
Then we found the square with the fake David and his giant glory:
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| Hide yo' kids cuz there be no censors here. |
We stayed for a while and I bought the Best Postcard Evah for Sarah back home. I hope she appreciates it. I'm sending it out Thursday (tomorrow) so she'll get it during finals week. Hope it cheers her up.
Next stop: the bridge with shops:
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| Look at me holding it up with awesome powers only a goddess can employ! |
It was really cute. First time I saw a one man band.
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| It's like that Pixar short -- with less instruments |
The bridge was lined with jewelry shops. And these weren't your average Claire's, these had authentic 24k gold and diamonds and nothing under 1,000 Euro. I wand my engagement ring bought here because the jewelry was gorgeous!
There was still daylight left, and Abby wanted to check out an art gallery she was eying up in the guide book. So we headed in that direction since it was extremely close. Remember that ticket office strike? It was there too. I kid you not.
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| Worse. Luck. Ever. |
We debated about going into this small museum with a diamond skull on display (I know this from the posters). We thought it was only 3 EUR for students, but it turned out to be 9 EUR instead. It was 3 EUR if you were between 13 and 18. Darn. Since it was more than either of us were willing to pay, we decided to drop it and started to wander again.
By then, it was about time to start thinking about dinner. So we wandered for a good hour looking for something that was not only open but in our price range. Restaurants close between the hours of 3p and 6p for reasons that I can understand having worked in food service (and being bored out of your mind between 3p and 5p because generally no one eats actual meals then.) We finally found a place that looked touristy but good. The menu was in seven different languages, which I find helpful. Menus are either Italian and English if they're multi-lingual at all.
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| Abby and the cute restuarant |
We made our way back to the train station after that. The train left at 7:30p or so and it would get us back to Rome before midnight. Which was fine by us. I kind of didn't want to leave, but I'm sure I'll be back later. It's now on my list of places to spend a week in before I die. (The other thing on the list is Edinburgh, Scotland.)
We walked down the train until Becky thought we were in first class. But Abby and I took a seat and Becky joined us because we weren't going to move. I didn't think it was first class because while the seats looked newer, they weren't any bigger or more luxurious. Abby and I told Becky that if trouble is caused, then we'll move. But you saw the previous cars, there weren't enough seats in one place for us to sit together. If a conductor wants us to move, then we'll move. Becky said that while she was in Amsterdam (or Germany, I can't remember), they got on the wrong train and the conductor demanded a whole 7 EUR from each of them. Abby said that that was a different situation entirely. That was the wrong train -- this is simply a matter of different class on the same train. In any case, we stayed where we were. Becky was nervous until the conductor came and checked our tickets. No trouble at all. We slept after that.
But not before we found an Italian VOGUE. I flipped through it for a while, but I was way too tired to keep going. I almost took it for a keepsake, but something held me back. Perhaps I should have taken it, if only for the fact that it was a free Italian VOGUE magazine. Oh well. Too late now. Probably thrown out, taken by someone else, or still on the train. Pick one.
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