Firenze e Pisa

So this week/weekend I went to Florence and Pisa all within 2 days. Our train left Rome at 7:05 am on Thursday, so that meant leaving my apartment at 6 am to get there on time, which meant me waking up at 5 am. The earliest morning I've had so far while being there. It was about an hour and a half ride to Florence on the fast train, so we arrived around 8:30 am.

It was a bit confusing direction-wise from the train station, because we didn't know where anything was. Luckily a nice Italian man pointed us in the right direction, or from what I could understand. Our first stop was to see the Statue of David at the Galleria dell'Accademia. We finally found it (after passing it), and honestly don't know how we got there.

The museum was pretty small, and there was a section of instruments from the 1600s, which I thought was cool. But really the only thing to see is David. He is MASSIVE! I'm 5'5", and his leg is a lot taller than I am. There was a sign saying "it's forbidden to take pictures", but I decided to live on the edge, so I obviously took some pics.

Breaking the rules with this pic.
Except I had to do it from afar so they wouldn't see me. 

After David, we went to the Duomo, the cathedral in the middle of Florence. It is pretty big, and the outside is incredibly detailed. And the entire thing is made of marble. It is oddly placed in the middle of these small neighborhoods. The inside is very Medieval looking. But as any other church around here, it's always gorgeous.

Outside the Duomo

Inside the Duomo

The next stop was Ponte Vecchio, which is the only bridge that wasn't destroyed by Hitler during WWII. That's pretty crazy to think about. Along the bridge is just a bunch of jewelry stores, which is kind of random.

Porcellino (piglet) is a small fountain of a boar. There is a legend that if you rub it's snout, you will come back to Florence. So obviously I rubbed it, along with the other tourists.

I also visited the Basilica of San Croce, which is the church where Michelangelo is buried.

There is a lot of shopping in Florence. Literally every street has some kind of store. There were plenty of fancy stores like Chanel and Gucci. I went in H&M, and it was pretty much the same. There are a lot of leather shops, and some specialty shops. There were a few shoemaker shops, where they make handmade shoes. Also a stationery shop, where they paint and decorate stationery, and they were so pretty.

And they sell a lot of purses. There was one I really wanted, but the real brand was way too expensive. At San Lorenzo Market there were plenty of the knock-off brand, but they just were not as nice. I'm never one to care for brands, but this particular purse you could tell the difference. This one store called Segue had a big sale on all of their bags. I ended up finding a bag 70% for 10 euro! It was the best deal ever.

One thing that I didn't know was the original writer of the story of Pinocchio was from Florence. There were little Pinocchio things everywhere! But not the Disney Pinocchio that you may think of.

And there are a lot of Americans in Florence. I might have seen more Americans than there were Italians. Most of them are students. I go to Lorenzo De'Medici in Rome, which is a branch from their main campus in Florence, which is a lot bigger. There are also a lot of art students who study at another American university.

We stayed in a hostel, and it was my first time ever being in one. It was actually a lot nicer than I expected. The entrance was kind of like a hotel. Our room had 4 other girls in it, and we shared one bathroom. They were interesting. I tried talking to one girl who was from Tennessee, but had been living in London for a while. She wasn't super friendly, so that was the last of our conversation. Another was from Argentina, and the other was from somewhere in Italy.

The hostel even had it's own restaurant/club and a pool and a sauna. Pretty fancy. It had been a 14 hour day, and it was so tiring. I should also mention that all I had with me was a backpack everywhere, because I was not going to carry luggage around the entire city. I do not understand how people go backpacking across Europe, because I was dying with my small backpack, and these people carry giant backpacks over long distances.

We ate at a restaurant for dinner, and I had my first Lasagna in Italy. It was so good! The cheese is what made it taste so good, because it was fresh. The next day I caved for McDonald's to save some cash, but it was actually kind of expensive. It was 7 euro for a meal, which is almost 10 US dollars. And it costs 20 more cents for ketchup. This McDonald's had a full on cafe in it, separate from the main food counter. They served espresso, pastries, and cheesecake. It was pretty crazy. They also had a focaccia sandwich.

Literally a McCafe

There was a chocolate festival going on in Florence, so I obviously had to visit. I had a cannoli, which was delicious! One booth had a bunch of chocolates shaped as object, which looked so real! Everyone was selling this Cioccolata Calda (hot chocolate), so I thought I should try one. They serve it in a cup to drink, but it was literally hot chocolate. Melted, hot chocolate. There was no milk or anything added to it. I could have added a dollop of whipped cream for 30 more cents. I drank it all, and it was very sweet, but definitely not what I'm used to.

Fancy Chocolate

Cioccolata Calda

The train from Florence to Pisa was a regional train, which is different from the fast train. There are no assigned seats, so it's kind of a free for all. It's not as nice as the fast train, but it gets the job done. It was about an hour ride to Pisa. From the station we took a bus to get to the Leaning Tower, which is the only thing we came to Pisa for.

I couldn't believe I was actually at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. You never think you're going to visit these places until you're actually there. It was really cool. We went inside the church there, which was yet another pretty building. And had to take the typical tourist picture of holding up the tower. It was funny to see everyone else trying to get the perfect picture.

And it cost me 50 cents to use the bathroom. Europe is just too expensive.

The train ride back to Rome from Pisa took 4 hours. I didn't think it would be that bad, but it was pretty rough. This one was a regional train, and we had to make almost 20 stops before getting to our destination. I guess that's what you get for paying half the price. It had been a very long 2 days, and I think I need a break from trains at the least.

Florence and Pisa are very different from Rome. Florence is a beautiful city, but a lot smaller. We walked the entire city in one day. We ended up going in circles, because that's how small it is. It isn't as busy as Rome is, and it seems a little more relaxed. I like Florence, but I didn't fall in love with it as almost everyone else seems to do.

Although I didn't really get to experience Pisa as a city, it seemed more residential and an "everyday life" kind of place. It has more of the "typical" Italy with small side streets and the buildings looking old fashioned.

I think by traveling out of Rome, I've learned to love it even more. There is so much to do here, and it has become a home base. I'm starting to get more comfortable with being in the city. It's nice to get out of the chaos of the big city, but it's also nice to be welcomed back by it.