Hello, wonderful people! I have just arrived home from the land of pizza and pasta… Italia! In one word, it was amazing! I had never been to Italy before coming abroad and so, naturally, it was on my bucket list of places to visit before going home. This weekend was especially significant because it was more than just a weekend trip; it was a reunion for my pledge class. Basically, almost all of us who are abroad invaded Florence to celebrate the 21st birthday of one of our pledge class members. Imagine being in one of the most beautiful places in the world with a dozen of your best friends. Perfection.
The only drawback to this weekend was getting there. Traveling seems to always be somewhat of a hassle, but somehow it all seems to be worth it. Troubles arose when I was trying to get from the Pisa airport to Florence. You have to take a train or a bus and the journey is about an hour. My flight was late taking off from London, making me miss the last train. The only remaining option was to pay ten more euros and take the bus. Though this was inconvenient, it couldn’t be helped. The bright side was that the buses were still running. Once my friend and I arrived in Florence we had to find our hostel—easier said than done. Florence is made up of endless cobblestone streets that go in every direction. Mix that with it being one in the morning and you’ve got two very disoriented college students. After about forty five minutes of aimless wandering, we were somehow able to locate the hostel and pass out.
The next day we met up with a bunch of our friends at the Duomo, or the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. It is a huge cathedral located in the center of Florence. The elaborate marble and huge dome makes it a prime spot for tourists. To my great excitement, I learned that you can go up into the dome and see all of Florence from the top. Needless to say it was number one on my list of things to do while in Florence. All of us climbed the countless steps to the top where I set sights on one of the most beautiful views I had ever seen. It seemed as if the beauty went on forever as I took in the rolling green mountains and quaint, uneven rooftops of Florence. The mixture of the stunning country side with the city was just what I pictured Italy to look like.
After the Duomo, I had a full day of museums. I was only scheduled to be in Florence for about 36 hours, so I wanted to see as much as I could. I don’t believe in coming to a country and not seeing all that it has to offer. I fully intended on reaping all of the cultural benefits. I went to the mini-palace of the Medici family. It now houses artifacts from the historical family and is home to some of the most stunning architecture. I was obsessed with the ceilings in each room. Each were ornately decorated with gold and royal deep colors of greens, blues, and purples.
My second favorite museum that I visited whilst in Florence was the Ufizzi. This gallery is world famous and houses some of the most honored works of art. It was incredible to see Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and being in the presence of works done by the likes of Da Vinci and Michelangelo left me awestruck. It’s so odd to be standing in front of paintings and sculptures that you’ve spent your entire life seeing in books. You almost forget that they are even real. You can talk about such works and look at as many pictures as you want, but nothing can give you the supreme satisfaction of seeing it in real life. All of the sudden it becomes instantly more beautiful purely because it exists.
I know it may sound like I am going a little overboard with my reaction to the art, but I just think of it as me appreciating the opportunity before me. If you had told me in high school when I studied these artists that I would one day have the chance to see the works up close, I would have probably laughed in your face.
After more museums and exploring the streets of Florence, the whole lot of us went out for dinner and gelato. It was wonderful to be with everyone and hear about all of the different abroad experiences. We are all experiencing different things in different places, and it’s so interesting to hear how each of us deals with this new and exciting way of life.
I wasn’t able to spend as much time in Florence as I would have liked (had to get back to my job and real person status), but it was such a blessing to be able to see my friends and celebrate not only a birthday but the fact that we were all together in Europe. That’s something that I will remember for the rest of my life.
This week I have a friend visiting me from Spain so I get to play tour guide for the week. I have already done this once, but that was earlier and I feel that I didn’t know London as well as I do now. I seem to be under some illusion that I have been in London my whole life and therefore want to show my friend everything that London has to offer. I should perhaps rein it in and remember that my time here is halfway up, but for now I will keep pretending that I am never leaving.