Firenze: Italy full throttle

In many ways Italy was a final culmination of my travel experiences all fall. I’d never really had the chance to do so much independent traveling before, to actually plan and execute these adventures on my own. I had been planning all semester (and it might even be said my entire life), this journey to the country of my ancestors. My travel maters, Manishi and Julia, two fantastic Emory friends, understood this, and were happy to let me do all the research, make all the plans and lead them around Italy in my own way. They were happy simply to come along for the ride. I think they thought I was doing them a favor, but really, it was a great gift they gave to me.
Florence is of course one of the most famed cities in Italy, but it was the one I knew the least about before we arrived. It is such an interesting place; a sophisticated modern city crowded with historical squares, palazzos, basilicas and museums. I wasn’t sure where to start, but our hostel was an excellent references point, just two blocks away from the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, or as it’s commonly calls the Duomo, because of it’s massive terra cotta dome. Everything about the Duomo was massive, from its elaborate emerald façade to its vast empty insides and its shiny interior dome, painted by Michelangelo and, in my opinion, even more impressive then the Sistine Chapel.
Using this as a starting point we were able to hit many of Florence’s highlights during a 36 hour spree of hard core sightseeing (this whole trip was so short, and so intense, we would often collapse at our hostel by 10 pm, just to tear ourselves out of bed early morning to see more glories). My personal favorites were the Fountain of Neptune and the sculpture garden in the Piazza del Signoria – the original home of The David and where you can still see the Rape of the Sabine Women among other sculptures, the street markets outside the Basilica di Orsanmichelle (can’t resist a good street market), and the stunning views from the Ponte Vecchio. The Ponte is a medieval bridge which spans the river Arno and has spectacular vistas of the hills of Florence.
Although I’m not hugely knowledgeable about art, even a passing interest, and a single semester of Art History, was enough to leave me stunned by the art museums of Florence. There is of course the massive Uffizi Gallery, where I was stunned by the Birth of Venus among other priceless pieces in the vast collection. And of course we couldn’t miss dropping in on The David in the Galleria D’Accademia, which was more breathtaking then any of us could have imagine.
Aside from the almost endless sightseeing we did, Florence is where I really began to get a taste of the true Italian lifestyle. Venice is special, but it is also quite different from the rest of the country, so it wasn’t until we went further south that we really felt like we were in Italy. Above all else, this meant food! We treated ourselves almost daily to gelato, and fabulous pasta dinner’s every night. There was always room for pizza, or a sweet pastry from a café. We sampled the famous Tuscan wine, and limoncello liquor, a personal favorite of mine. It’s safe to say we gorged ourselves, although from all the walking we did I’d say we deserved it. They certainly know how to live the good life there. Everyone was friendly, especially the men. Everyone warned me that the Italian’s love blondes, but I still wasn’t prepared for the amount of attention I got. I didn’t mind, they were non-threatening and oh-so cute. With my broken Italian and my naturally friendly nature, I made quite a few new friends. Oh, how I loved Italy!
My favorite moment of the entire Italy trip actually didn’t involve cute boys or food (shocking, yes). Our last morning in Florence we happened to wander into the Basilica di San Marco (a different Basilica di San Marco of course), near the train station. There I used my limited, but surprisingly functional, Italian skills to strike up a conversation with an adorable elderly Italian priest. He was thrilled that we were Americans, showed us the American flag pin he keeps attached to his vestments and enthusiastically told me about his trip to visit family in New Jersey, “un paese bello!” Although Julia and Manishi had no clue what he was saying and I only a limited amount, he told us a great deal about the history of the Basilica and about Florence. Finally, he asked me to teach him “Buon Natale” in English, and with a “Merry Christmas” we were off to catch our train. After several days of extreme tourism, it was nice to have a personal moment of understanding. I think moments of true connection like this are what traveling is really all about.