We all share the same space.

All of us at the top of the Duomo. In the back from left to right is Chelsie, Sarah, Carly, and Elisha. Jess & I in the front. Behind us is Florence and beyond!

This is my weekend in Florence! I won’t even try to make this short. I kept a piece of paper with me all weekend to record all the stuff that happened, so here goes.

First highlight: heard some Italian teens singing High School Musical on the train (*sings* this feeling’s like no otherrr, I want you to knowwwww!!) hahaha it made me laugh. Taking the train was fun and facile (easy).

Friday in Firenze: Thanks to the map, we found our way to the hostel from the train station, which was about a 15 minute walk. Um, okay, so our hostel (called Plus Florence) was TOTALLY not the hostel I was imaging. This place was like a freakin hotel … for youngsters … on crack. Besides having a beautiful lobby, reception area, extremely helpful staff, nice rooms with clean bathrooms and lockers, there was also a dance club/bar downstairs with events every night. We didn’t take advantage of the bar in the hostel, but we did stop down there on our way back in on Friday and Saturday night- Saturday was toga night. It was like a giant frat party. Hilarious. I love Europe. So anyways, after getting settled in our room (that was painted purple, by the way- totally my kind of hostel), we went off to explore. The pouring rain and even the brief hail, with pellets of size that I could hold in my hand, didn’t stop us. After squealing like little girls for a second, we rolled up our jeans and went on our way. We knew it was going to rain all weekend (and it did, to no avail), so we just saw it as an element of adventure to our whole weekend. It never got us down! It started to downpour even more, so, still laughing, we found a nook on the street to get out of the rain for a second. However, we had to keep moving quickly because we were standing next to a (in my defense, hidden) door out of which an older man wearing the black collar thing with a white square stuck his head out and told us, blatantly, to shut up- we didn’t even realize that we were right outside a church. Whoops … still waiting for the lightning to strike me. The we stopped and get our first gelato (menta & cioccolata) along with a little grammar lesson from the lady who served us because we failed miserably when trying to order in Italian. Wandered into some shops- I wound up with a great skirt and blazer, so now I have my “this is my skirt from Florence!” Kept walking (we only barely consulted a map) and the gorgeous duomo literally appeared out of nowhere. Even more beautiful than I remember it to be. Like, wow. Walked around Piazza del Duomo and Piazza de Repubblica (where statues of the Roman gods) near the Uffizi, and met up with Sarah’s friend from Elon who is studying in Florence. With her we found an adorable pizzeria where I ordered some kick butt lasagna and the waitress was adorable- when I stood up to asked her to take a picture of us at the table, she handed the camera to another waiter, sat in my seat and patted her lap so I could sit down on it, and got in the picture with us. Italians rock.

We needed to walk off our delicious dinner, so we made our way to the Ponte Vecchio. And that’s when it hit me. I realized where I was. Everything was as close to perfection as one moment can be, and it even made me cry a little. The feel and smell of the breeze, the lights, the peace, the people, the sounds. It’s when I realized it, and first expressed aloud how I could see myself here (in Italy, not Florence) again. Maybe for a longer period of time. We sat there looking at the Arno for a good while just taking it all in. It was a moment I will never forget. The moment passed, and we kept moving. As we walked off the Ponte Vecchio a cardboard sign probably belonging to a homeless person caught my eye on the street. It read, “we all share the same space.” It pulled at my heart a little bit and I kept thinking about it as I walked past it. So, about 50 feet later, I turned around and went back and I took it. Yes, okay, I think technically I stole from the homeless. But it’s a pretty cool souvenir in my opinion. Still waiting for the lightning.

We continued to get bugged by guys selling umbrellas on the street because it was still raining and we were sharing. Jess, Sarah, and E eventually caved and bartered a bit to get one for 2 euro. It was a fight, but they won. Got gelato #2- a nutellla gelato (yes, it does exist, and yes, it does taste like nutella, and yes, it is heaven) and a flavor called panna cotta that was a very sweet, toffee-ish. Sat on a large open platform with pillars to enjoy it and then I realized we were sitting right next to the famous Boar statue, whose nose you are supposed to rub for good luck- the nose has been rubbed so many times that the texture and color has deteriorated and it is now smooth and gold. The girls all rubbed the nose. Since I rubbed it last time I was in Florence in high school (and it did bring me lots of good luck) and I didn’t this time in fear that it would cancel out my first time. We found another gorgeous piazza that I have forgotten the name of where there were musicians on the street and a carousel. Cute! I love places like this by night. Then, in more rain we split up (Sarah & Chelsie walked Sarah’s friend back) while Carly, Jess, Elisha, and I made a little detour- first we got a little lost. Imagine that- 4 soaking wet, clearly American, and hopefully not so clearly lost girls wandering the sidestreets of central Florence at 11pm. But we found our way after a couple of circles around the Duomo, almost long enough for me to really start getting nervous but not quite long enough! We spontaneously decided to take a turn into a bar that was about a block from the hostel because we heard live music! Again, feeling spontaneous, I ordered a mojito from the super nice cooky looking men behind the bar and listened to the 3 SUPER talented guys playing (American) music. Beatles, Beach Boys (everybody’s gone surrrrfin, surfin usaaaa), Elvis, etc. They were SO good! Right on musically, entertaining, and unique- they had great harmonies and arrangements that were accompanied by their playing of an acoustic bass, acoustic guitar, and electric guitar. Created a unique but seriously solid sound. We had having an awesome time and wound up staying for an hour. Eventually had to leave because we were getting up and out at 7:30 the next morning (er, later that day) for “touristy stuff.” You can sleep when you’re dead (thank you, Clay, for introducing that philosophy to me. I live by it when I’m here.)

Sick of this entry already? Don’t worry, that’s only our first night.

Saturday. All succeeded and got out of the hostel by 7:40am, all 6 of us surprisingly cheerful. So proud of us. Stopped at the bar where we saw the music the night before to grab a cappuccino (they gave it to us in paper McDonalds cups because we wanted it to go hahaha). Got pastries for bfast and went on our wee. Got to Piazza del Duomo by 8:00 which was FANTASTIC because nobody was around. We were able to take some pictures by the duomo and basilica without being crowded by tons of other tourists, and were one of the first groups in line to climb to the top of the dome. We climbed the 463 steps to the top. Ohhhmg. I forgot how breathtaking it really is. Pictures unfortunately do not do it justice. Just, wow. Back down the stairs, wandered for a couple hours, did some shopping, more rain. Then got into the Accademia. Saw some beautiful paintings and Michaelangelo statues including The David. I always wondered why people made such a big deal out of The David- when I saw it last time I was in Florence, I didn’t get it either. But this time I got it. It is absolute, precise perfection. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that it is sculpted. By hand. Out of marble. And it is PERFECT. After staring at The David for a while (no, not only at his butt, girls), I wandered into what was my favorite part of the museum- a room of plaster first drafts of statues to be. There were hundreds of them. One of them really caught my eye and stuck in my mind and I repeated the name in my head a million times so I wouldn’t forget it so I could write it down in here, but I failed. 20 minutes later I could not remember the name. I remember part of it so I am doing a wild search in the library/on google and when I find the name I will share it with you. But anyway, she caught my eye because she was the only statue that was smiling. The other statues (in this room, curiously almost 100% women) looked solemn, prayerful, and content, but this particular one was actually smiling. The plaque said that it was a famous soprano of the time and the statue was her in her theatrical pose. So, even though the smile was theatrical, it was still beautiful. After the Accademia, got lunch and gelato #3 (fragola- strawberry). Went to Piazza Repubblica and got pictures of the incredible statues. There, Carly ran into a friend from school. Yeah. Totally normal.

Exhausted, now at 4:30, we pass through the public market as go back to the hostel to rest. After the most glorious nap of all time, we make our way back and through the center, over the Ponta Santa Trista to a small restaurant called Casalinga that Chelsie’s friend who studied in Florence recommended. And boy was she right. Amazing bruschetta for an appetizer. I got some straight up ravioli but it was definitely the best I’ve ever had. Tiramasu for dessert (no, I haven’t found profiterol yet but I WILL!!). Dude, I need to find some new adjectives to describe the food here. “Awesome” and “amazing” and “ridiculous” just don’t cover it any more. How about I do a little Rachael Ray and say “Yum-o!”

After dinner, we got our map and spent the next half an hour searching for the dance club that my lovely sister Andrea, Florence expert, recommended. After finding nothing, we ask a group of 15-year-old Italian boys “Dove e Zucchero?” And they laugh at us and say “Zucchero? We would like to go too but it is closed. 2006.” Hahahahahha. We were disappointed that we couldn’t check out this place but it also made us feel better about not finding it. So, our search for another bar began. We stopped at an “Irish” pub for a drink, and then found another club called the Red Garter where they had karaoke. Old creepy drunk Italian men tried to convince us to get up and sing, and by the time they did the guy who was running it had taken a break. Oh snap. We were getting ready to leave when another crazy small world thing happened- Elisha ran into a friend from her school who is studying in Florence. Like, shut up! What are the odds. And there is more. Her friend’s roommate, who was also there at the club, was drunkenly dancing by himself like a fool and my friends knew that I couldn’t sit still with good music on, so they pushed me over to him and I took his hand and started spinning him around while I couldn’t stop laughing because all the Italians in the club were staring at us. But he was funny and I was having fun despite feeling a little embarrassed. We wound up talking (er, shouting over the music) and I found out he’s from Cleveland and knows a ton of Denison kids. !! Really?! Realllly!? College is an amazing thing. I really think it connects everyone between the ages of 18 and 25 by like 2 degrees at the most. Seriously, whodathunk that 4 out of 6 of us ran into a friend/one degree of a friend in Florence, Italy?! Ahhh. Went back to the hostel, laughed at the drunk Europeans in togas at the club, and passed izzout.

Almost done. Stand up and stretch.

Sunday was a day of successful shopping- Sarah bought a leather coat at a store that I am 80% sure is the place where I bought mine in ’05. Of all the leather factories in Florence. Yeah. Did some window shopping at places that we can’t even pretend to afford (Gucci, Prada, Tiffany & Co, Fendi, Burberry- you name it, they had it). Found THE original gelato shop (once again, thanks to Chelsie’s friend) and I had the most amazing cioccolata gelato yet. At this point my legs and feet were yelling at me, and fortunately it was time to head to the train station. Caught the 4:00 train back to Perugia (the ride is approximately 2 hours). It was interesting coming back to an itty bitty town like Perugia after the overwhelming size and grandeur of Florence. But I immediately felt comfortable when stepping back onto Perugia ground, and my place here right now was reinforced- I definitely made the right choice.

Hokay. This is it. I don’t know about you, but I need to walk it out and get some eats. Props if you got through all of this in one sitting. The internet here is being obnoxious and is not letting me upload pictures right now, but have no fear- 2 full albums are coming soon. I don’t even have the energy to read through this again, so again I apologize because it’s basically free write and you know how I can go on and on and on like I am right now. Woww alright. Seriously, guys and gals, thanks for reading! This blog is for you as much as it is for me! Love.