Florence Adventures

Tuesday, October 22nd at around 6:15am our train came into the station. I was finally in Florence and ready to venture out with the 6 other people I am traveling with for now. But we didn't exactly start off with happy adventures. Unfortunately earlier on the train ride, one of our friends got her purse stolen...and yes everything important was in there; license, wallet, train tickets, boarding passes, credit cards. Although there were 6 of us in the cart, someone must have came in at a point that we were all sleeping (we did have a pretty awesome setup. We reclined all the chairs and basically had a huge mattress). Luckily we only had probably an hour or less left until we were at the final stop. We reported the stolen bag on the train, reported it when we were at the station and then headed towards the American Consulat to get her a temporary passport. All in all, things were sorted out in time. 

After a couple hours of sorting things, we were free to roam because we couldn't check into our apartment until around 2pm. So in the meantime.....

We stumbled upon a little restaurant and got pizza of course. Then we finally headed to our cute apartment that was located right above part of the market they always had going on. I've never seen so much pleather in my life (Mom, you would have been in your glory at this market. Haha). We ventured out more and then headed to a cool restaurant outside for dinner and then had the best gelato for dessert! 

This was my first glass of wine (it was their house Chianti) in Italy. 

Oh and did I mention my banging stuffed pepper? Holy crap, so amazing. 

Italy doesn't have Jello-O. Why? I ask myself that question everyday. So after a while in the kitchen I was able to whip up some Jell-O shots using this Gelatina in Fogli and it consisted of sheets you had to soak in cold water for 10 minutes then squeeze them and put them into hot water and stir until they dissolved, very interesting to say the least. Moreover, my goal of making Jello-O shots was complete. 

Wednesday, October 23rd, we set off for more sight seeing and delicious food. 

Oh yeah, I saw the David. No big deal or anything. :) Photos were prohibited but hey sometimes a tourist has to do what a tourist has to do.

And these were just some words of wisdom in the museums bathroom. 

The gorgeous Ponte Veccio bridge that we walked across and was basically taken over by jewelry stores one next to another.

Not sure what this statue was but it was a cool thing to stumble upon! Then we headed towards Uffizi which is the oldest museum in the world! I got to see so many paintings I was forced to study in my frehman year at Purchase in my art history courses and seeing things like the Birth of Venus or all of the Madonna and Child Enthroned made me really appreciate them that much more. Absolutely amazing. Photos were also prohibited here but of course...

Haha I was sneaky sneaky.

7 o'clock rolled around and we made reservations for this place called the Yellow Bar. Damn was their pizza good. 

We passed by some live music on our way and this was the icing on the cake that made me feel like I was really in Italy. Next of course we got gelato for dessert. I could eat pistachio and hazelnut gelato for every meal if it was acceptable. Haha. We headed back to the apartment, got out things together because we needed to be up at 5am the next day to catch a train to Rome! So we just hung out in the apartment and entertained ourselves. 

Yes, that is boxed wine and it was only about €1.50. Sketchy? Maybe. Poor traveling college students? Yes. 1am rolled around and I realized I should probably sleep.