Spring Break, Part I
Ciao all! We just got back from our first big trip to other countries! We just finished our month courses in Intensive Italian and Art of Rome and we had a week off before we had to start our new classes. We decided to visit Florence, Pisa, and Dublin.
Florence was our first stop and it was beautiful! I loved it there because it was so much more clean than Rome is, no trash on the streets, and it was not as big (as living in Rome as much as I love it here I have come to realize that I'm not a big city person). I would describe Florence as a much more tamed down version of Rome. We stayed in a little Bed and Breakfast for two nights and it was for the most part very nice. We invited our friend from school to come along, her name is Andrea.
The first day we went to see the one and only Michelangelo's famous "David." I thought that it was amazing, but Brandon thought it was not really worth paying $6 to see. I will admit that most of these museums have one or two pieces of art that you want to see and the rest you don't really care about. Brandon was saying that they should just put all the famous pieces that everyone wants to see in one museum and for one price (yeah I wish).
The next day we headed off to the Uffizi (the famous art museum in Florence). We had to wait in line for like almost two hours but it was worth it to get to see Primavera/Spring and The Birth of Venus. I guess they originally went together but they showed them separate at the museum. They were really beautiful to look at. After that Brandon went to visit Santa Maria Novela while I waited outside. I guess I am just too burned out on churches already. We then headed up the steep hill to Piazza Michelangelo and boy did the hike suck but it was totally worth it. The view from the top was amazing! I could have sat there all day. It was definitely something that I wish you all could see.
After that we headed back down the hill and back to Ponte Vecchio and it was so beautiful because the sun had just set and the sky was a pretty pink color and the lights lit up the water around the bridge. We then went to this little Greek place that was recommended in Let’s Go Italy and it was my first time trying Greek food. It was actually very good and I felt healthy eating it. I got a felafa which is a veggie patty with lettuce, tomatoes, some kind of Greek cheese, and a white Greek sauce. I really had no idea of what I was ordering because they did not speak English but it turned out to be good and a fun experience. It was nice to try something different for a change.
The next morning we woke up early and took a train to Pisa. Pisa can definitely be seen in one day. We saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa which was really cool to see and we were surprised that is wasn't bigger. But it is definitely one of those monuments that you see and say "oh wow that's cool" and then that's that. Brandon went to see another church while Andrea and I waited for him near the Leaning Tower. Something kind of interesting I learned was that everything built in that same area as the Leaning Tower is sinking like 2 millimeters a year due to the soft soil it was built on. Also, they had just finished stabilizing the Tower.
We then went and got lunch at a pizza place that was pretty cheap. The pizza there was sooooo good. It reminded me of pizza from home because it was kind of greasy. Most of the pizza you get here is very thin crusted and not greasy at all which is actually probably a lot better for you but hey it's nice to have the greasy stuff every once in a while too.