Italy, was beautiful! I never wanted to leave. My friend Lauren and I left Thursday morning around 2am. We took a bus from Granada to Madrid, then a flight from Madrid to Bologna. We arrived in Bologna around noon. Before this trip we only had our flights booked, we didn't have a hostel or hotel booked. So when we got to Bologna we kind of just looked around and found a pizza place to eat. It was delicious, we had a margarita pizza! We hadn't eaten in the 15 hours so we were STARVING to say the least. Also, the owner of this restaurant, helped us out a lot. He called a couple bed and breakfasts and even got us a deal at one. However, when we walked to the the hotel, it was a.) old and creepy, b.) didn't have wifi, c.) the lady was strange, and d.) we weren't saving that much money (even though that guy helped us out a LOT.) SO at that point, I looked at Lauren, and said "let's go to Florence." We walked to the train station, looked at tickets, and bought one. The public transportation is amazing here. We hopped right on the next train and arrived in Florence 45 minutes later. The train ride was beautiful. The scenery was gorgeous, all the changing colored trees, openness, it reminded me of home. We got to Florence. My friend Amy, who is a student in Granada, just got back from Florence so she had recommended to stay at the Archi Rossi Hostel. When we got off the train from Bologna, I asked the first person I saw where it was. The lady that helped me was so cute. She pulled out her iPhone, typed in the address, and pointed us on our way. I am telling you my first impression with people from Italy is amazing. They are so sweet and very helpful with everything!! Most of them speak English too!! After we found our hostel, we crashed. We hadn't really slept the night before so Lauren and I went pretty much right to bed.
The next morning, we woke up and had breakfast. The hostel offers free tours around two parts of the city of Florence. We took a tour in the morning and saw so many cathedrals, old mid-evil castles, and walked the streets of Florence. We crossed the "Ponte Vecchio" bridge, a beautiful sight of Florence. Oh my goodness, it is breath taking. After the tour, Lauren and I walked and walked and walked. I thought for sure we would have gotten lost, but we really didn't. We saw so many markets, stores, restaurants..etc. The tour guide said that you can walk the entire city of Florence, from one point to one point in about 25 minutes. I think Lauren and I covered a majority of the city the first day. We ate a cute little restaurant and I had a red pepper and eggplant pizza, amazing! All the food is so fresh and doesn't make you feel gross after. I am convinced that it's the fresh oils and home baked breads :)
The second day, we woke up and had breakfast again. We took another free tour of the second side of Florence. BEAUTIFUL :) I am in love with this city. We went to the Academia, the museum full of Michelangelo's artwork. The huge sculpture of David, was amazing. You could see every last detail of his body, every vein, rib, and muscle. I feel I have a better appreciation of artwork after that museum! We had lunch at another restaurant. I had veggies lasagna, a fresh green salad, and bruchesta, :) SO good. I loved every last bite!! We wanted to go to the Duomo, the cathedral and walk up the 400 stairs, but we arrived one minute too late. Last night, Lauren and I had some wine, gelato, and pizza.
The third day, we went to the bus station and purchased our bus tickets back to Bologna (for Tuesday) and then bought our tickets to Pisa for Monday. After that, we walked around and around. Florence is known for their leather. So there are so many markets full of leather purses, wallets, bags..etc. We ate lunch at a little panini restaurant. That afternoon we took a tour of the Chianti region. We traveled to the town of Castellina in Chianti. In Castellina there were so many stores full of typical Tuscan products, (oils, wines, breads, sweets, etc.). We visited a beautiful estate where we got to participate in a guided tour of wine cellars and got to hear all about the stages of wine production. The wine cellar was beautiful! It was underground and so unique. I guess it has been shown on some movies because it's so different and beautiful! The landscape up in the Chianti region is to die for, the sights are incredible.
Finally, on the fourth day we went to Pisa. I absolutely love the public transportation system here in Europe. It's so easy and simple. Buy your tickets, hop on the train/bus, and you are in the next city. Pisa was nice. Lauren and I had been in Florence for three days, so we were ready for a little change of scenery. Pisa, is a little city, with not much more than the leaning tower of Pisa. However, it was still nice to walk around and look at what the city had to offer. We ate lunch at a really cool restaurant. It was super tiny, but had all homemade food. I had spaghetti with cherry tomatoes and olive oil! SO good. All the food in Italy was amazing. I had pizza like six times, pasta twice, and gelato twice a day... NOT kidding. The last night, Lauren and I went to a gelato place really close to our hostel. We met the owner and talked to him for awhile. I was kind of having a rough day, a long list of events had happened and I was just off. My camera broke, atm card wasn't working, things will Winona State were messed up..etc. Anyways, it was just an off day, but I swear God works in magical ways. This little man at the gelato place just made my night. He sat and talked about how to make gelato. However, he took the conversation to the next level. He said "Here in Italy, we work because we love what we are doing. I love making gelato. I love seeing the reaction of peoples face, I love hearing what they have to say about it. Yes, you girls just gave me 5 euros for this gelato, but if that was the only reason I worked, I shouldn't be doing this job. You must work for love, the beauty and passion of the job, not for the money." At this moment, I was almost in tears and just so happy. It was just an amazing moment and it was everything I needed at that moment. When we walked back to our hostel, I had an email from my advisor saying that everything will be fine at Winona State, Thank you Lord. I am so blessed.
Un Beso.
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