Early bus to Florence today. The breakfast was really good this morning. It was the first breakfast to include fruit, meat and eggs! The cappuccino was REALLY good here. Unfortunately, I did not get to finish since we had to leave so early. We were lucky though, we got out of the city in time to not deal with much traffic from the impending German visit.
The bus ride to Florence was about 3 hours with two stops, one at a rest stop (where the coffee shop guy threw shade at me and the student I was with the whole time!) and the second at a scenic overlook that features beautiful views and a bronze replica of the David. It was not the clearest day, but you could still see the famous Ponte Vecchio pedestrian bridge with the building, the Duomo and the other significant Florence landmarks.
Once we arrived in Florence, Matteo walked us into the city and pointed out some good places to eat and then let us roam free for a few hours. I had the best ravioli I have ever had for lunch! I am not even sure what it was but it was delicious and so was the arugula & parmesan salad.
We met our guide that then took us to the Academia to see the actual David as well as a few other pieces of David’s work. The Hall of Prisoners were these slightly creepy unfinished statues of men still “trapped” in the marble! She provided a lot of depth on Michael Angelo’ life as well.
The David of course was the highlight. It is amazing how large it is and the amount of work that has gone into simple things… like moving it from one point to another.
Our walking tour continued throughout Florence where we learned about Duomo, several other churches, the Medici family as well as some other little facts and features about the city.
Dinner was all together at a pizza place. Since the Margarita pizza is a classic Italian inspired dish, we were given Margarita pizzas. They were really good! The pizzas were originally created by Raffaele Esposito (in Naples) in honor of the queen consort of Italy (Margherita of Savoy). The red (tomatoes/sauce), white (cheese) & green (basil) were use to reflect the Italian flag.
Dessert was tiramisu —also delicious! After dinner we settled into our hostel (PlusFlorence). It features a hotel and hostel side… we are on the hotel side. Minus the fact there is only one functioning elevator (and it is barely big enough for one person and their bag), it is a nice place. Day 1 of 2 in Florence is complete!