Today was our earliest day yet. With a wake-up call of 6:45, we had to be out of Assisi by 8:15. Angela Merkel was coming to town and all of the roads were to be shut down.
We had a three-hour drive to Florence ahead of us. It wasn’t bad. Sleeping on a bus had gotten easier as the trip goes on. We’re all exhausted while also having the time of our lives, honestly.
When we got to Florence, our first stop was a photo opportunity at the Piazzale Michaelangelo. We spent a while there, overlooking the city, then reloaded onto the bus and headed to the hotel.
Because we had gotten to Florence so early thanks to the need to get out of Assisi, we weren’t able to check into the hotel until after spending the day in the city.
We had a little bit of time before anything was scheduled, so the group all broke off for lunch. Vic and I (go figure?) found a cute little restaurant down a side street. Maybe I was just hungry, but WOW was that food good. I had a fettucini alfredo and Vic and I split fries. We also had a really nice talk with a couple from North Carolina who was sitting next to us. I love finding people who share a common understanding of the east coast. Being in a foreign country is slightly overwhelming, but things like chats with strangers from the United States makes it a little less so.
After finishing our meal, we grabbed some gelato, shopped around a little bit, and scoped out the area for our free day tomorrow. Shortly after, we met back up with the group for our walking tour of Florence. We saw such sights as the Duomo, the Statue of David (multiple versions of it, including the original), and Piazza della Signoria. Florence is such a beautiful city. Probably my second favorite thus far, the first being Assisi.
We headed to a Pizzeria for dinner tonight and all had margarita pizzas, one of my favorites. This might take the title of the best pizza I’ve had so far on the trip, though there’s so much more time to top it. We’ll see I guess.
Tonight, I think a bunch of us are going to check out Florence’s nightlife. Matteo mentioned heading to one of the best-known club’s in the city, so we’ll see how that goes!
Tomorrow, a free day to explore Florence!