In Florence today, we all had a free day so that we could explore what we wanted. I really wanted to go to the Boboli Gardens by the Pallazzo Pitti to take photos. This morning, I found out that it was a 41-minute walk to the gardens and I didn’t have money for a taxi or anyone that was willing to come with me. Instead, Megan, Taylor, and Lindsay decided to walk around Florence as much as we could.
I started my day by sleeping in past breakfast, but we stopped by a coffee shop with a sign for “iced coffee” on the street. I got really excited because I haven’t had an iced coffee in over a week now. I got an iced Americano with caramel, and I loved it. Surprisingly, I was able to drink my coffee black because it was that good.
We shopped around Florence going into stores like H&M, SONY, Zara, and Clarks. I had a hard time finding the right sizes in everything so I only bought a shirt from H&M. Our small group went back to the hotel so that we could enjoy the roof outdoor area for a while.
I decided back when our tour guide Matteo mentioned Florence was the place to get steak, that I wasn’t leaving until I got myself a Florentine Steak. A group of us decided to go to Il Latini for dinner because Matteo recommended it for steak. When we got to the restaurant it was 7:20 and there was already a huge line for their opening at 7:30. Somehow, I got up to the front of the line and our party of six was seated quickly for dinner.
Lindsay, Nicole, Lauren and I all shared the two pound Florentine Steak and it was probably my favorite moment of eating in my whole life. It was perfect along with a side of potatoes. I cleaned the meat off the bone (something I shouldn’t be proud of) but in the end, we had consumed the best steak ever. The waiters even brought us free Lemon Chello as a reward for finishing the large chunk of Manzo (beef). I will plan on coming back to Florence just for its steak. We loved it so much that we felt the need to declare May 13th Manzo Day.
After dinner, we met up with some others at the Irish Pub across the street from our hotel. We all told stories and shared a lot of laughs. I also FINALLY was able to pronounce “Firenze” correctly that probably topped my night.
Tomorrow it is off to Venice!
