I could spend forever there! It was so nice to be in a place that I was familiar with (for the first time this trip) and that is just the perfect size- big enough to have lots to explore but not too big that you get swallowed up.
When we first got to Florence, we had to walk to our hostel, Mia Palace. It was probably a 15-minute walk from the train station and the directions provided by the hotel on the booking site were pretty helpful. I had also printed walking directions from Google maps before we left, so we had no problem. The hostel is basically on the Arno River, just down away from the center of town. Our room was spacious, air conditioned, and had good Wi-Fi! We've also noticed that the bathrooms we've had have gotten bigger and nicer as we've progressed through our trip.
The first night, we wandered. First stop: gelato. We got it at a place by one of the bridges, La Carraia. I had it last time I was in Florence and it is still just as popular. And cheap! Next, I wanted to show Emery Piazza Michelangelo because it has a gorgeous view of all of Florence. We went there, took pictures, and walked back into town. We had dinner in Piazza della Signoria next to the Palazzo Vecchio, which was lovely. I was going through Florence in my head, thinking of places I ate last time, and hoped we'd make it to one the next day. We crossed the river, got gelato, and headed back to the hotel.
The next day was probably my favorite of the trip so far. Even though we were in Florence, we did something new to me. I had been in the cathedral in Florence, Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, which is free (as it should be). However, for €10, you can climb the inside of the dome, climb the bell tower, go into the baptistry, and the crypt below. We did all of that, got great pictures, and loved it! It also started training our legs for the climb to come in Cinque Terre...
We had a quick lunch in Piazza della Signoria, got gelato by the Ponte Vecchio (golden bridge) and made our way to the Bargello Museum. We had seen online about a dance festival in Florence with different performances throughout July. That night, stars of the American ballet were performing! We wanted to go ahead and get tickets while it was convenient.
We went to the Uffizi Museum next (€11). It's a large, impressive collection of primarily paintings and some statues. “Uffizi" means “offices", and the rooms were used by the Medici family. We had a Rick Steves podcast, but that's hard to follow in a museum where things get moved and shared around. It was still very enjoyable, though I was very ready for a rest back at the hostel after all of that.
Our goal was to rest, go to an appertivo someplace, and then go to the ballet. An appertivo is often a drink and buffet before dinner, and a lot of places by the river host these. Well, apparently the rest we needed was more than we anticipated, because we ended up only having enough time to get gelato to hold us over to after the ballet.
*let's review: that's 4 times we had gelato in Florence!
The ballet was in a museum where I actually saw a ballet last time. The central area is an open-air space where they set up seats and a stage. The ballet started at 9:30, so true to Italian form, we got let in at 9:35. The performances were by the principal dancers from the New York, Boston, and Miami ballets, a total of 6 people. It was a combination of group, partner, and solo dances that we enjoyed a lot. I liked that every number was very different.
After the ballet, we finally went looking for dinner at midnight. Nothing in the main, touristy part was open anymore, and we were beginning to think we'd be having gelato a third time that day. I remembered a couple of restaurants behind the Bargello that I had been to, and hoped that we'd find them quickly. They were actually a lot closer than we thought, and one of them, Acqua al Due, was open! We split two dishes, wine, and tiramisu, and the best part was that the ballet dancers went there too! Before they got their food, we went to tell them that we enjoyed their performance (so glad they'd understand us) and they were appreciative.
Very happy with our evening, we walked back to the hostel!
The next morning, we packed, had breakfast at the hostel, and accomplished a few things before we went to the train station. We walked towards the Pitti Palace to get cheap postcards, hit up the ATM, and stopped by the street market next to the bronze boar for Emery to shop some. I parked myself with our stuff in a plazza and finished writing my Rome post :)
The train station was easy for me to find, being the Florence expert that I am (haha) and we bought our tickets to La Spezia just fine. We got tickets that did not require a transfer in Pisa. It stopped there, but we got to stay on the train. When we got to La Spezia, we had to get on a local train to get to the second town, Manarola, where we were staying in Cinque Terre.
That will be my next post!
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