Hey people,
So I have been here in Italy for just over a month now which is crazy and awesome and sad all at the same time because it's been a great ride but I can't believe the first leg is already over. January was a great month overall. One of the best trips was our trip to Florence. We went in a group of about 10 or 11 and all stayed in the same hostel. The hostel we stayed in was a whopping 8 Euros a night and here you get what you pay for. However, it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be but it was only the first of many to come so we'll see. The first night we got there around 6 pm and the city was lit up and amazing. We went out to eat at a place called ZaZa's and it was amazing. Then we went to a doscoteque called Space which is basically a huge club. I got incredibly drunk, enough said. Woke up the next morning to all my friends getting ready to go site seeing. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 9 AM and I was still wearing my clothes from the night before. Classy. New goal for this trip: make it into my PJ's before I pass out. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not trying to be awake before 10 at the earliest, noon when I'm still detoxing from the night before. I grabbed some Tylenol and washed it down with coffee and we were on our way. First stop was the Duomo, an amazing Cathedral in the heart of Florence. Next we climbed the Bell Tower and I learned my first lesson of the day: Do NOT pregame with a bottle of wine when you are site seeing and have to climb a 414 step bell tower among other things the next day. Once I reached the top and instead of enjoying the view I was contemplating whether throwing up in a corner or a window sill was more acceptable, I realized that this is a lesson I will never forget.
After getting it together, we saw some of the greatest art in the world including Michelangelo's David, and some work of Da Vinci. Honestly, it was incredible and unforgettable. It was much much larger than I expected and the precision on every single body part blew my mind. The Brith of Venus was another one that just took my breathe away. After grabbing a quick lunch we hit the street markets and I continued to take after my grandmother in grand fashion and blew a good portion of my budget on shopping. Oh well, I'm only in Italy once right?
Later we got a dinner at a restaurant called Dante's where the friendly manager served us up some free wine, lemoncillo, and Bailey's along with the best lasagna I ever had (Sorry grandma).
Something that really surprised me was how much more English was spoken in Florence than Verona. I know it's more touristy but geez, at one point we were in an H&M and the guys ringing us out were whereing "I LOVE NY" t-shirts. I had a flashback to my days working at Orland Mall.
On the way home, I and 3 of my friends opted to take the cheaper train with multiple stops and connections to save ourselves 14 Euro. Everything was going good until we were in Bologna watching the last train for Verona leave on the track across from us. Whoops. After checking times, we realized that the next train wasn't leaving for Verona until 4 am. Grande Problemo. Lesson learned here: If you want to try a train with multiple stops, do it early enough so if you miss your train, another should be coming within oh let's say, the next 6 hours. After thoughtful deliberation, Alex, Kailyn, Lauren, and myself opted to hop on an overnight train to Munich that stopped in Verona even though we didn't have tickets and see what happens. Lucky for us, we made it without getting our tickets checked. Lauren even taught us to play cards so not a bad time at all and other than the 10 different diseases I mostly likely contracted while waiting in the over night train station, I'd say the trip went quite well.
Overall, Florence took away my breathe, most of money, and a good portion of my dignity. Ahhh, I love this country.
Ciao for now,
Mia
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