Florence

---

Florence (Firenze)
So far, I’ve always been a little sketched out when I first meet up with a couch surfer/host. Trying to figure out his or her truths, as couch surfing is maintained as faith based service, is a relatively difficult task. You never know what or who you’re really going to meet.

Florence wasn’t an exception. I arrived in Florence in the early afternoon on a Thursday ( I think?). When I exited the bus, I called my soon-to-be host to let him know that I’ve arrived. I didn’t know at the time; I thought maybe I was being stood up; but Manfredi, my Florence host hadn’t arrived yet to pick me up, nor had he and I exchanged consistent and easy to follow instructions on the where to and how’s of navigating through the terminal station to his place.

Luckily we finally agreed on a place in the station to meet - after about 1 hour of waiting, Manfredi was available to pick me up. The car ride was, as expected, full of questions and answers between us. Manfredi had to work soon, so he sorta suggested that I visit the city asap. I stashed my bag, took a few things I thought I might need, and set out to Florence via the city bus.

Florence is quite a beautiful city - many churches, basilicas and other holy buildings. On top of that, there are thousands of tourists - even in the dead of winter - with the proportional amount of outdoor markets and “leather goods” on sale. I visited a few buildings while in Florence, including the University Museum which holds the famous David by Michelangelo. The statue itself is quite amazing, and I know I could never have the talent to match the high quality that Michelangelo has succeeded. Something I have pondered though, is why is the statue so tall? After staring at the sculpture, I came to the conclusion that Michelangelo is a cheater. He wanted to be able to create a model of a human with as much detail as possible. I speculate that the height helps him with the detail - a much smaller model would be much more difficult to elaborate the details of the human body. So Michelangelo is a cheater. I still can’t do what he did 😊

Also in Florence was the Duomo - the local Domed Church. Inside, amongst many other tombs, was the tomb of Francesco Landini - a famous composer from the mid-renaissance who invented the “Landini Cadence.” I can explain if you wish, but Ti La Do, just ask if you really want to know. The Duomo and other holy buildings I went inside were very ornamented. I’ve definitely reached the conclusion the beauty and majesty of the Roman Catholic Church in the Renaissance and beyond is in fact the determining factor in convincing someone to believe in the church. Not so much that a god exists or Jesus is our Savior - it’s the amazing human collaborative art that creates a feeling of religious awe, leading to blind faith through visual and aural stimuli.

Anyways - I saw a few things during the day - I arrived back at Manfredi’s flat (he lives with his mother, 2 fat cats and a big ass cuddly dog). After a bit we set out to the bar/pub for a Florence couch surfing get together. Manfredi had a scooter (as many Italians do), so we hopped on the scooter and took a wild ride to the pub. I met mostly hosts from couch surfing, including (names), and Giampaolo as well as the area ambassador Dario. Randomly inserted into the party were three American couch surfers who randomly walked into the bar that night. We had plenty of beer, cocktails and snacks, and ended up in a small room in the back of the pub, laughing about everything (especially the Lonely Planet : non mi si radrizza phrase), exchanging emails and other contact information. The way back was quite amusing - I was relatively drunk while he drove us through the streets of Florence - we actually ended up at a hamburger shop that he frequented. It was unlike any shop in the US - of course it was a ground beef and bread sandwich, but it was more like an assembly line of condiments, similar to Subway Sandwiches. The toppings included the weirdest things like fried eggplant, zucchini, brat, sautéed red and white onions, all types of cheeses and sauces - hot sauces, creamy sauces and such. Not the boring ketchup, mustard and pickles that we’re used to. After getting the burgers in a “Take-away” bag, we headed back to his place to watch some more movies.

For the rest of the trip I was relatively bored with the city of Florence. It is a huge tourist trap - markets trying to sell cheap buffalo leather jackets (although the prices were outrageous, some priced above 700 euros, but at “80% off”), people randomly selling socks on the street, grossly overpriced buffet style restaurants - an obvious exploitation of what Florence isn’t. Geographically, Florence was the hub of political turmoil, change and influence. If Italy was divided into two sections, northern and southern, Florence would be on the border, constantly struggling with its huge and diverse population. It’s relatively sad what it has become - except for the amazing diversity, quite similar in proportion to Los Angeles.

After realizing how annoying the city was, I figured I’d spend more time visiting with my host, Manfredi. He’s a movie genius - knows every actor, director and producer known to man. We suggested titles to each other and ended up watching Forbidden Zone (Elfman Brothers), and Son of Frankenstein (Mel Brooks) as well as many episodes of Family Guy. On the second night we grabbed some more burgers from his favorite restaurant, and finally the third day I packed up and headed to the station for Bologna. Though the city was not exciting, I was a bit disheartened about leaving so soon - Manfredi and I have quite a bit in common; and continually quote movie lines relative to everything we experience. Actually him more so, but I try at least. Eventually we met up later - had a couple more beers and watched some more flicks - but that will be in the next blog: Bologna!

---

Comments

[Manfredi]

I'm a movie freak..
Just to add an Errata Corrige.. the Mel Brooks movie's title is "Young Frankestein", not "The son of Frankestein"..anyway it could be worse, it could be raining! Btw you forgot to mention how drunk I WAS driving the scooter back home!!

[Ty]

Vampires
I read an Ann Rice novel called, "Armand" and was in love with this vampire. The city he lived in was Florence. The book made it seem like it was a great city. I'm still wondering about the different wines you've been trying...???

[aronovici]

To Manfredi
You're mom is the SON OF FRANKENSTEIN!

[stace]

ha.
i love it. you are such a nerd. can't wait to see you!

[Rebecca]

Did they get you?
Are you still alive? You haven't posted in awhile. And thanks for the long post. You're hot.