Firenze/Napoli

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What a whirlwind weekend! This past weekend was extremely busy, but very fun. I have to say this was my first taste of traveling through Europe on a budget. Thursday night, some friends and I headed out to Fashion's Night out, an event I usually attend in LA but that is worldwide. We had a great time shopping late at night, and enjoying the music and open bar at some of the nicest stores in Rome. After about 2 hours of sleep, Friday morning my friend Marymar and I set out on a train from Rome to Florence. After a 3 hour train ride, we arrived. First of all, I loved Florence because it is an extremely walkable city. We walked right off the train into the center of Florence, and visited the Church of Santa Maria Novella. It is truly an amazing place. Not many pictures though, because photography is prohibited inside. We then walked to the Doumo, another amazing sight and truly the symbol of Florence. We then met up with some friends at the Ponte Vecchio, an old bridge that is very famous and crosses the Arno River. Walking back towards the train station, we ended up in a piazza that was hosting a wine and food festival. We paid 10 euro and got a free glass to go taste all of the wines. The wines were amazing! Plus, the olive oil, honey, and fresh cheese from the local farms were some of the best I have tasted in my life. We then returned home on a late night train. It was funny, because arriving in Rome we knew we would be back boarding another train in about 6 hours. So the next morning, after about 3 hours of sleep, we were on our way again, this time joined by 2 other friends on our way to Naples. Again, we arrived mid-morning and stepped off the train. This city was completely different from the tranquility of Florence. From the second we stepped off, we were being approached by vendors selling fake purses and iPhones, and could immediately see the poverty and mayhem of this city! I thought the driving in Rome was crazy... but Rome has nothing on the driving of Naples. We first decided to walk through the historic district. This truly felt like authentic Italy, with laundry hanging in the tiny alleyways and old women watching the pedestrians out their windows. We continued on, and ended up in a little pizzeria. This pizzeria ended up serving us some of the best pizza I have ever tasted. All the pizzas were huge and very cheap! We then continued on to the Anthropology museum which had some very nice Roman statues. From there, we took a cable car up to a viewpoint that had a view of the entire city. Naples is amazing from above! It is a huge city with a beautiful port, and Mt. Vesuvius as a backdrop. It was definitely worth the long walk uphill after we got off the cable car as well! After leaving, we returned down near the port and walked along the water. On our way back to the train station, we entered a random pizzeria hungry and tired. Little did we know, this was the pizzeria from the movie and book Eat, Pray, Love. There were pictures of Julia Roberts eating there all over the walls. It was of course, another amazing pizza and experience. We headed back to the train station, exhausted and with sore feet and boarded our night train back to Rome. Honestly... I have never felt so exhausted, so tired of walking, and so dirty in my life. Yet, it was still one of the most amazing weekends of my life! All of the lack of sleep, traveling on dirty trains, walking everywhere, finding cheap food was such an enriching experience and I loved every second of it. The sights and sounds of these two cities were amazing, and I definitely will return at some point. Next weekend... Milan. I will keep you all posted!

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Comments

[Susan Johns]

Loving your posts. From the sound of things you have having great adventures and you haven't even been there a month!!