The Secrets of Florence

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Ciao again!
This is the second installment of the four part series I like to call my amazing winter vacation. To recap, I visited Pisa for one exciting day, and then I was in the lovely city of Florence for the next two. I love Florence. I have been to Florence for a day once before when I did a ten day trip through Italy and Greece. One day in Florence though, is not enough. I wanted to return. The city, first of all, is gorgeous. It's one of those places that gives you the feeling you're in a small town, while being one with so much to offer. And the famous "David" by Michelangelo, is not even among one of my favorite things there. Florence is a city of color, and history, and a quaintness that draws me there like no other. Actually, it kind of reminds me of a slightly larger Aix-en-Provence (Italian style of course).
Arriving on Saturday morning (the 28th of February) by train, Ben and I headed for our hostel. To our pleasant surprise, the hostel was just a quick hop, skip, and a jump from the train station, and as it turns out, everywhere else as well. The hostel had expanded from its original location, and we ended up in a room at the second location that was in an awesome place in the city. We were around a ten minute walk to the famous Duomo, the train station, the Ponto Vecchio (the famous bridge of Florence) and more. The hostel had free internet, a kitchen we could use, and was on a cute side street of the city. I couldn't have asked for more. After getting settled in Ben and I decided, since the weather was acting in our favor, to go ahead and do the outdoor activities first. On our way to climb the Piazzale Michelangelo we just happened to run into the Ponto Vecchio. The bridge is one of my favorite sights of the city. Not only does the bridge provide amazing views, its sides are adorned with little houses that look as if they might just fall into the river. These buildings aren't houses anymore though, just insanely expensive jewelry stores that almost make the bridge sparkle as you walk across. Of course, seeing the bridge was exciting, but our first real priority was lunch. We ended up finding a panini place not too far from the bridge and satisfied our hunger. After, we headed across the Ponto Vecchio to the side of the city known as South of the Arno (Arno being the river that divides the city into two sections...we were staying to the North). We headed for what we thought was going to be a nice walk through the Boboli Gardens, until we learned that it cost almost ten euros to enter. Since we had no idea what was inside, and it wasn't exactly blooming season, we decided to skip it, and spend our money on something, in my opinion, more worthwhile: Gelato.
After enjoying our savory homemade gelato (Florence wins the contest for best gelato in Italy. There is NO comparison) we headed towards Piazzale Michelangelo. We walked along the river for a while, enjoying the views and taking in the new city. We stopped for a few minutes to rest in a small park, and while there, ran into classmates from France. Seriously, the world is SO small! These were the same two girls that had ridden the bus with us overnight to Pisa (although they had continued to Florence). They too had wanted to take advantage of the great weather, and had just hiked up to Piazzale Michelangelo. Knowing now that the view was to die for, Ben and I quickly headed there. The view was worth the hard climb. I feel like most things we did required extreme leg muscles that in the end, I thanked God for giving me. We could see the whole city from the top of the 'hill'. We saw the Duomo, other amazing churches, the bridge, the river, everything! It was amazing. It was no wonder that Michelangelo, when working in Florence had gotten a lot of inspiration, and done a lot of work up there. It really was inspiring.
After enjoying the view and taking a billion pictures, we decided we still had time, and energy, to do something else. We ended up agreeing that it was a good time to climb the steps to the top of the Duomo (the famous church in Florence). Upon arriving at the church, we discovered that it was closed for the day, but we could still climb the Campanile. This was a building (a tall, tall, rectangle that shoots up into the air) built to house the bell for the church. It sits right beside the Duomo and is adorned with the same green, pink, and white marble. We began our climb, and I was shortly regretting the decision to go so soon after our little climb up the Piazzale Michelangelo. (Also, since my graceful attempt at descending the Leaning Tower of Pisa, I have become very hesitant and vigilant when dealing with stairs in general...especially stairs that curve.) Once we climbed the 460 stairs, we reached the top, where we got another spectacular view of the city. It was beginning to grow dark outside at this point, so Ben and I went back to our hotel to relax a little before dinner.
Dinner, was great. Tourist menus may sound like something stupid, but when it gives you three or four courses for a set price, you don't complain, you eat with pleasure. We enjoyed a nice dinner, and afterward headed towards the Ponto Vecchio to meet up with a member of Ben's football team who is studying in Florence for the semester. We arrived at his dorm/apartment complex and sat outside of the window for a few minutes waiting for him to let us in. I would have thrown a few pebbles at a window, but parking policemen and the fact that I had no idea which window was Mark's prevented that. We were eventually let in, and met a bunch of students. We hung out for a while in their common area and then left to go out on the town! It was a fun night with cafés and bars. Somehow it got to be three o'clock in the morning, and we ended up on our trip to the secret bakery.
"Secret bakery?" you might ask...and I will say yes, the secret and special bakery that was my favorite part of the night. To understand, you will need some quick background, please bear with me. In Europe, sandwich stands dominate the streets, all competing for the business of your lunch. Sitting in the windows of these stands are amazing looking sandwiches, calzones, pizza slices, and croissants. Don't be fooled into thinking though, that these food items are fresh from the sellers...oh no, they are fresh from the night bakeries, or, the secret bakery. There is one bakery in Florence (at least that I know of) that prepares these delicious food items throughout the night in order to wholesale them to the vendors the next day. By law, it is forbidden for them to sell these items to individuals. But if you know the little street, late at night, between 2 and 4am, you can enter the back door of the bakery and purchase food at the wholesale price. Finding this bakery is no easy feat, but when you do, its worth all the time spent looking. There is no sign, there is no extra lighting, only a door in a back ally where a small line has formed outside. Everyone is silent, and everyone moves fast. You point to what you want on the rack of food they have towards the back, and you pay about 75 centimes for a slice of pizza, or, as I ordered, a chocolate filled croissant fresh from the oven. There is no midnight snack to compare the secret bakery to. It is a giant amongst late night cafés and 24 hour diners.
Anyway, after the secret bakery we started heading back to our hostel to get some much needed sleep. We woke up late the next morning, and headed out to explore the Duomo. It was raining, and kind of dreary outside, we decided to enter the baptistry first. The baptistry is an octagonal building across from the Duomo that was originally a pagan center of worship later converted into a Christian place. The doors of entry into the baptistry are famous, and Michelangelo coined them "The Gates of Heaven." They are heavy green doors with gold etchings depicting famous Christian scenes. They really are amazing, as is most architecture and painting in Europe. Inside the baptistry, I'm not going to lie...there's not much. Its not that big, and while stunningly beautiful, reminded me of all the other churches and holy places I've been. There were no special paintings or statues, just an alter and seats. I may be being a bit more of a downer than I should be, but compared to other sights, this one just wasn't worth the money. The ceiling was the only really enjoyable part...it was all gold mosaic that depicted different scenes from the Bible: quite remarkable. Next, we moved onto the Duomo itself. I'd already been inside this monster of a church, but Ben had not, and I thoroughly enjoyed his fascination with everything. It was nice to be able to share with him my former experience, and to have a bit of knowledge regarding the building.
After spending some time in the Duomo, Ben went to the Accademia to see the Michelangelo's "David" but since I'd already seen it, and spent quite a lot of time in the museum, I decided to enjoy the markets instead. What a difference it makes when you are with a male, and when you are by yourself! Italians are not afraid to make comments, or cat calls when a girl is walking down the street (even one layered in clothes with a bulky jacket and hair pointing in every direction possible!) Shopping was fun though, and I got a much needed scarf, a leather wallet, and a leather purse. (Normally I wouldn't mention purchases like this, but I'm still so excited about my real Italian leather stuff!)
Ben met me at the markets following his visit to the Accademia, and we headed over the Uffizi. The Uffizi is a major museum with so much artwork you don't know where to look. Strangely enough, we ran into the two girls from Aix, Lauren and Phalyn again in the line for the museum's entrance. Luckily, we were able to get into line with them because otherwise it would have been a nightmare. We still ended up waiting for about 30 minutes, and then began our trek through the long halls. We saw so many famous pieces of artwork that we had studied in our art history class at school. One of my favorites is "The Birth of Venus" by Boticelli. It's such a beautiful painting with great colors.
The museum took quite a while to navigate through, and after, all we wanted to do was get out of the rain and back to our hostel. On the way we picked up some much needed gelato. We stopped at a Gelateria recommended by Ben's sister Amanda as the best gelato in Italy. We stopped in, and although it was a tough call, she was right. The gelato was fabulous, and they had an amazing selection of flavors. On our way back to the hostel, as we are students on a budget, picked up some dinner we could fix in the kitchen of our hostel...something similar to Ramen Noodles. As tired and as wet as we were, a relaxed night with a bowl of Ramen was just what we needed! We had an early train to catch the next morning, so we spent the night preparing for the next leg of our journey...Rome.
Ciao until then!

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Photos

A cute park
On the way to Piazzale Michelangelo...this is where we ran into Lauren and Phalyn, the two girls from IAU

Florence and Duomo
From the top of the Campanile

And Looking Down....
460 steps put into perspective here

Mark and Ben
The beginning of our night on the town

With the goods
From left to right: Pizza, Calzone, and Croissant

Secret Bakery from the side street
I swear, no one can find this place without already knowing of it