I took a train to Florence yesterday with another girl from the hostel who was also headed this way. Didn't do much yesterday, had to do laundry first thing and that took up plenty of time so I just relaxed. I met up with my hostel friend, Geri, and we walked around Florence a bit, got a little lost, then found a pizza place to eat at. The place didn't open till 7:30 and we got there at 7:25. The second they opened those doors the place was flooded with people. Apparently everyone had reservations, but they still seated us without one. The pizza was amazing, close to the best pizza I've ever had in Naples. Close. And the company was nice since moments during this trip have been lonely. I am staying at a very nice hostel, yet I had the worst time sleeping last night because one persons bed sounded like they were sleeping on bubble wrap every time they moved, and 2 other people were snoring and making the loudest noises. Guess it would have been a good night for earplugs. So of course I was up early this morning, had breakfast and headed to the Duomo, which of course was closed. But the museum was open, so I was able to see Michelangelo's unfinished Pieta, as well as the original bronze doors for the baptistery. Beautiful. I then climbed the Duomo, to see the murals on the ceiling if the dome, as well as views of Florence. Then I finally made it into the church. The baptistery was not yet open, so I visited the church of San Lorenzoand then returned to go inside the baptistery. Amazing, the entire ceiling is covered in mosaic, with a giant image of Christ and different scenes from the bible. After that I think I wandered over to another church, Orsanmichele, after enjoying a tasty marinated veggie sandwich first. This church had an incredible meticulously carved alter and some pretty stained glass. I visited so many churchess today, I can hardly remember them all. I also went to Santa Croce, which had a bunch of tombs of famous Italians, and some beautiful frescoes by Giotto, and another artist by the name of Taddeo Gaddi. It's too bad part of the church was under renovation because the apse looked beautiful but you could hardly see any of it. It seems like a lot of Italy is under construction and renovation right now. Santa Croce also had a museum with some nice paintings. I stopped for gelato at some point and decided to go find the Mercato Centrale, a big indoor market I had visited the last timei was in Florence. There weren't as many vendors this time, maybe it was near closing, but it was still wonderful. I found some beautiful cherry tomatoes, nectarines, scamorza cheese, fresh bread, and torrone because someone else had ordered it and it looked good. I dropped my stuff at the hostel, then decided to go see the Arno , as well as visit a couple more churches ( Santo Spirito with its baldacchino type alter, and Santa Trinita). I was going to go check out Ponte Vecchio, buti could not deal with the crowds anymore. Everywhere, crowds of people with no sense of space and never paying attention to where they are going, my patience wears so thin by the end of the day. Tired, hungry, and with throbbing feet, I returned to the hostel for a meal of bread, cheese & tomatoes ( so simple, so good!) followed by fresh torrone(nougat with nuts/dried fruit). Now I am familiar with torrone from the Spanish/Argentine side of the family, but usually it's pre-packaged and dense, hard even. This was a whole new world for me- fresh, gooey, sticky and just melt in you mouth amazing! It took some willpower to not eat the entire piece. After dinner and a shower, I decided to head back out, just to walk around. I found the Uffizi and noticed how long the line was for being so late in the day. Well it just so happens that today was European Heritage day, and entrance to the museum was free! FREE! Yes I would like to see the Uffizi again for free. The line didn't look too bad so I waited, and before I knew it, I was in. It was so wonderful to be able to see all those beautiful Boticellis again, and Mantegna, and the big gold Madonna alter pieces. A lot of the museum was closed (renovation) and pieces were moved around, but it was nice to be able to visit most of it again. I tired out toward the end, and eventually made it back through the crowds to the hostel. Hopefully I will sleep better tonight.
