Friends in Firenze

A weekend in Florence...

It so happens my friend Lindsay from high school is studying in Florence, giving me a perfect excuse to hop on a train and spend a weekend in another city!

My freshman year in high school for spring break my family and I traveled to Florence (Rome, and Barcelona) and toured all of the sights, the David, Duomo, Uffizi, ponte vecchio, the leather, etc. So this trip was more devoted to roaming the streets with Lindsay and other friends who came along, eating gelato, shopping the open street markets and getting more of a feel for the city.

Jori and I decided to try the "fast train" to Florence Friday afternoon after class...in class looking out the window to the SNOW, yes SNOW, I was nervous the train may not be able to get us to Florence. Fun fact: Rome has not seen snow since the 1980s, so I guess all of us wisconsin badger brought the snow. You're welcome Rome. It was not the normal snow us Minnesotans or Sconnies are used to, I needed my umbrella to walk around because it was more of a sleet snow, but indeed it was snow.
So, I said goodbye to a snow covered Rome and an hour later on the very nice, much fancier and enjoyable fast train we pulled into Florence's Santa Maria Novella station.

Lindsay and I met on the steps of the Duomo, I know how romantic right? It was a perfect location for our reunion after seeing each other briefly during winter break before each going our separate ways abroad to Italy. Who would have thought we would be meeting up in Florence? We certainly did not, and our entire time together we could not get over how we were hanging out in Florence.
Right away she took me to her apartment, and introduced me to her friends and got an idea of what her program was like, and had a chance to catch up. Immediately we grabbed gelato at a place called, Grom. Very tasty way to start the trip.
Later that evening a bunch of her friends on her program and the two of us sat down to eat dinner at a restaurant called "Zaza", our romantic vacation continued as we decided to share pizza and pasta and sip house white wine...over candle light. The restaurant was very cozy, stone walls and arches, wooden tables, and they serve you immediately with a huge tin of doughy bread. Afterwards we began to take on the night in Florence by starting at bar called "the red garter", really not what it sounds like. It was a kareoke bar, and no I did not decide to do kareoke this time, instead I sat back and enjoyed the others who courageously stepped up to the microphone. Next was to a club called "21", I know very catchy, and appropriate for the many americans, but still many italians flooding the dance floor. The night was eventful, and I think I got a good idea of what night life in Florence is like, there are many many clubs and bars for such a small city. Very fun.

The next day Lindsay and I woke up on a mission to get a sandwich. Her favorite sandwich place, "oil shop" was so sadly closed on the weekends, so we took advice from a friend and set out to find the famous "antico noe". After probably asking every person in Florence, well just every street vendor, we finally stumbled upon this tiny little sandwich place and happily sat down on a bench to enjoy the hot chicken, mozzarella and mushroom on a skinny crunchy baguette. The rest of the day we walked all over Florence, stepping in and out of shops, gelaterias and enjoying the weather. We walked around the open air markets, where they have gorgeous scarves, hats, bags, belts, and leather galore. I purchased a scarf to remember Florence by always, and I thought it was very comfy and pretty, I have yet to wear another scarf besides my new one.

That evening I was graciously welcomed into my family friends Tom and Maria's home for a delicious home cooked meal and wonderful company. Tom picked me up from Lindsay's apartment on his moped (!), this was my first moped experience. Dad, don't worry Tom made sure I wore a helmet and he was a very safe driver, and he said he was heavily insured. He took a longer route to his home than usual, so I could see more of Florence, and as he drove up the hill their house sits on, the view was incredible. It was dark outside and the entire city of Florence was lit, and the view was perfect. My trip to Florence was absolutely made more memorable from this one night shared in a warm house surrounded by friends of family. The meal was too enjoyable for words, and it was so nice and comforting to be sitting around a dinner table. I missed my family at home and our nightly dinners, but I could not be more thankful for this one meal shared with Tom, Maria, Emily, her friend and friend's mother for that one evening. I rode home in a cab feeling very lucky to have connections around the globe, and felt safer and more comfortable knowing they are near.

The next day on the slow train home, riding solo, Florence gave me a great farewell and it was a perfect weekend shared with friends. I spent valentines day with a few girlfriends, and of course we got gelato after dinner, I think we found a new favorite gelateria.

Thank you to everyone who made my weekend in Florence memorable and extra enjoyable!