Going to America

Tuesday, 10 July 2012

I’m going home! As I type this, I am sitting on a plane from London to Atlanta. Today has been yet another interesting day. Travel days always are. Sometimes there interesting in good ways, but most times, there just stressful.

The day started at 7:00 because I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get up and ready and recheck all of my bags. When I weighed my bags one last time, they were both under 50 pounds, so I that got my day off to a good start. Then we headed down to breakfast for a quick bite before bringing all of our stuff downstairs.

All of my luggage

I figure that when you combine all of my bags, I probably have around 150 pounds in luggage, so getting all that stuff down from the fourth floor was a bit of a challenge, especially since not all of it could fit in the elevator at one time. But after several trips, we finally got everything downstairs. We then checked out and lugged all of our suitcases and backpacks outside to wait for the taxi because once again, we didn’t want to go through the tube with everything. The taxi came and picked us up and took us to Paddington Station, where we were able to catch the Heathrow Express.

My friend’s flight was at 12:15, so we got to the airport around 10:30 so she could check in and get to her gate. I’ve never had a problem with checking in early in America, but evidently they do things a bit differently in Europe. Since my flight wasn’t until 3:05, I wasn’t allowed to check in until 12:05, three hours before. So I was officially stranded in the airport with all 150 pounds worth of my stuff. Fortunately, I was able to find wifi, so I was able to get on the internet and some things taken care of while I waited.

When I was finally able to check in, I was pleasantly surprised. When I had checked in online the day before, I decided to spend the money to upgrade from economy to economy plus for the wider seats and extra leg room. But that was all I was expecting. When I got to the desk to drop off my luggage and collect my boarding pass, I was informed that the airline had upgraded me to business class. I was really excited because I saw the business class on the flight over, and it looked really comfortable. On top of the amenities on the plane, my ticket got me into the British Airways Lounge in Heathrow, so I was able to relax in comfort for the two hours before my flight.

Traveling in comfort

Around 2:15, I headed down to my gate and got on the plane. Let me tell you, business class is way better than economy – I may never want to travel in economy ever again, at least internationally. The seats are large and comfortable. They recline and can even lay flat if you choose. And best of all, they have a foot rest, which is good because my feet hurt after weeks and weeks of walking.

Take off was supposed to be at 3:05, but that time came and went without us moving from the gate. Not only was storming in London, but there were really bad storms right in the flight path. As the pilot explained it, there were only a few tiny pockets of good flying space in between the storm cells, so air traffic control was only letting a few planes go at a time so that small space wouldn’t get congested. It took over two hours to get clearance to take over. We finally departed at 5:15, two hours and ten minutes after we were scheduled to have departed.

Right now, I’m a bit concerned that I’m going to miss my flight from Atlanta to Memphis. My flight to Atlanta is at 10:00. If we hadn’t been delayed, we would have landed at 7:10, which would have given me plenty of time to get everything done because the way I chose to do things make it a bit difficult. Instead of flying the whole route with the same airline, I’m actually traveling with two: British Airways and Delta. This is because the British Airways flight is the flight that everyone from the group went on to get to London and I wanted to be with the group. But because I don’t live close to Atlanta, I had to get there somehow, so I flew there with Delta. But because I’m on two different airlines, my luggage doesn’t get taken from one plane to the other at the layover. Instead, I have to collect my luggage, take it to the other airline, check it in there, get back to security, and get to my gate. I did it just fine coming over, but my plane was only a few minutes that time, so I had plenty of time for everything. But because we left so late today, we aren’t scheduled to land until 8:45. I’m really afraid that I’m not going to have enough to get through customs, do the whole luggage thing, and make it to my flight on time. I have a feeling that I’m probably going to be running through the Atlanta airport.

UPDATE: We didn’t end up landing until in Atlanta until 9:20, and then it took another fifteen minutes to find a gate and park. By then, I was completely freaking out because I knew there was absolutely no way I was going to make my flight to Memphis at 10:00. After being away from home for two months, all I wanted was to be home. But that didn’t look likely. I was either going to have to find another flight or stay in a hotel and fly out in the morning. Luckily, when I turned on my phone, I was greeted by a text from my father, who said my flight to Memphis was delayed until 11:30. That meant I had enough time to get through customs, collect my bags, recheck them, and get to the gate. Everything on that front went smoothly; even my bags cooperated – they were both 50 pounds exactly! When I got to the gate though, I was informed that the flight had been further delayed until 12:00. And now we’re not scheduled to depart until 12:15. It’s great to be back in America, but now all I want is my own bed.

Last night in Europe

Monday, 9 July 2012

My last actual day in London and in Europe in general was a bit of an interesting one. It started off nicely, got stressful quite quickly, and then went back to being just fine. But such is life.

My day started off a bit early, as I woke up six o’clock to get ready, packed, and out the door. We had to be out at the bus stop outside the hotel for the 7:15 bus to take us to the bus station, where we had to get on another bus to the airport. Despite the early hour and all the busses, it was actually okay. At that point, I didn’t mind being up that early because it got me out of the hotel. Most places in Europe normally don’t have air conditioning. But when we booked our hotels, we deliberately looked for places for AC because we didn’t want to have to be unnecessarily hot if it could be avoided. All of our hotels before Rome were just fine; they all had air conditioning like one would expect. However, when we got to Rome, their “air-conditioning” was a box on the wall under the window that blew cold air out of the top. It was less efficient than a desk fan. On top of that, they shut the AC off at seven in the morning so as not to waste energy while the maids were cleaning. Consequently, in the mornings, it was much cooler outside than it was in the hotel, so getting up early definitely wasn’t a problem Monday morning.

But once we got the airport, everything went wrong. I’m just going to put it out there right now: I hate RyanAir. I’ve flown with them twice, and both times, I haven’t been pleased with them. This time though was much worse than the first time. It started when we got in line at a check in desk. We stood in line for about fifteen minutes only to make it to the desk to be told that we have to go to a different desk. We turned around to go to the correct desk only to find that we had to stand in a long line. Evidently, who ever organizes the check in desks decided it would be smart to make four of the largest flights all check in at the same desk. We finally got up to the desk after an hour of standing in line. The woman working the desk allowed us to drop off our luggage, but made us go to a different desk to finish the check-in process because she didn’t have the stamp she needed. That was frustrating, but luckily, there weren’t too many people in that line, so we were able to get through it quickly. Surprisingly, getting through security was much less painful than the check-in process.

The flight itself wasn’t that bad, it still wasn’t my favorite. The planes are actually a normal size for a commercial airplane, but they pack so many seats in them, so you’re face is not that far from the seat in front of you, which I really don’t like. We actually ended up landing about fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, but that time quickly disappeared because we had to sit on the tarmac for about twenty minutes before the stairs were pushed up to the plane and we could get out.

By the point though, I didn’t even care. I was back in London, which was all that mattered. We got through customs and our luggage a bit quicker than we anticipated, so we were able to get on an earlier bus into London from Stanstead, which was fortunate, because I had tickets to go out to Highclere Castle when we got back. The only catch was that they stopped letting people in around 4:00, so I had to be on a train by 2:30 to make it there in time. When we got on the 12:30 bus into London, I thought I would have plenty of time, especially since our hotel was close to Paddington Station, the train station I needed to leave from. But of course, I was wrong. The bus, which normally takes about fifty minutes to get to Baker Street, took about an hour and fifteen minutes to get into London. As I watched the time creep by on my watch, I got a bit antsy, but I knew I could still make it if we just booked it to the college to pick up the rest of our luggage, hopped in a taxi, dropped off our luggage and the hotel, and booked it the train station.

I was destined to be proven wrong again. My suitcase, which I bought for less than €25 in Germany, had already started to break while we were in Italy, but I felt like it could make it the one day more until I got home to the States. But things just started going wrong the moment when I got off he bus. I started walking fast, pulling my suitcase behind me. It was fine for about a third of the walk. Then the handle I was using to pull the suitcase snapped. But it was still attached, so I just shoved it back together and continued on. That only worked for a few yards before the whole handle came off completely. My suitcase weighed over thirty pounds, so picking it up and carrying it was not an option. So I started to pull it by the handle on the top of the suitcase, but that was really awkward because I had to walk crouched over. I though I’d be smart and just hook the broken handle around the small handle and pull it that way. That method failed miserably. I forgot that one of the sides of the handles had started to come loose. So of course, as soon as I started pulling, that handle snapped off too. At that point, I tried to pick it up, but we were still too far from the college for me to carry it the whole way. I ended up having to crouch over awkwardly and pull it by the plastic piece that the long handle originally went in.

By the time we got the college, I was too stressed out about my broken suitcase and the fact that I was going to have to go out and get a new one to be able to pack that night, that I just gave up on trying to make it out to Highclere. Besides, at that point, I figured that was the smartest option: it was better to just suck up the £8 I paid for the ticket rather than pay for the train out there only to find it was closed and have to turn around.

Once I gave up on that, it became a bit easier to function. We got all of our luggage out of the storage room at the college, which was a bit of a feat because all of our stuff was at the bottom of a large pile of other suitcases. But we managed. Then we called a taxi to take us to the hotel because we knew there was no way we could navigate the tube with all of our stuff. The taxi came, we got all our stuff loaded up, and we went to the hotel, where we rested for a bit after a stressful morning.

Finally, we headed down to Piccadilly Circus for some last minute souvenir shopping. There, I was able to buy a new suitcase. I bought a bit more substantial suitcase so that I can keep using it when I get home; it also doubles as a souvenir because it has cool British stuff all over it.

We ate one final meal in a pub before heading back to the hotel to pack everything up. When I left America, my suitcase was just under 50 pounds and my backpack and carry-on were stuffed to the gills, so I knew that I definitely needed the new suitcase. My plan was that everything that came with me would go back in the suitcase and my souvenirs and extra things would go in the new suitcase. Evidently I bought a lot more in Europe than I thought did because when I packed up everything up according to plan, both of my bags weighed around fifty-five pounds – not good. So I was forced to redistribute things, shove things in my carry-on bags, and throw out things I absolutely didn’t need, like toiletries. After two or three hours of reconfiguring, I finally got everything to fit and was able to go to bed knowing that everything was getting to go home with me in the morning.

Rome, Day 2

Sunday, 8 July 2012

After an exhaustingly productive first day in Rome, we decided to take it a bit easier on day two, mainly to give our aching feet a chance to rest. We got up a bit later than we had been so we could catch up on some much needed sleep – I haven’t gotten to sleep much since leaving America. Our bus tour tickets were still valid, so we used that to get around the city, thus eliminating the need for walking from place to place.

St. Peter's Basilica

The first place we headed Sunday morning was the Vatican to see St. Peter’s Basilica. But we didn’t go in. The girl I’m traveling with isn’t religious. I’ve seen the Vatican once, and I’m not Catholic, so seeing it again isn’t something major. So we just got off to take pictures and walk around the square in front of the basilica. That didn’t take all that long though because it was so hot, so all we wanted to do was get back in the shade. So we stood in the shade waiting for the next bus, getting harassed by street vendors and beggars. That is one thing I’m not going to miss about Europe: getting things shoved in my face or feeling bad because I don’t have change to give to the beggar women.

At the Trevi Fountain

Finally, the bus came and we were able to escape from the street hawkers. Unfortunately, the bus didn’t have air conditioning, so it was even hotter inside the bus than it was outside. But we endured the heat inside because, at that point, it was better than walking through the blistering heat outside. We got off the bus at the Trevi Fountain so that we could see it in the daylight. It was just as crowded as it was the day before. We got close enough to take more pictures, but we still didn’t throw in our coins because we weren’t sure how much more cash we were going to need for the day.

At the top of the Spanish Steps

From the Trevi Fountain, we made the short walk up the road to the Piazza di Spagna to see the Spanish Steps in the daylight. Unlike the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps aren’t a huge tourist attraction, so while there were a lot of people there, it wasn’t so crowded it was hard to move. Not only did we get pictures of the steps in the daylight, but we also climbed to the top. I really like the view from the top of the steps because you can see straight down the street leading up to it. It also is a good place to get a decent view of Rome because it is one of the taller points in the city.

After a late start, but a semi-productive morning, we decided to take a break for lunch and then an hour or so break inside an air conditioned McDonald’s, which is one of the only places in Europe that is consistently air conditioned. During the summer in Rome, it gets really hot, especially in the afternoon. Sunday, the high was supposed to be at least 95˚ F. After spending six weeks in London, where the norm was in the high 60s, low 70s, that kind of heat was not at all welcome. Because it does get so in the summer in Rome, Romans normally get up early in the morning and get some things accomplished before it gets too hot. Around lunch time, they take an afternoon break, emerging in the late afternoon/early evening to resume their activities as the day begins to cool down. And that’s basically what we did. By the time we were done with lunch and our break, it was quite a bit cooler than it had been earlier in the day.

Circus Maximus

The McDonald’s we took refuge in was right next to a bus stop, so we were able to walk right out of the air conditioning and onto an un-air conditioned bus. We then rode the bus a few stops to see the Circo Massimo, or as English speakers call it, the Circus Maximus. According to the audio on the bus tour the day before, we passed the Circus Maximus, but neither of us saw it when we were driving by. It turns out that we really did see it. We just didn’t realize that that’s what it was. Most of the ruins of ancient Rome are recognizable as such. They have been preserved and restored, so it’s pretty obvious when something is an ancient Roman ruin. But the Circus Maximus was a bit of a let down. It really hasn’t been restored or kept up all that well, so it really just looks like a rocky pit in the middle of a field. That, plus all the construction fences and other materials made it look morel like a construction site than a Roman ruin. I don’t really know what I as expecting, but that was not it, so I was kind of disappointed.

After that, we were going to go see the catacombs and Via Appia Antica (an ancient Roman road), but when I was planning out our activities, I misread the map. I though that Via Appia Antica was right next to the Circus Maximus. However, when I looked at the map again to navigate us from the Circus Maximus to the catacombs, I realized that while the figure on the map is indeed a circus, it is not the Circus Maximus. Once I came to that conclusion, we had to give up on going to see the ancient road and the catacombs because we had no idea where they were, how far away they were, or how to get there. But by then, we were so tired and ready to be home that we weren’t too disappointed about having to skip those things.

Last time at the Trevi Fountain

By then, we were getting pretty hungry, so we headed back to the Trevi Fountain area to get something to eat. We ate outside on the terrace of the restaurant, which was fun because we got to people watch. The only thing bad about it was that, since the area we were in is a big tourist area, there were a lot of street performers. Just while we were eating, two separate accordion players passed by our table. That can get annoying, especially when you just want to eat in peace without people harassing you for your spare change.

Finally, when we finished eating, we headed back to the Trevi Fountain for a third a final time. Since we had less than twelve hours left in the EU by that time, we decided it was okay to go ahead and throw our left over change in. For those who don’t know, the legend behind the Trevi Fountain is that if you throw a coin in backwards over your shoulder, you’ll come back to Rome someday. And it must work, because I threw a coin in last time I was in Rome, and there I was, back in Rome again. Or at least, that’s the most common legend. The first time I was in Rome, I heard a slightly different, but much more unlikely, story. The tour guide then told us that if you threw a coin in the fountain backwards, you might be transported back in time. So highly unlikely, but still humorous nonetheless.

With all our spare change gone, we walked through the Piazza di Spagna one last time to get on the metro to go back to the hotel. Then it was a feat to pack everything I bought while in Spain and Italy into one suitcase. But I managed it.

Rome, Day 1

Saturday, 7 July 2012

Saturday morning, we continued our journey through Spain and Italy by boarding a train to our last destination, Rome. There is so much to do in Rome, and with only two days, there was no way we were going to be able to see everything. But we did our best

When we got to the train station in Rome, we got on the metro and took it to the end of the line, where we caught a bus that dropped us off near our hotel. The hotel in Rome was definitely the furthest out from the city center of all the hotels we stayed at. It took us nearly an hour every time to commute into the city via a combination of metro and bus.

Roman ruins on the Bus Tour

After we dropped off our luggage, we headed back to the main train station so we could get on the Trambus 110 Open, a sightseeing bus tour of Rome. We were able to get discounted tickets that were valid for forty-eight hours, so we were able to use the tour bus as our mode of transportation while we were in Rome. The bus tour was a great way to start our time in Rome because it let us see what the major tourist attractions of the city are and decide what we wanted to get off and see. Also, it was good because Rome is so big; there is absolutely no way to see all of it, especially not in two days. The first time on the bust, we rode it all the way through and saw everything so we could make a list when we were done. All in all, the bus tour took us about two hours.

Arc of Constantine and the Colosseum

When the bus tour got back to the beginning, we just stayed on the bust and rode it to the Colosseum. We didn’t go in because my friend didn’t wat to, and I’ve already been in the Colosseum before, so it wasn’t a big deal for me to go again. So we just walked around outside and took pictures of the Colosseum and the Arc of Constantine, whih is right in front of the Colosseum. Interestingly enough, whil we were there, we saw at least five couples, if not more, take wedding pictures. Evidently, the Colosseum is a popular spot for that, and I don’t blame them. If I lived somewhere with a great landmark, I’d want my wedding pictures there too.

The Mouth of Truth

From there, we got back on the bus and rode down the line to la Bocca della Verità (the Mouth of Truth). The Mouth of Truth is a large mask-like structure that looks like a bearded man. The legend behind the mask is that it is a kind of “lie detector.” To tell is someone is telling the truth, you have that person put his hand in the mask’s mouth. If he is telling the truth, he has nothing to worry about. But if he is lying, the legend says that the mouth will take off his hand. I really wanted to see it because I knew it from seeing the Audrey Hepburn film, Roman Holiday.

Il Vittoriano

After the Mouth of Truth, we got on the bus once again and rode to la Piazza Venezia, which is where the Il Vittoriano is. The Il Vittoriano is a large statue dedicated to the first king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. The thing is absolutely mammoth. Evidently, the local Romans aren’t that fond of it because of its large size – they call it “the wedding cake” or “the typewriter.” I understand calling it a wedding cake because it definitely looks like a wedding cake – it is white and tiered. However, I don’t really understand why they call it the typewriter. Maybe I’m missing something.

The Parthenon

The Oculus

From the Piazza Venezia, we took off on foot for the Parthenon. Despite the size of Rome, we did a much better job navigating there, so we were able to find the Parthenon with relative ease. The last time I was in Rome, the Parthenon was undergoing restoration, so a lot of the façade was covered up. This time, there was no restoration work on the outside, so we were able to see everything. We tried to go inside, but we got there right as they were closing, so we didn’t get to. However, before they closed the doors, I was able to get a picture of the oculus in the roof, which is really all I wanted to see.

Some wine with dinner

By that time, it was around 7:00, so we decided it was time for dinner. We ate at a restaurant near the Parthenon. I got pasta, and we decided to do as the Romans do, and have a bottle of wine with dinner and just people watch. It’s really interesting to watch people in Rome because it’s so easy to tell just exactly who is a real Roman and who is a tourist.

Fountain of the Four Rivers

After we finished dinner, it was still light, so we walked over to the Piazza Navoina, which is known for its fountains. Despite the small size of the piazza it houses three different fountains. The most notable fountain in the piazza is Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers. I think the statue is cool because of the myth behind it. The fountain stands in front of a church whose façade was designed by Bernini’s rival. Four statues decorate the base of the fountain, and the one that faces the church across for it is shielding his eyes, as if he cannot bear to look at the façade. However, it is a myth that Bernini designed it that way for that reason, for the façade of the church was built several years after the fountain. Nonetheless, it is a neat little story.

Trevi Fountain

From the Piazza Navona, we decided to walk to the Trevi Fountain. The walk there brought us back through the Piazza Venezia, so we were able to get pictures of the Il Vittoriano all lit up, which was really pretty. After walking a ways, we finally found the Trevi Fountain, which, as is usual, was absolutely covered up with tourists. But we walked down to the fountain anyways and took our pictures. We decided to save our coins to throw them in the next night so we could get rid of all the extra euro coins we had accumulated.

Spanish Steps

After the Trevi Fountain, we were pretty much done for the day. Plus, it was getting kind of late, so we decided to head back to the hotel. The closest metro was the Spagna stop, which is right by the Piazza di Spagna, which is where the Spanish Steps are. So we were able to get pictures of the Spanish Steps and the Fontana della Barcaccia at the foot of the steps while they were all lit up before getting on the metro and starting our journey back to the hotel.

Florence, Day 2

Friday, 6 July 2012

Replica of the David

Friday morning, I woke up a bit early because I knew that I wanted to see the David. The Galleria dell’Accademia has notoriously long lines – averaging about an hour to two hour wait – so I knew that I needed to get there in the morning. Fortunately, when I got there, I found out that I could go to a bookshop down the street and buy tickets there. For an extra €3, I was able to buy my ticket then and walk straight into the museum without standing in line – definitely worth it. I thought that maybe since I’d seen the full sized replica of the David the day before, the real thing wouldn’t be all that different, but I was wrong. The original is much more impressive than any replica ever could be. An adjective often attached to Michelangelo is ‘genius,’ which is absolutely accurate. His work is so meticulous that his statues look like really large, stone humans. He leaves nothing out. For example, on the David, you can see the veins rippling in David’s arms. The level of detail is absolutely astonishing. The picture I've included is the replica of the David that stands in the Piazza Della Signoria because I wasn't allowed to take pictures in the Accademia.

The Belltower

View of the Dome and Florence

After the David, I headed over to the Piazza del Duomo, which houses probably the most recognizable building in Florence, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, better known as the Duomo. Its name comes from the massive dome that dominates the church. The Duomo is probably my favorite building in all of Florence – it is absolutely stunning. I had planned on going into the church, but when I got there around 9:45, fifteen minutes before the church even opened, the line was already wrapped around the building, and it stayed that way all day. So I just walked over to the bell-tower that is right next to the church. After a climb of 414 steps, I got a breathtaking view of Florence and a beautiful close up view of the dome next door.

Statue of Michelangelo

From the Duomo, I walked over to the Palazzo degli Uffizi to take some pictures. The Palazzo is lined by statues of great Florentine thinkers, such as Dante, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Michelangelo. That didn’t take too long, so I walked back over to the Duomo, grabbed some gelato, and hung out on the steps to wait for my friend, who chose to sleep a bit longer rather than see the David and climb the bell tower.

Once she made it to the Duomo, we headed over to Leonardo Leather to buy some leather goods. Luckily, it was the shop I was thinking of, so I was happy because I really wanted to go back there. I even got a discount because I meantioned that I had come to the shop two years ago with EF Tours. Also, we met another American there, who was from Minnesota. I heard him talking and asked him where he was from, and he said he was from the States. I thought maybe he was studying in Florence, but it turns out that about a year or two ago, he decided to just pick up and move to Florence without knowing any Italian besides ‘ciao.’ I admire him because as much as I love Florence, I don’t think I could leave America and its culture behind, especially without being able to speak the language.

With the Porcellino

Once we bought our leather goods, we headed over to the Mercato Nuovo (New Market), which is a big gazebo where leather merchants set up their wares. We were able to get some more leather for a god price there. But the market isn’t the only attraction there. Also in the market is the Porcellino, which translates to “little pig.” Ironically, the statue is not a little pig at all, but rather, it is a brass statue of wild boar. The legend of the statue is that if you put a coin in the boar’s mouth and it falls through the grate below, it means that you’ll return to Florence someday. So I rubbed the boar’s nose and put my coin in his mouth. The coin fell through, which is good for me, because I know that I want to go back to Florence again one day.

Living Room in Casa Guidi

By then, it was around 3:00, so we decided to take a little literary expedition and visit Casa Guidi, where Robert and Elizabeth Barret Browning lived. The Brownings were two English poets. Their story is that Robert wrote Elizabeth letters and eventually, they eloped. They left England amidst scandal and ended up in Florence after a honeymoon trip through France and northern Italy. I don’t know much about the Browning, but I’ve read some of their poems in classes, so it was really cool to see the house where they lived and the area that inspired a lot of their work.

After Casa Guidi, we decided to head back to Signa because we felt that we had seen a good portion of Florence. Plus, it was hot, our feet hurt, and we were exhausted. We just ate dinner around the corner from the hotel before turning in.

Florence, Day 1

Thursday, 5 July 2012

One thing I’m really going to miss about Europe is all the trains. I’ve really grown to like train travel during our time here. It’s so easy. All the major cities are connected by train, so all you have to do is get on a train and you’re there in a few hours. For our travels through Italy, we decided to take the train, as it is easier, cheaper, and faster (in the long run) than flying. So Thursday morning, we go up and boarded to the bus to take us into Venice proper so we could get to the train station. Trains make me sleepy, so we got on the train, and I promptly fell asleep. By the time I woke up, we were almost to Florence.

Florence is easily my favorite city on this entire trip. If I could speak Italian, I would pick up and move there tomorrow. The city is absolutely gorgeous and chock full of history and art. A lot of the buildings were designed and decorated by such greats as Michelangelo. I really enjoyed just walking through the city, taking in everything.

The first thing we did when we got to Florence was board another train and leave Florence. Our hotel was actually in Signa (pronounced “sin-ya”), which is a smaller town outside of Florence. However, the distance between the city center and the hotel wasn’t that big of a hassle. The hotel provided a shuttle from the train station to the hotel and vice versa, and the train to and from Florence was only twenty minutes, so commuting really wasn’t that hard. Plus, the ride was entertaining because we got to see a lot of the beautiful Italian countryside.

Medici Chapel

Once we actually got into Florence for the day, the first thing we did was head over the Santa Maria Novella Church to join a free walking tour I had found online. The tour was geared toward the role of the Medici family in Florence, so we got to see buildings with a lot of history behind them. The Medici family was one of the most important families in Florence’s history. Not only were they bankers and merchants, but they also had a great deal of political power. For a long time, the men of the Medici family were the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the region of Italy where Florence is. Their influence in Florence shaped Florentine history, so getting to learning about them was particularly interesting. The other tour that the company offered was a Renaissance walk, but unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time or stamina to go on that one, which is sad because a lot of the Renaissance was centered in Florence.

Leonardo Leather

After the walking tour, we decided to walk around the city for a bit and just see what we could see. This was mainly because we were looking for a specific leather shop. I went to Florence two years ago on a school trip, and we went to this awesome little leather shop that I really liked, so I really wanted to go back to. The only problem was that I couldn’t remember the name of the shop. I only had a vague notion of where it might. The problem with that is that Florence is known for its leather, so there are leather shops everywhere. I thought that it was down a side street from the Duomo, a huge church in Florence, but after wandering around for a while, we decided that it probably wasn’t there. We asked around to see if people knew the place I was talking about, and we got sent over by another church where there is a leather working school. But that still wasn’t it. We got pulled into a different leather shop because we looked lost and the owner started asking us questions. I told him that we were looking for a specific shop that I’d got to before. He mentioned a shop that EF tours (the group I had gone with previously) had a contract with and pointed off in a different direction. After we didn’t find anything we liked in his shop, we decided to just give up on finding the place and eat dinner.

We headed down a road and just happened to stumble upon Leonardo Leather Works, the shop we had been looking for all day. I was ecstatic that fortune had smiled upon us and we were able to find the shop. Unfortunately, they were closed for the day when we got there, so I circled the location on my map so we could find it the next day.

The "Big Lump"

Our search led us all over the city before we finally found Leonardo Leather, so we got to see a lot of Florence in one day. My favorite place that we came across was the Piazza Della Signoria. The square is full of statues, including a replica of the David in the place where the original stood until it was moved to its current place in the Galleria dell’Accademia. Unfortunately, they were setting up for something while we were there, so there was equipment blocking several statues.  One of my favorite statues there is affectionately known as "the white man" or "the big lump." It is an interesting (and very large), white marble statue of a man. I'm assuming it's after a battle, but I'm not sure.

View from Ponte Vecchio

Another thing that I particularly enjoyed about Florence was the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bride). The bridge’s name is quite accurate, as it has stood there since 1345. It has gone through a lot of transformations in that time. It used to house butchers, grocers, and other merchants. However, the Medici family, whose private corridor connecting their palace on one side of the river to their offices on the other side ran over the shops on the bridge, decided that these trades smelled band and were in general, unappealing. To fix their problem, they removed the butchers, grocers, etc. from the bridge and replaced them with goldsmiths and jewelers, the two trades that sill have shops on the bridge today. Not only does the bridge have an interesting history, but it also affords a gorgeous view of the Arno River, which runs through the city.

Stranded at the airport . . .

I'm at Heathrow waiting to head back to America. It's currently 11:00. My flight doesn't leave until 3:05. So now I have to find a way to occupy myself for four hours. Hopefully, I can get my blog all update now that my European adventures are over.