Rolland With The Punches: Firenze (Florence, Italy)

“On the road again……”

On the way out of Rome we stopped at the Catacombs. Eerie! The underground burial site runs seven miles wide and deep. We barely touched base on how large it is because we just made a quarter-mile loop. The air is chill and it’s damp from the moist air and lack of sunlight. There are rectangles, of various sizes, dug out of the walls where bodies once laid to rest. Some rectangles are long and slim, others very small for a child, others just wide. There are no remains here, just the rectangle dugouts.

This is a layout of the entire catacombes.

Florence bound today. We’re steadily moving north in the boot. The ride through the Tuscan Region on the way was the most beautiful landscape thus far. Rows and rows of olive trees and grape vines perfectly aligned throughout the hills as far as the eye can see.

We arrived at PLUS Hostel around three. We’d heard rumors of hostels, but this place was exceptionally nice and even had a/c.

Bri, Nicole and I went straight for the pool where we met another EF group and had our first encounter with the other tour group takeover. I’d like to reiterate how amazing it was to only have 16 people in our group.

It was Jenni’s birthday and we were going out! There was an EF sponsored party at this huge night club, Space. The crowd was very young and it seemed we were the oldest people there and we have a 19-year-old in our group, ha. As usual we made the best of it and had fun nonetheless.

Happy Birthday, Jenni :)

I don’t remember much else from that night. Not because I was intoxicated, simply because I think that was it. The next morning we’d have a walking tour of Florence.

The Duomo, yet another famous church, makes up the square. The church is in the center with the dome shaped building peaking over top and tall towers stand on either side of the church.

We first saw the Duomo strolling through town the previous night. In the dark, The Duomo looks unreal. To me, it looked like a prop for a play that if I pushed it, it would just fall right over. The colors of the structure scream in the backdrop of the black, night sky. White in color with greens and pinks painted into every crevice are what make this building come to life. The architectural style of this building is unlike any other. The building is beautiful during the day as well, but almost does a transformation come sundown.

Night view of town center/Duomo :)

Night view.

The towers appear to extend to the sky.

Front of Duomo.

Side view of Duomo.

From the Duomo we continue toward the replica of Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture. The original was replaced by a replica and placed in a museum to prevent it from being stolen. Along the way are more narrow streets lined with fresh fruit stands. And more buildings that leave you with your head tilted back and your jaw dropped so be careful of the pigeons.

Replica of "David."

The fruit in Europe is better than anywhere in the world!

Almost forgot we stopped at a leather making demonst

He is branding with a hot iron. Can get simple initials or even gold plated with purchase.

Stayed in doing laundry after walking around and exploring Florence for awhile. It's a rather large place but relatively all the same. Big shopping going on there! Seeing as I tried to stay on a budget this trip, wandering around wouldn't have been the best idea with my shopping addiction :)

The next day, Day 12, Nicole and I slept in while the rest of our group took an optional excursion to the Pisa. Clearly, that is the home of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. This was something that had to be signed up for in advanced, and for whatever reason, at the time I signed up, I didn't think I'd want to go on optional excursions. I don't regret missing certain things because that allowed me other adventures. I honestly can't think of one things I'd change about my trip. Except learning how to save money on eating. We didn't get smart about that until week three or so when our funds slowly dwindled down.

Nicole and I caught a cold back in Rome around day 7 of the trip so we'd been battling it off and on. Lucky for us, we started the epidemic and by the end of the tour I think all but maybe two of us had gotten sick. Yuck!

With no schedule or agenda, Nicole and I set out to peruse the town. Our first stop was a vintage clothing store that made for some great photo ops :)

After wandering about, we headed back to the hostel. The group was returning soon and we were all headed to a vineyard for a wine tasting that night. The wine tasting was an event in itself. A whole days worth of photos because I just couldn't control the clicking of my camera.

At this point I admit I was missing the trees, grass, and serenity of the country back home so this visit to wine country was exactly what I needed.

When you're so far from home, it's normal to miss home, but it doesn't mean you're not enjoying where you are. I have never been a big fan of wine, but I tried them all nonetheless. When Eirini said she was taking us to a wine tasting and we only paid 20 euros for it I pictured a sample of two or three and some light snacking. Wrong! There were six kinds of wine and three bottles of each so between the 16 of us, we each technically had our own bottle.

This was a great night for everyone to cut lose together and continue to get closer in friendships because it was simply us and the hills of the Tuscan region. No distractions.

This specific winery is a family owned and operated right out of their home and backyard vineyard. When we arrived the owner gave us a tour of their small business. Maybe six-eight gigantic barrels to hold the wine, a small bottling and packaging unit in a shop out back.

The place was positively adorable, cliche and perfect.

We tried three white and three red wines while tasting various meats, cheeses and of course, the typically mispronounced, bruschetta (broo-sket-uh).

We spent a full hour stumbling through the vineyard snapping photos together. This night was definitely in my top five favorite moments of the trip. Oh, and completely sober, I managed to fall flat on my butt out of my chair; you may recall that one from Facebook.

That wraps up Florence. It's safe to say when we returned to the hostel we all passed out rather quickly.