Florence

Ok, sorry all, but we're going to go back to March now.  I feel like I really should document this Italy trip a bit, in case someone is remotely interested.

Mom, Annika and I journeyed from Venice to Florence in a lovely little rental car, which ironically (despite our predictions that it'd be 1. manual transmission and 2. a Smart Car or a Pugeot) ended up being a very American Ford Fiesta. The journey across Italy from easterly Venezia to westerly Firenze took about 4 hours and cost SEVENTEEN EUROS on the Italian "Superhighway." Which, in my opinion, (corny joke alert!) is highway robbery. However, the drive was straightforward and I think my mom had a pretty good time navigating the Italian roadway.

We arrived in Florence at about 10:30pm, and finding a hotel room turned out to be much more of a hassle than we expected. After we parked the car in an underground car park, we found ourselves walking around the city with our heavy bags for hours and asking for a room at nearly every hotel we passed (many of which had reception on the 3rd floor and no elevators.) At one point desperation set in, and we decided we weren't even concerned about price and were willing to lay down as much money as was necessary just so long as we found a place we could also lay our bags and bodies down.
We ended up, panting and exhausted at around quarter to three in the morning, at the Hotel Argentina, which lucky for us was still a low budget but also very lovely place near the center of town. 

After settling into the room, Mom and I made hitting the pub our first priority. (It had been a very stressful night!) Luckily there was a little spot called Pub il Trip per Tre right around the corner (thank you exasperated-overnight-hotel-clerk for the tip) that turned out to be kind of an 80's hair metal bar. Which was AWESOME. The bar owner, Guiseppe, came over to the table where Mom and I were enjoying our pints of Guiness and offered us free shots! Why? I DON'T KNOW! But it was great. I was drinking Guiness and a free shot in Florence with my rad mom, surrounded by rough old dudes with scraggly long dyed-black hair and leather jackets, and Guns and Roses "Crazy" was playing on the stereo. I'm hard pressed to think of a better scenario.

Next thing I knew, my alarm clock was greeting me, so after about four hours of sleep I sank into a hot bath at about 7:30 in the morning. The significance of the bathtub is this: when you're traveling on a very very small budget, you usually end up in places that have shared bathrooms (ie:hostels) but since this was a hotel (albeit a very, very affordable one) we had our very own bathroom IN OUR ROOM which we hadn't yet experienced and wouldn't again throughout the trip. Obviously I needed to make use of this!

The day in Florence whizzed by, and we made it a plan to leave the city around 4 pm for the short drive to Pisa and in order to get there before dark. 

We headed first to a flea market in a park along the river Arno (kind of a disappointment save the yummy breakfast of olives and cheese we bought from one of the lone food stalls) then took the city's street car back into the center to see the various lovely churches and cathedrals, including Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, Baptistry of Saint John, Santa Maria Novella and Basilica San Lorenzo. 

Santa Maria Novella

The architecture itself was awe inspiring, but when one takes into account that the buildings are made of gorgeous green and pink marble, one's perception of the majesty of such structures immediately skyrockets. The artistry, the beauty, the luxury of the materials, the perfection in execution... it's simply staggering. Interestingly, the facade of Santa Maria del Fiore was dismantled in the late 1500's and it wasn't until the late 1800's that the current facade was designed and completed.

Santa Maria del Fiore

 

Baptistry of St. John

Baptistry of St. John

Unfortunately having only a few daylight hours in the city made it impossible to see very much, and so, regrettably, we missed the Uffizi Gallery (which houses some of the most important Renaissance art in the world,) Ponte Vecchio (the oldest bridge in Florence) and, very sadly, Michelangelo's David.

Train station

Wearing the driving vest... for safety.

Soon after arriving (far too soon, unfortunately,) we left Florence and were on our way to the next destination; Pisa!