Florence Day 1

Once we arrived in town, we headed over to our hotel. Unfortunately, we were not able to check in yet, so we left our bags and began to explore the city. Our hotel is right beside the Duomo, so we began by walking over to it. It is really breathtaking; beautiful and enormous, but we waited to go inside because the line was so long.



We then made our way over to the Ponte Vecchio bridge over the Arno river. It had really stunning views of Florence, and we were able to take some great pictures.



We continued to wonder through the city and came upon some of the markets. These all have basically the same things, leather bags and scarves, but the smell of leather was so great that we had to explore. Florence is known for its leather goods and its gold jewelry, so we set upon a search to find Will a leather messenger bag that he could keep for years to come. We decided to just look, so he could figure out exactly what type of bag he wanted. It is really fun being in the markets because everyone is trying to sell something, and they are all willing to negotiate the price so that you buy from them. After looking, we decided to get some lunch because we were starving. We found a great little place behind the markets, and had our first Italian meals. Will swears it was the best lasagna he has ever eaten in his life, and my homemade pasta with pesto was delicious. You really can’t beat homemade pasta; it is the perfect thing to eat every time. After lunch, it was time to head to the hotel so we could check in. By this time, we were both about to fall over from a lack of sleep the night before. We were given our key, and made our way up to our room. Upon opening the door, we discovered that we had to use the shared bathroom at the end of the hall, because our room only had a sink and a shower. When we opened our doors onto the terrace, any thought of a shared facility melted away. The Duomo was right in front of us, one of the most amazing views I have ever had in my life. To be able to sit outside amongst such a beautiful piece of architecture was really unbelievable.

The view from our terrace!

The excitement was short lived, because we were both so tired. We were obviously exhausted, because we slept for 3 hours. It was the bells of the Duomo that woke us up. Though that sounds like it would be beautiful and romantic, it really felt like someone ringing enormous church bells right beside your head (we are that close!) and frankly I don’t know if I have ever woken up so quickly in my life. Quite the scare! After the bells finally stopped ringing, we decided to get ready for dinner. We found this great little place called the Yellow Bar, and had a tasty dinner, of yet again pasta for me and pizza for Will with an ice cream dessert that we shared. You just can’t turn the pasta down, especially when they make it themselves! Once we finished dinner, we headed back to the room where we sat outside on the terrace and watched the sun set and the lights on the city take over. The Duomo is beautiful at night, and it was wonderful to have the sun finally set, and a break from the heat. What an end to a wonderful first day in Italy!

Carrie and Will