First Reflections from Florence

Hello there! We've been in Florence for about 2 and a half days now, and I feel like it is time to write again.

Florence may very well be the most amazing city in history. I know that usually that honor is given to Rome, but Rome's history is bloodier, and Florence is much more cultured, artistic, and intellectual.

And although I can appreciate all of the wonderful things that have come from Florence, like the first coin money, the first paved streets, the first banks, and hundreds of other impressive firsts, I adore it now for its slow-paced, mellow yet still full-of-life feeling that this compact city has.

Our hostel is north of all of the main sights, but that isn't saying much. All of the sights are within 5 minutes walk of each other, including the Duomo, which is no more than 5 minutes from our doorstep.

Before we got in, we stopped at a viewpoint above the city and took some photos. At first, I wasn't interested. It was hot, and I was tired after all day on the bus. Little did I know that i was looking on a city scape that would come back to take my breath away.

We are lucky enough to be staying in a hostel with a swimming pool, sauna, steam room, gym, restaurant, bar, terrace bar, and a birdsnest hang out at the very top of the building. It is a 10x10 foot fenced perch that stands higher than almost every other building in the city. Despite all of the other attractions at our hostel, I love the birdsnest the most. This evening, after a day full of sights and walking Florence's tight, charming streets, Collin and I picked up our books and took them to the top of the building. The sun was setting to our right and the moon had risen on our left. Firey orange colors accompanied the setting sun while vibrant lavendars painted the sky behind the moon. Directly before our eyes, the greens, blues, and whites that color the Duomo reflected the evening light. We saw the gorgeous rusty ceramic tiled rooftops and the tan buildings absorb the warmth that hung in the air after another warm, breezy Tuscan July afternoon.

These moments were quickly whisked away when some of our friends from the Busabout tour joined us on the perch. We started talking to a guy from LA, but of course, four cheerful Australians (which comprise almost all of Busabout's customers) followed shortly after. We engaged them all in happy conversation and marveled at the surroundings while discussing all the things we'd seen thus far in Florence. After the sun had set, we were joined by another 15-20 Austrailian travelers. Although I wasn't talking to anyone in particular, I sat and enjoyed the conversations that were going on around us. It dawned on me that it was improtant to be young while on this trip too. For the most part, we have been spending our time doing the tourist thing. We have seen the sights we wanted to see, and eaten at famous restaurants along the way, but every evening, we turn in early and read ourselves to sleep by 11. It was nice to be surrounded by happy people our age while they talked about the wonderful things they were doing with their days. We all sat around and talked while the city lights twinkled over our shoulders. Soon the breeze became too cool--which was a godsend after so many evenings of sweating through our shirts--and we turned in.

Tomorrow, we will set out again to make the short trip to the sights we have left to see. So far we've seen the Plazzo Vecchio, the Piazza San Marco, the Duomo, Piazza della Signora, Piazza della Republica, not to mention all of the leather markets and the gelateria with "best ice cream in the world" (still not as good as in Vienna, sorry Italy).

We have yet to see the Galleria della Accademia, where David is on display, and the Uffizi, which houses SO many amazing works of art including the Birth of Venus. We are able to pre-book it through our hostel so that we can skip the "queue."

The thing I am looking most forward to, though, is the Ponte Vecchio. We'll post again with more wonderful reflections from Florence.