Our hostel was in walking distance from the airport.
http://www.hostelpisa.it/
2 Dutch girls shared the room with us and we chatted until the late hours. We wake up early to catch the main tourist sights before taking a train to Florence. Pisa is quaint. A river divides the city that called for amazing bridge architecture (come to think of it, every Italian city we visited had this!). We crossed the bridge right as the sun was rising and the light was beginning to sparkle across the water. Since we were there so early, no one was around and we saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Duomo (medevil cathedral) and the Baptistery of St John within no time.
On our way back we stopped at a cafe-very cheap! as all coffee in Italy was. I noticed that all the locals came in screaming Mama mia! (guess it's not a stereotype) and greeted each other by first name. Italians all gather at the bar and stand while drinking coffee, instead of sitting.
http://www.hostelpisa.it/
2 Dutch girls shared the room with us and we chatted until the late hours. We wake up early to catch the main tourist sights before taking a train to Florence. Pisa is quaint. A river divides the city that called for amazing bridge architecture (come to think of it, every Italian city we visited had this!). We crossed the bridge right as the sun was rising and the light was beginning to sparkle across the water. Since we were there so early, no one was around and we saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Duomo (medevil cathedral) and the Baptistery of St John within no time.
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| On our way to the tower at dawn |
On our way back we stopped at a cafe-very cheap! as all coffee in Italy was. I noticed that all the locals came in screaming Mama mia! (guess it's not a stereotype) and greeted each other by first name. Italians all gather at the bar and stand while drinking coffee, instead of sitting.
We then took a short train ride to Florence. Any future travelers out there make sure you stamp your ticket! We bought our ticket and thought everything was fine. Once the conductor came around to check tickets, even though we had bought one, charged us 5 Euro because we did not stamp it at the station...bastards.
The first thing we did upon arrival in Florence was take a bus to Piazzala Michelangelo which provides a magnificent panoramic view of the city. We then tried to have lunch at a pizza place I had been recommended too, but the line was long and the servers didn't speak English. We ventured and found some whole-in-the wall pizza place and decided to check it out...we were starving and eager to eat anything..well "anything" was an adjective maybe too quickly used. We get a pizza with artichocke hearts, feta cheese, spinach, eggplant, olives, mushrooms...sounds delicious right? Probably the worst pizza I had ever eaten..AND IN ITALY! We had to roll up our slices into a calzone type mess otherwise everything would slide off. We also had mediocre gelato later in the day. Being a little disappointed, we didn't let that stop us from exploring the city. We went to the famous Ponte Vecchio, a stone-arch bridge that has fancy jewelry shops along it. The scenic view of the bridge had way more value than any of the diamonds being sold.
We also saw the Duomo, the world's largest brick church/building.Not only was the brick design ornate and amazing, what I enjoyed most was the simplicity it had on the inside. In Austria and many other places we had been too, we walked into a church that was literally a gold plated room. However the Duomo had simple architecture on the inside with plain designs. Just to recap, I had been to some of the most famous museums in Berlin, the Prado in Spain, and was planning on going to the Vatican and Louvre. Florence is home to a famous museum as well, Uffizi. We did not end up going to this museum because the entrance fee was expensive, plus the collections' period of time was similar to the Prado's collection. That being said I can only handle so many crucifixion paintings before I start going crazy. BUT if I were to go back I would go, I just can't handle that many museums in a short time.
Despite the beauty of Florence, our time there became really stressful. On Christmas Eve, we realized we needed to buy groceries that would last us for 3 nights. We could get food that night, but had to have our meals planned until the 27th when stores would be open again. We were also going to Rome on Christmas day, so we would be traveling with all of our groceries and had to make sure we did not have any perishables. We also wanted to make nice elaborate dinners for Christmas Eve and Christmas. After about 2 hours in the grocery store, which included multiple trips back, we hauled 4 grocery bags down the narrow ass streets back to our hostel.
We also had this 6 person dorm all to ourselves. Yay for traveling in the off season!
http://www.ostellosantamonaca.com/en/index.php
On that note, the streets really ARE narrow with an almost non-existent sidewalk. You cannot have a conversation if you are walking down the street because you had to walk in single-file to avoid getting hit by crazy Italian drivers...not just with cars but their mopeds too! Since the streets are small and the buildings are close together, turning every corner was an adventure. We almost had several collisions with other pedestrians. Florence must have been a good place for the Mafia, sneaking around and shooting people would have been easy. Also, Italians don't clean up after their dogs, so while you were avoiding brisk pedestrians and street traffic, you had to make sure not to step on turd bombs. Florence's public transportation was mainly buses, which they also crammed into those tiny cobble-stone streets! Also it is impossible to NOT get lost in the streets of Florence..even if you have good navigational skills like myself. The street signs are small plaques on the buildings that basically blend in with the building so it is hard to read.
On Christmas Eve we also realized that Paz and I hadn't gotten each other anything for Christmas. While doing our touristic view of the city, (and avoiding bold Italian flirtations) we split up for a bit in the city center, trying to get something humble yet special. We also did some shopping for our host mothers back in Germany, and of course for our own families.
We stumble upon Santa Maria Novella Perfume House, one of the oldest in the world that also had aromatherapy products and a fancy tea house.
http://www.nstperfume.com/perfume-houses-s/santa-maria-novella/
When we left the perfumery, Paz realized she did not have her purchased presents with her. Thinking she may have left them somewhere, we retrace our steps for hours and finally found them at a shop we had been to earlier in the day. While I was making my purchase, she had set her stuff down, looked around, and wondered off without them. This may seem like a silly mistake to readers, but this is how exhausted we were.
We were trying to keep up the Christmas spirit with the lovely decorations around the city, but it had been a long day. At the hostel we bought our train tickets to Rome, which, we had been worrying about all day. We had read that buying tickets the day before is much cheaper, however we were afraid of tickets being sold out or trains not actually running on Christmas.
Finally Christmas Eve dinner was prepared; pasta with our own mushroom pesto sauce and Italian wine. Gifts are exchanged; Paz had lost her moleskin in Barcelona so I had found her a really cute notebook from a company that makes them right there in Florence. I also got her a cannoli which consists of tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling usually containing ricotta cheese. She had gotten me tarts and pan-forte, probably the only decent food we had in Italy besides the meals we made ourselves. It was a great way to end a chaotic day and a reminder to be grateful for what I had this holiday season.
The first thing we did upon arrival in Florence was take a bus to Piazzala Michelangelo which provides a magnificent panoramic view of the city. We then tried to have lunch at a pizza place I had been recommended too, but the line was long and the servers didn't speak English. We ventured and found some whole-in-the wall pizza place and decided to check it out...we were starving and eager to eat anything..well "anything" was an adjective maybe too quickly used. We get a pizza with artichocke hearts, feta cheese, spinach, eggplant, olives, mushrooms...sounds delicious right? Probably the worst pizza I had ever eaten..AND IN ITALY! We had to roll up our slices into a calzone type mess otherwise everything would slide off. We also had mediocre gelato later in the day. Being a little disappointed, we didn't let that stop us from exploring the city. We went to the famous Ponte Vecchio, a stone-arch bridge that has fancy jewelry shops along it. The scenic view of the bridge had way more value than any of the diamonds being sold.
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| Ponte Veccio with the beautiful river making a perfect reflection |
Despite the beauty of Florence, our time there became really stressful. On Christmas Eve, we realized we needed to buy groceries that would last us for 3 nights. We could get food that night, but had to have our meals planned until the 27th when stores would be open again. We were also going to Rome on Christmas day, so we would be traveling with all of our groceries and had to make sure we did not have any perishables. We also wanted to make nice elaborate dinners for Christmas Eve and Christmas. After about 2 hours in the grocery store, which included multiple trips back, we hauled 4 grocery bags down the narrow ass streets back to our hostel.
We also had this 6 person dorm all to ourselves. Yay for traveling in the off season!
http://www.ostellosantamonaca.com/en/index.php
On that note, the streets really ARE narrow with an almost non-existent sidewalk. You cannot have a conversation if you are walking down the street because you had to walk in single-file to avoid getting hit by crazy Italian drivers...not just with cars but their mopeds too! Since the streets are small and the buildings are close together, turning every corner was an adventure. We almost had several collisions with other pedestrians. Florence must have been a good place for the Mafia, sneaking around and shooting people would have been easy. Also, Italians don't clean up after their dogs, so while you were avoiding brisk pedestrians and street traffic, you had to make sure not to step on turd bombs. Florence's public transportation was mainly buses, which they also crammed into those tiny cobble-stone streets! Also it is impossible to NOT get lost in the streets of Florence..even if you have good navigational skills like myself. The street signs are small plaques on the buildings that basically blend in with the building so it is hard to read.
 |
| Streets of Florence |
We stumble upon Santa Maria Novella Perfume House, one of the oldest in the world that also had aromatherapy products and a fancy tea house.
http://www.nstperfume.com/perfume-houses-s/santa-maria-novella/
When we left the perfumery, Paz realized she did not have her purchased presents with her. Thinking she may have left them somewhere, we retrace our steps for hours and finally found them at a shop we had been to earlier in the day. While I was making my purchase, she had set her stuff down, looked around, and wondered off without them. This may seem like a silly mistake to readers, but this is how exhausted we were.
We were trying to keep up the Christmas spirit with the lovely decorations around the city, but it had been a long day. At the hostel we bought our train tickets to Rome, which, we had been worrying about all day. We had read that buying tickets the day before is much cheaper, however we were afraid of tickets being sold out or trains not actually running on Christmas.
Finally Christmas Eve dinner was prepared; pasta with our own mushroom pesto sauce and Italian wine. Gifts are exchanged; Paz had lost her moleskin in Barcelona so I had found her a really cute notebook from a company that makes them right there in Florence. I also got her a cannoli which consists of tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling usually containing ricotta cheese. She had gotten me tarts and pan-forte, probably the only decent food we had in Italy besides the meals we made ourselves. It was a great way to end a chaotic day and a reminder to be grateful for what I had this holiday season.
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| Tarts and Canolli |
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| Dinner in our hostel with xmas decorations |
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| Inside Joke: does it look like a person or scoop of gelato? |
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