Fleur de Florence

I had so many great titles for this one, but I knew you'd groan at all of them.
Sooooo, all ya'll get is a boring, but appropriate, one.

Fleur de lis are really big here, it's almost like being home!

Anyway, so Florence is definitely in the top 5 for favorite locations of the trip. There's some serious pros and cons, and I can totally understand people hating it, but for me it was great.

We're going to start with the downside to Florence- that way you can be like "there's no way it's going to get better from here, Florence sucks and I'm just gonna start reading." This is how we'll separate the Florence of Arabias from the Florence Nightingales. (You decide which one is the compliment.)

CONS

Dang Florence, you are not a cheap date. Food is expensive here. I've paid more for food here than anywhere else.
Half pint of beer? 4-5 €
Pizza? 4.50-10 €
Cappuccino? 1€ (yay!!!)
Croissant? also 1€ (another small victory!)

Florence kinda gets around... Tourists GALORE. And when I say tourists, I mean elbow to elbow. Standing in the way, walking in front of your bike, rubbing up on your back REPEATEDLY in line, asking for directions without even knowing where their hotel is (and expecting you to know). Those dang tourists. Seriously. Horrible. Absolutely horrible. It makes me smile when I watch them overpay for cheap mass produced "leather" goods in the rat trap of a market square.

Unfortunately, Florence isn't much of a cook. I've had three pizzas since getting here (don't judge, where else but its country of origin to get your favorite food?) And I know, I know, you get pizza in Naples or somewhere south of there if you want pizza from Italy. But Naples got kicked off my route, so me saving my appetite for pizza was destroyed. So anyway, three pizzas. ONE was actually good. Not great, but good. Luckily the staff were amazing, so it made it all the better.

My roommate had two people yell at her for not speaking Italian. To be fair, I wasn't there to see what happened... it may have gone down differently, but I have no idea. I haven't had a single problem with it whatsoever. For the most part everyone's been very accommodating and nice about me not speaking Italian. 


PROS

Florence, you got class. Absolutely diverse city. There's a poshy section with Louis Vuitton, Coach, Prada, Michael Korrs, Burberry, Fendi, Versace, Armani... the list goes on. But there's also a ton of street vendors... everywhere. The best are the ones not in the markets, but off the beaten path (as off the beaten path as you can get in Florence). So there's a lot of quality window shopping to do. Also a good place to get knock offs if you're into that kind of thing? Personally all I wanted from this trip was a nice, handmade, quality leather bag from Italy, and I'm happy to say I got it. I'm a big window shopper though, I like looking and I'm a sucker for markets, I love being among the people, even if I'm getting elbowed and shoved. I just like watching people interact.

Gelato, gelato, and more gelato. That's it.

Tuscany at your fingertips. Florence is a great via point for a vast number of locations. Today I had wanted to do a Tuscan bike tour, which was expensive and booked up, so I rented a bike from my hostel and went at it. It was nice going at my own pace, and seeing what I found interesting. I'm sure I would've seen a lot more on the tour, but hey, I really enjoyed my day. I biked about 20 miles today, 2-3 miles of that up a nasty hill with a one speed bike. But the scenery was gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful. The other parts were gorgeous as well, though had more tourists. For the most part, I had gotten so sick of the tourists any time I saw a group I'd turn around. Unfortunately though, the reason their touristy is because they're actually nice places, so I'd spend a few minutes and leave. I also found a little side of the road fruit stand, and I got a peach, a tomato and a few little apple looking things, all absolutely delicious. Best peach I'd ever had. And yes, I ate the tomato whole. I ended up stopping by again later (because I ate everything) and got a few more peaches, some apricots, some more soft apple thingies, and he gave me a handfull of cherries. With both trips I only spent 4.50€. It started raining earlier- first time rain has disrupted plans this entire trip, so I'll deal with it. But when I was starving and it hadn't let up around 8, I ventured out to a place an employee recommended for pizza. It was so dreary and gross outside, when I sat down and say the cook glance at me, I gave an incredibly sincere smile, showing how happy I was to be dry and have food. Well within a few minutes the waitress brought me over some prosciutto on fresh baked bread and said "on the house." I was so surprised, I had never had it happen before, I didn't know what to do.

Florence is cultured. Home of Michelangelo, the sculptor of David, as well as the home of the world's oldest art museum. On top of that, there's gorgeous architecture and creativity... I got to visit the museum today, and hopefully see the David tomorrow before I leave.


So yeah, I can understand both sides of the argument. I can understand why people would hate it- though "bustling and big" is relative when you compare to places like Milan (which I hated). But

Completely random

Oh! I finally got new shoes... I know, a week before I don't seriously need them anymore. But they're so comfy :[


Also, why is it that this blog's second largest viewing sample is from Russia? Just wondering. I find it curiously confusing. I'd really love to know!

I have strange bruises on my arm... I'm pretty convinced I'm gonna die from some strange obscure disease. And also, I included the ridiculous (but hard to capture) bruises I started getting on my hips from my pack.

This was actually a really pointless posting. But I didn't feel like tacking on another PS to the last one, so here we find ourselves.


I'm off to bed, I hope everyone enjoys their afternoon, and to those in Russia, well we're just ahead of the game, aren't we?

Alright, make a note in your diaries

I was wrong. It NEVER happens, like ever, but I'll go ahead and admit it.
And I didn't even have to, because I never wrote about the reservations I had about going to Italy, but you've stuck with me this far, I cannot tell a lie.

So to be honest I kind of dreaded going to Italy. After my experiences in Belgium I didn't like the idea of going somewhere that was known for not speaking English. My reservations were totally misguided. While there's been many time I've have to use a make-shift sign language (like dramatically acting out putting on and taking off a heavy backpack then turning a lock- to ask for a "left luggage" service) for the most part everyone's been proficient enough in English to get what I need, or friendly, creative and patient enough to play charades. On top of that, Italy (minus Milan which you already know I'm not a fan of) has been absolutely gorgeous and full of wonderful locals.

I'm so glad to be out of Florence. Don't get me wrong, I loved Florence, it's my favorite sized city. After two days I can instruct tourists on where to go, and give directions- which is my FAVORITE. The best cities are ones I can do that in two or three days. But the litter of tourists quickly became unbearable.
I'm in Lavanto, Italy now- in the Cinque Terra Italian Riviera. The train ride in from La Spenzia was beautiful. It was mostly spent in tunnels, going through mountains, but the flashes of Tyrrhenian Sea were incredible- a picturesque clear blue, surrounded by mountains...

So Lavanto is just a little town, but on the Riviera there are 4 other small cities, all along the coast- and all gorgeous. Unfortunately all but one or two are closed because of some sort of rockslide, but more on thar later.

In fact, I wrote this at dinner, then went out on the beach and then wandered around til I found an open bar... where I ordered wine and only have 2€ in change (it was 4) and he gave it to me instead of breaking my 20. I love Italy.

PS, the little tripod truck is becoming increasingly common, there was at least 4 in that little parking lot. And that delicious food is gnocchi, with tomato and basil sauce... oh my God. Amazing. Top 3 favorite meals of Europe.

You can be the judge

I waited just under three and a half hours, paid 11€ and only had time for 15 minutes in the museum.
Was it worth it?
For me, completely.

Aaaaaand more Florence

A few notes:

-who can spot the Pokemon?
-and yeah, that man made of marble is doing exactly what it looks like he's doing.