J…
…so
after we got to our hostel and changed into better shoes for the trip we were
off….since it was Easter Saturday the city was absolutely PACKED!! Literally at
points you could barely walk….we started on our way heading back towards the
Duomo, and started immediately shopping for our leather purchases the whole way…right
before we got to Ponte Vecchio we found a little panini shop and decided that
would be good for lunch, and oh my dear goodness it was one of the best things
that I have ever eaten in my whole entire life…..all of ours were, mine was
really delicious pork, with mozzarella and tomatoes….Kaitlyn had turkey with
pesto and mozzarella, and Nat had prosciutto crudo with mozzarella (I think)
and arugala….they were all so so so good (im hungry just thinking about them)….they
were so good I looked at my plate when I was finished saying, “aww its over”L…..perfect
lunch….i think I fell in love with Florence for the food J…but
the best part of this whole meal?? The little Italian man who came in and asked
us if we liked it and I replied that it was sooo good, and he laughed, asked if
I was Italian and I said that my family is, and that I was just studying, to
which he said, “ah well you look Italian, and you eat like an Italian…”
LITERALLY MY WHOLE TRIP WAS MADE COMPLETE!!!! I wanted to cry I was so happy…..to
eat like an Italian, ok life complete J
….after
we continued our way down to the Duomo shopping our whole way….we found this
awesome shop (that was recommended by a family friend of Kaitlyn because it was
good stuff for good prices)…I ended up getting my leather wallet and a couple
gifts there, and we ended up going back to it a few more times over the next
few days J
the owner loved us I think…..we had a ball…..
J….
….when
we finally got to the piazza, I saw that the line to go to the top of the Duomo
was only open for another hour (because of Easter) so I got in line to go up to
the top of the Bell Tower instead….thankfully we had looked into these things
because everything was closed for Easter the next day so I am so glad that we
did it while we were able to…..i sent the girls off to continue shopping while
I stood in line for the next hour and a half or so….but after a bit the guy in
front of me (in a michigan state jacket) turned to me and started chatting with
me…so we continued chatting, I talked about studying here and he told me about
the vacation he was taking his kids on soon….and then when we finally got to
the front of the line to buy tickets, he turned to me and nat and told us that
college students got in free that day and bought us our tickets, that were good
for the tower, the museum and the baptistery…it was sooo cool, like absolutely
the best thing 
….so
we started climbing up the 414 steps to the top and I literally thought that I was
going to die…thank god for the breaks in the structure where there are landings
with views so you can stop and catch your breathe…and after a few of these pit
stops we were finally at the top and man was it spectacular! (wish I had my
pics of them, thankfully nat went up this one with me)…you had the duomo dome
right in front of you and felt like you could literally see all of Tuscany! I
loved it J….we
spent a good long while up there, taking tons of pictures….before heading back
down to meet up with Kaitlyn to make a plan for the rest of the night…
…when
we met up with Kaitlyn, we decided that we all needed a nap, but Nat and I had
the tickets still for the Baptistery and the Museum, so we made a meet up plan
and headed back to our hostels to nap (Nat was in a different place because of
when we booked)…so Kait and I wandered back…finding a fantastic paper shop on
the way J
and then headed back for a nap before I took off back to the Duomo to go inside
the Baptistery with Natalie, which was so pretty! The entire ceiling was mosaic
depicting stories of the bible….they were stunning….after this visit we headed
to the Museum, unfortunately most of it was closed for renovations, but we were
able to see the “Gates of Paradise” which are golden doors again depicting
scenes from the bible but they are amazing and we got the exhibit showing and
explaining how they restored them from their black dirty state back to their
gold…it was really really cool!
…when
we were done we still had about an hour until we were going to meet up with
Kaitlyn so we just walked off and started exploring….it was really fun, we
found some great shoe stores….a bunch of beautiful churches,…and a ,99 euro
store! It was like a dollar tree J I loved it!....and then we found a great big
basilica and out front of it was a little craft fair with about 10 or 15
artisans, so so cool, I bought some great leather for mom here too which was
fun J…
…after
that it was time to meet up with Kaitlyn so we headed to our spot then took off
to find some dinner….by way of shopping of course haha….we wandered a good ways
from the Piazza del Duomo, and found a cute little trattoria that ended up
being one of the best meals I have had in Italy…..seriously it was that good! I
had pasta with a sauce made from Wild Boar….and a glass of Chianti….and we
shared bruschetta….it was so so so good….i was so sad when I was done eating, I
wanted to eat it everyday for the rest of my life…..
…after
dinner we walked Nat back to her place and then Kaitlyn and I went off to the
Duomo at about 9:30 to wait for 10:30 easter vigil mass…..first of all oh my
goodness definently no central heating when they built that place because I think
we froze during it….after waiting for an hour, it was a 3 hour mass, with literally
all 7 readings, and the new testament reading, each with a responsorial psalm
and prayer after every single one….then the gospel, then the 45 minute homily…then
baptized 7 people, confirmed 3….then the Eucharist….which you didn’t even walk
up to, you just went to the nearest barrier to the aisle to wait for a priest to
come to you….it was totally wild…..also this whole thing was being said by the
archbishop, but also had 3 cardinals, 2 other bishops, and 24 priests present……literally
there were so many priests that they weren’t allowed to all be in vestiments…absolutely
the biggest mass I have ever seen…..adn the whole cathedral (that only had pews
halfway back) was packed!! That means half was packed with people standing shoulder
to shoulder for 3 hours!!! It was totally amazing and inspiring!...
…after
mass it was back to the hostel to warm up and head to sleep….the next morning we
kind of slept in but we were still out the door and headed to the Duomo by 9:30
for the exploding cart…..and the piazza was PACKED!!!....the exploding cart is
a really old tradition, like back to the first crusade!....it used to be that
during the Gloria on easter the priest would light a type of firework that
would shoot into a cart out in the piazza, now it is just lit by the priest and
the entire cart is fireworks that go off for a solid ten minutes….unfortunately
we found out that we should have showed up much earlier and so we could really
see a lot of the cart but it was still really really cool thing to witness….
….after
standing there and then trying to make our way out of the packed square…we were
off to find a Florentine institution for lunch, a small sandwich shop that has
been around since the 1800s….I Fratelli….literally two brothers just making
sandwiches…oh and serving wine…it was awesome I loved it J
definently go, food is delish J
love me a good panino….seriously Florence was stealing my heart with the food…
….after
lunch since all the touristy attractions were closed for Easter, we just set
off to go find some cool churches, saw a beautiful synagogue….and some other
really neat sites….before we went back to the piazza to do what? Of course more
shopping, this time for natalie….she was looking for something specific for her
brother so we literally spent a good while looking all over Florence until we
found it…..seriously I bet ive been to all the leather shops in that area about
3 times each haha…it was a lot of leather for 2 days J…
…we
broke for a nap at our hostel in the afternoon before going back out for more
wandering….then grabbed some more paninis for supper on the way to the train
station….Nat was heading back to Torino for some other plans that she had for
Monday, and Kaitlyn and I were off to Siena in the morning….so we saw her off,
and then stopped at the ,99euro store on the way back to grab some snacks and
breakfast for the next day….before heading back to the hostel to get an early
bedtime before our last big day of the trip…..
…it
was a busy 2 days in Florence, and I didn’t get to see all that I wanted to
because of the holiday, oh well..i guess that just means I have to go back J J J
J
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