Florence, Italy

After my mom, brother and I were in Venice, we took an 8:55am train to Florence! For the three of us it cost €117 euros at the station from the kiosk. Not too shabby. The train system in Italy seems to be very easy in comparison to the Netherlands. We got on the train and were on our way to Florence!

After we arrived, we had to take a cab to our B&B we stayed at because it seemed confusing and a far walk. The B&B we stayed at was called Condatta House. It was pretty hard to spot because it shares the same building with other people and companies. It is kind of like a hostel, with cute little rooms and one shared bathroom.

After we set our things down, we began our journey around the city! At first, things seemed to be far and confusing to get around, but I can tell you it was easier getting around Florence than it was getting around Venice. There are not so many confusing ally's and such in Venice.

We didn't have a map, and I knew nothing about Florence, or where anything was, so Google Maps was helping us along the way. I pulled up the maps to see what was around us, and we just started walking. When we turned the corner, there was this really nice piazza that had statues all throughout it! It was so pretty. There was a giant statue of Zeus, followed by many others.

After walking around we stood in line to go to the Uffizi Gallery. It cost only €6,50 I believe for entrance, and it was worth it. There were so many old, beautiful paintings and statues in the museum. It was kind of crazy walking around the museum for a number of reasons:

• At museums in the USA, like the Getty Museum, things are protected by glass and rope and everything, but here, the paintings are just out, and only a small rope is protecting them!
• The paintings and statues are so old at these museums! It's crazy to think how old they really are.
• When walking around looking at all the art, and everything inside, you seem to have more of an appreciation for everything. 

So after walking around Uffizi, we walked to the bridge. Oh the bridge was my favorite view by far. Just looking out at the hills and all the old buildings by the water and the Ponte Vecchio was breathtaking.

Since it is June, it is humid, and hot over here in Italy. And when I say hot and humid, I mean hot and humid. So every 10 minutes you need water! Well luckily there are plenty of places to sit and grab a drink all around the city, no matter what time a day. Now the only downside to that, is water costs roughly €2,00 anywhere you go. The best thing to do is to keep a water bottle with you at all times.

Going back to the city, there are so many other places that you must see/visit while in Florence. For one, you HAVE to go see the statue of David. We went on our last day in Florence, to the Galleria dell'Accademia Museum. The line was wrapped all around the street, and was a bit intimidating at first, but once we were waiting in line, it went by really quickly. I think we only waited 20 minutes in line, so not bad at all.

TIP: A lot of museums are FREE on Sunday's! All the other museums we went to that day were free, but this one was free only on the first Sunday of every month. Luckily for us, thats what it was. After we went through security check, we were in and looking at everything. There was a lot of Michelangelo things in the museum, along with other artists' work.



When we walked in, everyone went in the direction to where the statue of David was, but we walked around the rest of the museum first. There were a lot of really old books, paintings, and other statues there. But when we were done walking around the one half of the museum, we turned the corner to see the statue of David, and we were amazed.


You would think that the statue would be life-size, maybe a little bit bigger. No. This thing was huge! It is pretty amazing to see such work done by an artist so long ago, and it be in such great detail. The hair, the muscles, the veins, everything was so defined!

I feel personally, that seeing the statue of David is a MUST when visiting Florence.

Other museums that we visited was the Bargello National Museum, which was also free on Sunday. That museum was pretty neat because just like the others, there were old statues, busts, pictures etc. I recommend this museum to go walk around and look at while you are out and about to museums.

The last museum we went to was not free, it cost €8 to get in if you are a student, and €10 if you are not. This museum was different though, no pictures were allowed, unfortunately, but there were bronze and copper statues from so long ago! These statues were found in the ocean, wells, all over the place off the coast of Greece. It was a little bit different vibe at the Palazzo Strozzi.

If you want to take a break from all the museums and walk around the shops, don't worry, there are plenty of them! Florence has what seems like a million leather shops, plenty of high end stores (Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Tiffany & Co. etc.). If you want to buy something, but don't have the cash for a really expensive piece of clothing, don't worry, there is a ZARA, H&M and plenty of other stores too.

Now if you are one who is into churches, don't worry, because there are plenty of churches to visit! One of the big churches that attracts a large number of tourists is the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, otherwise known as Duomo. This church I will say is one like I have never seen. Usually churches are brown and big, this one was not. There was so much to look at this church! You could stand there for an hour and still not see everything on the outside im sure.

And last but certainly not least...the gelato was so dang tasty! I mean on a hot summer's day, there really is nothing better than a cone full of stracciatella gelato! I will say, the one thing I have yet to run into is a place that sells cannoli's!! Looks like I'll have to wait and see if Rome has any...