My newest favorite...

It was a pretty hard goodbye... It was four in the morning, I had slept at the most 2.5 hours, and I was getting in the car to leave my parents at the Hotel Arts in Barcelona so that I could go on yet ANOTHER weekend adventure. Though I was guilty leaving a couple hours before they did, and I was sad to even say goodbye, there was one thing that was getting me through it... I was going to Florence.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Rome with some friends, and I absolutely loved it, therefore when I was trying to find a place to go for Spring Break, I couldn't resist going to Italy again. This time, however, rather than going to a huge city such as Rome, I decided to go to the quaint, quiet, peaceful city of Florence. Initially, being the loner that I like to be at times, I was planning on going on this three day adventure alone, but lucky for me, my dear friend Maggie asked if she could tag along. It turns out its much more fun with company.

Because we left at four in the morning, when our flight landed at about ten, all we wanted was a nice cozy bed and something to eat. We were greeted by a nice driver who took us to our hotel, then yet again at the the hotel by a sweet Italian man who, unfortunately, told us that our room would not be ready until one. Thank goodness that Daddy Rodes picked a nice hotel for me, because they then proceeded to offer us a breakfast spread and coffee in the lounge until our room was ready; we couldn't resist. So we enjoyed a nice, relaxed breakfast, and several pots of coffee until our room was ready, where we then took a nice long nap so that we would have adequate energy to go exploring.

After a nice rest, we went out to wander; my new favorite past time. We went to the main square, where we saw local artisans standing outside of Louis Vuitton and Cartier; we went to the market area where we saw all the tourist traps for "fake" quality Italian leather; and we then proceeded to get ourselves lost within in small cobble stone back streets on Florence, Italy. Everything about it was wonderful. The small artisan shops, the ancient bikes sitting unguarded by the wall, the pizzerias on every corner, and the beautiful Italian men. Most of all, however, were the Italian fashion boutiques, which truly got the best of me. I tried on and wanted everything, but knowing that this was a once in a life time chance to buy an Italian leather jacket, I bought only a select few items. Finally, it was time to head back to the hotel to enjoy a glass of wine and peanuts outside at the sidewalk café, then find a place for dinner.

Dinner was ok, though I wish we would have found a bistro rather than a tourist spot, and after sitting there for a couple of hours, talking, and complaining about the fact that bread in Italy doesn't have salt, we made our way back to the hotel, watched several episodes of Criminal minds, and called it a night.

Friday morning we woke up early, excited about the fact that the breakfast buffet was included at the hotel. After enjoying the beautiful spread, as well as some delicious coffee, we met our private tour guide in the lobby for a tour of historical Florence. She took us all the places that we never would have been able to get to alone. We went to the top of the tallest hotel to enjoy the incredible view, we went across the bridge to see the old neighborhoods, and then made it to the Churches, the outdoor sculpture museum, and finally to stand in the presence of Michelangelo's one of a kind David. It was an exhausting four hours of information overload, nevertheless, it truly made me capable of appreciating what all this city stood for besides a bunch of pasta, and the finest quality leather. With that being said, when the tour was over, we found a place that looked nice for lunch, where we enjoyed different pastas, then went back to the hotel for a much needed afternoon nap.

Though neither of us wanted to wake up, after sleeping for several hours, we wiped the sleep out of our eyes and made our way to the Picasso, Miró and Dalí exhibit across the street. Though I would prefer Page's art work over theirs any day, it was pretty cool to see the work of these incredible artists in person. Though its far from my taste, their talent was appreciated. We left the exhibit in search of a nice place to sit outside and maybe get a glass of wine, before going to dinner, however, stumbled upon yet another beautiful boutique that could not be resisted instead. After trying on many things several times, heart broken by the fact that we couldn't take the whole store home, we each landed upon a cute dress and decided it was time to go. We then went get wine at a very fun outdoor wine bar, then found a tiny local bistro for a wonderful dinner outside, in a small alley of Florence. It was like a movie. At one point three men walked up perfectly dressed, played us music on their violins and guitar, then guilted (is this a word) us out of our spare Euros... while at another, an older, homeless Italian man stood by our table, yelling at the sidewalk in Italian. It was truly an experience.

After dinner we had a tasty pastry spread in our hotel, and went to sleep.

Saturday, we woke up early to a nice buffet again, and met our next tour guide in the lobby. This day, however, it was not a history tour, but rather a personal shopping guide. I am not sure who she was expecting us to be, but she was definitely dressed to impress, wearing a Burberry jacket, Louis Vuitton scarf, and Gucci bag. Though impressed by her taste, these were not where I was interested in going, and chose instead the "Italian artisan tour." With her, we went on a tour of the best of the local artisan shops, which were hidden like treasures throughout the city. Though some were in the main square, some were tucked away in secret corners, and never would be found by a foreigner. Not only did she take us to her favorite secret spots, but she also took allowed us to avoid the "tourist prices" and spoke and bargained with the artists in Italian, helping us to get the best, and most reasonable prices. Thank goodness we had her. Not only did I love the shopping I was able to do, but what was equally as impressive and amazing was going in the back of the shop and watching them hand make the bags and jackets, or going into the local artists shop and watching him hand make the most beautiful mosaic landscapes. I was truly in heaven, yet again.

Clearly, after four hours of fun and excitement, we were exhausted, so we got a quick lunch across the street from our hotel, then habitually went back for an afternoon nap.

After sleeping for a while, we made our way back to the main square to purchase the local artists paintings that we had been eying for days, went to sweet bar for wine and cheese, then happily made our way to the restaurant we had excitedly made reservations at earlier in the weekend. Here, we had the best meal by far, and thoroughly enjoyed several hours of laughter. After dinner we made our way back to our hotel one last time, packed up our bags, and went to sleep in those comfy beds for a final night.



Though sad that we were either on a plane, or waiting out a long layover in Rome for the majority of Easter, rather than at home with our families, it was nice to have each other. And best of all, we were both equally excited to come to the conclusion that the next time we were on a plane, we would be going home.

Florence was wonderful, this whole experience has been wonderful, but I cannot wait to go back home.