Florence, Italy Day 1

So not last weekend but the weekend before I had had a really long week and was looking forward to some R&R at home but apparently the universe had other plans for me. That Friday afternoon as I was finishing school one of the employees as the school offered me her tour package to Florence for the weekend. She had conflicting plans and couldn't get a refund but could change the name on the tickets so was looking for someone to take them. I was the only person she's found who was available. The only catch was that the bus left town at 5am the next morning, so I had about 10 hours to make dinner, pack, shower, research the city and sleep before I left. I think I got about 4 hours of sleep plus maybe another 1.5 on the bus. Also, all of the information and narration given by the tour guide was all in Slovenian, not English.

The drive was half in the dark and half in the rain so I couldn't see much in the way of scenery but it was occasionally beautiful. I would have slept more but the tour guide started using the PA to talk about where we were around 6am until we got there around 1pm.


One of our first stops was the Duomo which I vaguely remember studying in art history in college. It was on a midterm but I forget specifically why other than the dome being the first of it's time.
I read/then remembered that the inside is a perfect example of a romanesque church and that the arches on the sides are gradually wider closer to the back to give the illusion that the space is longer than it actually is.

This was the best photo I could get of the inside of the dome, as almost everything worth seeing in Florence has high admission prices. And long lines/crowds of tourists.

They were obviously in the process of cleaning/restoring the marble facing of the church, the result of which was quite beautiful. After seeing the first couple of sights with the tour group I got a little annoyed because 1) I couldn't understand anything the tour guide was saying, 2) I wasn't able to wander and take photos the way I liked to because I might not hear the group leave, 3) sometimes my favorites things to see have nothing to do with the main sights that everyone else is going to, and 4) I was starving and in desperate need of lunch. So I found out when and where to meet the group to catch the bus back to the hotel and forged out on my own.


First stop on my own was lunch. I had a crazy delicious meal here consisting of spaghetti with a spicy garlic tomato sauce for the first course and a stewed beef with tomato and zucchini for the entree. Expensive, but good.


At a sweet shop. I think they're orange sticks but I prefer to think of them as chocolate slugs.

Much more to come later!