The Rest of Florence

Alright, so I feel that perhaps I’ve procrastinated long enough with this blog post. And especially with it already being my fourth day of my internship today, I must forewarn you that this entry will not do the rest of my Italian voyage justice.

Before I continue, I would like you to know that I finally do have pictures slowly being uploaded to the Internet, and will soon provide links.

In the meantime, I believe I was still in Florence when I last left you. Indeed, last Wednesday was the day I would be leaving to meet up with Trevor and company in Rome. However, as I was not scheduled to leave until mid-afternoon, I ended up deciding to do a pre-Vatican City pilgrimage, by visiting different Florentine churches. My first stop was at Parrocchia Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore, the church that was but a few minutes’ walk from the hostel. I followed that up with a brief stop at the Basilica Santuario della SS. Annunziata, where I participated in the second half of an all-Italian Mass service. In the basilica, I started to get the sense that my art history days at Albion were slowly coming back, particularly when I saw the relics preserved of Saint Giuliana Falconneri. After passing the Centro Linguistico di Ateneo, I ended up at the Parocchia del S. Ambrogio. After that stop, I finally made it to my way to the Church of Santa Croche (as per Alex’s suggestion). There, among the many memorials and various tombstones, I saw the tombstones or memorials of such ‘famous people’ as Michelangelo, da Vinci, Niccolini, Bartolini, Rossini, Marconi, Degli Albertin, Dante (in actuality, his remains really don’t exist there), and Enrico Fermi (yes, I’m the product of Science-O). On the same complex, I made a quick stop at the Scuoto del Cuoio (Leather School of Florence), before moving onto the Studio Teologico per Laici di Santa Croce, a printing exposition of original (1/15) prints by Pietro Parici. I then continued my voyage with stops at the Cappella de’ Pazzi and the Museo dell’Opera, before finally heading out. On my way to my last big tourist stop, I got some gelato at Antica Galateria del Corso (flavours: Signola? And Caco (Amsterdam)). I then had the choice of going to a horror museum that would be closing in a week and an exhibit focused on da Vinci’s work. I chose the latter and got to see replicas of da Vinci’s inventions, etc., based on his original journals and codices. It was a wonderfully interactive exhibit and for 7 €, I was able to get my ticket and end with a pizza and pop snack at Caffé Michelangiolo. It’s interesting that the two are associated with one another as, historically, the two were intense rivals. Finally, after my walk through Mercato Centrale, I boarded my train to Rome.

Good Thing I Wore My Tackies!

After another cardio session and a quick breakfast, I got ready to meet up with Alex, a classmate of mine from high school. I realised two things on my way to the train station, where we were planned to meet up: I am severely locked on French timing mode, as well as Parisian walking mode. (Coincidientally, Alex would later tell me that Italians are more or less very laid back.) In any case, I made it to the train station my expected 10 minutes late (though perhaps this may attributed to Albion time) and realised a third thing: trying to find Alex at a busy train & bus station (Santa Maria Novella, S.M.N.) without cell phones would be a pretty hectic task. However, Alex found me (as his bus is apparently the only one that arrives on other side of the bus drop-offs) and we were on our way.

Alex is currently studying about 20 minutes outside of Florence, taking classes in the villa and his classmates are staying at, and travelling in and out of Italy almost every weekend. Tough life for us off-campus students, yebo? With this said, he was an amazing tour guide and even though we found ourselves not where he quite expected, I wasn't any the wiser. Today, I think, was my first "wow, I'm a tourist" day.

Our first stop was to see David (the statue) and so we headed off to the Galleria dell'Academia. No photos allowed, so all I can really say (without even trying to do every piece of artwork justice) is that this Florentine art is some pretty amazing stuff. Wow, did I really relegate centuries of artwork to 'stuff'? In all sincerity, it was truly mind-boggling that people took all this time to paint or chisel, and their masterpieces were right there, right in front of me. For all my Parisian classmates and those who know about the term, beuf, I would also like to say that I have never seen more beuf poses and expressions in one museum at one time (and this was a pretty small one!). And, then, there he was: David. What many call the most perfect statue, I was in awe with how anyone could sculpt like that, let alone be the ones who were responsible for bringing this massive piece of artwork into the building. Of another interesting (though, random) note, I saw a lady cleaning one of the paintings. Her cleaning tool of choice?: a Swifter brush.

Since I couldn't take any photos of David, we headed off to find one of the replicas located elsewhere in Florence. We passed through either Piazzalo Degli Uffiso or Palazzo Vecchio, I think (thanks to me not having anything to write on, once again), then stopped for a wonderful view of from the Ponte Vecchio (including the interesting shade of green of the river). We continued on to the site of a church, where supposedly one of the best views of Florence can be found. Lo, and behold, Alex demonstrated his vast (and dare I say random?) wealth of Florentine knowledge, pointing out Aspen trees and sharing some of his study abroad stories as we climbed up (and down) the wrong hill, and finally up the right one. The second hill consisted of a stepped path (as opposed to the slightly steep one, reminiscent of my Québec voyage two winters ago), and we finally made it to the top (I told Alex I probably shouldn't have done that cardio earlier in the morning). It wasn't the church, but the lookout point nevertheless offerred a great look over Florence. Then, after taking photos of David (oh yeah, that's where an iron(?) replica of David was located), Alex had the brilliant idea of walking up the stairs to the church he had been thinking about, the Church of San Miniato al Monte; did I mention this idea was brilliant? I got an even better shot of Florence, and also happened to notice that a large group to my right were all French. We went inside the church, I took more photos (many of which will be on-line soon enough), and then we headed back down.

Hungry by this point, I suggested we have lunch and so we stopped in a little bistro and per Alex's suggestion, tried a panini sandwich which consisted of lettuce, fresh mozzarella and prosciutto. And it was amazing! (Though, I still think the French win in the bread category.)

At this point now filled a bit, Florence decided to make us burn some of that off by giving us wonderful weather (I'm quite surprised with how much I'm enjoying the weather here) and many a mini-hill to climb in the Boboli Gardens, the background of the Pitit Palace. (ps/ I'd compare the Church of San Miniato al Monte closest to Montmartre, and these gardens as closest to those of Versailles.) If I'm not mistaken, all of the statues were Pompei-inspired or, at the very least, old. The most interesting pieces, however, were two modern statues that seemed to have been randomly dropped there. One of them reminded me of the face one can find in Tuilleries, and the other reminded us of a (white) blood cell. On our way out of the gardens, I saw a giant obelisk supported on the shells of four turtle (figures) and perhaps the world’s largest ‘bathtub’ (at least, that’s what it looked like).

As we were now nearing the time that Alex had to leave (since he has his Italian language course in the evenings), I asked him where the best gelato in Florence is. Like the great Florentine student he is, he knew of a place to go, and en route also stumbled upon the leather market he had mentioned hours beforehand (the name of which is the Piazza del Mercato Nuovo). We ended up going to Grom, where I got limone and cioccolata extranoir gelato in a grande (though, in American terms was a small or, just barely, a medium) cup.

We finally split off at S.M.N. Alex went to the right, and still having some tourist left in me, went left. I decided to take the underground system in place under the intersection (which can get extremely hectic) by S.M.N. and found many a shop (didn’t buy anything!) and the exit to the other side of the street. Once on the other side, I went into the Church of Santa Maria Novella. I first prayed for a bit in one of the chapels then went to the main church (i.e., the tourist part) and once again unable to take photos, toured the open space and the Florentine artwork adorning the walls, as well as the main altar.

At the end of my tour, I made my way to S.M.N. to check if a price difference existed between using a Fast Ticket machine and buying a ticket directly from those at the ticket window. I didn’t get a direct answer, but I definitely bought my ticket to Rome for a lot less than I had expected to pay! Great luck in hand, I headed back to the hostel and took a very long nap. I eventually woke up and had dinner (Ravioli al pomadoro—spinach and ricotta filled—and pineapple juice, 4,80 €) in the hostel restaurant. The pasta was a bit too al dente for my liking, so perhaps I’ll have my best pasta ever, in Rome. Following dinner, I watched Lucky Number Slevin, then returned to my room to look through photos and eventually fall asleep.

Speaking of photos, I would like to offer the day's "True Life" statement. True life: I have taken 430 photos and 1 little video since I arrived in Italy, took 157 during my Florentine tour with Alex, including 4 different panoramic sets, have 447 files on my card in total, and have only 245 left. True life, part 2: I still have 4 days in Italy.

Resting Up

Okay, so I really didn't expect to write this much while in Italy, but I'm going to blame this tendency on the fact that [the smart traveller I am...] I forgot to bring a notebook with me.
In any case...

I went out with the aim of only getting food to eat for dinner and perhaps happening upon a random Italian landmark. It turns out that Florence really isn't that big so there were Italian landmarks everywhere! I found myself being pulled at by some mystic force... and whaddayaknow... I found myself in a fairly big (for a Monday anyway) marketplace that was right outside of the Medici Chapels. Walking past and taking photos, I was drawn in by another mystic force... food. I eventually caved in and bought a waffle sandwich (chocolate filling with whipped cream on top) and somehow had to figure out a way to eat it all as I was walking. I didn't do too well of a job with it and all I can say is that I'm up for another go at it. I was under particular pressure as, after about 45 seconds of eating and walking, I saw a huge church right in front of me. I soon found out that, just like in Pisa, each site has its own entry fee. I eventually chose the bell tower (frankly, because my map guide said it was only 3€; turns out it's actually 6€). Surely I've mentioned this before but I'll say it again: I am plagued with doing much more work than I ever expect to do.

Cue 17.55. I begin my climb and make my way up to steady ground. It's only 17.57. Wow, I climbed that pretty quickly. Oh wait, there's another flight of stairs. I stopped to take pictures at the current level and made my way up in about a minute or two. Finished? Yeah, right. I took photos at every level and began to see the moon clearer with every small window in the wall or level I came across. EVENTUALLY, at 18.16, I made it to the very top of the bell tower and, thankfully, I was just in time to see the sun set over Florence. It was such a beautiful sight. I wish I had my card reader here so I could show you the photos from the journey. I'll soon get to that back in Paris. Oh, did I forget to mention that the climb is about 400+ stairs, each way?
Out of the bell tower, I continued my journey, camera still in hand and snapping away, listening to my mp3 player as I focused on getting from place to place and simply observing what was going on around me. It was getting dark, so I decided to head back home, but after winding around through Firenze all day, I wasn't quite sure which way was which. Along the way, I spotted what seemed like a Mass service and indeed it was. Definitely not understanding Italian, I left for a bit, but returned to the church for a few songs of a free organ concert the church put on to raise money for what I can only assume to be its bell tower.

I ended up back at the hostel and thought it would be a brilliant idea to check out their cardio machines. Pffft. No details necessary... if I wasn't tired after going up and down all those stairs in the bell tower, I was definitely tired after the cardio stuff. Unsurprisingly hungry, I went to the hostel restaurant and bought a ham pizza. May I say... Italians undoubtedly know their pizza! Their pasta is up on the docket tomorrow.

Pisa-Florence

After a long day of travelling, I slept extremely well last night. I woke up to a dim room that immediately brightened as I drew back the shutters. I eventually got up and ready to get my bearings in Pisa, which wasn't really too difficult, as the city itself seems to be rather small. The owner of the hostel had given me a map printed on a business card, and I left the hostel in search of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the cathedral, and any other monuments the city is known for. Orienting myself to this tiny map, I eventually made my way down the correct street and happened to glance over to my right, at which point my first thought was: 'Oh, there's the Leaning Tower and... OH! That's the Leaning Tower!' My second thought was immediately: 'Beuf.' This isn't to say that it wasn't spectacular or anything, but more that this famous landmark just happened to be sitting (and leaning) just a few metres away from me. In any event, I made my way over to the rectangle o' monuments (the Piazza dei Miracoli (the Miracle Square) and soon found out that every site had an entry fee. (Going up the Leaning Tower was 15 €.) Deciding that I'll eventually get my exercise elsewhere, I settled for photos of the tower (which, just like Eiffel's, are free). I did go inside the Cathedral and amidst the paintings and statues, I also saw some relics (yeah Art History 318!) of two saints (one of which I believe is the patron saint of Pisa, though I'll have to check again when I look through my photos).

I made my way back to the hostel (+ also stopping by Pisa Point, the football stadium), got my bag, and waited for the bus, the stop of which was just outside. I apparently failed at getting the first bus's attention, so I had to wait for the next one and when I got on it, I was utterly confused as to wheter or not I had to pay, or what I had to do, as some people had tickets and others didn't. In any case, I made it to the train station, got my ticket to Florence, and had some Italian Mc-food (ps/ Europe wins when it comes to fast food, at least for now it does.) The train was scheduled to leave at 13.01, and at 12.58, someone thought it must've been hilarious to switch train tracks; all of a sudden, the Firenze (Florence) group headed en masse to the new track, and after playing one round of musical tracks, we got on board. I briefly spoke to the guy across from me. I had noticed he had an Italian lesson book, written in French. For all of you who know me well enough will know that I am ready to test out my French and every opportunity, though I end up failing and regret not doing so after the fact. So, courage in hand, I asked him if it's easy to learn Italian, at which point he shot right back with not at all. After a few weeks in France, this French exchange would be easy to do. However, we have never practiced speaking to native French speakers from outside of France (or Canada). The guy was from Senegal and his French was very quick (quicker than anyone I had ever heard before) and almost slurred, a combination of which usually results in head nods. The conversation ended before I could get to that point.

I arrived at the train station after an hour or so of sleep, though I kept waking up for fear that I kept missing the stop. After navigating out of the station, I made the easy walk directly to my current hostel which happens to be amazing (2 for 2, so far! My Safrican luck must still be carrying over from last semester.). In any case, I'm here now, once again safe and sound.

It's only a bit past 16.00 over here and I'm hungry once again. I think I'm going to profiter du soleil (not quite sure how to easily translate that to English) and read the French-English guidebook I bought at the train station. I also saw multiple pizzerias so maybe I'll stop in for dinner. In any case, tonight'll be a night to rest up. Tomorrow, I'm planning on meeting up with one of my high school classmates and I'm hoping to get in a full day of tourism, before my train ride to Rome on Wednesday.