Marianna's European Adventures: Finishing Up Florence

Daily Update: I did try to go to class today. I really did. But when I got there it was just a couple of people taking pictures with the Easter Bunny. I don't remember dropping acid today, but that moment made me wonder if maybe I had....

Anyway, lets finish our adventure in Florence

I had planned on spending my third (or fourth? What day are we on again...) day in Florence visiting the museums. I knew I was going to have to wait in line to see David and the Uffitzi, so I decided to pick just one. After weighing my options I decided David could wait and that the Uffitzi gave me more bang for my buck. So I set off at 8:30 to stand in line. By 8:30 the line had already spread out the door and down the main concourse of the museum. Balls. I stood there patiently for awhile, admiring the graffiti written all over the walls of this otherwise regal building. Thats one thing about Italy, they LOVE graffiti. Everywhere, doesn't matter how important or old the building is, its scribbled with statements such as Massimo a Fabiola with a heart around it, drawings of genitalia and the ever popular F*** AMERICA. Ahhh, I feel so welcome. Although studying the political statements left by bored Italian youth forced to wait in line with their high school tour groups is fascinating, I realized I had been standing there for 2 hours...and moved roughly five feet. Screw this, I'm not wasting time in my precious Florence watching high schoolers make out. Thats another thing, there are high schoolers EVERYWHERE in Italy, Italian, French, German, American, all of them and they are all constantly making out with each other. Not cool, my friends, not cool.

So I leave the line and head out to get some coffee. I decided to suck it up and deal with my caffeine addiction by taking up coffee....and I now have a coffee addiction. Its not good. The rest of the day was spent visiting Florence's churches. The Duomo was a bit of a let down after Siena's cathedral, but still impressive. The two basillica's were by far the highlights of the Churches of Rome day, both tucked away in unimpressive buildings but containing gorgeous interiors.

My "you're a bad person" moment of the day came when I was walking back from my favorite gelato place. A man in a Micro-sized vehicle took a turn too sharply and flipped his car on his side. Everyone rushed to help him and after it was determined that he was fine, helped to extract him. Meanwhile I stood there, eating my gelato like this was some type of street performance. I slowly began to edge backwards out of the situation before someone called me out on my douchebaggery.

Today was also the day that I was followed by my first Italian male! Very creepy, but I feel like no female can travel alone in Italy without having a "one time this creepy Italian guy followed me" story. I managed to shake him by hanging out next to the Italian Police in front of the Duomo. Mother Nature then took care of the rest by opening up her skies to reveal a torrent of rain which scattered everyone in the area towards shelter. Mother Nature must have gone to Bryn Mawr, she has no time for creepsters.

Day....4? 5? 18?

Today I was supposed to meet up with my friends Marissa and Eric from UCD, who were traveling around Europe for the two weeks. Unfortunately my phone was still being a spoiled brat and claiming it was stolen so I couldn't use it to call them. I managed to get Marissa's number from a friend on Facebook and set off to navigate the Italian pay-phone system. HA. An hour and a half later I finally get the phone to call Marissa however I discover that her phone is turned off and her voicemail not set up. Oh well, I'll wander, maybe I'll run into them, maybe I'll just have another day to myself. So again I set off down the streets of Florence. I run into a kid I know from high school, we both give each other the awkward "wait.....isn't that" look before we lose each other in the crowd. I keep walking, I see a girl I know from Bryn Mawr. Still no Eric or Marissa. At this point I'm waiting for the inevitable run in with the Syp's when I round a corner and literally run into Eric. Well, thats Florence for you. They're joined by Eric's sister Jen and together we go to find "the best gelato in Florence" according to their guidebook. Eh, I had had better gelato....but still, gelato is gelato! It was nice to hang out with some people after spending the past few days on my own. We tried tripe, which is apparently a Florence specialty. They were disgusted....truthfully I didn't find it that bad. After breaking for an afternoon nap we joined up again and met for dinner. I had to peel off after that as I was getting up early to head to Venice the next morning. As I walked back I savored my last night in Florence....I'll be back, thats for sure.