Florence
- Tara Larkai
- Jul 1, 2014
- 3 min read
Our first morning in Florence was here. Our plan was to head to the city center and explore the popular attractions. Our rental came with bikes so we wanted to save money by riding the bikes to the city center however after our first attempt of trying to ride it, we quickly realized that whoever came up with the saying, ”You never forget how to ride a bike” is a damn lie! We then googled the next cheapest alternative to getting to the city; suggestion was by bus. The nearest bus stop was a couple of blocks away. We attempted to pay for a bus fare (this time) when we got on the bus but the bus driver quickly ushered us to the back of the bus. We thought he meant, “the ride is on him” lol Yea right! So we sat down without any care in the world. But as we watched people boarded the bus, we saw that some people would swipe a card on a machine situated in the middle of the bus that kind of looked like a credit machine and everything was written in Italian. We didn’t have a bus card so we did not worry about it and the bus driver did not bother us about it so we enjoyed our free ride. We noticed that not everyone paid or swiped their cards.
Our first stop on our tour of Florence was Piazza Del Signoria. This is one of Florence’s most popular attractions. It is an L-shaped square situated in front of Palazzo Vecchio. The square features historical statues, buildings and plenty of eateries. After exploring and taking pictures, we were hungry and ready to eat. Prior to arriving in Italy, we had done a lot of research on Florence and one of the things we found out was that Italian restaurants charge a cover charge to eat in their restaurants. We had sworn not to pay any cover charge while in Italy but at this time, we were super hungry and the thought of buying food just to eat it at a stoop or step seemed very ratchet to us. We walked around the square and found a restaurant with the cheapest cover charge, 7 euro per person. We enjoyed a traditional Italian lunch of pizza and spaghetti.
After lunch, we visited Piazza Del Duomo. This place was super busy with food & souvenir vendors, restaurants and tourists. This is a good place to people watch. We toured the first floor of the cathedral for free and there was an option to climb to the top and get a 360 view of the city of Florence. I was not trying to pay 40 euros so I said no but Chloe insisted. The line to the top was super long, it took over 45 minutes before we were able to enter. I immediately regreted this as we started climbing. It was probably the most painful travel experience thus far. We quit so many times before actually getting up there but there was only one way up/down.
We were pooped after this experience but It was worth all the sweat and the money. Before heading back to the house. We decided to have dinner, a traditional italian sandwich made with pig intestines. (I know, disgusting but I was on my bizarre food shit) from a street vendor and people watched. We walked to the bus stop and enjoyed another free bus ride to our rental house. (We were pros at riding italian buses now)
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