Day 3

I walked EVERYWHERE yesterday. I saw parts of Florence that NO ONE has seen. No... but it was fun to explore off-the-map places. I really wanted to go see Michelangelo's David in the Accademia line, but the line was long and didn't open till way later in the day. I might try to go today. For lunch I ate a kabob on Neri street. Once again recommend by the wonderful Alison Panza. I know that kabob's are really a Turkish food and not Italian, but that kabob was fantastic! Plus, the man who works there is really nice.

Later, I went with Rachel and Lindsey exploring some of the markets. Basically, there are streets lined with tents with people selling all kinds of goods, mainly Italian leather purses. One tactic the sales people us is either calling you beautiful or I really like, "Hey, you dropped something!" Then, you are supposed to turn around looking for whatever you dropped, but since you didn't really drop anything they begin talking to you and then try to sell you something. Hey, it's kind of creative.

For dinner, we ate the best pizza EVER! Gusta Pizza. The pizza is cheap, simple, and extremely delicious. The restaurant is also simple and laid back. If you go to Florence, you definitley need to check out Gusta Pizza. 

At night a large group of us girls went to have drinks together. I pointed out how international we were because I invited two German girls staying with me in my hostel; Rachel invited a German friend and Denisa, the girl from the Czech Republic; and Lindsey invited her Dutch friend from class who brought along her Dutch roommates. I loved it! I think, being amidst different people is the most beautiful thing about traveling the world.

End of Day 1/ Day 2

Yes, so I landed in Florence and hopped on a bus that dropped me off at the main bus station. Instead of rushing off to find my hostel, I decided to sit on the nice grass, eat my sandwich, and absorb the fact I am in Italy. I quickly learned not to smile and act friendly towards Italian men, well at least not some of them. There I was happily sitting and enjoying my sandwich, when this late 40s Italian man stopped and said, "Ciao!" to me. Being the friendly person that I am I waved, smiled and said "Ciao!" as well. Before I knew what was happening, the man bent down to where I was sitting and starting touching my arm while talking to me. I politely told him "No, I'm not interested in pizza" and "No, we can't communicate again." Somehow he still managed to give me kisses on my cheeks. haha. Welcome to Italy!

I checked into my hostel, threw my stuff on my bunk and went exploring the city. I grabbed the nearest gelato I found and sat out on one of the "pontes"or bridges soaking up the beautiful and breathtaking city of Florence. Shortly afterwards, I met up with my friends Sarah and Lindsey from TCU who are studying abroad in Florence. They gave me a small tour of the area and then we sat outside and ate DELICIOUS Italian food. My lasagna was soo lekker!  (I keep wanting to use Dutch words when speaking.) Walking back to our beds that night felt magical. I'm in ITALY!


DAY 2
I stepped out of the hostel this morning to the sound of scooters and people. Florence is definitely an extremely busy city. I began my day by walking along the Arno river and admiring the morning sun. Then, I headed to the Duomo church and took plenty of pictures for Brett Peters to enjoy later. :) Thanks to my friend Alison, (who studied abroad here a year ago and gave me a list of to-dos,) instead of waiting in the longest line ever to climb to the top of the Duomo, I walked up the 417 steps of the camponello tower to get a better view of the church and the gorgeous landscape of the city. I spent some good time on the tower, because the views were just so spectacular.  Then, I visited the Bargello museum which was neat to see the ancient artwork and Donatello's David, but you can only look at pretty vases for so long before you start skimming through some of the exhibits. Mostly, I've enjoyed just walking around and sitting in random places, admiring the beautiful architecture. People watching is also, fun. I noticed that some people seem to only visit museums or spectacular buildings in order to get a picture. I watched people walk up take a picture then quickly walk away. It made me sad that they didn't sit and really take in what they are observing.

For lunch I met up with Lindsey and Sarah's roomie, as well as, Denisa, a girl studying here from the Czech Republic. I enjoyed walking around with two new friends getting to know them, while observing some great sites. Of course, we had to get gelato, too.

For diner, Rachel cooked hamburgers. It's been over two month since I've had a real hamburger and it tasted like home. Dutchies have "hamburgers" but it's Dutch meat on a bun only labeled a hamburger. After an exhausting day, it was nice to be in apartment full of good company.

Ciao!

I arrived in Florence!

Tom dropped me off at the Dusseldorf airport this morning,  in order to fly to FLORENCE. I left little Boxmeer feeling ready and excited for an adventure. I'm using this trip, of course, to see beautiful places on this earth, but at the same time listen to God and praise Him for his creation. I'm excited for the things I will see and experience.

Check in went smoothly. However, as I began walking to my appropriate gate number I noticed it was one of the very last gates.  Once I reached the end of the long walkway a sign with an arrow pointed me to the direction of my terminal. The arrow pointed down a tiny hall. I followed the tiny hall to a large door which displayed my gate number. The door automatically opened and I felt like I was entering a top secret lab or something. I walked through the door and down a small flight of stairs, through another automatic swinging door. Then, another. Finally! I arrived at the very small gate waiting area. I figured I must be flying in a pretty small plane...

The stewardess began calling different rows to begin boarding and I didn't notice, until I walked up to hand the stewardess my ticket, that all of us passengers first had to load onto a bus. The bus took us on a short trip to what seemed to be the middle of a runway. Then, we all unloaded and walked up the steps to board our small prop plane. Okay, I say small, but it was still fairly large for a flying craft; however, TO ME, it seemed teeny tiny.  I sat next to a nice, old German man from Cologne, Germany. His family is Polish and after talking to him, it sounds like he has traveled EVERYWHERE. I wish I can be like him and go on random road trips whenever I have free time.  Despite the baby aircraft rocking back and forth, we landed safely in Florence.

Okay, I will write more later. I know that was none of the exciting stuff but I'm too tired.