I arrived in Florence on August 27, 2013. It was quite the ordeal to get from Palermo to Florence. Firstly, my flight out of Palermo was delayed. Then there was a storm in Rome and we had to land in Naples and stay there for a while. From Rome I had to take my connector flight to Florence which was luckily delayed as well and I got on no problem. I have been to Florence before, so I wasn't really interested in seeing any of the tourist things. It is a really beautiful city and I just wanted to wander around in it again before meeting up with my friend in Pisa.
While in Florence, I told my friend David that my step-grandmother's son has a bagel shop somewhere in the city. He said that there was only one bagel shop and it happened to be right around the corner from his place. We stopped at Mama's Bakery and I met Matt and Cristina. I have heard about them for years and it was wonderful to finally meet them. This bakery is so charming and brings a little bit of America to Italy. Florence has a lot of Italian students, exchange students and tourists, so Matt decided to introduce the city to bagels. I loved seeing the Giant's Flag and Peanuts comic strip on the walls representing Matt's California roots. If you are ever in Florence and craving some American treats such as bagels or brownies, stop in. Their website is http://www.mamasbakery.it/.
Cristina, Matt and I
Santo Spirito
Arno River
Duomo
Gates of Paradise
I really enjoyed my time in Florence. I spent time with locals and wandered around. Such a beautiful place! It was nice to not feel obligated to see monuments and museums. I've already done it... so I just hung out. Fun fact for you all! I went to my first club called a discotheque here when I was 17 years old on my Euro Trip with Mr. Hallen. My friend Andrea showed me where the club was and it definitely brought back a few memories!
Andrea and I
On August 30, I took a train to Pisa where I met up with my friend Jason from the UK. The following day we wandered around the beautiful city and of course went to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Pisa's train station and airport are also conveniently close by so it isn't a ridiculous cab ride to get anywhere. I really enjoyed this city and now have a world known monument checked of the travel list!
Arno River, same as in Florence
After wandering around Pisa, we took a train to Riomaggiore, one of the 5 colorful towns on the west coast of Italy called Cinque Terre. We felt like we had picked the best place possible to be at in Italy. I was really blown away! The towns were small and quaint and everything you imagined Italy to be. We had amazing seafood, wandered around a couple of the towns, relaxed, took a boat ride and kayaked the last day. I cannot reiterate how much everyone needs to go to Cinque Terre! It is so amazing!
Riomaggiore
Ligurian Sea
Vernazza
Corniglia
Manarola
Jason and I
Tuscany and Liguria is famous because it is gorgeous and the food is amazing! They have great seafoods, meats and cheeses in these 2 regions. I believe everyone must go to these regions or they are really missing out on a couple of the best parts of Italy. Michelle highly recommended!
"Beauty awakens the soul to act". -Dante Alighieri
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