May 15th Day 5 Florence:
Kristina's FitBit Information: 11.47 Miles walked & 27,411 Steps
Just when I thought this trip could not get any
better, we arrived in Florence!
Another early morning took us from the Hotel
Atlantico to Termini Train Station. We made it to the train with bags in hand
and suitcases rolling behind us. The struggle of fitting American sized
suitcases onto Italian train luggage racks was a special kind of crazy. Making
sure that everyone had all of their belongings secure made for a stressful
train ride.
Taylor V. wrote: “We took the high-speed train to
Florence and my big (aka Beth) got crushed in the automatic doors twice before
we even fully boarded. We also didn't have anywhere to put our luggage, and the
conductor yelled at us for taking up a whole seat with our bags. I thought this
foreshadowed a rough day, but thankfully I was wrong.”
On the train, we met two lovely gentlemen, father
and son, who were traveling around the world. They were very funny and very
entertaining! It was amazing to hear the stories of the places they’d already
been and the places they were heading after Italy.
The high speed train was a cool experience as well;
it only took us two hours to get to Florence which is normally an almost four
hour car ride.
We were greeted almost immediately by our rather
handsome SAI agent Pietro. He led us out to the Mercedes vans that were waiting
to take us to our home for the next few days, Hotel Arizona! It was a short
ride during which Pietro explained to us that Tom Hanks and Ron Howard were in
town filming Dante's Inferno. I was hoping to "run into" Mr. Hanks,
but no such luck.
Let us tell you about this hotel. The brothers that
own it were absolutely great to us during our stay. Their hospitality and
friendliness really made this stay memorable, from remembering our room numbers
to playing FIFA in the lobby to the complimentary snack and wine our second to
last night to coming in extra early to put out breakfast for us the morning we
left. Undeniably hospitable.
Once we arrived at the hotel, we found out that
there was a leak and that some of us would have to room in quads for a few
nights, which was perfectly fine (we had all grown very close since we left the
States). While we were waiting for our rooms to be ready, the incredibly
hospitable owner/operator, Elton, made us all cappuccinos.
Feeling recharged, we took a walk around the streets
and the open air market near our hotel. The store windows had fresh pastries,
loaves of bread, and meats all hanging on display. All of the fresh food and
produce looked and smelled so good!
After we finally checked in to our rooms, we all
walked to Piazza Santa Croce where we would meet our tour guide after a quick
lunch.
We met Florinda at the church in Piazza Santa Croce.
Florinda is a walking, talking Florentine
history textbook and has a huge
personality to match. She took us through all the piazzas and around the sculptures
and down winding roads. Taking us through Piazza Santa Croce, explaining all the
meaning behind all of the statues and historical buildings, meaningful sites,
through all the shopping, Ponte Vecchio, and the Arno rive. The tour was a
great way to learn about the city on our first day, as well as an excellent way
to become more acclimated with the city so we could go back and visit these
sites by ourselves later on.
Kristina wrote: “We also saw the lucky pig and I
rubbed its snout for good luck. I also put the coin in its mouth and it landed
in the slot, which means I will travel back to Florence! I was one of the only
people in our group that tried it, and got it in!”
Kelly said that “it was great to hear about
Florence’s history which [she] admittedly knew nothing about before the tour,
and [she] loved hearing about the Medici family and the Ponte Vecchio. And when
[Florinda] said that Florence was ¼ the size of Rome, I loved Florence more
right on the spot.”
When the tour was finished, some of the girls went
back to the hotel and others found a wine bar where they got a bottle of
Chianti until our welcome dinner.
After getting back to Hotel Arizona to
freshen up a little bit, we all walked to the Duomo to meet Reagan, another one
of our SAI representatives. She took us to the restaurant Coquinrius. http://www.coquinarius.it/#filter=.home
We had fresh bread with oil and balsamic to start, along with an array of
appetizers: pesto wraps, pate and jam, cubed polenta topped with cheese, filled
zucchini bites, and cheese wrapped in mushroom, accompanied with a chilled
prosecco. Our second appetizer was one that was my favorite of the whole trip,
a smooth spread of goat cheese on a crostini bread, topped with apricot jam and
a mint leaf! Perfectly salty, tangy, minty and sweet. For our main course, we
got to try a serving of both a pasta stuffed with pear and parmesan on top, as
well as a think spaghetti like pasta with chianina meat ragu. Finally, we
finished off with the dinner with a delicious dessert of berry pie, cheese
cake, or chocolate cake. What a perfect meal to end our first day in Florence.
Kristina said that her “favorite meal of
the trip was this night where we had shareable dishes at first. Our dinner was
meat and pasta and stuffed ravioli with pears filling. It was so delicious and
unlike anything [she had] ever had before! At night some of us went to a few bars,
which was very fun.”
Melinda thought that “the food was delicious, as to
be expected. The highlight of the meal was definitely the bruschetta with goat
cheese and fig jam and the pasta pocket with peaches and cheese. Both so simple
and so delectable.”
Victoria wrote that this “dinner was a great way to
conclude our first night in Florence.”
Jennie had a funny, personal anecdote about this
particular day. She wrote: “this was the day my sister got married: 5/15/15. It
was just a small backyard wedding, since my sister really wanted the date. Had
she been able to do a bigger wedding I would have been the maid of honor. So
while we were in Italy I basically knew what day it was, but not the numerical
date and I hadn’t realized it was the 15th. I texted my dad that
night to let him know all was good and he replied as usual. Then he sent a
second text, “your sister is getting married in a few minutes.” Like oh by the
way! MINUTES! Meanwhile I’m in a hotel room ready for bed on the other side of
the world. It was comical, but I am happy for her!”
At the end of our first day in Florence, Taylor V.
realized that “Rome was incredible, but [she] could’ve spent the rest of [her]
life in Firenze.”
