Stop 1 in Europe: Florence

Florence, Italy. We have both been to Florence before, and 2 things really stood out to us this time: 1. It was HOT. 2. It was crowded.

I (Kaysee) spent almost 6 weeks studying in Florence in 2010, and I never experienced heat like this. It was really hot, around 100 each day, but still one of my favorite cities and we had a great time. We even got to spend our time with one of my best friends and my roommate from the summer in Florence, Emily, and meet up with another study abroad pal.

Since we had both been to Florence before, we did not duplicate too many of the “major” tourist attractions. The Uffizi and Accademia are incredible, but we didn’t want to duplicate them when it meant fighting the huge number of tourists. But here were our highlights:

1. Climbing the Duomo 
Expecting a crowd, we tried to go early in the morning, but still waited in line for 2 hours for our turn to climb. However, as the Duomo is Florence’s icon, you can’t miss a trip. To enter the church itself is free, but the view from the top of the cupola up just over 460 stairs is SO worth the time and money. We were able to peer down at the center of the church from the circular walkway inside the dome, and had a beautiful view of the city, the river Arno, and the surrounding mountains. When is the view from the highest point in a city NOT worthwhile?
 

2. Piazzale Michaelangelo
This is a square across the river in Florence from most of the major attractions. It sits at the top of a hill and allows you to see the primary bridge Ponte Vecchio over the river, the Duomo, Santa Croce church, Palazzo Vecchio tower - it basically gives you the best view of the entire city. We went after dinner, bottle of wine in tow, and stayed to watch the sunset over the river. I’d recommend this over and over again - the view is magical!

3. Wine tasting in San Gimignano

San Gimignano was a new trip for both of us. We took a bus from Florence and arrived late morning for plenty of time to explore. The medieval, walled city is right in the heart of Tuscany and surrounded by vineyards and known for their wines. We climbed the highest tower Torre Grossa in town for a heck of a view, and then visited the wine museum for our first tasting, and stopped in local shops for round two (and some meat and cheese snacks!) San Gimignano produces Vernaccia wine - a delicious white that was so refreshing in 100 degree heat.

Of course we also visited the Ponte Vecchio bridge, listened to an orchestra concert in Piazza della Signoria, visited the Palazzo Vecchio museum and climbed it’s tower, and enjoyed all that the market Mercato Centrale and surrounding street stands have to offer.

The last thing that can’t be left out of any description of time in Italy is the food. Basically, you can’t go wrong. Wine is cheaper than a bottle of water and we had our fair share of local Chianti’s and Vernaccia (we even learned about wine ratings during our San Gimignano trip) but most often we’d order the restaurants’ house wines - which didn’t disappoint. Bruschetta is always a good appetizer choice (fresh tomatoes and olive oil!) and we loved ordering prosciutto and melon every chance we got. I’ve seen a few people stick up their noses at the sound of this - don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, I swear! For most of my life I didn’t even eat cantaloupe, and this combination is amazing. And of course, we had lots of pizza and pasta. Every type you can imagine is not only available, but is delicious. The typically thin crust pizza with fresh toppings usually included prosciutto and mushrooms for us. We also tried a few of the hundreds of pastas (gnocchi, spaghetti, cannelloni) with various sauces and meats. There are typical, regional food specialties throughout Italy, but in Florence we didn’t make any decisions around this, and still believe it just doesn’t get any better. We did top off a few meals with gelato - and if anyone is in Florence, I swear Grom is the best gelateria and should definitely be paid a visit.

For me, returning to Florence after studying abroad always felt like a distant dream… how cool to start off a totally new adventure in a familiar place?!