Firenze

My trip started off with my plane being two hours delayed on Thursday. Apparently they didn't have enough snow-cleaning machines in Paris, so all the planes were delayed.

Thankfully when I finally made it to Florence (Firenze), MIch greeted me with a bottle of wine. I was starving as it was, so I got so drunk. Then she took me around the city a bit, walking across the bridge and to a couple piazza's and markets. Unfortunately I had planned to get there when it was still light out, but oh well...

Then we went back to her homestay for dinner, which was amazing. Homemade spaghetti, potatoes, salad, and some meats that I didn't eat. I also got to unwrap my new, amazing camera! So exciting. That night, we went out to one of the local bars, Lion's Head (I think). It was karaoke night, so Mich had to sing of course. The bartender/karaoke guy loved her, and bought her a shot. The bar was mostly filled with Americans studying abroad in Florence, but of course there were some super creepy, staring Italians.

Friday morning I woke up and it was so sunny! It was amazing. Mich and I started our day by going to the Academia, to see the David. We hit up a number of piazza's along the way, of course. They're unavoidable in Florence. Then we went to the Central Markets, which was a lot of leather goods and jewelry. After, we walked to the Duomo, the big famous church in Florence. After stopping for a panino (sandwhich, panini is actually plural), next was the Church of the Holy Cross, where Machiavelli, Galileo, and Michaelangelo are buried. Dante has a statue outside, because he's officially still excommunicated from the church. There were also some Christmas markets outside the church. After that, we walked to get gelato. Mich took me to one of the famous places in Florence, but I have to say, Berthillon ice cream in Paris was better. Much more flavor. Although it was awesome that the tiramisu flavor had bits of real cake!

We walked over to the Palazzo della Signoria, where the David replica and the Florentine government is. Then we walked back across the river, to a few more piazzas, down the big shopping street, and then home. On our way, an old lady fell and got a nosebleed, so we stopped to help her. It was really sad.

After an amazing nap, we had dinner at her homestay again, which included homemade gnocchi made from pasta and not potatos. So good. Also bread, spinach, beans, and more meat. So lovely! After pre-gaming, we met Mich's friend Connor at a wine bar called Naima. I guess they knew the bartender really well, so we got a lot of free drinks, which was awesome. After that, we went to Redgarden (?) and danced and drank there for a bit. On our way home at like 2am, it was raining, again. But we made the necessary stop at Eby's which is a famous shot place in Florence. The bartender looks like Einstein, and he's this crazy old man who yells at you while you do the shot. You bite an orange that is dipped in coffee grounds and sugar, take the shot that has Bailey's, rum, and other stuff in it, and then finish with a banana covered in poppyseeds. It was kind of awesome.