Florence

I celebrated my 22^nd birthday in Florence and that alone was wonderful J Florence had an interesting start. We missed our train and had to find open seats on the next train to Florence. It all ended up working out and forced us to have easy going attitudes from the start of the trip. Unfortunately, with getting little sleep and traveling all morning, we were not in the touring mood. Also, we were used to our tour guide who showed us all around Rome and this tour guide didn’t quite compare. She showed us the Duomo and we toured the Uffizi museum. We ended the day at a nice little restaurant where the group told the waiter it was my birthday and he brought tiramisu. It was a lovely birthday.


Saturday in Florence was my favorite day of the entire trip. We took a bus through Tuscany to a castle that we were fortunate enough to tour, which is offered only twice a year. A family currently lives in the castle and we were able to meet them and even cook homemade pasta in their kitchen. The parents of five siblings died and only one sibling wanted to keep the castle. This daughter started the business at 24 and moved to the castle with her husband. The castle was originally inhabited by the Pazzi family which just so happens to mean crazy in Italian. Right outside the castle is a windy road with extremely pazzi drivers. This castle is considered a small castle with only 40 rooms. After touring the castle, we had olive oil tastings, cooking classes, and wine tastings. Our tour guide, Roberto, gave us so much information about olive oil and wine. A few interesting facts about olive oil: Extra virgin olive oil should be between .1 and .2% acidity. Since it does not have to be labeled we really don’t know what we’re eating. 69% of olive oil that we buy at the grocery store is bad for our bodies (health wise.) Hands down it was the most beautiful countryside I have ever visited. 

On Sunday, a small group took a train to Pisa for a few hours. The weather didn’t quite cooperate with us, but at least I can say I saw the leaning tower of Pisa. One thing that was so odd happened as soon as we got off the train. Two people in our group were almost pick-pocketed. We were overly cautious in Rome, constantly holding our bags in front, and I guess we weren’t expecting it in Pisa. The little kids came so close to us and tried taking their wallets. After returning to Florence, we continued to roam around and went to Ponte de Veccio. Due to an earthquake in Italy, our train back to Rome was delayed and we arrived in Rome very late Sunday night.

The entire group became so much closer after the trip to Florence. Since it was our first weekend trip, we were still getting to know each other, and we all really bonded. Florence had the feel of Rome but smaller. We all knew our way around Florence by the end of the short weekend trip, and I still probably do not know my way around Rome after spending a month there. 

Duomo

home made pasta

the castle