gelato, gelato, gelato! and a leaning tower..

*Disclaimer: A lot of these pictures are stolen from my friends, Aly and Jamie :P

My friend, Jamie, and I on top of the Duomo in Florence :D

Between my last class and my last exam, I had about a week and a half, so I went to Italy with some friends! I had actually thought that I wouldn't be able to make it to Italy, so I was really glad that I got to go! Three of my friends were already traveling around Italy before I got there, but I flew into Florence with my Canadien friend, Aly, and we all met up there! 

As you can see from the picture above, the weather wasn't looking all that great when we were getting into Florence. And actually, the forecast had been saying that it would be raining for at least our first two days in Florence. But as you will see in my pictures, the weather was actually quite nice! :D We were really lucky! From what I remember, I don't think it rained at all during our trip, but there was lots of sun - amazing! 

first gelato -stracciatella!

After finding our hostel and our friends, we went to the Duomo (doesn't it look amazing?!). And we got to climb it - all 463 steps.. It was a long way up, lots of steep stairs, a walk along the edge of the interior of the dome (scary), but it was all worth it. The view was breathtaking, the weather was gorgeous, and it just couldn't have been more perfect. 

I didn't know much about Florence before this trip, but I was so happy that I made it. It was such a wonderful city with so much history and beauty. Out of the whole week in Italy, Florence was definitely my favorite, especially with some of the best gelato I've ever had! My goal was gelato at least twice a day, but I don't think it actually happened. I guess that means I need to go back :P

Leaving my mark on the Duomo construction :P 

The beautiful cupola  of the Duomo

View from the edge of the cupola - actually quite scary to be up there!

This picture doesn't properly show how steep these steps actually are!

The girls :) L:R - Me, Jamie, Rachel, and Aly

There has been a serious lack of funny face pictures in my year abroad... hmm tragedy

A stop in the Disney store!

Best strawberry gelato here!

Palazio de Vecchio

Americans in Florence (taken by our Canadien photographer :P)

Loggia del Lanzi

The Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna

We found free carbonated water! And came back many, many times to fill up our water bottles :P

Guillermo, me, and Rachel marveling at our wondrous find

Ponte Vecchio - oldest bridge in Florence with lots of jewelers on it

on the Ponte Vecchio

Artichoke and mushroom pizza! yummm

After lots of walking around, we bought some groceries and walked up to the Piazzala Michelangelo that the guy at our hostel had recommended. It was the perfect ending to our first night in Italy, watching the sun set over the beautiful city.

The next morning, Aly, Jamie, and I went to the Accademia where Michelangelo's David is. It is probably my favorite art piece of all time! There was a quote I read somewhere that someone had said that once you look at David, you never have to look at another sculpture again. I totally agree! It was perfection, and all the other sculptures I saw after that just didn't measure up. Though the Winged Victory of Samothrace at the Louvre comes in second. 

No pictures allowed, but it's too beautiful not to sneak a couple!

Two instruments made by Stradivarius!!! Blurry picture cause I was trying to be sneaky since no photos are allowed :P

Breakfast after visiting the Accademia so early (815am)

After visiting the Accademia, we headed towards the Uffizi. Thankfully my brother had given us the tip to book our tickets for the Accademia and the Uffizi online before coming to Italy, so we didn't have to wait to get in! It was a HUGE museum! We spent 2-3 hours just walking around it all. 

Birth of Venus - sneaky picture

Primavera - another sneaky picture

After the Uffizi, we got some sandwichs from a little shop that was bustling with customers. Then, we got some gelato and walked to Santa Croce, the basilica where many famous people are buried. We saw the tombs and/or funerary monuments of Rossini, Galileo, Machiavelli, Dante, and Michelangelo!

Funerary monument for Dante Alighieri. I spent the summer before my sophomore year of high school struggling to read through his Inferno...

Galileo's tomb

Michelangelo's tomb

Machiavelli's tomb

Rossini's tomb

the courtyard of Santa Croce - beautiful!

It was such a nice day, so it was fun walking around the city and seeing different things without having an actual agenda of where we had to be. If my year abroad has taught me anything, it's that I hate being a tourist! So being able to walk around relaxing was really nice. 

favorite gelato of my trip! - mojito on top, grapefruit on bottom

pizza in one hand, gelato in the other - how much better can this get?!

The last morning of our time in Florence, Aly, Jamie, and I headed to Pisa to see the infamous leaning tower. It was only about an hour train ride there. When we got there, we first stopped for some lunch and then headed to the tower. When we all got in front of the tower, we just started laughing. I'm not exactly sure how to explain it. You know it's a leaning tower, but it just seems even more ridiculous in person. And it's also interesting to think that a huge failure in Italian architecture has come to be a big representation of the country... 

hehe

best caprese salad ever!

remus and romulus

and of course, a touristy picture is needed

Anyway, hope you've enjoyed this post. Thank you if you've read it this far :P Bisous!