Oh my God, Florence

If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all.

I had a lot of trouble writing this post because I left Florence with so many stories and so much to say. I ended up with 5 and a half pages worth of raw material based off a very long series of notes in my phone. It took me a long time to decide what to leave in and take out and also how to tell it. If the final post is a tasty sausage, then this mind-numbing process of cutting, rewriting, condensing, and rearranging is the ugly process of grinding up all the nasty bits of the animal no one really wants to know about. Anyone who tells you writing is always easy and fun is either a bad writer or a liar.
          I originally wasn't planning on going to Florence, but my classmates who had visited absolutely raved about it, so I decided to check it out as a part of my trip to Bologna to see a baseball game. My day and a half in Florence can be summed up with the phrase "Oh my God, Florence." Why? Because, depending on how it's said, it can express either awe or frustration, both of which I felt a lot.

         The trip began when I realized I had bought a ticket to Florence's Rifredi station and not the main Santa Maria Novella one. The Rifredi station is small, run down, and in the middle of nowhere; 3 miles from the center of town. It was a 30 minute bus ride to get anywhere close to town. I walked through town and headed across the river to my hostel. As I walked down the street, I felt like I was in slightly cleaner version of Rome. I was a little disappointed because I expected it to be more different, but I obviously hadn't seen the main area of town yet, so I wasn't going to pass judgment.

          I walked past a gelato place called La Carraia with tons of "Best of" stickers in the window and absolutely no line. I hadn't had lunch yet, but I decided I need to do this. This was probably the best gelato I've ever had. I had Tiramisu and chocolate cookie flavor and it blew me away in both taste and texture. It was so light and creamy and flavorful. It more than made up for my day to that point.

          I then checked in to my hostel, which took a lot longer than I wanted, and went to get lunch at a place called Sandwichic that TripAdvisor rated the #1 restaurant in Florence. TripAdvisor was right. I ordered a sandwich with mortadella, caramelized onions, and cream cheese. I swear to you all, this was the best sandwich I’ve ever had. One bite and I was in heaven. This sandwich was able to reverse all the negative emotions I had from being tired and really hungry. If you’re ever in Florence, you NEED to go to Sandwichic. I cannot recommend it enough. This was the sandwich to end all sandwiches, in my eyes. 

           I then began to wander around town a bit and did some sightseeing and souvenir shopping. I eventually made my way to the town's big Cathedral and its famous dome. I was a bit of a bad traveller and hadn't researched the sights that well, assuming I'd just wander, so I didn't really know it existed. Imagine having no prior knowledge and casually turning a corner and seeing this:

Needless to say, I was stopped in my tracks. The Cathedral di Santa Maria del Fiore was one of the most amazingly beautiful buildings I've ever seen. Even coming off the immense high from Sandwichic, it amazed me. I spent the next 30 minutes slowly walking around this enormous building and taking in the art. The designs were so intricate, detailed, and colorful. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. This is the moment I finally started to feel Florence. I was like, "Yes, baby! THIS is art. THIS is Florence!" Sadly, by the time I got there, the Cathedral was closing for the day, so I didn't get a chance to go in, but my day had still been made.

I mean, just look at this thing. HOLY CRAP, MAN.

          Unfortunately, walking around the Cathedral was the high point of my day. My time in Florence was plagued by minor annoyances and bad luck, and my day went downhill from here.
           It had been raining on and off all day. I forgot to bring my umbrella, so vendors on the street would single me out and try to sell me one, but I kept stubbornly ignoring them and walking past with an attitude of “I’m a strong, independent tourist who don’t need no umbrella." It never rained hard for more than about 15 minutes and I didn't feel like it had gotten bad enough to spend my money on one, especially since I thought I had one back in Rome.

           You know how the old saying goes, right? "Pride comes before a fall." After seeing a couple cool churches, I crossed the river and headed towards Piazza Michelangelo. I took this picture while crossing the river: 

See that gray mist off in the distance? That should've been my warning. 
         I walked along a beautiful green parkway for a while, but couldn't find the entrance, so I decided to turn back and try again tomorrow because it was getting dark and I was hungry and tired.

"Mostly cloudy" my ass

I am perfectly ok with the
events that are unfolding

         It then started to rain. Since I was on a parkway and not in the city, there was no cover anywhere nearby. I found refuge under a tree, thinking I’d just wait out the worst of it, since it provided just enough cover to make it worthwhile. The rain only got harder. I got drenched to say the least. I finally decided the only way to get out of this was to leave and try to find some shelter. Thankfully, there was a bus station not too far away. I waited it out and eventually made it back to my hostel. 
          I dropped my stuff off and decided to go out for pizza. I was so tired and done with being wet that caved in and bought an umbrella from my hostel. It was really ugly, but I was beyond the point of caring.

           I got some pretty good pizza at a place called Gusta Pizza my classmates had recommended and returned to the hostel. I did some writing, showered, and got ready for a good night’s sleep, something I hadn't had in a few days. I came back from the shower and put the key in the door to unlock it and this happened:

Who does this even happen to?? This was the point I decided someone or something in Florence had it out for me. I can accept getting caught in the rain or arriving at the wrong train station, but this is too ridiculous to happen by chance. I told the manager and he said it wouldn't be a problem if the other half of the key wasn't in the door. It was. Of course it was. He explained that as long as the key was stuck in the door, it could only be opened from the inside. Since it was 1:20 AM, everybody was asleep. I was locked out. The manager offered another room, but a girl who was also locked out had an early train to catch, so we had to get into the room. We resorted to knocking. The manager insisted he do it because he was really concerned about waking up too many people. After a minute or two, a bleary-eyed guy with messy blond hair and pajama pants came and opened the door for us and went immediately back to his bed, even before we could thank or apologize to him. I felt so bad for the manager the whole time. He had this look of extreme guilt on his face and no one should have to deal with a crazy situation like this at 1 in the morning while trying to keep all the guests happy. When I checked out, he and I shared a glance of apologetic recognition.

The inside of SS Annunziando

         I got on the road by late morning and pumped myself up for the city. The rain was gone, it was beautiful and sunny, and I was going to go straight to the National Gallery and see some famous art and it was going to be great. Public museums are free in Italy on the first Sunday of the month, so I had intentionally put off the museums for the second day so I could see these masterpieces for free.
         Unfortunately, it was May 1st: Worker's Day, meaning all the public museums, including the National Gallery, were closed. "It'll be open tomorrow," they kept saying, but today was my last day in Florence. Just my luck.
          Though I was discouraged, I wandered around the neighborhood found one of my favorite churches in Italy, SS Annunziando, and a cool market to explore, so it wasn't all bad. 

         I resisted temptation to go back to Sandwichic and decided to try lunch at a place called Il Bufalo Trippone. It was incredible. It wasn't quite as good as Sandwichic, but definitely in the same league. The sandwich I had had salami, cheese, and dried tomato sauce. It was one of those meals where you take one bite and you nod your head and say "yep" several times because it's that much on point. I don’t know how Florence manages to make sandwiches so incredibly simple yet insanely delicious. I didn’t think this level of delicious was possible with only a few ingredients. I'd go back to Florence for a week if all I did was eat sandwiches and gelato.

            I then got in a big line outside the Cathedral to go up in the bell tower, which someone had recommended I do. I waited about an hour and as soon as I got in, I decided to cut the crap and head straight for the top. The bell tower has no elevator, so you have to take the stairs. A LOT of stairs. And you’re climbing up staircases that are dark, steep, and barely wide enough to fit two people. Often times, one person would have to stand to the side while another went the opposite direction. I'm glad I'm not claustrophobic and I'm also glad I'm in reasonably good shape because both those things would've otherwise made the climb up the bell tower absolute hell. 

           The climb was more than worth it though. I can’t stress how gorgeous the views were. You can see all of Florence and the surrounding countryside, especially on a clear day like it was when I was there. You also get a pretty much uninterrupted 360 degree view. The countryside was especially beautiful. It looked like something out of a postcard. I made my way around the tower 2-3 times just taking in the scenery and appreciating the beauty of the city. This was far and away the best thing I did in Florence. If you ever go, you need to do this regardless of how big of a line there is.

Actual city or Windows XP background with a city in front? You decide

          I came down exhilarated and since the ticket I bought got me into both the tower and the Cathedral, I was excited to go inside. I got in a line for it, but when I showed the security lady my ticket, she turned me away, saying it was closed. I didn't know enough Italian to argue with her or figure out how you could get in, so I decided to more or less call it a day. I got some more gelato, headed back to my hostel, and rested for a few minutes before catching a train back to Rome.

        Florence's final vengeance came after I returned to Rome. It started to rain when I was out exploring. Remember that umbrella I bought at the hostel? This is what happened to it in about 45 minutes on its second day of use. I call it "Degradation of an Umbrella in Three Parts," a comment on the fragility of the human condition:

This was the worst excuse for an umbrella I've ever seen in my entire life. Calling it a cheap, worthless piece of crap would be giving it far too much credit. I expect umbrellas to flip inside out when there's a decent amount of wind, but this thing legitimately flipped in a slight breeze and broke in the process. I could blame this on Rome because I was in Rome, but since I bought the umbrella in Florence, it was definitely Florence's fault.

         After getting home and and shaking off the exhaustion and frustration, I was left with mixed feelings about the city. On one hand, it's gorgeous, has some of the best art and architecture you'll find anywhere and has wine, sandwiches, and gelato worth dying for. On the other hand, the city is extremely touristy. Walking through Florence, I found myself wondering if anybody actually lived there. In Rome, Naples, and Bologna, if you leave the main streets, you find a residential neighborhood. with a local cafe, people's laundry would be drying on the railings, and you'd see people come and leave their homes in cars or on bikes. Florence wasn't like this. Even when I got off the beaten path a little, it seemed like the "residential" neighborhoods were mostly made up of hostels or student residences. The Italians in the town seemed like either visitors or workers and I got the sense none of them lived in town. I felt like for a city that has such a massive cultural heritage that it didn't seem to have much, if any, local culture. 

          This may not matter to some people, but it does to me. When I travel, I like seeing the sights and eating the food, but what I love is being in a place and feeling its history and culture flow through me by doing things that I can't anywhere else and trying to have an "authentic" experience (for example, when I was in Bologna, I made sure to get authentic Bolognese sauce). I didn't feel like I could do this in Florence. While I'll associate the amazing restaurants with Florence, the food and experiences didn't seem like they were part of the town's culture or heritage. The sights are beautiful and the food is incredible, but it felt like there was little to nothing beneath the surface. Looks dazzle, but I'm not going to fall in love unless there's something more there.
           Having said that, I'm glad I went to Florence. It was a beautiful, historic city and the food was great. If given the chance, I think I'd go back to Florence for a day to eat and to see the sights I missed, but I don't think I would go out of my way to visit. However, just because I didn't fall in love with it shouldn't discourage anyone from visiting. I know several people who did and loved everything about it, and even I think it's worth going just to see the sights and say you did.