Flying Solo in Florence

Recently J and I have done a bit of traveling. Our first trip was to Italy, where I was working for the week. I took a couple days of vacation on the front and end of the trip which was a blast.

This was the first time I’d been traveling alone in a foreign country - so it was interesting to say the least.  J and I have "different" views on vacationing, and while I do understand the merit in planning things out so you can see certain things/do certain things to make vacations fun/stress-free...etc, I've always said - "If it were up to me, I wouldn't make any plans - I'd just go". So, that is what happened in Florence :)

Day 1

I got into Rome at 7am, took the train from the Airport to Termini, the main train station in Rome, and caught another train up to Florence. While waiting in Termini - I had a flashback of the only other time J and I had been to Rome, when I saw a McDonald's sign of all things. Long story short, J and I had came to Rome when she was studying abroad in France. We were going to meet up with Trevor, a buddy from IA State who was studying abroad in Rome, and we were going to meet at the McDonald's in Termini - turns out there are 2 McD's in the station…on opposite ends....crazy (we eventually met up, but it took a while!)

I got into Florence around 1pm. I walked around town for a good 2 hours looking for a hotel - so much for the not planning, haha. I eventually found "Hotel Spagna" which was a hole in the wall, but in the middle of town. Once I got unpacked, I just started wandering downtown Florence.


                                                                                                      View once I stepped outside my hotel:


                                          Italy - so much different from the UAE. Young people everywhere - I've missed the Western world!


I noticed myself taking a lot more pictures than I thought I would - mainly b/c I didn't want to face the wrath of J or my mom if I didn't take them :)  When I walking around there was this “bicycle drama group” that rolled through town….they were signing/speaking/shouting in Italian…it was odd to say the least.






                                                                                     This next group of photos is what I like to call "when art gets weird":

Day 2

My second day in Florence I took a 2-hour bus ride to San Gimignano - this might have been the most fun I had in Italy. It was fun to get out of the city center and see some authentic green landscape. San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany. It is mainly famous for its medieval architecture especially its towers, which may be seen from several kilometers outside the town (thank you Wikipedia). I did quite a bit of walking around the town that day – walked up a couple towers, and then down into some vineyards – it was a fun day.

                                                                                                                                                   yummmmm, there was a mad rush to get some Gelato.




                        Napped on these church steps after lunch.                                                                            Total Mom and J type store….
                                                                                                                                                                            Hiking “down” out of town.

View from the tallest tower in town.

              J thought this pic was funny (and yes, I took it…)                                                  This crucifixion picture in the church was interesting to me.

Da

Day 3

Day 3, in Florence, started with a jog around town. Breakfast. A little site seeing, then catching a train back down to Rome. The train options were a 1 hour; 20 min train ride (cost 45 Euros) and a 4 hour ride (cost 16 Euros)... in the Grandpa Doyle spirit of frugality, I took the 4 hour train and caught up on some rest.



When I got in Rome, I walked to my hotel which about 10 min from Termini which was sweet.  Work came early on Monday am!  Here are a couple pics from Rome before J and our friend M came out later in the week.

                                                                                                 Walking to the Spanish Steps.

                                                                                                                 View from the top of the Spanish Steps.

                                                                                                           Dinner with some work colleagues.