Destination: Firenze (Florence), but first, the Leaning Tower of Pisa!!
After walking around Verona all day yesterday, today our destination was Florence, Italy. We would take the train from Verona, make a transfer in Florence to the train that would take us to Pisa. We would get off at Pisa, walk to the leaning tower: have a small photo shoot, and then get back on the train to Florence.
We left Paula and our cute bed and breakfast to walk to the train station at 7 a.m. This time we decided to walk to avoid any problems with the bus which would cause us to potentially miss our train.
Our train was scheduled to leave at 7:50. We had a map and were pretty confident we could make it to the train station with about 20 minutes to spare.
Well, because we had a map, it only meant one thing: we got lost. We should have known. We took a wrong turn and ended up in a disaster. At 7:30 we decided to turn around and walk the way we came from. Eventually we made it to a piazza with only 20 minutes until our train left the station. Desperate, we searched for a taxi and hoped it would get us there in 20 minutes.
In the taxi, with only 10 minutes until 7:50, we could see the train station so we told the taxi driver to let us out. He jacked up the price of the taxi two euro and we were on our way, SPRINTING to the station.
Side note: we were doing all of this while it was pouring rain.
We arrived at the train station and ran to the board to look at which platform our train was on and luckily we read that it was 15 minutes delayed, phew, someone was looking after us! We still went to the platform and were able to get on the train and rest for 15 minutes.
However, because of this train being 15 minutes delayed leaving Verona it meant the next train that we needed to catch in Florence, which would take us to Pisa, we missed. Thankfully on the train ticket it said that the ticket was valid for four hours after the original time, for instances just like this one.
Eventually we made it to Pisa and walked to the Leaning Tower. Surprisingly the town of Pisa, that we had to walk through, was very run-down, had graffiti everywhere, and overall pretty ghetto. I didn't expect that. Luckily after arriving at the tower, there wasn't as many people as I thought would be there, but the tower, in real life, looks exactly how it photographs. Of course we had to take the stereotypical pictures: holding the tower, kicking the tower, and pushing the tower. Then we were back on the train to Florence, finally.
I sat next to this old Italian lady (Nonna or grandma) who was so sweet and funny. We laughed and smiled at each other, not even saying a word. Which brings me to another point; If you haven't been able to tell already, the Italians are much more friendly than the Spanish. They always seem so happy and full of life, even the older ones.
After arriving in Florence, we got off the train and of course, on the wrong bus. We asked a few people and they tried to help us out but apparently gave us the wrong directions. An Italian man, about our age, who was sitting across the row on the bus from chimed in and us told us that he was going somewhere near the hotel we were trying to get to and to just follow him, so we did. After getting off the bus he pointed us in the direction we needed to go and then he went on his way.
We walked to where he pointed and it was still the wrong way, so we asked more people and eventually found our way. Even the people who didn't speak any English who we asked, motioned for us to show them the name of the street and then they pointed in the direction it was. Amazing and so willing to help.
So we walked in circles for a little while and eventually found our hotel: Hotel Colorado, how ironic :).
Hotel Colorado was nice and the man working at the reception desk was very accommodating as well. He gave us a map and explained where everything was in relation to the hotel. The hotel was in a GREAT location and right in the middle of everything. So far we're 3 for 3!
At the hotel we set our stuff down, used the WIFI and the map to plan out our day for the next day so that we saw everything in Florence, and then adventured out to a restaurant my friend who studied abroad in Italy said was the best in all of Florence.
Surprisingly, even though we had many turns, we didn't get lost finding the restaurant. We did, however, get there too early, so we had 30 minutes to spare. So we walked around the area, not to far from the restaurant so that we didn't get lost going back. We found a cathedral (Santa Croce Basilica), a huge library, and then the canal that went through the city. By this time the sun had began to set, by far the most beautiful sun set I have ever seen. We watched the sunset on the side of the canal and then made our way back to the restaurant. Walking through the alleys and along the roads was exactly how I had imagined Italy. This was Italy, just how I had always dreamed it being.
The name of the restaurant was Il Teatro, a little whole in the wall and family owned, but the best place I ate in Italy. I could have ate anything on the menu, it all sounded so delicious, but I decided to have bruschetta to start, then tortellini, and finally cheesecake for dessert. We ordered the house wine and had that along with our meal. If I could eat that same meal every day of my life, I would, it was that good. As we were at our table there were two girls, who were speaking English, next to us. Eventually they asked where we were from and we all started talking. They were from San Francisco and studying abroad in Florence and this was their "go-to" place whenever they wanted great food. They had just been in Barcelona two weeks before (the one weekend it was sunny) and absolutely fell in love with the city. We chatted about Barca for awhile and then, after stuffing our faces, decided it was time to make our way home.
Day 6: Firenze, you have my heart
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