Day 23: Flashback to Rome

Wednesday - June 9, 2010:

Today was a whirlwind day. It's like we crammed 1500 years if history into one day! It totally reminded me of our field trip to Rome (the day we walked so much I thought my feet were going to have to be amputated). It was painful, but it was completely worth every second. Today had so many hilights -- I'm going to try and hit them all.

It started with the best complimentary breakfast at the hotel. It actually had other choices besides croissants! I'm completely a breakfast girl, so if u start my day off with a good first meal -- that's usually a good sign! Our first stop in Florence was the Duomo.

This is the main building in Florence and for a good reason--it's massive and beautiful! It is made of all different colored marble and it is of gothic style architecture, so the detail is immaculate.

This is where I also discovered that the Ninja Turtles are named after famous painters. Raphael, Michealangelo, Donatello and Leonardo. How did I not know this before? I slept on TMNT sheets for most my childhood (and a few STNs in middle school) and didn't know this. For some reason I found this discovery blogworthy!

{The Duomo of Florence}

{My morning started with some bird poop landing directly onto my bag... fantasticcccc!}

{The marble floor inside the Duomo}

{Becca sitting outside the Duomo. I swear if you didn't know her, you'd look at this picture and think she was a gypsy}

{On Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) on our way to the Capucci Museum}

{Supposedly you're supposed to bring a padlock and write you and your boyfriend/husband/anyone loverish's name on it to signify love forever -- isn't that sweet?}

The next destination was... Far. Far meaning up some stairs and some hills -- of course! So we had to work to get to the Capucci Museum, but it was so worth it. Roberto Capucci is a famous fashion designer in Florence and the Capucci Museum had some of his creations on display. The fashion design and interior design girls were in heaven! He has an architectural element to his designs and I couldn't get over how cool they were.

{Some of Capucci's sketches. I want to be able to do this so badly--it was so inspiring}

{Some of Capucci's creations}

{On the terrace of the Capucci Museum -- what a fabulous view!}

After the museum we were all about starved (and we thought we deserved a good lunch after the hike to Capucci) so Kasi and I treated ourselves to one of the best lunches thus far -- a salad, a fountain Coke Zero on ice and a little tiramisú. It was a total tourist trap restaurant but we didn't care. Who are we trying to kid? We barely made it back to our group meeting spot in time, but we did! It's a good thing we did because our first stop after lunch was Michealangelo's David. I have heard and heard about this sculpture so I was so excited to see it in person. It lived up to my expectations--it was perfection, just as Michealangelo said. We weren't allowed to take pictures but a few of us managed to sneak picture -- just for y'all!

{lunch}

{While waiting for the rest of the group, Noelle and I ran into Sarah Maloney -- another KD with us at Auburn... small world!!}

{My sneak-attack picture of The David!}

Our last stop of the day was the Leather School of Florence. It was literally half way across town, so we were all exhausted by the time we got there. But once we met our cute tour guide, her enthusiasm was infectious and we immediately perked up! Again, I didn't know what to expect but it was very interesting!

{A student making a leather coaster with gold detailing}

{The final product}

{Our tour guide and her sister -- they were an absolutely precious pair!}

{Everyone feeling the snakeskin leather...}

After learning about leather and all the different types, it inspired us to go to the market! A few of us went together but Noelle and I managed to go off on our own because we had a common mission -- a real leather jacket from Italy! Let me tell you, it's not as easy as it seems. I got so stressed -- I was sweating bullets from all of the pressure! I didn't know there would be so many decisions to make -- black or brown, standing or rolled collar, zipper or button at the cuff. Who knew?! After looking and trying on too many jackets to count, Noelle and I both managed to fall in love with a jacket from the same vendor. We debated and bargained and almost walked away until the seller finally caved and met us at our lowest price. Who knew sweet Noelle and I, who are probably the worst pair of girls to try and bargain with people, would stand up for ourselves and not take no for an answer? I guess we pick our battles wisely, and this was a battle worth fighting! We love them!! I can't wait to get a picture up of it.

The market wore us out so we headed back to the hotel and changed before leaving for dinner. Earlier in the day we had passed this mexican restaurant and we all nearly flipped out we were so excited! So we knew we were going there for dinner. As we were walking there I was contemplating what woud happen if this restaurant turned out to be faux-mexican and not what we were expecting, because we had our hopes up real high! It would have been bad, but luckily we didn't have to worry because when we walked in the door of Tijuana we were greeted with the pleasant smell of fajitas, queso and everything Mexican. It was like coming home! Once the waitress put us together a table for 11, we gladly sat down and promptly read the menu thouroughly. It all looked so delicious, I could've ordered one of everything! I settled on a quesadilla and the others got the same or a chimichanga. I don't think you've ever seen a group of girls more excited about food! It was beyond good.. That doesn't even get close to describing it. After that dinner, I didn't care what we did I was so happy -- but the night managed to get even better! We left Tijuana and met some other girls from our group at this pub called the Old Stove and it was right infront of the Duomo. I followed the girls suggestions and ordered this cider drink I've heard all about -- a Strongbow. It may be challenging the Favio in Positano for the Best Drink Of My Trip award. It is like a mix between apple cider and beer... It's originally from England and it was so good. All of us sat outside at the tables and we had the best time! We made friends with some other American people that were studying abroad (they were from Ole Miss... I guess "birds of a feather flock together" really is true) and decided to go to this disco-tech club next. We walked down the streets of Florence to the 21 disco club -- want to know what drew us to this particular club? It has an light up dance floor. We wanted to dance on the LUDF! When we walked in the place (which was around midnight) we were the only people there (things don't get started until real late in Italy) so we took full advantage of having the LUDF to ourselves! We had so much fun dancing! Then it started to get really crowded around 1:00'ish and at like 2:00 or so, Meg, Anna Curl, Noelle and I decided to head back to the hotel. It was crazy how we were just walking down the streets of Florence like it was a common thing! When we got to the Duomo we deicded to have a little photoshoot since we practically had the piazza to ourselves. I loved it. It's times like these when I ask myself "is this really happening? Am I really here?" It's unbelievable!

{Kasi and I in our yellow, waiting on our table at dinner}

{Shelly, me and Stacy at our mexican restaurant}

{No big deal... just hanging out by the Duomo in Florence...}

{A few of us outside the Old Stove in Florence}

{Inside of the Old Stove}

{L.U.D.F. -- light up dance floor}

{Curl and I with our contraband cup...}

{Wandering the streets of Florence at night... it is so different without all those crazy Italian drivers on it!}

{Our Duomo at night photoshoot}

I would say Wednesday was one of the more tiring days but we powered through and it was a day to remember. So many good places, good pictures, good food and good memories. I love Italy!

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