Besides my home in the Netherlands, Italy is the country I got to spend by far the most time in, and I adored really getting to know the culture and seeing everything. We spent six nights in Florence for the first chunk of our time in Italy, taking day trips all over some of the more northern parts of Italy and exploring every part of Florence. Instead of a hostel, Kristin, Jaime & I opted for a pretty nasty, cheap hotel, but it was worth it because it was just as cheap as hostels and we got the room to ourselves. Since we got to spend so much time in Florence, we really got to know the city, did everything there is to do there, and got to the point where we could make it anywhere without a map. It was a blast. So here are some highlights from the time spent stationed in Florence:
The Ufuzzi Art Gallery: I am not going to deny that I was
very resistant to go in yet another museum, but, boy, am I glad that I
did! It was one of my favorite parts of
Florence. We met up with a couple other Baylor kids in Florence, and went with them. Alex and this girl Claire that the others had met at their hostel made the experience awesome because they are both studying art history so they taught me a lot about what I was seeing and so I felt like an art history pro after seeing it all and learning about it as I experienced it with them!
The Boboli Gardens: This absolutely gorgeous, vast, unending set
of gardens made us wonder how heaven could possibly be more beautiful than our
reality. It was lovely to see the gardens and people-watch all those sitting in the fields reading, chatting, cuddling, or just hanging out.
International Church of Fellowship: As I love to do
everywhere I get the chance, I found an international, English-speaking church
in Florence to go to on Sunday morning!
It’s always amazing to see what God is doing in different parts of the
world and to be a part of the body of Christ internationally. It is such a good reminder of how big and how alive God is as I witness Him moving even in Europe, where
Christianity is considered a belief of the past. At this church in particular, the body of Christ was very open and loving; the pastor and his wife introduced themselves to us and were very friendly, and I played with a little boy a bit during the service, which was absolutely refreshing. God's presence was very evident during the service, particularly in the worship, and the message was a much needed reminder of how important it is to actively fight Satan, who is working against us.
Michael Angelo’s Plaza: Watching the sunset over the city was by far my favorite thing I saw in Florence. It was incredibly indescribably beautiful. After an exhausting walk (my feet were the tiredest they have been in all of Europe,) we made it to the top just in time for the sun to go down over the beautiful city. Here's what I said about the experience in my journal:
"We sat with a group of people our age on the steps and watched for a while, and I felt like I was really a part of something. A piece of the moment. Connected with everyone else who has sat on those steps and watched that same sunset. A community of travelers, not just a tourist seeing the sites with my friends. The simple beauty of a sunsetting over a breathtakingly beautiful city put me in the category of people who have seen that. Travelers. People who run around to see the world. People who yearn for adventure. People who get it."
Otherwise, we spent a lot of time eating in Florence. We took care to have pasta or pizza for every meal, and so I got the chance to form my own opinions about the Italian cuisine. After trying many restaurants from nice, long, fancy Italian dinners to fast food on the side of the road, I have to say that Italian pizza sure is amazing. There’s no denying that. On the other hand, I was not a huge fan of the pasta. I was a little disappointed—in some cases, it was comparable to Italian pasta in America: good, but nothing special. In other cases, like with spaghetti, it was much thicker and weird, and I just did not like the taste too much, but that’s just my opinion. Plenty of people adore it, so no need to get too discouraged.
Anyways, as I mentioned earlier, I got to take some day
trips from Florence to other parts of Italy as well.
Pisa!
Kristin & I spent a morning in Pisa, which really only consisted of breakfast and a nice walk through the cute little city to the leaning tower. The tower was crazy—even though I knew what to expect and had seen pictures, I was completely shocked by how real and strange it was to see it myself!
Borgo!
One afternoon, Jaime, Leigh & Drew decided to do a wine
tour, so Kristin and I decided to take our own, non-tourist-y tour of the
Tuscan countryside and vineyards. We got
to the train station and just hopped on one with an unknown destination and the
plans to get off whenever we found a place that we wanted to walk around! We got off at a little town called Borgo
about an hour’s train ride outside of Florence, surrounded by open fields,
mountains, and vineyards. We walked
around a small town that ordinary Italian people lived in without a touch of
tourism. There were no signs or maps for
visitors to find their way around, nothing was translated into English, and
everybody was a local. We walked through
the streets and a beautiful park and watched ordinary children playing, adults
talking, and teenagers wandering. We got
a feel for the town and the layout. We
stopped at a coffee bar for snacks and water and at a gelato place for a
treat. For the first time in Borgo, the
people serving us didn’t speak any broken English. It was so nice, refreshing, and relaxing to
be among ordinary people in a slow-paced little town where everybody was just
going about their normal Sunday afternoon lives.
Cinque Terre!
Cinque Terre was simply fantastic. This collection of five towns that make up one of Italy's most popular national parks along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea is the classic, picture-perfect coastal Italy. After walking around a bit through a couple of the towns, we decided to spend some time relaxing on the beautiful, secluded beach in Vernazza, which is found by going through a little cave tunnel in the town.
As I say in my journal, "Surrounded by mountains and rocks of the national park, the beach was absolutely perfect and incredibly beautiful and relaxing.... After laying on the beach, I went over to the mounds and mounds of rocks that lead around the side of the mountain right next to the beach and kissing the ocean. I climbed up and up and over and around the huge boulders until I was halfway up the mountain and far enough around the side that I couldn't see the beach at al. I found a few rocks that were situated perfectly to make a little chair for me and sat in the sun, completely alone, unable to see or hear anything except the roar of the ocean crashing against the rocks far below me. In the beautiful, perfect moment, I lifted my voice in praise to God and sang a few classic worship songs over and over... It reminded me the value of coming to God with nothing but adoration... praise and wonder in the midst of His power, strength, and majesty."
After a pizza dinner overlooking everything and reading for an hour or two, we watched the sunset from a private bench on the size of a mountain along a trail with a mini bottle of wine. It was an absolutely lovely ending to a perfect day.
Venice!
I found Venice to be magical. A city underwater; it was so unique. Taking a boat bus along the river roads to
the main square was absolutely lovely.
It was so fun to see ordinary people driving boats to get places because
there were no streets for cars. There is
not much to do in Venice as far as tourism goes, but I would love to live in
the city of water. We wandered around,
shopped, and ate Italian food, but the main appeal of the city comes from its
magical vibe of being completely underwater, which I think is best enjoyed
walking around on sidewalks along canals and from the boats.
That sums up part one of my adventures in Italy!
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