en route to Florence

Happy birthday, Papa!

Today we moved from Rome to Florence, with a couple of stops along the way. Wake up call was at ungodly 6:30am, but for some reason, I woke up at 5:30 or so. Weird…that means my jetlag will be kicking in soon (yeah, my body clock is weird…I get jetlag a week later).

After breakfast, we headed out for about two hours before stopping at one of those truck stop things…reminded me of MWR tours in Japan. =) Bought water, candy, and whatnot…and went back on the road towards this medieval town called San Gimignano. Despite the fact that it was built during the Dark Ages (there was even a torture museum that Chris and I wanted to visit but didn’t have time for…boo), it was really peaceful and nice. Of course, now it has stuff like restaurants and souvenir shops, but it didn’t feel like a place where people would be tortured…unless you count those steep hills!

Drive Beer?! What the hey?!

Got back on the bus, this time heading for Castello il Palagio. We got a tour of the wine cellar, which used to be a prison when the castle was actually used as a residence. MAN, THOSE THINGS WERE HUGE! If those broke open, we would’ve drowned in wine! Speaking of wine, we even got to taste three of their wines…which of course led Chris and me to buy nearly 100 Euros worth of wine and olive oil in between us. Yummmm, olive oil!

The castle's small but impressive chapel

After the castle, we finally headed to Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance. Upon arriving to our hotel (which actually has no internet access, BAH!), we had an hour to relax before our tour group met up for dinner. Dinner was nice; we went to this Italian place near the Uffuzi gallery. The chicken was a bit on the dry side, but other than that, it was decent. Our group did the whole “let’s walk in a giant crowd so the Italians can tell we’re tourists” thing and took a stroll after dinner. We went on this bridge that was built in the 1200s, which overlooked the Arno River. There was something about standing on that bridge, looking at the streetlights’ reflections on the river, that made me pinch myself and ask if I was really in Italy. It was so peaceful, and I loved how old and new buildings contrasted with each other yet looked like they belonged together.

Most of the group went to a pub after our little stroll, but we just walked around and explored the streets of Florence. You can’t get these kind of views in the States…you don’t get the awe that overwhelms you when you see a building that is too big to take in all at once, or a statue that is older than the Declaration of Independence. My pictures can’t do Italy’s beauty justice…I definitely wish you guys were all here with us, seeing and experiencing the same things we’re seeing and experiencing.

View from the hotel room

Despite the crazy (and I do mean CRAZY) drivers and traffic, the graffiti everywhere, the weird smells at random times…Italy really is a beautiful country. You guys know me, I love to observe people, and observing people in a different setting other than the US is great. I always wondered how it would be to live in a country where English isn’t the main language, or where we rely on public transportation to get around because it’s more convenient. What makes their lives here so different from our lives back in the States? What little things do they do that we don’t, and vice versa?

Awww, it’s only the second day of our trip, and I’m already in love with this country. =)