my boss just invited us into his office for a drink. little do they know that i’m a super lightweight. 2 glasses of champagne later and i hope to keep it that way.
*trying to act sober*
I LOVE ITALY.
Though I’m super excited that today is my last day of work (OMG YAY NO MORE PHOTOCOPYING), I can’t help but feel a little sad. For some reason, the farewell song from Playhouse Disney’s “Out of the Box” keeps playing over and over in my head.
so long, farewell, to you my friend. goodbye, for now, until we meet agaiinnnnnn.
Tomorrow I’m off to Rome for the day. And then to Venice for 3 days, Paris for 2 days, and Rome again for 1 day.
Then, BOSTON.
ROME:
Roundtrip train ticket: €20
Ridiculously overpriced bottled water: €1
Leggings as appropriate clothing to enter Vatican Dome: €10
Ticket to climb Dome: €10
3-in-1 Ticket for Colosseum, Palace, Roman Forum: €12
Last minute hostel room due to disappearance (non-existence?) of the 24hr. Internet Cafe: €27
Traveling with a good friend who has a bottomless pit for a stomach and insists we stop every 2 hours for a 3000 calorie snack: priceless €30
Cucinelli better give me my paycheck soon.
Reporting from the food market in Florence, Italy — Today, I ate the most delicious sandwich I have ever had. No exaggeration.
MLIG.
Lady: Come ti chiami? [What is your name?]
Me: (processing what she just said to me) Uhhh…May
Lady: uhmay?
Me: no no, may.
Lady: may?
Me: si si
3rd time this has happened in Italy.
Let’s face it, there is no possible way to see all of Florence in one day. But if a day is all you have, this travel guide will help you make the most of your trip.
Start out your day by acquiring a map of the city. While I myself am a huge fan of spontaneous and map-free exploration, I would recommend a guided, free-map exploration given the time crunch. After all, getting lost is only fun when you aren’t alone at night. hungry. without a booked hostel. without any sense of direction. in a foreign country. surrounded by creepy guys.
One of the great things about most tourist maps in the city is that they point out all of the important must-see places:
Map courtesy of super-nice family standing in front of me in line at the Duomo.
For breakfast or lunch (brunch??), I suggest you head over to the mercato centrale (which is basically just an larger better version of Haymarket). The food there is super delicious and super cheap. I bought myself a proscuitto and brie panini on a fresh baguette roll for only 2 euros. Yum.
Walk off the food you just ate and head over to the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore and check out the surrounding area. You can climb to the very top of the Duomo and get a great view of Florence’s city center. Make sure to have proper footwear (you are in for a lot of walking and climbing):
Sneakers with leggings. Brunello Cucinelli would fire me if they saw this. I admit that I was a bit self conscious at times, but my feet thanked me for it at the end of the day.
In the early afternoon, make sure to check out the Galleria dell’Accademia, host of the original David by Michelangelo. There’s nothing like admiring a huge naked man statue for 40 minutes (20 minutes for frontal view, 20 minutes for the back view) to validate waiting in the museum line for an hour. (Really though. It’s amazing. Especially the hands.)
Next, head over to the leather market in San Lorenzo. Florence is famous for its leather, so leather shoes or bags from the market make great souvenirs. Make sure to bargain with the seller though because they will definitely try to rip you off. Here are some tips:
Bargaining 101:
1) Speak only Italian. Try your best to look like a non-tourist. Note: this may be difficult if you are carrying a Disney map of the city while wearing sneakers with leggings.
2) Even if you are willing to give up your left arm for the CUTEST PAIR OF SHOES EVER, make sure the guy setting the prices doesn’t know that.
3) Try to win some sort of sympathy discount by striking up conversation (good practice for speaking Italian!) with the owner and mentioning how you are a broke-ass college student.
4) What’s that you say? The purse is worth 70 euros? But since I’m cute you’ll give it to me for only 50? BULLSHIT. At the highest, demand a price of half of what the “discount” is. And if you’re really feeling confident, demand less than that. If he laughs at you, remain confident and walk away. 90 percent of the time he’ll call you back and take your bargaining more seriously the 2nd time around.
My first attempt at bargaining didn’t work out so well (my azn grandma would be so disappointed in me). But after some practice rounds with different sellers, I got a 70 euro purse for 15 euros. =)
For dinner, you can either sit down at a nice restaurant or you could grab a pannini and gelato and walk around. Check out the ponte vecchio (Old Bridge) and chill out to an Italian guitar-singer-performer trying to play american classic rock.
It is now dark outside and you haven’t even seen Santa Croce or the infamous Uffizi Gallery. or the other 304827428374 sights/museums in Florence. Lucky for you, there are super cheap hostels in the city center that you don’t even need to book in advance. 15 euros for one night. Unlucky for you, you probably didn’t plan on spending the night in Florence so you are forced to sleep in your sweat-drenched clothes from the day’s adventures. Oh, and that hostel? No air conditioning or fan. Falling asleep dehydrated in a 95 degree room can be pretty difficult. (I tried falling asleep at 10 PM with plans to wake up early, but I literally couldn’t sleep until 3:30 AM because of the heat).
This entire experience will be worth it in the morning though. You will wake up at 6:00 AM anyways because you want to get the hell out of that hostel and jump into a river. Or just find a nice caffe that sells cold water. Florence is absolutely gorgeous early in the morning, simply because there are no tourists (or people, in general) filling the street. Everything is really peaceful and you kind of get some alone time with the city.
—Julia, my friend from Germany, on Americansthey talk very loudly. and they wear white socks.
My roommate is leaving today at 5pm, but since I won’t be able to see her off because of work, we said our final goodbyes last night. Turns out that we both decided to get the other a chocolate cake as a parting-thanksforbeingmyroommate present. Delicious. She has also willed me her leftover ice cream in the freezer, pesto, and a buy 10 get 1 free gelato card that has one stamp on it. I only pray that I will not reach the point where I can redeem that card.
I’m going to miss having her around. She’s one of the few people I’ve met (maybe the only?) who actually appreciates the fact that I’m a bit messy (she says that it makes her feel more relaxed).
A new roommate is arriving this weekend. Clean-up time.
