Florence

My second of three Italian cities was amazing. It rivals Venice for history and has a commanding lead in art, while having much better food and the appearance of a much better lifestyle. As much fun as getting lost was, being able to easily walk the city and reach my destination by navigating from the huge Dome in the sky was a pleasure. The first day I arrived and met a guy and my hostel to wander around with. We stumbled upon the aforementioned dome, long one of the biggest in the world and a major accomplishment in architectural improvements. We ordered pizza at a place that sold it by the slice and by the pound. I accidentally ordered more than I intended and wounds up eating well over a pound of pizza, but at an incredible price and at great quality. I really didn't have to worry about food again until the next morning. That night a friend from Vencie joined me at the hostel and we made plans to take a tour the following day. A brief note, because I'm not sure where else to put this: this was my first truly amazing hostel. They served a free breakfast that included eggs, bacon, and unlimited amount of cookies. The beds were comfortable and the sheets were incredibly clean. The atmosphere was great and the layout was conducive to meeting other people as well as enjoying Florence from its terraces and patios. The first of my tours of Florence took me around the outer rim of the historic center. You'd think I would have realized this now by living in London, but old cities are so incredibly walkable, because they used to be inside walls. Such fixed borders meant that there were clear constraints to the urban sprawl that plagues American cities and I literally walked 10 minutes from palace to art museum to humongous cathedral. I had one of the best sandwiches I've ever head for lunch and ran into another friend Venice later that afternoon. I wandered around for an hour or two after a brief nap and planning session and then make the trek up to Michelangelo's Plaza outside the city where there is a duplicate of his famous David as well as an amazing few of the city. I relaxed there for a while before catching up with another girl from our hostel and making my way back for dinner. The next day I went on another tour of different sites and learned more about the Medici family by going inside the Old Palace that still functions as a municipal building for the government of Florence. After that I made a return trip to the pizza place from day one before heading back to the hostel to catch a train to Rome.