Huge marble penises! Everywhere!

Tell me to describe Florence in one phrase and that has to be it.
Seriously.

I went to Florence this last weekend with a bunch of Marquette kids (Claudia, Zach, Chris, Stephanie, Michael, and Katherine) and honestly, words cannot describe it.

We got in and I was ready to catch the next train back to Roma. It was dirty and there was graffiti everywhere and we had to walk 3 miles to our hostel. I was less than impressed. Then I realized that that really wasn't Florence. It's like how the Tower Drive Bridge gives a less than ideal first impression of Green Bay. We walked and walked and walked and just when I thought I was going to collapse, we ran straight into the Uffizi, which is one of the biggest art museums in Italy. I had only done a little bit of research on Florence before we left, but even I knew that the Uffizi was huge! Then we began to see the huge stone penises everywhere. Outside the museum. Outside the churches. Inside the churches. Around the piazzas. In store windows. In the markets. Okay, I may be fudging the last two, but you get the idea.

We literally walked around the corner and found our hostel and because we were a group of 7, we actually got out own little apartment, with 2 bedrooms, a living room, a closet-sized kitchen and a kitchen-sized bathroom. We threw down our stuff and headed straight for the Uffizi because it closed in a few hours and there wasn't any line.

The Uffizi was amazing. I saw so much art this weekend that my head is starting to spin, but in a good way. I have a few favs from the Uffizi, though: The Birth of Venus (obviously), The Annunciation of the Magi, and Madonna con Bambino. Of course, we saw more stone penises. We didn't want to pay for a tour, so we just looked around by ourselves, but I, of course, creeped on a few different tours, the first being in Spanish. God, I miss Spanish... The second and third were college classes, like my Art in Rome class.

We were some of the last ones out of the museum and then headed back the apartment for some water/ bathroom use. After, we split into two groups: one went out for a few glasses of wine and the other went to find the best gelato in the city. Guess which one I did? Hint: Uncle Jon, you would be so proud! We must have looked at at least 8 different gelaterias before deciding on one called "Festival del Gelato." It. Was. Amazing. Nutella, chocolate, and tiramisu. My mouth just watered writing that...

In between gelato shops, we heard this weird organ music down a side street. Being curious, we naturally followed it into this dark church, Santa Maria di Ricci. No one was in it, except for the 3 of us (me, Zach and Chris), the organist, and this adorable dog that would come and go as he liked. It was straight from Phantom of the Opera. We stayed in there for a bit and it was just so cool stumbling on something like that.

We walked around a bit more and eventually ended up at Ponte Vecchio, which is Italian for Old Bridge. It's actually one of the most famous bridges in Italy because it has a bunch of stores on the bridge and because Hitler didn't blow it up in WWII. Yay, Hitler! I bet he just didn't want the antique stores to go out of business. I got some great pics of Florence at night there, too. We met a bunch of (American) girls who just came to Florence to study for the semester, and told them what a great town it was. We also saw this weird little Florentine statue with a gate around it where you put a lock on the gate w/ you and your boyfriend's names and that means your love will last. I thought it was cute... The guys I was with? Not so much.

The next morning we all headed to the Accademia, where we saw The David. If you are ever in Florence and you don't see The David, don't tell me because I will hunt you down and hit you over the head. We couldn't take pictures, but I'm glad because it wouldn't do it justice. It's just huge! It was so hard to imagine that it was once just a huge piece of marble. More stone penises...

We split up into a few different groups: one went to Pisa, one went to the gardens, and I chose to wander around Florence. There's just so much to see that I didn't want to leave just to get a picture of me pretending to hold up the tower. Uncle John Blaney can just photo-shop that! I stumbled on this huge outdoor market, which was really cool, saw a few more churches and then we all met up for dinner.

Ok. About this dinner. Have you noticed that besides the gelato friday night I didn't mention anything about eating? There's a reason. We didn't. We just waited and survived on salami and cheese until Saturday night because we wanted a good meal. And we did. (after wandering trying to find a place for a solid 45 min). We found a place down a side street and ate like I've never eaten before. We had lasagna, chicken, french fries, bread, and wine.

Of course, we were so full that we went straight home and passed out right after. =-)

This morning, the plan was to get up at 6 to go see the sun rise, but due to some communication errors and a little too much wine, we didn't get up until 8. We all split up again and I ended up at Santa Croce, which was just down the street. We were actually walking out of our apartment when I heard the church bells. I thought I'd take my chances and sure enough, mass started 5 minutes later. It was in Italian, but they had the reading, prayers and responses written down, so I could actually follow along. I was so proud that I pick out the reading from Corinthians: When I was a child, I thought like a child, reasoned like a child, talked like a child... and the greatest of these is love. <3

In the Basilica, it turns out Galileo, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli are all buried. Not together, of course... How's that for something just to stumble upon?

I did some more wandering, took some more pictures and then we all met at the Duomo before jumping illegally on a train to our train station. We just couldn't do that damn walk again...

Our train was delayed close to an hour, and at this point, our biggest concern was whether or not we would make it back to the JFRC for mensa (dinner). We strategized what buses to take, where the nearest bus stop was, what time mensa closed on Sundays. Thankfully, we made it and you have never heard a group of 7 college students so quiet as us as we ate as much free food as we possibly could.

On getting pictures: I don't know how, but I will finally accept you as a friend on facebook so you can see them!

Florence= amazing.
Feet= 7 blisters and counting (yeah, I didn't switch shoes like I should have)
Penis count= priceless