On our second day in Italy, we had a nice breakfast at the Abazzia Hotel in Venice and checked out for our 11:30 train to Florence. The streets in Venice were jammed packed with people, so it was nice to take the regional train to the other Venice station where we caught our high-speed train to Firenze (Florence). However, this train had to have been the most packed and loudest train I've ever been on. On trains in France, people are given dirty looks when you answer your cell phone or are too loud with your friends or have noisy children. On this Italian train trip, we had huge families all seated together, sharing sandwiches they packed for the ride, toddlers running up and down the aisle, men standing in the aisle talking, kids watching DVDs without headphones.... it was just busy. By the time we got off, I was feeling a little overwhelmed... but we found our hotel very quickly and were able to check in right away.
We set out for the Duomo (easy enough to find, as it is huge). We were both in awe at the size and detail of the marble siding of the cathedral, baptistery, and campanile. We stopped for some gelato and pizza before going inside (I had the gelato, Victor had the pizza.... I wasn't really hungry for much more.... so either this was clue number one that I wasn't feeling well or it contributed to me feeling worse later on). The Duomo is equally as huge on the inside, but not very ornate. After a few pictures, we headed towards the Piazza della Signoria- a square with a sculpture garden in front of the Palazzo Vecchio (the fortress looking castle). The sculpture garden includes a replica of Michelangelo's David; the original is housed in Florence's Accademia museum (the original used to be placed in the square but it was moved to prevent degradation). We didn't have too much extra time to spend museuming this trip, so the replica was all we got to see. It was still amazing to see how large it is...
After seeing the sculptures, we headed towards the Ponte Vecchio, the first and only original bridge left standing after World War II. The bridge dates back to the 1300's and has always hosted shops displaying goods. Today, the merchandise is mostly jewelry- lots of gold, silver, and diamonds- fun place to window shop/ogle. We crossed the bridge and walked toward what we thought would take us up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, an overlook of the city. We climbed a few hilly streets and ended up back behind the Belvedere Fortress... walking along the old Medieval city wall of Florence. We eventually got up to the real stair climb to the piazzale. It was a sort of misty grey day, but we knew we wanted to see the view of the city in case we didn't have time or had even worse weather the next time we were in Florence. It ended up being a spectacular view and we took several pictures before making the climb back to our hotel. We were both completely exhausted and had very tired feet by the time we got back.
After a little nap and a quick walk around the closing leather markets, we were ready to try to find a restaurant our friend Nancy had recommended (Yellow). We found it and got seated in the basement where it was nice and cozy. I ordered a glass of wine, gnocchi with red cream sauce, and a salad, Victor ordered the spicy spaghetti and an omelet. We had both gotten through our first course (in Italy, this is the pasta) when I started to feel a little funny. I thought I had just eaten too fast and that my jeans were too tight, so I did the Joey Tribbiani unbuttoning of the pants move to enjoy my salad. I got through maybe 4 bites before I started to tell Victor I didn't feel very well and needed some water. The last thing I remember was seeing spots as Victor was getting up to get water... apparently, he heard a loud clinking of my silverware and a "donk" as my head hit the table. I woke up lying on a bench near the stairs with my legs held up by an Italian woman and Victor with a wet towel on my forehead. The woman was saying "Caldo?Caldo?" and Victor looked scared and confused.... I just thought.... where the heck am I?
Everyone in the restaurant was turned looking at me. I tried to get up a few times but would need to lay back down. The waitresses called for a cab and reduced the price on our meal since Victor didn't even touch his omelet. I made it upstairs and into the cab... but started to feel sick again when we got back. Poor Victor was so freaked out thinking we were going to have to go to the hospital. I just needed some salt in my system after our long day of touring and eating weird things.... I got to sleep just fine, but wasn't really back to normal the next morning. I left the breakfast table at the hotel feeling like I was going to faint again.... and then I was pretty much sick the rest of the day with some sort of stomach flu. Yuck.... not a fun thing to have when checking out of the hotel and training to Siena! But, we made it and I'll fill you in on Siena in the next blog post.
We came back to Florence on the last day of our trip. We saw all the same things, but in the beautiful sunshine. We even took the climb back up to the overlook. After sitting and enjoying the view for a long time, we went shopping in the leather markets. I now have a nice leather wallet and leather gloves. Victor got a pair of leather gloves and a new belt.... so a successful little shopping trip! We finished our day with an early Italian meal at a restaurant decked out in Texas Longhorn flags and LSU memorabilia. The owner had friends in Texas and is a huge American football fan, oddly enough. I thought I was back to normal.... but sadly couldn't get through dinner again :( Poor Victor has said it's been nice to finish eating a meal with me since we've been back from Italy....
And that's Florence! Enjoy the pics!
Hey Lindsay nice travel blog, keep posting...
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