What Shall I Say About the Irish?: Italy Day Two- Firenze

Day two in Italy started out in Roma. We got up early to head over to the Vatican Museum so we could see the Sistine Chapel before we caught our 11:15 train to Firenze. Little did we realize that you have to get up REALLY REALLY early in order to not have much of a wait. We ended up in a line that took us about an hour or so to get through that wrapped around the walls of Vatican City. The whole time we were in line people kept trying to come up to us an tell us that we were "too beautiful to stand in line" and that they would "take us to the agency" where we could get private tours for 20euro a person. We declined their offers over and over again and even resulted to the ever charming "WE LOVE LINES" that Erin blurted out. As we rounded the last stretch of the line, I heard my name being called. Coming down the street were Chyna, Chelsea, and Janelle! They were my hostel-mates when I was in Paris with Sam, Melon, and Ashleen. It was so cool to run into them in Italy. I knew they were going to be there at the same time as me, but I never thought we would actually see each other. Just the week before when we were in Dublin we ran into them as we walked out of our hostel.

Inside the Vatican Museum half of the group went to check out bags while the others started towards the stairs to buy tickets. We were stopped when we reached the stairs by a security guard. He told us to wait for our friends because today was the last Sunday of the month so the museum was free! It was our lucky day! Saving 15euro! Because we didn't have a lot of time, we went through the museum relatively fast so that we could see the Sistine Chapel. I was in awe when I walked into the chapel. You could spend a whole day just looking at the paintings in there. We tried to pick out all of the murals we knew that were scenes from the Bible. I'm so glad we took the time to go to the museum. Hopefully one day I will be back again and be able to spend an entire day there.

(One of the beautiful ceilings in the Vatican Museum)

Upon arriving in Firenze, the group of us went straight to the Duomo. The dome itself was not open to climb since it was a Sunday, but we were able to walk around the church and light candles for our friends and family back home. Outside, there was a marathon being run by Italians from all over the country. The race went right around the Duomo so we were able to catch some of the action and applaud the runners!

(Inside the Duomo)

(Lighting candles)

(Outside the doors)

(Full view)

(The girls at the Duomo)

After getting a gelato next to the Duomo we went to find our hostel- The Plus Florence. This was a really cool hostel! Not as amazing as the Generator in Dublin, but nevertheless, fabulous. We had our own room with a private bathroom and a door out onto the balcony.

We settled in before moving along to do some more site seeing. Our first stop was to see The David. I'm not sure if it was completely worth 11euro to see The David... but I guess it was one of those things that you just have to do while you are in Italy. It was fascinating to see and I loved reading about the history of the sculpture. The museum also had a lot of other 'possible' works by Michelangelo. It's incredible to think that he carved all of these statues by hand and had them turn out so precise.

(The girls at the pink David outside the museum)

The six of us wandered through town as it got dark outside looking at all of the lights on the streets. They start Christmas early in Europe since they don't have Thanksgiving. Everything was so pretty and lit up! We headed towards the Ponte Vecchio, checking restaurant menus along the way. As soon as we saw Mama Anna's we knew we had to go. It was a cute little restaurant on the other side of the Ponte Vecchio along the main road. We sat outside by the heaters and were waited on by a little old woman. Our dinners were, yet again, very delicious. I had a seafood pasta that had everything from clams, to mussels, to shrimp, and even baby octopus in it. YES. I ate baby octopus. It tastes a lot like squid... but a bit squishier. I refused to eat the little legs because they had the little suction-cuppy things still attached and it looked weird. At the end of the meal, Mama Anna came out and said hello to us. She was such a nice lady and had her chef's hat resting lopsided on her head. We told her we loved her dinner and thanked her over and over again.

(Street art in Firenze)

(Me and Allie in the streets of Firenze)

(Seafood Pasta at Mama Anna's)

(Denis loves food)

(Signing the Ponte Vecchio)

Our walk continued up to the Piazzale Michelangelo (with a quick stop to sign our names on the Ponte Vecchio). It was quite a hike to get up there, but well-worth it. The view of the city was spectacular. Everything was lit up below us and glowing in the clear night. We took pictures with the Bronze David statue where Denis was the David and Allie and I were the statues on either side of him. They came out beautifully (see below)!