Penned by Alina K. A.

I didn’t know that I was going to Firenze. I only found out at the train station when information for my train in Florence was nowhere to be found.

This was the city that everyone told me I couldn’t miss.

“Oh you’re going to Italy? You must se Florence!”

It was on everyone’s top must see places, so I figured I’d give it a shot. It’s the home of the Statue of David and the Birth of Venus, but I’m not big on museums. That’s not to say I don’t love art. I do! That’s the problem… I love art so much that I want to take my time to appreciate it instead of bouncing back and forth between museum halls only long enough to see each priceless masterpiece for a few seconds. However, everyone I spoke to seemed pretty convinced that museums were the last things I should try to see so I put the birth place of the Rennaisance on my itinerary.

When I exited the train station of Santa Marie Novella in the city center, I felt like I had gotten out of the time machine in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. The city looked so medieval that it felt phony. All of the streets are cobblestoned and every single window on every building has the same exact brown shutters, and every single building was the same tan color. It only got better when I got to my one-star-hotel and had to climb up a 16th century spiral stair case to get to my room.

After getting settled in my chamber it was time to see what all the fuss was about.

We walked from our room to the Florence Cathedral, which is both a world wonder and somewhat of an eye sore because it is almost too pretty, with a massive free standing dome and ornate tiles covering every single inch of the building.

From there we made our way to the Piazza della Signoria, which is a square in front of another medieval architectural beauty, Palazzo Vecchio. In this piazza we were able to find a replica of the Statue of David and some other incredible statues from the Renaissance best, without a hefty museum fee and with enough time and space to really admire they objects’ beauty. Then it was time to eat.

One thing to note about it is that it is the capital of Tuscany, which makes it the capital of food. It was there that I had the best porchetta on the planet (sorry Rome.) It was also there that I had the best roast beef that was so rare and juicy that it was like carpaccio’s more delicious counterpart.

The flavors of Florence are only comparable to it’s looks.At sunset the whole city turns gold. A river runs under the Ponte Vecchio — a bridge that holds lots of little gallaries and is one of the most notorious Florentine points of interest. At the magic hour when the sun is setting, the river turns to gold, the riverside is the best vantage point for the spellbinding  of Florence.