Ciao Firenze!

So for my first adventure outside of not so little London, I ventured over to Europe's one and only boot. The land of pizza and gelato, the perfect cappuccino and endless history--le belle Italia! More specifically, Firenze or more commonly known as Florence.

I had four full days to explore this beautiful city and I soaked up every second that I could. I felt like a Florida girl back at home in the 95 degree weather and couldn't have been happier to catch some rays while walking the cobblestone streets. The first authentic Italian cuisine I had while I was there.. an amazing Gnocchi Bolognese. It was unreal as was the carafe of white wine that accompanied it. But seriously Italian food in Italy is on a whole other level. Everything is so fresh and made with the richest ingredients. I could actually live off of the pizza and spaghetti and bread that is available to everyone all day everywhere.

Bonus tip: wine in Florence (and probably the rest of Italy) is literally cheaper than water. Rest assure, I had wine with EVERY meal. It's basically required.

Aside from keeping my taste buds dancing, I did a lot of other amazing things while in Florence. I witnessed and went inside the Duomo as well as climbed the 414 steps to the top of the bell tower, the Campanile di Giotto. I walked the Ponte Vecchio and spent hours in the leather markets bargaining for authentic Florentine leather goods. With my GE group, I toured the Gucci and Ferragamo museums and saw how big Florence's role is in today's high fashion. In between doing touristy things, my friends and I made sure to scope out some of the best appertivos, bars and clubs that this lively city had to offer.

However my favorite part of the whole weekend was getting to go up to the top of Florence into Tuscany to the city of Fiesole. This city sits as a part of ancient Rome where some of the first Italians settled into the land. We were treated to a tour of the city's ancient ruins as well as the best views of all of Firenze. To top it all off, we sat for a five course traditional Italian meal complete with prosciutto and melon, pasta bolognese and the most delicious chocolate mousse i've ever had.

Florence was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. It's compact in size but filled with so much awe-inspiring architecture, artwork and culture. Everything in Florence is Italian through and through and it was incredibly interesting to be submersed in a world that has maintained so much of it's original creation.

Grazie Firenze per aver condiviso la tua bellezza e l'amore con me.

(Did I mention I was a pretty convincing Italian. The language was tough but not completely impossible to pick up.)

Fino a tardi mates,

Jor