En Reconnaissance de Paris: Tales of an Italia Spring Break, Part II: Leather Me Up

Ciao, readers!

I hope you haven't tuned out just yet because here comes Part II:

Sunday, April 17 - Wednesday, April 20 : Florence

The Bus2Alps bus left us in Florence with about enough time that evening to find our hostels and get ourselves dinner. Interestingly, the group of us had selected a place to stay that is actually an apartment. A little Italian woman owns it and allows travelers to stay for a reasonable fee. It was quaint and homey, exactly the way we liked it. In a way, it reminded me of the apartments we have in Paris and helped me see to an extent what students studying abroad in Florence probably experience.

Once we were all settled in, we headed out for our first meal in Florence. Based upon several different recommendations we were given, we decided to try Acqua al 2. We were told to try the pasta sampler, in which we would be brought five separate tastes of pastas served here, selected at random by the chef. Unfortunately, we must have gone about it all wrong because just wound up generally confused about who had ordered what and who got how much from each plate. We were also unsatisfied with how long it took for the plates to come out of the kitchen. Those complaints in mind, the pastas we tasted were actually very good. Notably, one had an interesting pumpkin flavoring to it-- very unique. Brian also really liked his dish: he had a steak sampler in which he tried the famous blueberry steak and a balsamic steak. I tasted them both as well, and we agreed that although the blueberry was very interesting, the balsamic was our favorite.

Come Monday morning, our best intentions to get out early were for naught. We ended up spending a confusing hour with our landlady who, as sweet as she was, could simply not understand a bit of what we tried to communicate to her, and vice versa. Once we finally got all of our minor issues and questions settled, we got ourselves lunch at a pizza place that advertised "free wine". The wine, of course, was free because it was not very good, but we enjoyed our pizzas regardless.

Freshly fueled by this pizza, we were prepared to face a tremendous challenge: the leather market. Entering the leather market is like walking onto a battlefield. Vendors are calling at you left and right, sometimes even grabbing at your arms. Bargaining requires a delicate balance of obstinacy and accommodation in order to escape explosions of sorts. But the biggest battle of all comes from within: the fight for decisiveness and self-control.

So lets just say we spent way more hours than I care to admit getting lost between stands, haggling ourselves into oblivion, and questioning whether our hearts would ache tomorrow after walking away from that last pair of leather gloves. Ultimately, however, Abbey, Christy and I all purchased leather jackets at reasonable prices. Unfortunately, Brian had a big struggle. He found two jackets that were just perfect, and when it comes to these things, you cannot just walk away with both. Alas, after all of these hours, Brian remained leather jacket-less.

That night, Gina wanted to take the girls to meet her friends who are studying in Florence, so Brian and I decided to go out for a nice dinner on our own. We picked a place called La Giostra, which we had heard many people rave about. Of course, we showed up at a quarter to ten and realized very quickly that this was, in fact, a very well-known restaurant, and there was no way we would be getting in without a reservation. Disappointed, I tried to think of alternative restaurants, but Brian put on his game face and marched right up to the woman taking reservations. I knew he wouldn't steal a stranger's reservation, so I didn't know what to expect. He surprised me, however, by stating very simply and confidently, "two, please. It's under Brian. I called earlier." Flustered by the fact that she had "obviously" made some kind of a mistake, the woman hastily added us to the middle of her list and had us seated in no time. I think I'll keep Brian around.

Anyway, once we were faced with the menu, we tried to remember the advice we had been given about which dishes to order. We knew that at this restaurant, we were meant to order a little of everything, and so it went as follows:
- caprese salad, to share
- shrimp pasta in white sauce, to share
- veal scaloppini in lemon sauce, for me
- goat chops, for Brian
After ordering all of this, we quickly found out that there was an enormous appetizer platter on the house. (I suppose the caprese salad was unnecessary.) Regardless, we ate until we practically burst, and every bite was worth it. The shrimp came out prepared as I have never seen it, claws and all, and the veal practically melted in my mouth. We sat at our table and watched the entire place clear out before we felt it was time for us to leave.

We woke up Tuesday with a day full of plans, but were met with a minor setback: Brian had contracted something ugly and had just broken out of a fever. But after medicating him thoroughly and listening to him insist he'd be fine, we marched out to see Florence.

First stop: the David.
Fail.
- Unfortunately, the line to see the David literally wrapped around three blocks. We were frustrated and disappointed that we had not thought to purchase tickets to get in beforehand, but at the same time, we felt that with such a short time to spare in Florence, it would not be in our best interest to wait in line the entire day. The plus side? Now I have a very specific reason why I must return to Florence one day.

Next up: Duomo.
Success!
- Somehow, we got very lucky in the moment we passed the Duomo because the line was temporarily very short. After only about a ten minute wait, we were able to get inside. It really is a beautiful church, but I think the real appeal is in climbing to the top and seeing the views of the city. Again, we simply did not have time to wait on that separate line (much like the line for the David) and decided to move on to our next location.

Third: Museo di Palazzo Vecchio / Uffizzi Gallery.
Success!
- We didn't actually go in to the museum, but we took a bunch of photos of the statues outside. Some of these sculptures were truly remarkable, and getting to see the fake David made us feel a little bit better about missing the real one. Sadly for me, however, this is the moment that my camera died for the day. (Don't worry, we stopped for huge cones of gelato to make me feel better.)

Fourth: Ponte Vecchio.
Wishful thinking.
- The bridge was nothing too special to walk across because it was covered with tourists, but I suppose I could see the appeal. Through a window, Brian saw the watch of his dreams, so we stopped inside for him to try it on. It was beautiful, with a mix of white and yellow gold, a sharp black face, and classy but understated detail. Priced at only 3,000 euros, it was a real steal. (All the more reason to return to Florence when we are billionaires.)

Finally: Giardino di Boboli.
Takes the prize!
- After all the walking and sight-seeing along the way, we finally reached the ultimate destination we had been going for. The Palazzo Pitti is where the Medici family lived in the middle ages during the peak of their major influence. The palace itself was tremendous, but we really came to spend the afternoon soaking in the beautiful weather and strolling about the park. We were well-rewarded for skipping the line at the Duomo because the views we saw from this location had to be just as splendid. We walked around and laid in the grass for several hours, and although we covered quite a bit of ground, I still don't think we touched upon the majority of the lands included in the property.

Eventually we left the park, satisfied with our day's adventure, but something was still tearing up Brian inside. How could he leave Florence without one of the leather coats he had found the day before? And how could he pick just one? Well, we made our way back to the shop, and as it turns out, the answers to those questions are: "he couldn't" and "by switching back and forth for about two hours until we were all about to collapse from exhaustion". (I'm only mocking-- it is a very hard decision-making process.) I know you're on the edge of your seats now wondering what happened, and the answer is, yes, he did end up picking just one. It's a beautiful long black piece that I'm sure will prove to be well worth the time put into the decision.

Finally, we returned to our little apartment, napped, medicated Brian, and split up again for dinner as Brian and I chose to meet a couple we know from school and the girls went to find Gina's friends again.

We went to Tredici Gobbi, which the two we went out with suggested. They have been studying in Florence this semester, and they said that it would be a tremendous shame if we left without tasting the rigatoni dish at this restaurant. We each ordered this starter, and I can tell you that it did not disappoint. This was the kind of cheese sauce that had us cleaning the bottoms of our bowls with our bread, even after we were about to explode from all the pasta. Finally, full again and trying to catch Brian's next fever before it started, we returned to the apartment to go to sleep.

Early in the morning, we awoke to catch our next train. Our stay had been short, but Florence had proven to be wonderful.

Next stop: Venezia!