Friday, after getting 1 Euro pizza, Anna, April, Jen, and I wandered to Santa Croce to sit on the steps, enjoy our pizza, and people watch. This was entertaining for a few minutes until we all finished our pizza and a cold wind came through, so we decided to walk and what else? GET GELATO :) With our gelato, we walked across the Ponte Vecchico stopping to take in the beauty of the bridges in the sun light, and ventured into uncharted territory...the OTHER side of the bridge.
Not surprisingly, the other side of the bridge, in the area known as Oltarno, is basically the same as the rest of Florence. The streets were crowded, there was gelato on every corner, and tall beautiful buildings all around. Our main though process in crossing the bridge was to head to the Palazzo Pitti and walking around the Boboli Gardens. Too bad that by the time we got there and finished our gelato, it was closed for the day. It was only 3pm! So I pulled out my nifty guide book to try to find something else for us to do but unfortunately basically everything in Florence closes at 3pm on Fridays. Finally we decided HELLOO, TOP OF THE DUOMO! I'm not sure how but we have lived in Florence for a month now and walk past the Duomo literally everytime we leave the apartment, and we still hadn't climbed to the top!
We walked to the entrance and a woman was standing there telling us something in Italian about not going inside. She was mumbling something about the time and that it was too late but the sign said it closed at 5:30 and it was only 4:00. She turned around for a minute so I ran past her and went inside only to find out the it was in fact open. Only God knows why she was saying we couldn't go in. So we paid our 8 euro and began the journey to the top. The first few flights weren't too bad but then after the first major break, the stairs became spirals with room for only one person at a time. Then we made it to the dome but not the top which was cool since it overlooked the entire church. After this point we started up the rough/steep part. There was room for barely one person at a time and you were basically climbing up a ladder since it was so steep, meanwhile people are also trying to come down. I was scared to say the least.
We finally made it to the top and the climb was well worth the view. It was simply amazing to see the entire city. We were able to pick out all the spots we frequent to dinner and school and the street we live on! We stayed for a while just taking pictures and soaking up the view before gathering enough courage for the climb down. Even though we were going down, it took me almost double the time since it was so scary, I felt like I was going to fall forward and just keep tumbling from momentum.
Luckily, I made it down without tripping even once and we made it home safe and sound. We all laid around for a while relaxing before starting dinner for the night. It was taco night so I started on the meat while April cut up the veggies for our fixings. The meal was a little plain since apparently they dont sell taco mix in Italy, who would've thought? We were all stuffed afterward and headed to bed for an early night in preparation for our packed weekend!
Love and Miss everyone! XO
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