Day 5-Florence, Italy

Before leaving this morning we were reminded by Ryan, that “church clothes” would be necessary if we wanted to go into some of the churches and historic places, meaning girls needed their knees and shoulders covered. This morning’s walking tour was a perfect way to start exploring Florence. Our tour started in a square with a fake David statue, which I opted to picture as the real thing, since it can take hours to see the actual David in the Academia. We finished our tour at the Duomo, which was beautiful and has two overlooks that you can climb to the top of for only a few euros. Our guide was interesting and informative; she told us all the history to appreciate Florence better.

We then had time to explore the city on our own. Luckily for Jen, Erika, Desiree and I, Dan had studied abroad in Florence, so we once again had our own personal tour guide. After grabbing bottles of water to combat the summer heat we went to the Biboli gardens. Outside the gardens was this statue with super long legs so after a few fun photos we went inside. Once in the gardens we kept running into our statue man and even more crazy sculptures. The gardens were beautiful, and something different than wandering through churches and museums. After we ran out of statues we decided to get some lunch and found this great place with air conditioning, a two-course lunch special, and a comfy couch with our table.

After a rest and maybe even a quick nap we went back into town for a leather and jewelry demonstration, which Ryan set up if we wanted to go. The girl at the leather shop was hysterical; she figured broken English would be better than speaking to us in Albanian. She told us all the misconceptions, which I previously had believed all of, and she showed us how to purchase quality leather products. Then it was on to the jewelry room, where I bought a puzzle ring, but if it ever falls apart I don’t think I will be able to get it back together, even after the demonstration. After a full day in Florence I was ready for a nap, but it was time to get ready for a big night.

Before going to our group dinner we took our official group photo at this beautiful hilltop that had the most amazing overview of the city of Florence. Dinner was in another beautiful location, and we got to meet up again with some of the Contiki groups we saw last night. To add to our Italian experience, a woman entertained us with live opera singing, and the notes she hit were amazing. I guess someone got inspired by the romantic singing because a guy on one of the other tours proposed to his girlfriend, right there at dinner. We began to dance and things when the dance floor opened us and the DJ started playing some music, the Macarena and even New York, New York. The night was just getting started because after dinner we went to Space Electronica Discoteque. Our first drinks were free and Ryan introduced us to a bartender whose specialty was Long Island Ice Teas. The start treatment continued upstairs on the dance floor when Kyle and Kevin hooked us up with the VIP room. It was amazing, I felt like a celebrity. The VIP room overlooked the dace floor with huge glass windows; we even had our own bouncer guy at the door.

After a night of drinking and dancing we took some cabs back to the hotel, but the night wasn’t over yet. Some of us got the late night munchies and Kevin found a street cart open down the block. **Travel Tip: To experience the local culture, look for locals, usually places like surrounded with locals will be popular and good to try.** Hoping for some authentic Italian street food we asked the guy what was the best thing he had, needless to say we were surprised when he said hamburgezas. So we went with the recommendation, and Kevin, Brandon, Simmy, Nikki, and I got hamburgezas. It was probably the worst hamburger I’ve ever had but it was a great way to end an amazing day and night. Tomorrow it’s off to Venice to wander alleyways and canals as we finish off the Italian leg of our tour, can’t wait!

Day 4-Florence, Italy

Although today we were heading to Florence we had one final morning stop…the Swiss Alps of course! We began our way to the top on a vertical railroad. We even had an extra traveler with us, a dog, who was brought along by some hikers. At the end of the line, gondola cable cars were waiting to take us the rest of the way up. At the top the views were amazing. There was a platform that hung out over the valley, so we checked out the mountains and it was the perfect place for group photo-op. After some more pictures and a little souvenir shopping we headed down the mountain to start our drive to Florence.

As we approached Florence in the afternoon Ryan gave us all maps of the city to show us where the highlights were, like the David and the Duomo. Florence is a tiny city with skinny streets so it’s not exactly made to have a Contiki coach driving through, so because of this we stay just outside the city limits. Contiki had dinner set up for us tonight so we headed straight to the hotel to get ready for a night out in a new city. Dinner was in a restaurant that reminded me of an underground wine cellar. As my first Italian meal of the trip the food was great, but it just kept coming and coming. There was salad, then trays of pasta, ravioli, and meats. To finish off dinner and get the night started Ryan and Andy got us Limoncello, a dessert shot which was really delicious.

Those of us, who wanted to stay out, went to a place called the Red Garter. There were other Contiki tours hanging out there too, so we got to mix it up with even more travelers. Tonight was a really chill night and a lot of fun, we had some drinks, danced, and there was even karaoke. The guy working karaoke was hogging the mic, but James and some of the girls were able to sneak in some Spice Girls, great throwback. A group of us then headed back to the hotel. **Travel Tip: arrange with your roommate who will have the key, if you don’t both have one, my roommate and I got confused and ended up not realizing who had the key; if possible leave the key at the front desk and whoever gets back first can pick it up.**

Tomorrow morning we have an included walking city tour with a professional guide. Ryan has been an amazing tour guide so far, but in Italy you have to be a professional guide in order to do tours. Time to get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be a day of exploring Florence!