A Few More Reasons I Love Florence

There are a ton of reasons to love Firenze. Ties just happen to be a small part of the experience. Who can honestly turn down some good Italian ties? I obviously couldn't. There are some other reasons that are more dear to me and made my experience in Firenze amazing.

1. Breathtaking Views

I am a sucker for finding the highest point in a city and just staring and marveling for quite some time. Our group has labeled this as 'parking' and it is my favorite thing to do. I don't like to feel rushed from place to place. I like to go at my own pace (which is usually slow) and soak everything up.

This night scene was absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't stop looking at it. I could have stayed and stared through the entire night until the sun crept over the horizon. I just love how the prominent and important buildings make themselves known and the rest of the city just glitters and glows.

2. Quaint Architecture

This was one of my favorite pictures. In my mind, it shows the evolution of a building. It's almost like it started out a lot smaller and someone just started adding more parts to it. It just has so much character and freedom. There is no defined symmetry or stress for everything to match. It was not created using cookie-cutter technique. So beautiful.

I love these buildings that are just right against the water. It's perfect for night scenes as the lights reflect off of the water.

3. A Large River

I have decided that every city needs a large river that runs through it. The trickling of the water is so hypnotic and relaxing. At night, it really works some magic and enhances any light that touches its surface.

4. Bridges

This is a direct bonus because of the river. Bridges are just so much fun. One bridge in Firenze actually has apartments built on top of it. It's also filled with jewelry shops on the bottom level. It would be so cool to have an apartment on a bridge.

5. Narrow Streets

Barely a small car could pass through a lot of the alley ways in Firenze. Most of the center of town is all walking, which is nice. It's just filled with people and shops and lots of things to do. Everything is just crammed in nice and cozy.

6. Artistic Moments

I took a picture of two bicycles. I felt artistic, in a city full of amazing art. Nowhere near Michelangelo's David, which I saw in person and was completely blown away. I really wish I would have just snuck a picture but I didn't. I was just so captivated and overwhelmed by how amazing it was. Besides, a picture would not have done it justice. I've seen tons of pictures of it and was not prepared at all for what I saw.

7. Friends

What would a beautiful city in Italy be without the company of amazing friends? I'm glad I had so many with me. They really made this whole experience totally worth it. In fact, if we didn't even have Italy as our backdrop, it still would have been totally worth it to just be with these people.

I just love these people so much. They all have made my experience on this study abroad so amazing. I didn't have pictures of all of them in Firenze, but everyone in our group has made this overall experience far exceed any expectations that I had. 

16 Reasons I Love Florence

Milano

Milan was so very interesting from the very beginning. We spent quite a long time bonding with each other in the metro as we waited for our passes to come. It was a great time, I thought. Anyone that knows me knows that I just love hanging out. I don't have to be doing anything to be satisfied with life. 

After we finally received our passes, we made our long journey to the hostel. This hostel was rumored to be on the grounds of a mental institution and the patients would just wander around the halls at night. It actually wasn't that far from the true either. The place we stayed in served as a shelter for people trying to get their lives back together–a starting point to get going again. Some seemed a little crazy, but luckily, we weren't bothered by them our two nights there.

The BYU train

 Waiting for our rooms

I just had some of the best times of my life here in Milan with some of my favorite people. But before I jump into that, a tragic tale must be told.

So, once upon a time there was a young man. Handsome. Witty. Delightful smile with a smolder to woo. He was confronted with two decisions.

Ferrari...

...or Lamborghini.

Either one could carry his one true love with him anywhere across the world. Either one was beautiful, fast and gloriously loud. Alas, he could only choose one in which he himself could drive around Milan. Our protagonist had never been faced with such a hard decision.

Luckily, the decision was made for him. 145 Euro for 20 minutes. Our hero walked around, admired and then left for some gelato. As it turns out, it wasn't so tragic after all. Gelato heals all woes.

Now, back to the good times in Milan. I spent the day with five lovely people.

left to right :: Kiely, Becca, Adriana, Jarom, Andrea

It was so much fun running around with these five. We had wonderful times taking pictures, gossiping, trying to go to soccer games and eating gelato (of course!). Some of my favorite shots are with the first three beautiful girls (Thanks Andrea for taking the pics!).

They were crazy! I don't know how they did it in skirts and dresses, but they did. So. Much. Fun.

We also went to the Milano Duomo. It was enormous and gorgeous. We even went on top and walked around the rooftop. It was amazing.

By far the craziest thing that happened was near the end of our day. There were tons of people walking around in soccer jerseys. We quickly learned that Milan was playing Barcelona that evening. We wanted to go see it. So we headed in to direction of the stadium and suddenly found ourselves on a bus. This bus wasn't like the other buses I'm used to. There were wire grids running across most of the windows. Everyone was wearing red, yellow and blue. We realized that we were on the enemies bus–Barcelona's bus. So, for the bus ride, we were totally Barcelona fans!

After a rowdy, rambunctious ride, we ended up at the stadium.

The place was enormous. We tried to get tickets with Becca's impeccably honed flirting skills. It got us pretty far into the event, but sadly never scored us any tickets. We headed back to the city, reminiscing on the events that had just transpired. Laughing. It was an amazing day. 

When Streets are Made of Water

Welcome back to my blog! I hope I didn't lose too many of you in my absence. I have been all over the place lately with lots of spotty internet. While I have a strong hold on the signal, here is a little bit of my last two weeks.

Welcome to the city built on water. Venice.

I'll just mention right up front that Italy is my new favorite country. I know. It keeps changing. Right now it is Italy. The amazing thing about Venice is that within the main city, there are no cars. You either walk or take a boat. Awesome. It was so warm and beautiful outside. Conditions could not have been any better.

The architecture was fantastic! I loved that the buildings literally touched the water and that there was a ton of Renaissance history there. Vienna does not have much Renaissance stuff but Italy filled that gap very nicely. The cathedrals and churches were enormous and beautiful. I was blown away by the size of some of these structures.

Now, we can't talk about Venice without mentioning the gondoliers. They wear the classic striped outfits and sing Italian, making any moment instantly romantic. I did not get the chance to ride one but that's because I am cheap (they are fairly expensive unless you round up at least 6 people) and I had not a romantic partner to get the full effect of the experience. Maybe next time. I did get a great shot of one of them.

I have this new affinity for bridges. This all started with Budapest. There are hundreds of little bridges all over Venice. I wanted to find them all. The best part was that they all had their own unique character and architecture. Some were old. Others new. Some long. Some short. And they were all fun to walk across.

I also got this picture of a real Italian! He looks a lot like me and may even be me. Maybe I was meant to be Italian. I'm pretty sure I was. I sure felt like I was.

I knew our week excursion in Italy was going to be amazing. I just didn't know how amazing. Then this scene told me how amazing it would be.

Just in case that wasn't enough to convince me, Venice gave me this. And I loved it.