Ciao from Florence!

Florence

Buonjourno  from Florence!
I'll leave the deets of the train out because they're no fun (basically the train was 2 hrs late. I got super anxious and worried on it around 3am with all the lurching and sabrina wasn't there for me to wake up and make sing to me!!). While waitig in the station, I met a girl from cornell who grew in Westchester (Larchmont) and is bffs with Kaitlin Atlas at school! Small world. I did, true to form, make friends with my cabin mates: the two adorable and anciently old brothers from Sicily who told me their life stories. I made friends with the woman who needed me to translate her problem with her room into French. She had diabetes and needed a single room so she could inject herself and had paid extra for this! How dare they put her in a room with other women! I mean really, she's 57..it's not college dorm life and she deserved a single! Obviously this was an awkward translation to do for the conductor...

I did everything in Florence today: Duomo, Accademia, Bargello, the uffizi in it's entirety plus special Caravaggio exhibit (nope! Didn't skip one painting! Dad would've died-it's all renaissance through Michelangelo), Dante's house, Pontiac Vecchio, Palace de Vecchio, 3 gelatos, leather market ( present for mommy!), Santa Croce, and last but DEFINITELY not least, Santa Maria Novella. Longest day ever but I've decided it's easier to travel alone because you can accomplish as much as you want! 

I didn't wait anywhere...I guess Tuesdays aren't that popular-the city was basically deserted. At one point, the guard laughed at me bc I got all excited that it was just me and Botticelli! Face to face! I also haggled beyond brilliantly at the leather market if I don't say so myself...the guy said it was a Christmas present hahaha. Score for the keester s!

Florence was great but I stand by my word even stronger-I could only live in Paris or New York (or Tel Aviv for half the year..I need seasons). And oddly enough, unlike everyone else, I like Parisians better than the Italians in Florence. I get a warmer feel but that might be a language thing. Conpared to Sicily, Italians were nicer there than in Florence. However, I just like the Paris culture overall. Whatcha gonna do-guess I'm a francophile! 

Even though I don't know that I have a need to ever go back to Florence,  What a wonderful city! Art everywhere..it truly was my Renaissance textbook come to life! Lippi, Masaccio, Duccio, Cimabue, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, de Monaco, Fabriano, Fra Angelico, the list goes on and on. At one point in my life, all the Renaissance Madonna and Child images looked the same. When I walked into the Ufizzi and, left to right, immediately identified them Duccio's, Giotto's and then Cimabue's, I just wanted to hug the NYU art history department.

The only place I didn't get was the Pitti Palace...

David Donatello and David Michelangelo send their regards and want you to know they successfully defeated Goliath. 

Next update will come from Vienna! Pictures to come once I'm home in Paris and can get them up.
Ciao!