Day 13: Saturday, January 29, 2011

We woke up around 10 today, got dressed, grabbed some breakfast at the hostel, then headed out!  We decided to start at the farthest point from our hostel, and make our way back.  We started at the Galleria degli Uffizi.  It holds some of the worlds most important Renaissance art and sculptures, and stuff from Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.  Ummm, it was definitely cool.  Some of the artwork was unbelievable.  I almost just wish I was more into the whole biblical art scene.  Because after awhile, all the paintings started to look the same.  It was all something to the sound of Mary holding Baby Jesus.  But I don’t want to sound negative, IT WAS super awesome, and I would totally recommend to anyone that went.  If not for the awe of the paintings, then just for the history of the whole place.  So we stayed there for about two hours, then moved onward!

Next we waked to the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge).  It’s the only surviving bridge from Florence’s medieval day, because all the others were destroyed during WWII, and is one of the top “must-see’s” of Florence!  And it was beautiful!  We took lots of pictures from afar and gazed out for awhile.  Then we walked over the bridge, and the entirety of it is jewelry stores!

Ponte Vecchio

We were thinking it would be awesome if there was a restaurant, but there’s not.  ALL really expensive jewelry shops.  Afterwards we grabbed lunch.  People were getting tired, so we hung out there for about an hour and a half.  I had lasagna, it was probably the best meal I’ve had since I’ve been here, and it wasn’t even that good.  I would take my mom’s lasagna over the one I got any day.  I don’t know what it is about being here, I have so much energy!  I am usually ALWAYS so tired, and revolve my days around when I’m going to take my nap, but not here.  I always get bummed out when people want to go to sit down meals; I’d always just rather grab something and keep going! 

After lunch, we went to the Campanile – Bell Tower.  Its 414 stairs to the top, and great views of the entire city!  It was 6E to do it, but I think it was totally worth it.  If you’re afraid of heights though, you’d HATE it.  I am not afraid of heights AT ALL, and I felt a little twist in my stomach a couple times leaning over the side.  It was awesome though, probably the high light of the weekend J

Campanile

From there, we went to see the Statue of David…or so we thought!  The Statue of David is located in the Galleria dell’ Academia.  Which would have cost another 6E, so we opted out.  But then, walking passed the building, we noticed a statue in a court yard, behind fences, inside the building…with a huge statue of a naked man.  So we assumed it was the David!  So we leaned our heads in, snapped a few pix, and felt like we got away with murder.  However, we later found out that it was not the David, and we didn’t away with anything.  Classic mix-up. 

Afterwards, we headed back to the hostel.  It was about 5pm, and we decided to just chill until about 7.  Then, we headed to a restaurant to catch Apertivo with all the Lugano people.  This one was so much better than the last Apertivo we had at the Mayflower!  There was a bunch of different kind of pastas, and chicken, and other dishes.  It was actually pretty good.  And I got a strawberry daiquiri, so I don’t have much to complain about when I have one of those in my hand!  Afterwards, we headed back to the hostel again to get ready for the night.  We all showered, and then everyone met downstairs in the common room at around midnight.  

We all took a taxi to a club called Space, and when we got there, there was about 23456789 people crowded around the entrance, trying to get in.  Somehow we managed to squish our way through and up to front relatively quickly, and with a little sweet talking to the bouncer, we were in the club in less than 10 J  And it was pretty awesome.  It was like the clubs we have been going to in Milan, except smaller.  But it was two levels, and there were smoke machines, and strobe lights, and mass amounts of people dancing everywhere!  We got one free drink with our entry, so we obviously went right up to the bar and took advantage of that.  Then, we went upstairs and danced…all night!  Somehow I managed to get into the VIP section, so I finished the night up dancing up there and spinning dub with the DJ!  

We got home from the club around 5ish, and we all passed out immediately.  And, we had to be OUT of the hostel by 10am the next day, so we knew that was going to suck!