On our last day in Rome, we had to check out by 11 am, but the hotel was nice enough to keep our luggage locked up in a room behind the front desk so we could see a few more sites before we had to catch our train to Florence at 3:15 pm. First, we went and saw the Spanish Steps, and then the Pantheon. By this point we were experts at catching the metro, so we got on and as soon as we got off at the Spagna stop, the Spanish Steps were right around the corner. Not too far from the Spanish Steps, about a 10-15 minute walk, was the Pantheon, and not too far from both of these sites is the Trevi Fountain.
After seeing these last two sites, we made our way back to the hotel to grab our luggage, and then we headed to the train station. Buying a ticket and catching the train to Florence was a lot easier than we thought. The train ride from Rome to Florence on a high speed train is about an hour and a half, and the ride is beautiful. Once we got to Florence, we took about a 5 min cab ride to our apartments, which we easily could have walked, but after spending an hour and a half trying to find our hotel in Rome, we thought it'd be best to take a taxi here. Once we got to our apartments, we were able to unpack and settle in for a while until we went to dinner around 7:30. We had a three course dinner, which consisted of a quiche and bruschetta for an appetizer, pasta with tomato sauce as the first course and chicken wrapped in ham over potatoes as the third course. Then, we got some sort of flan looking dessert. After dinner, we took a short walking tour around Florence in order to become somewhat familiar with the town. We saw the court house, several piazzas, the Ponte Vecchio bridge, the Duomo and several other sites around town.
After this, we made our way back to the apartments where we hung out with some people in our program for a while and then went to bed. The next morning we met the group around 8 am and we went to our school, Lorenzo de Medici, for an orientation. At this orientation, I realized that there are several other schools (I think around 12) that are studying abroad here as well and going to the same school as us. After the orientation was over around 1 pm, we became familiar with the Lorenzo de Medici library and the building where our cooking class is going to bed. We then grabbed some pizza for lunch, and came back to our apartment and took a LONG nap! After our nap, we showered and met everyone for dinner at a palace in town, and on the way to dinner we ran into Pauly D and the Situation from Jersey Shore! After dinner, we went and saw our friend Hannah's apartment over by the Arno River and the Ponte Vecchio bridge. We hung out there for a while and then Sarah and I made our way back home. Tomorrow we are meeting around 8 am, and we are going to be taking a day trip to Siena!
After seeing these last two sites, we made our way back to the hotel to grab our luggage, and then we headed to the train station. Buying a ticket and catching the train to Florence was a lot easier than we thought. The train ride from Rome to Florence on a high speed train is about an hour and a half, and the ride is beautiful. Once we got to Florence, we took about a 5 min cab ride to our apartments, which we easily could have walked, but after spending an hour and a half trying to find our hotel in Rome, we thought it'd be best to take a taxi here. Once we got to our apartments, we were able to unpack and settle in for a while until we went to dinner around 7:30. We had a three course dinner, which consisted of a quiche and bruschetta for an appetizer, pasta with tomato sauce as the first course and chicken wrapped in ham over potatoes as the third course. Then, we got some sort of flan looking dessert. After dinner, we took a short walking tour around Florence in order to become somewhat familiar with the town. We saw the court house, several piazzas, the Ponte Vecchio bridge, the Duomo and several other sites around town. 
After this, we made our way back to the apartments where we hung out with some people in our program for a while and then went to bed. The next morning we met the group around 8 am and we went to our school, Lorenzo de Medici, for an orientation. At this orientation, I realized that there are several other schools (I think around 12) that are studying abroad here as well and going to the same school as us. After the orientation was over around 1 pm, we became familiar with the Lorenzo de Medici library and the building where our cooking class is going to bed. We then grabbed some pizza for lunch, and came back to our apartment and took a LONG nap! After our nap, we showered and met everyone for dinner at a palace in town, and on the way to dinner we ran into Pauly D and the Situation from Jersey Shore! After dinner, we went and saw our friend Hannah's apartment over by the Arno River and the Ponte Vecchio bridge. We hung out there for a while and then Sarah and I made our way back home. Tomorrow we are meeting around 8 am, and we are going to be taking a day trip to Siena! 
No comments:
Post a Comment