Taking Florence

Going Out To Eat:

1. Anywhere in the Piazza del Republica. Gilli is famous. Diagonal across from that is this place that I cant remember the name but I DEFINITELY remember the food. I got spaghetti with clams and they were fabulous. Also, we got the artichoke appetizer which was amazing also. 

2. Piazza del Mercato - ZAZA (seafood risotto) and amazing pizza. Also Da Pinocchio which is very traditional styled eating. If you order the grilled chicken, dont expect a side, but the fried calamari is great.

3. The Diner. Need i say more?

4. La Madia - an average place.

5. Tijuana - The mexican restaurant with HUGE margartias and great nachos. The salsa is amazing, the queso isnt that great though.

6. 4Leoni - If your looking for a great place on the other side of Ponte Vecchio, go here. We stumbled upon it after hearing about it. The whole menu is in italian and we had the waitress read us what it was in english. I got fried vegetables with my meal and they were to die for. They also have zucchini flowers for those die hard italians.

7. La Mamagina - Another place on the other side. Good portions for cheap money. An average setting but apparently the food is great.

The best ways to find good restaurants are to go to the side streets, and the small piazzas. 

Quick Eats:

1. Pinos - make your own panini and enjoy Pinos company because they place is great.

2. Astor - Get the mozz. sticks, when your missing american quicks this is the place. Also - Iced coffee, american style.

3. The Oil Shoppe - Another make your own panini place

4. This place on the corner of feanza and where the market ends. I cant remember the name but they have student discounts for huge salads and make your own sandwiches, definitely worth finding.

5. Antiquo Noe - across from the lions den- AMAZING. I think it was the best sandwich I had.

6. Mr. Pizza - If your hungry late night this place is one of the only ones open. They have really good chocolate muffins.

7. Gusta Pizza - The best Pizza I had there. They have pesto pizza too and specials everyday. Its on the other side of ponte vecchio and always pretty packed. Write your name on the slip and stick it under the glass of your table to leave a memory.

Sweets:

Venchi - Theyre the ones with the chocolate sink thing. Great crepes and if your lactose intolerant most of their gelato are water based! A good variety of different kinds of chocolate candy too.

Gelateria Emporium - On the other side of Ponte Vecchio, the first and last place I got gelato at. They have a cookie flavor to die for.

Florence barely sleeps.. They do, but for like an hour. Then at 7am you wake up and everyone is setting up for the market all over again. 

Our places:

Red Garter - A mix between a bar setting, karaoke, and a dance floor, red garter is on everyones top 3 places to go. They play american music all night and its never a bad time. The shots are fairly priced and the drinks are too, but I would pregame still. Its close to the secret bakery so stay till 2 and then follow the smell! The one bad thing about red garter: a few creepy men.

Lions Fountain - Our personal favorite. Its a fun american pub that you can be yourself at. Its a fun bar setting but everyone starts dancing eventually. There are college tees that people sign all over the ceiling, and names all over the walls, so bring your marker and your shirts, and join the legacy. We did.

Uncle Jimmys - Everyone loves Uncle Jimmys, but we really didnt. The atmosphere was off and it was never really busy when we went so were not sure about it. They have one thing that brings people in: the fire shot. If youre going to go, make it worth it. Ask for the crazy shot with the beer and the fire and prepare to die.

Astor - Astor is not really a place to go. It has a nice basement bar but its really only for the pub crawl which is a shame because it looks like the place has some nice potential.

Flo - We didnt go to flo but we heard you have to look great to get in, and that also the people there are way older so its not even worth the struggle. If heels are required, how fun can it be?

Space - Definitely a must see. We went on our last night out and it was so much fun. Its a modern, electric club with good music and fun places to dance. Its huge and has multiple levels. If youre looking for a chill night to sit down and drink - dont go here. 

Fish Pub - STAY AWAY. NO. NO. NO. that is all.

Niema (idk how to spell it) - We went there with a bunch of MU people and some people from Bus2Alps but it was so fun. The drinks are really cheap so its a great place to pregame and then venture off to somewhere else.

TwentyOne - A discoteca. It was actually very fun but theres a lot of weird guys there. I would definitely go with a bigger group of people and try not to lose eachother. Its packed and sweaty but worth the visit. They play a lot of throw back music for those american 90's kids.

YAB - I didnt go to YAB personally, but my roommates said that it was fun, but they probably wouldnt try and go back. It was packed and got slippery very easily. A few of them slipped multiple times I think. I also heard to watch your things there.. so be careful.

Grace - Not worth it. Its a small hallway of a bar right by the duomo, its never very packed and the drinks are expensive. 

For my own good, I am going to tell you a little about the piazzas. 

For those that dont know, a piazza is basically a square with buildings and shops and food stuff around it. 

Piazza del Mercato - Where we live. The market is like 2 feet away and it has adorable little restaurants around it. The leather there is the best. The one negative to this piazza is its one of the only ones that people can drive it, therefore it also doubles as a parking lot on one side, along with a bunch of garbage cans that make the one side just a little gross and smelly, besides that, its great. I couldnt ask for a better location, close enough to the duomo to meet people there, and a good way to waste your money walking through the market everyday. You hungry? The food market is 4 steps away too! Also - very close to the train station and our school so thats a plus.

Piazza del Duomo - Where the Duomo is. Its in the center of florence and whenever your lost you just look for the duomo and youll be able to find your way. I would suggest staying away from the restaurants and shops there because everything is over priced for the tourists. Besides that, its beautiful and every angle of the Duomo is memorable. Obviously it is the biggest tourist attraction in florence.

Piazza della Repubblica - Not rePUBlica, but rePOOBlica, for those wondering how to pronounce  it. This is my favorite square. Its a slightly modernized view of florence because it used to be a section of italy with small alleys, until they knocked it down because florence used to be the capitol a long long time ago and they wanted it to look nice, who you ask? i dont know. anyway i love it. The restaurants there are the best and the arch way leading into it is an attraction within itsself. There is a rooftop bar, and a carousel that we rode one night. Its a mellow tourist area with a book store in a tent right in the middle. Its beautiful at night and close to all the good shops and food.

Piazza Santa Croce - Across the street from Red Garter. It has bleachers covering it when you walk by because its a theatre arena type thing where they put on shows and events. Its kind of the hidden gem and the outside of the church there is beautiful. Theres a mini market across the way and its kind of interesting because its in an area close to the end of the city so you get a view thats not so main stream.

Piazza della Signoria - This is the Piazza with the fake david hanging out in the middle. It has a lot of mock and real statues for those history lovers to enjoy. Its close to Ponte Vecchio so if your strolling in the area stop by. Its packed at night and theres a lot of people trying to sell you lights that fly in the air. It also has a public water fountain with mineral water to drink out of. Its beautiful but we didnt spend much time there.

Piazza Santa Maria Novella - We just discovered this beaut with the best hotel (grand hotel) which has a rooftop pool even though we cant swim we went up and looked and the view is amazing. Theres flowers all over this piazza surrounded with mostly hotels, its located right next to the train station so those stopping in florence for a quick hour, hang out there its beautiful.

Piazza dell'indpendenza - This piazza is kind of sketchy. Its close to the mercato but its similar to a weird park. I wouldnt go there at night. I did not find anything very special about this Piazza but I was also there about 6am so I could be bias.

Piazalle Michelangelo - THE BEST VIEW IN FLORENCE. This piazza sits on the top of the hill looking over the Ponte Vecchio and the entire city. Best view is when the sun it setting right over the duomo, definitely worth walking up the 15 minutes up steps to get there. 

If anyone reading this is considering a seriously trip to italy, use one of the college friendly tour companies to give you a little head start. I used bus2alps as my guide. We as a whole apartment are obsessed with that.. A matter of fact, I hear taylor in the other room talking about one of the guides we hangout with right now hahaha.

Their system of doing this is pretty well organized. The only trip I didnt like with them touring was venice but it was cheaper then the train ticket so it worked out anyway.

If they seemed over priced, I promise the trips are worth it so I wouldnt worry about the money.

Places we went:

Croatia: hidden gem, worth it, even for the 12 hour ride.

Amalfi Coast: AMAZING, capri and positano were my favorite. Take the chair lift at anacapri and go to vinipanini in positano.

Cinque Terre: Take the hike from 4th to 5th, and hang out all day, the view is unforgettable. 

First of all, it was a damn 110 degrees this weekend, just saying. no.

Venice wasnt what I expected at all but thats not to say I didnt like it. I think my vibe was ruined when I got there and it looked like a docking port in new york city. Once we got into the heart of venice though it was beautiful. It took us like an hour and a half to walk to san marco where they had a huge piazza and the grand canal. I couldnt imagine going everywhere on a boat when I wanted to leave the house. My favorite part about venice was the murano glass. The glass they paint is absolutely stunning, they have it in everything from pots to lamps to necklaces and shot glasses. If I could I would buy all of it. Also, I can officially cross gondola ride off the list of things to do. It was fun except our rower was from north jersey, typical way to take away an italian experience, thanks glenn rock.

Rome was pretty much the same as the first time I went, the vatican, the huge marble monuments, all of that. The only difference was that this time I appreciated the art and the history a little bit more. If it wasn't 110 degrees this weekend there, I would have loved it probably.

Our school put our hotel in a really bad area which I considered ridiculous. We went to a restaurant and then walked for gelato in literally the newark of rome it felt like, homeless people, noone out on the town, and garbage. I really didnt like that... We even saw one guy pee on the street... like come on now. Once we went into the heart of rome though it all became perfect again.

We also went to the catacombs today and it was pretty creepy considering its like 3 flights of tombs and shit. It was really cold in there too.. 

Yesterday we decided to spend our day off running around florence and checking out all the touristy places that we havent gone too yet. It was awesome.

First, we got lunch at Pino's, a totally worth it sandwich for 3,50 Euro and I got 5 rice balls for a dollar... thats my new thing btw, rice balls...theyre bangin.

Then we found some cute shops on the way to the other side of the ponte vecchio and found the cutest places, we walked up like 300 steps to the piazza del michelangiolo (idk why they spell it like that i say michael angelo but its fine). It was beautiful the view was of all of florence it was stunning. Every view we get here has been getting better and better. On the way down the stairs we walked with a family from Oregon who was traveling, and they helped me haggle a painting i liked down to 5 euro. It was nice.

I dont want to leave. 

After that, we went to the duomo and climbed to the top of the tower... needless to say i got a good ass work out in yesterday. Again, stunning. We could see everything from up there.. the entire city.. 

Who the f can say they have been to Croatia?

On the way there, half the people on the bus didnt even know where Croatia was. We had no idea what to expect from such a random country. It was AMAZING. When I say amazing  I literally mean I could probably live there, and im definitely going to try and return in my life. But while im still young, cause the night life there is literally a night to never remember, says our free tee shirts from the bar crawl we went too.

There was boats everywhere, so cute the boats. They were all decorated differently and I wanted each and every one of them. The water was so blue, and everywhere we went there was a view. Including the streets and views of the men. The most beautiful men I have ever seen... All of them.

Im marrying one and moving back.

The first day we went river rafting in the centina river, it was so fun nothing I have ever done before. I loved it, and our tour guide... and the guy that took the photos of us, i love him.

Anyway the rafting, it was great. We went to a pub crawl at night where everyone in croatia was so much fun. They really know how to party there, and so many rooftops and beach places, awesome. The next day we took a boat island hopping and went to Brac, one of the islands. Even though the wine on the boat was the worst I ever had, we still had like 3 bottles. 

Sitting on the beaches of Brac was so peaceful. The water is beautiful.

We went to a water fall the last day at Krka nation park which was GORGEOUS . We went swimming, snapped a few pics, and ate crepes. Needless to say, it was perfect.

The 12 hour bus ride home on the other hand, not so much. 

I wish I took a picture of where we stayed in Sorrento this weekend on Amalfi.

There were 10 of us and a community bathroom. The sheets were stayed and the place was gross. It wasnt until we heard about everyone elses places until we realized we were staying in a palace. We even had a rooftop bar and happy hour that we took to our advantage. 2 Euro glass of wine, dont mind if I do. One night we all were hanging out up there and there was fireworks in like 2 or 3 different places in the distance. It was absolutely beautiful. Despite our living situation, the weekend was great and I did not want to leave.

Youre supposed to kiss someone when going under these rocks, I didnt oops! (Capri)