Day 5- Arrival in Florence

On our last day in Rome, we enjoyed one final hotel breakfast and said goodbye to the really cool cappuccino machine and array of breads, spreads, and pastries. We then lugged our bags to the train station and had a little time to kill and a few errands to run before catching our train to Florence. We decided that I would stand with the bags in one spot while Ilya wandered around to buy a few things and a snack for us to share. There is really no seating in the Rome train station, but I found a nice spot to sort of lean. I had a very interesting, if somewhat distressing time people-watching for the 40 minutes or so that I stood there. First off, about 70% of the people I saw were smoking. At least! It was definitely a striking difference from the amount of smokers you see on any given day in NJ. A woman came over to the spot where I was and started moving all of her things from one (probably broken) suitcase to another new empty one. When she came upon her bottle of hairspray, she paused and continuously sprayed it all around her head for about 30 seconds. All the while, the woman right behind her, who was smoking a cigarette, gave her a dirty look. Some very creepy people came by and leaned on the same spot and smoked, and I had to inch slowly away from them with my two large suitcases to avoid getting smoke-bombed. Lots of questionable characters were around, though probably not any more than you would see in a New York station. It was just a little more striking/scary because I was an obvious tourist very far from home. I also saw the same faux-hawked girl who sat right near us on our train ride to Ostia Antica a few days earlier. This time she was with a group of friends, and they were fun to observe. I started feeling like a local, recognizing familiar faces in the train station!

Finally, Ilya returned with a burger, fries, and McFlurry for us to share. We found a quiet corner in the lower level of the station to sit on our suitcases and enjoy our snack. We then made our way onto the train, with its aisles just barely wide enough for a big suitcase, and lots of people trying their hardest to be in your way as you try to walk by. We ended up sitting facing an older man who was traveling alone. He was from Los Angeles and had just finished a cruise and was spending a few days in Italy before heading home. He was quite the cruise enthusiast and tried to convince us that cruising is the way to see the world. Also, he had just been pickpocketed minutes before we met him. A woman with a baby stood in his way and wouldn’t let him pass. Eventually, she did. In the meantime, he was unknowingly pickpocketed by an accomplice of the woman. A few minutes later, she approached him with his wallet and asked for a “finder’s fee”. He gave her a few euros and saw that she hadn’t removed anything from his wallet while she had it in her possession.

Once we got off the train in Florence, it only took us a few minutes to walk to our next hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Atlantic Palace on Via Nazionale. Once again, we were very happy with the room, its size, and cleanliness. Ilya had requested a big box of chocolates be sent up to our room when he booked it weeks earlier.

Here I am studying the box, with a nice view of the room (I had already taken the comforter off the bed, because hotel comforters skeeve me).

Here is a shot of the view off our little balcony:

We took a nap for a little while and then headed out for dinner. While we worked up our appetite, we decided to do an audioguide to get us a little acquainted with the city. One of the first things we saw was the Duomo church, which I thought was really beautiful, but apparently it has a historical reputation for being ugly, and people refer to it as “the church in pajamas”:

We also saw the baptistry that is right across from this church which is famous for its intricate doors. I also remember seeing the Orsanmichele church, which has lots of famous sculptures all around the outside. We also walked past the Uffizi and learned a little bit about that, as well as the main square and the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge. I’m including links to all of these things because we were not very picture-happy on this evening. We enjoyed getting acquainted with the main attractions of Florence.

We ate at a nice place that was not in our guidebook, and I forget its name. I do remember that we shared an appetizer of grilled polenta with mushrooms and another appetizer of a seafood salad. We also got some wine and split a pizza that had all sorts of stuff on it including ham and olives. There was a local family with a cute little boy sitting near us, as well as a corny young American couple. There was another couple sitting across from us, and the woman stared at me so much that I had to keep reminding Ilya to place his head in such a way as to keep her gaze off of me. It was very annoying! But, the food was great. Right around the corner as we left the restaurant, we saw a gelateria called Grom. Ilya suggested we check it out, but I said I thought “grom” sounded more like a body part I didn’t know I had than an ice cream shop. After some more wanderings, Ilya looked up Grom in our guidebook. Turns out, it’s supposed to be a really good place, where they only use fresh, local, organic ingredients. So, we gave it a shot. I got half granny smith gelato and half salted caramel. It was a nice combo! Ilya got something chocolatey. After this, we wandered around a bit, and then went back to the hotel to get some sleep. We didn’t remember to take many photos on this travel day, but there are lots more to come!