Firenze (Florence), Italy

We arrived at the train station in Florence with simple directions to take the 23 bus 5 stops, look for the Blue River bar and turn left. However, there are 3 23 line options, the routes were changed (we asked an English speaking woman on the bus for help) and the Blue River bar is not within view of the bus stop (we didn’t find it until our last day). After wandering the streets of the neighborhood for a good 45 minutes, some passersby helped us out by mapping the address and pointing us in the right direction.

We entered our hostel (a huge converted apartment) and were greeted by a less than enthusiastic employee with little English. We stood awkwardly while he made our beds and were glad when two other hostel dwellers entered (we hadn’t seen anyone else in the whole place). We paid for our room and conversed with our roommates before settling into bed.

We rose the next morning at 9am and set out with a full plan for the day. After the first 3 stops on our plan ended up either having higher prices, ridiculous lines or just being closed all together for Saturday, we ended up on the steps of the Duomo with a full day on our hands to plan. We decided to browse the leather shops and squares on the way to the Piazza de Michelangelo, a hilltop space with views of the city and countryside. We hiked up to the top and enjoyed the scenery, sitting on a bench for a bit to rest our legs.

After hiking back down, we passed a small sign for a free museum. Curious, we entered the former home of NAME to view his collection of art. He had lived in the WWII era and devoted his life to collecting works of art in the hopes of saving them from the Nazis. Upon his death, he left his home (and the collection within it) to the public of Florence to be used as a free museum so that anyone could enjoy art. We toured the main floor of his home, all the while being followed by the museum staff (friendly but little English). At the end, they gifted us with small bookmarks before we exchanged ciaos and exited the estate.

We returned to our hostel to use the internet to make plans for the next leg of our journey. After a while, we were growing hungry and excited for our dinner plans. We donned another layer of clothes and headed back out into town. Along the way, we passed through a street market full of foods, trinkets and leather goods galore. A salesman, seeing Camille eyeing the leather jackets, brought us into his shop and had Camille trying on jacket after jacket even though she’d said she couldn’t afford one. He lowered his prices more and more, even offering to make a custom jacket to her exact specifications but alas, the commitment and pressure was too high and Camille had to decline. We exited with apologies but they fell on deaf ears as he was clearly so upset he couldn’t even say good bye.

We continued through the market before turning up the street towards our destination. A bar and lounge called Kitsch that our friends in Venice had told us about. For 8euro, you get a full size drink (any drink you want- Camille had a mojito and Corinne a pimm’s cup) and an all you can eat pass to the buffet full of fresh veggies, various salads, other delicious mixed goods. We ate our full and enjoyed the ambiance of the bar itself, a bohemian Middle Eastern vibe with chill thumping music and mood lighting and décor. After finishing, we cleared out so that our table could be used (we got there just in time before the crowd) and headed back to the hostel.

We used the internet for a while before settling in to watch Finding Nemo (Corinne fell asleep in the first 20 minutes) before heading to bed. We had, again, a morning train to catch.