For the second half of spring break I went to Italy! Having been to Rome before, I was very excited about this trip. My roommates and I spent the first four nights in Florence. I had heard countless amazing things about the city of Florence and had tons of recommendations from my cousins who studied abroad there! It most definitely lived up to my expectations.
The first day we wandered around the city, stopping by the duomo and trying an amazing sandwich at Pino’s. This was a delicious deli that had a variety of sandwiches and food. It is a hotspot for study abroad students with college pennants all over the walls. We then walked around the Uffizi Art Gallery which had tons of breathtaking pieces. For dinner we tried the restaurant Osteria Santo Spirito. This was another recommendation from my cousin and it was very good! The bruschetta and pasta are to die for!
The next morning we kicked off our day at the Accademia Museum where we saw Michelangelo’s David. This was very cool to see in person as I have seen so many pictures of it before. After walking around the museum for a bit we went to the famous sandwich shop across the street. It is called All’Antico Vinaio and it was amazing! Luckily we beat the rush because supposedly people will wait hours for these sandwiches.
Afterwards we walked to Piazzale Michelangelo which has the most amazing views of Florence. The weather was beautiful and sunny, it was so relaxing to sit there and take in the views. Next we did a cooking class with some of our other friends from Holy Cross! We hand made pasta, raviolis, and gnocchi. This was such a fun experience to learn how to make these dishes from an Italian, I will say getting to eat the dishes afterwards was probably my favorite part. They also gave us the recipes to take with us which was very neat.
The next day we did a vespa tour at a winery in the countryside of Tuscany which was beautiful! Although I did not pass the test to be able to drive the vespa (which was not surprising) I got to ride on the tour guide’s and take in the amazing views. Later that day we watched the sunset from the Ponte Santa Trinita (a bridge right by our airbnb). Then we got dinner with my friend Erinn, who is studying abroad in Florence, and her roommates. It was another 10/10 restaurant and it was so fun to hear about their experiences abroad.
On Friday, our last day, we hiked up the stairs in the duomo before we headed to Venice! There were a lot of stairs at 8 in the morning but the view was well worth it. We then walked up the stairs in the clock tower next to the duomo which had an even better view. After getting tons of pictures we went back to our airbnb, packed up our stuff and went to the train station. We got to Venice in the late afternoon and checked into our airbnb which was so adorable! It had a nice outdoor balcony.
Saturday we got lost in the streets of Venice and popped into different little shops. I had a delicious cannoli that I had been looking forward to trying in Italy. It was so fun to go into the leather stores and different jewelry shops. Then of course we had to go on a gondola through the canal! This was so cool and the weather was beautiful again! We really lucked out. We finished off our trip with a nice dinner out (although the food did not beat Florence’s). Then of course we had to have some yummy gelato.
Sunday morning we flew back to Dublin after a successful trip! I think Florence may be at the top of my list for trips now!
