Florence Knows How to Make Pizza

August 17th

Early this afternoon we arrived in Florence- a charming little city chock full of gelaterias, pizzarias, ridiculously expensive clothing stores, and old, picturesque bridges stretching between the two halves of the city. As we walked from the train station to our hostel, I began my daily people-watching session that is so much more fun in Europe than in the States (obviously). Tim and All of a sudden we heard someone yell "Tim!", and when we turned around, a dark-haired guy about our age came running at Tim, greeting him with a big bear hug. It really is a small world- it was Tim's friend, Brandon, from Azusa Pacific, who was visiting Florence with his cousins! Oddly enough, I wasn't all that surprised. Tim is the kind of person that runs into people he knows pretty much wherever he goes, which I love about him. Anyways, we got to our hostel on a narrow, alley-like street near the river where the owner, Leonardo, showed us our (very pink) room. It had blue shutters and an amazing view of... well, a cement wall. It wasn't the most glamorous of places, but it was affordable in a city where tourists are up the ying-yang. Leonardo told us about this pizza place, so we went there for some authentic, hot, glorious Italian pizza- it was perfect! We checked out the Duomo, an elaborate dome cathedral- and I had the privilege of wearing a disposable poncho because I had a tank top on- that go a few laughs! Of course, we also had gelato ( I had coconut and hazelnut- my favorites), which is much cheaper (and better) in Italy than in the States. The only thing I didn't like about Florence was the fact that most of the people there were tourists. I know, I know, I'm also one of "them", but to me touristy cities don't feel like the real deal with the endless streets of expensive stores and gift shops clogged with photo-snapping, fanny-pack-wearing tourists. Nevertheless, Florence was very pretty, especially the place where we ate our calzones next to the river on a park bench. After dinner, Tim and I took a walk along the river and saw the most beautiful sunset over the water. That night, though, I got eaten alive by a swarm of mosquitoes that buzzed through our window... they must have tasted all the sugar in my blood from all that tasty gelato :)