Italy, the land of pizza, pasta, gelato, paninis, and art (essentially all of my favorite things)!! This past week, DIS was on Easter break, so I decided to fly to Florence to see one of my best friends. It was an incredible trip, in which I stuffed my stomach full of food and my camera roll full of beautiful sights. Picking highlights was so hard to choose from, but below are a few of my favorite things I did this week.
Cinque Terre
For years now, I have been wanting to visit the Cinque Terre region, renowned for its five breathtakingly picturesque little towns situated on cliffs, connected by hiking trails and a train. And BOOOYYYYY did it not disappoint! Unfortunately, most of the trails were closed for the season, and the one that was open was too long of a hike to fit into our day trip (oops guess I just have to go back again then), but it was still insanely beautiful. The weather forecast showed rain, but it miraculously held out to be a cloudy but clear day. We took the train between the towns and wandered around the shops and various viewpoints. The town of Corniglia was my favorite, it is the smallest of the towns and the most quaint and charming. One of the best parts of the day came around lunch time, when I had a pesto panini (pesto is from the cinque terre region). It was undoubtedly the some of the best pesto I’ve ever had (I am such a big pesto fan that I put it in everything from sandwiches to scrambled eggs), and well worth it if you are in the area.
Milan
In order to save money, I decided to fly into Milan and then take a quick train over to Florence. I had a few hours before my 11:30 am train, so I woke up early and ran to go see the Milan Duomo. It was one of the most beautiful churches I’ve seen/gone in, and I’m so glad I sacrificed the sleep to make it there.
Art
Florence is, of course, known for its incredible art scene. I am really into art, and so I decided to spend an entire day going between museums and checking out all of the incredible pieces. I just didn’t expect to spend the majority of my day waiting in line to see those pieces. Hugeeee pro tip for florence, buy the 4 euro extra skip the line passes for the Uffizi Gallery (the most famous in Florence, it houses everything from Botticelli’s Birth of Venus to da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi) and the Galleria dell’Accademia (which houses Michelangelo’s David). While they were incredible to see, and still worth it, I would have been so much happier not waiting two and a half hours and an hour and a half, respectively.
If there is one piece of art you need to see in Florence, it is David. There is such a hype around the sculpture, and normally pieces with that much hype end up being disappointing. This is not the case with David. There is a quote by Giorgi Vasari that describes the feeling of seeing the sculpture: ‘Anyone who has seen Michelangelo’s David has no need to see anything else by another sculptor, living or dead’. While that is exaggerated, I spent about half an hour staring in front of it, marveling at how truly incredible the piece is. Pictures cannot and do not do it justice, and if you find yourself in Florence at any point, it is a definite must!
Sofia
The most important part of the visit, and the main reason I was drawn to Florence in the first place, was Sofia. Sofia is one of my best friends from high school, and considering she moved to Europe during our senior year, I don’t get the opportunity to see her a lot. So, visiting her was so much fun (a week together was actually the longest time we’ve had together in two years – so crazy). While the city itself was amazing, it was really because of her and her boyfriend Tom showing me around and letting me crash with them that made the trip so amazing! Visiting a new city is fun, but visiting friends and a city is even better.
Views
One of my favorite things to do in any city, is to get high. I always search out the best views to see the skyline, and Florence did not disappoint. The first view I went to was my first night there, and Sofia, Tom and I watched the sunset over the Piazzale Michelangelo. It was such an amazing way to start my trip, and something that I couldn’t do in CPH (mainly because the weather is not warm enough to sit out at night for two hours).
The last night I was there, we took a short bus trip to Fiesole, a cute small town right next to Florence. While this was a bit farther away, it offered a view of both the city and the surrounding countryside, and made for another perfect (albeit slightly more chilly), sunset and wine night.
Food
Italian food is some of my favorite, so of course I had to write a small section paying homage to the amazing meals I had over the week. My main highlights were a great pizza from a tiny place near Sofia’s school, and the countless gelato flavors consumed, but everything I had this week was honestly so good!
Overall, my trip to Italy was absolutely amazing, and I was so glad to have gone. However, now it is time to get back into the school grind and try to take the time to rest before my trip to Amsterdam this weekend (oops, I think I may have booked too many trips). Ciao for now!
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Maya is a senior International Studies major, spending the spring 2018 semester in Denmark through DIS Study Abroad in Scandinavia.
Read more from Maya at travelingpapaya.wordpress.com
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