Venice and Florence, Italy

After four days in Morocco, my friends and I left for Italy. 

We stopped in Venice first, but only had time to stay the night.  Despite a short visit, we managed to fit in a canal-side dinner, get our gelato fix, and lose our way in the tangled Venice streets. 

We woke up on our second day to the sound of rain, and by noon the streets were flooded. The water from the canals had creeped above its structured walls and in some areas, we stood in more than a foot of water. We walked on make-shift platforms, which the city had set up to allow for pedestrian traffic, and passed shopkeepers sweeping out huge puddles of water from their shops.  But of course, the locals appeared unfazed!  I can only imagine that this type of flooding is nothing new to Venice and is slowly becoming the new normal.  I am so glad that I made the trip to Venice now, as who knows what state the city will be in by the next time I make it to Europe.

Later that day, we hopped on a train and an hour later got off in Florence.  We stayed in an airbnb apartment just a block away from the Duomo—Florence’s largest and most visited cathedral. 

That night, I met up with Kristi, my college roommate, who has been spending the semester in Florence.  It was so wonderful to see her and to hear all about her new Italian life.

Over the next few days, we visited several of the city’s gardens, wondered into small art galleries, drooled over Italian leather, and stuffed our tummies with homemade pasta, specialty pizzas, regional wines, too much gelato, and lots of truffle.  Overall, a successful trip!

On Friday, we took an hour-long bus ride into the Florentine countryside and sat for a wine tasting in a 15^th century castle amid acres of vineyards. 

While at Gusto’s Pizza, a local favorite that Kristi had recommended, we ran into the film crew of the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. They must have been doing a feature on Italy.  I looked for the host Guy Fieri, but no luck- too bad! 

On our way back, our train ran into delays on its way to the Milan Airport.  More flooding.  From outside our window, we saw cars covered with water up to their wind shields.

Such a wonderful trip! I could not have asked for more beautiful places to visit or lovelier people to travel with. 

"For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return"

-Leonardo da Vinci