We departed Rome and took the train to Florence. It was a high-speed train, which was pretty great, and it only took us about an hour and a half to get there. The Italian countryside between them was, of course, lovely. As we went north, the clouds came down and the rain started again. The train internet was the fastest I’ve seen in Italy, so I took the opportunity to post a few blogs.

A rainy train ride (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Let me just effuse about Florence for a minute. I’m already in love with Florence. It’s almost absurdly beautiful, with its little streets of shops and picturesque river. Just wandering around, I came across several beautiful old buildings and piazzas. It’s also a bit less hectic than Rome, which is a nice change. Really, just lovely. Come to Florence.

We spent much of our first day in Florence trying to decide what we wanted to do in Florence. We figured that out, had two incredible meals, and did some shopping. Overall, a very pleasant day.

Ponte Vecchio (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Palazzo Vecchio (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Tuesday promised to be less rainy, so after sleeping in a bit, we wandered. We walked down across the river again and headed toward the Giardino di Boboli. We bought tickets and walked through the garden, which was massive, hilly, and had dozens of paths that seemingly arbitrarily happened across statues and other works of art that were scattered throughout. There was also a fountain gate guarded by statues of the wind and goats, which I appreciated. It was lovely and green and damp-smelling, and all in the middle of a city.  

The Florence Cathedral (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A statue in the Giardino di Boboli (Photo/Jason Rafal)

For lunch, we stopped by the Piazza San Spirito and had far too much food and a bottle of wine. I wanted to try the vegetable soup, so I ordered a small soup as well as a regular-sized pasta dish. The soup was huge (I have no idea how big a large would be) and there was a lot of pasta as well, so we spent a long time just eating, drinking, and waiting for the want and ability to eat more. It was very Italian of us, especially since we didn’t start lunch until around 2.

Far too much delicious food (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

Post-lunch espresso (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After lunch we decided to go to the Piazalle Michelangelo, which apparently had the best view of the city of Florence. Of course, this meant that it was uphill, which meant that we dragged our overly-full selves up a steep hill and then a lot of stairs. The view was beautiful, though. Definitely worth the climb.

At the Piazalle Michelangelo (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After some more exploring and a nap, we went off in search of dinner (again, we were on Italian time—around 8:30. Only took us six days to figure it out…). We found the Trattoria San Lorenzo, which had good reviews on Yelp, and sat down. If you’re ever in Florence, this place is great. There is currency from all over the world taped to the bar, which is interesting to look at, and the food is amazing. They also have awesome middle-aged male waiters—when Rock Your Body started playing in the restaurant toward the end of our meal, one of them started humming along.

Just a small note about gelato—it’s for before dinner. Don’t go expecting the good gelato places to still have any gelato out at 9:30.