Firenze? But I Thought We Were Going to Florence...

My dad told me right before I left that Italians call the city of Florence, Firenze. I really didn't believe him and thought to myself, "Yeah maybe in ancient times they did but not now. It's called Florence, gosh." Well I got to Firenze and Rob was right (as always) and I shall love the ring of that name froever! Huzah! 

Florence is one neat place. Before I left for my program at the beginning of June people almost always thought I was either going to Rome or Firenze, not Siena. Because I have been in Siena for so long, I found myself missing my familiar Sienese streets and smiles while staying in the rival city for 5 days. I hope someone just caught wind that I called Florence the rival city. Y'all wouldn't BELIEVE the shade that is thrown between the two cities!! They are straight up savage. 

So what was I doing there for 5 days you may be wondering and wanting me to write about already. Well calm down because I'm about to tell you in one word. Firenzecard. That really is one word, not two. Promise. This little beaut you could use to go to 72 places in the timespan of only 72 hours... for only 72 Euro! Wowwowwow! So for three days, we jam packed our day to walk everywhere and see lots of things. We got to go into The Academia where David is, the Uffizi, Santa Croce as well as Santa Maria Novella, The Duomo, The Baptistry and so so SO much more. The main difference between Florence and Siena is that Florence is bigger and "better." They aren't situated on 3 terzi (hills) like Siena is so they have more room to stretch out and put fancy Prada shops in and build onto churches and whatnot. 

After our cards expired on Friday, Saturday was a free day for us since it was St. John the Baptist Day! For those who don't know, practically every city in Tuscany has a/some patron saints and John the Baptist is Florence's. I mostly used the day to catch up on homework since we had buckets of it, but my roommates and I went out in the mid-afternoon to go walk around and see the festivities. Glad we went because lots of people were out that day and we got to participate in a small street performance and watch the fireworks on a bride over the Arno river. Very cool!

But something happened to me in Florence. I had a magical moment. I was taking a stroll though these gorgeous gardens in the Palazzo Piti as the sun was dipping beneath the horizon. The weather was cool (for once) and there was only the echo of an orchestra tuning it's instruments and my footsteps crunching on the gravel. It hit me! I was in Firenze, Italy... walking around a palace... with my awesome roommates who I just met three weeks earlier. I was completely happy. Completely content and wrapped in gratitude. There were lots of things that helped me and prepared me to get to where I was in that moment and for that I am so grateful. That moment will forever remain just as magical and prominent as it was in the gardens. Thanks go out to all who supported and encouraged me!