Spring Break Part 2: At Home in Florence

Day 4: April 4th 

When we arrived in Florence, we wasted no time!  We walked to our Bed & Breakfast to drop off our bags, and got ready to being out tour of the city.

Train Station in Florence

The Santa Maria Novella - we didn't go inside of it, but this beautiful church was right outside of the train station, and makes a memorable appearance in Assassin's Creed...

This is the view from the window of our Bed & Breakfast.  We were literally right down the street from the Duomo!  It was awesome!

Once our things were put away, we took to the streets, first walking through the Piazza del Duomo to get a closer look at the Il Duomo, Campanile (the tower) and the surrounding square.  The Duomo is probably the second most beautiful building I've seen in my travels - number one being Petra.  The rainbow colors of the marble are absolutely unreal to see in person.  As you'll probably notice in my pictures, I couldn't get enough of the Duomo. 

The Campanile!  Dad and I ended up at the top of it eventually...

Duomo, oh Duomo. 

Then we walked to the Piazza Della Signoria and after checking out the square, went into the Palazzo Veccio museum.  The Palazzo Veccio is the "Old Palace" of the Medici family.  They had several palaces throughout Florence, all of them quite magnificent.  The museum in this first one was gorgeous; the Medici's were quite the collectors of paintings and statues - as I guess you would expect of Florentine Royalty in the Italian Renaissance.  There was also an absolutely beautiful view of the city from one of the balconies of the Palazzo Veccio; I'll let my picture speak for themselves.

The Piazza!

Rawr

The Palazzo Veccio

This was the main  hall of the Palace.  Everything from theater plays to speakers to church masses to grand parties were held here.  There were huge paintings on either side of the wall, showing the history of Florence.  

The Medici Crest!

Lorenzo De'Medici himself.

View of Florence :)

Ezio and his homeland!

Old Maps!  I loved the Map room.  It was my favorite after the view on the balcony.  This one is cool because it has Cappadocia in it...which may or may not be an Assassin's Creed: Revelations reference.

It was hard to see and take a picture of; but, if you look to the left of the bigger sea (I think the Dead Sea?)  under one of the arches of the rivers, it says, "Palestina" ...It was on a map!

After we finished with the museum, it was nighttime, and we strolled by the Duomo all lit up. Gorgeous!

We had dinner, in the Piaza Della Signoria, and turned in for the night.

Day 5: April 5th 

After a leisurely breakfast, we began our first full day in Firenze!  We strolled through the winding cobbled streets to the Ponte Veccio - the Old Bridge - first.  As the story goes, the Ponte Veccio used to be a butcher's market, but the Medici's didn't like that.  So one day all of the butcher's got chased out, and now the Ponte Veccio is home to a gold and jewelry market!  Remind me to come back here if I'm ever getting married...the shinies here was GORGEOUS...but also very pricy.  Florentine jewelry is certainly something to treasure.

Mum and Dad :)

Me!

Shinies!

And Candy, because everyone loved baked goods!

After the Ponte Veccio, we walled to Palazzo Pitti which is - you guessed it - another Medici palace.  This one was even grander than the last, complete with full gardens in the back that you could easily get lost in for days.  The Palazzo Pitti was special because it had art from all over the world, including a very large exhibit of Japanese and Chinese artifacts and art!  We weren't supposed to take pictures...but how could I not of Samurai Armor and Glaives? Pssshhh.

Samurai!

I really want to learn how to use one of these... Glaives = awesome.  It think they're called naginata's in Japan. 

This is carved entirely out of ivory.  

And now, the Gardens!

Papa!

Egyptian Obelisks: the Medici's had them too

Now you see me...

Now you don't!

These pathways went on what seemed like forever

Poseidon aka Neptune

The White Tree of Gondor lives in Palazzo Pitti!

After the Palazzo Pitti, the skies were darkening and my stomach was growling, so we slipped into a cafe by the Palazzo for lunch.  Along with a deliciously sized pizza, I Dad and I had real, authentic hot chocolate.  It was delicious.  This wasn't your nestle powder; it was basically melted drinking chocolate.  Rich, and savory and sweet.  Yummmmm. As we were eating, a little thunderstorm broke out!  As the thunder boomed and the rain drizzled, we ate, and by the time we had finished out leisurely lunch, the skies were clear again.  A perfect afternoon shower.  Refreshed and full, we walked next to the Museo Galileo - the Galileo Museum. 

This museum showcased Galileo's work, and the work of his contemporaries.  Mum thoroughly enjoyed the sections that focused on human anatomy, I just liked the displayed of all the fanciful, large and intricate machines inventors had built to demonstrate what we now know of as static electricity.  It took so much effort and power to create a single spark! Now look at us.  It's amazing to see how far science and technology has come.

I thought of my friend Tamra when I saw this; I think it's a precursor to the Periodic Table!

Galileo's Desk

Microscopes!

This was another of my favorites; it's a representation of how people used to view the world with the earth as the center and the cosmos whirling around it. 

Galileo himself

Galileo's finger!

By the time we finished the Museum, the combination of our lunch and the long day of walking was taking a toll.  Papa looks ready for a nap!  And I was as well.

  We walked back to our bed and breakfast, shopping along the way.  When we reached our bed and breakfast, we took a well earned siesta, and ventured back out for a quite wonderful little dinner at a restaurant named Trattore La Signoria - I think. After a filling meal, I glanced at the guestbook....

And saw Ezio Auditore in the book!  Italians really DO have good taste.  The arabic underneath was my doing...

We strolled back to our Bed & Breakfast, enjoying the nightlife and passing  the Medici Chapel on the way.  Those Medici's were everywhere in Florence.

Day 6: April 6th

The next morning, we decided to visit the Duomo properly. First, Dad and I climbed to the top of the Campanile! 

View of the Duomo from the top of the Campanile

Ah, Firenze, you are beautiful!

I don't think this picture needs explanation.

I'm going to a bit out of order here; we didn't actually go into the Duomo until late in the afternoon, because in the morning we wanted to make sure we got into the Academica to see David because it closed in the early afternoon.  So these pictures of the interior of the Duomo were actually one of the last things we did, but for the sake of continuity...the inside!

I liked how the floor of the Duomo inside matched the marble on the exterior!

The Altar; again, the cross if covered because of Holy Week

Outside of the Duomo in the Piaza, there was a family with these Great Pyrenees dogs!  They were quite popular; and after being deprived of dogs since January, I had to snap a picture. 

After Dad and I climbed the Campanile, the three of us went to the Academica, where the grand and historic Michael Angelo's David is kept.  We weren't supposed to take pictures... but it was David!  So I snapped a quick one: 

When I saw David in person, I realized why this statue in particular is such a masterpiece.  For one things David is HUGE; and minutely detailed down to the fingernails.  From different angles his expression even seems to change from brazen and heroic to anxious about his battle with Goliath.  

The Academia also houses many other statues, and what looked to be pre-Renaissance art.  I snapped another forbidden picture of one of my favorites: a statue of Niccolo Machivelli! 

After the Academia, we went shopping.  We walked to Mercato Centrale.  It was the biggest, most colorful market I've even been in.  

Fruits and Veggies!

For Chris: MUSHROOMS!

After buying some goodies, we wandered around Florence, ducking in shops if we saw something that caught our eye.  I of course popped in a bookstore, to find that Italy's good taste when it comes to authors extends to Florence!

The Best Author Ever. 

We continued our stroll.  Dad got himself a Italian bike Jersey, Mum got some t-shirts and chocolate and I got a leather jacket!  A real, authentic Florentine Leather Jacket :-D  Eventually we went back to the Dumo, like I mentioned before, to take a look at the inside of the beautiful church.

The sights and sounds of Florence

Yin and Yang Gelato :-P

The Duomo, one last time.

Since it was still early, but we were tired out for the day, we went the the nearby Piazza della Republica to enjoy the scenery and just relax under the blue skies to kill some time before dinner.  Eventually after listening to a few dueling musicians in the square and watching kids play on the nearby Carousel, we wandered away in search of dinner.  We found a quiet little restaurant names Terra Terra nearby, and I'm sad to say we did not end our Italian eating adventures on a high note.  Our service was, at best, confused...but surely an experience, either way.

After our lackluster dinner, we strolled around Piazza Della Signoria and Piazza del Duomo one last time.  I was sad to leave Florence; I loved the city.  I enjoyed it more than Rome - though I'd also like to return to Rome some day to explore more of the actual city, and less of the touristy parts.  Florence had a different vibe, though, more authentic and laid back than Rome. I truly did feel at home in Florence; though that was also partly due to my excellent company.

Day 7: April 7th - The Return

On the 7th, we rose early, ate breakfast in our rooms and left our Bed & Breakfast to go to the Train Station and catch the train back to Rome.  I slept most of the  way on the return journey to Rome; I was a mix of sad that I had to go back to Jordan and leave my parents - and plain exhausted from our wonderful but tiring week in Italy.  It was hard leaving my parents in Rome.  I love Jordan.  It has become a part of me; a little piece of home will always reside in Amman.  But being with my parents reminded me of what home really is like; and the thought of just hopping on their plane and crossing the Atlantic seemed a much better alternative than returning to the bright sun of Jordan and the crush of schoolwork (as midterms and finals were fast approaching at that point).  Regardless I had to say my goodbyes, for a second time, and I watched my parents plane take off from the window of the Rome airport with a heavy heart.

My flight was a few hours later, so I grabbed myself lunch and settled down to wait.  There were no issues with my flight; it was comfortable and unremarkable, which is the best kind of flight to have, I suppose.  Entering Jordan again was an entirely different experience from when I had first entered in January.  Without the haze of jet lag and the fear of the semester on me, Queen Alia Airport in Amman seemed bright, almost cheery instead of dark and mysterious.  Moreover, customs was a breeze.  I just waved my residence card and got called over the the Jordanian line for passports.  I chatted briefly with the smiling attendant in arabic, and he welcomed me back to Jordan.  I hopped in a taxi, and made my way back to Jabal Amman, my apartment, and my Jordanian life.

Spring Break was absolutely amazing. I want - no, I need - to go back to Italy some day.  I'm grateful that I got to experience Italy with my amazing and loving parents; it was a needed reprieve from life in Jordan, and the next few weeks in Amman were some of the most difficult, as for some reason all of my teachers decided to push midterms and finals in the same two - three weeks.  Spring Break was the relaxation I needed to face the toils of midterms.  It was an amazing adventure, and I look forward to more before I make my own journey back across the Atlantic!