Italy: Whirlwind Part Two: Florence

After Rome, we headed back to Tuscany to Florence for a few days.
Ah, Florence. So beautiful (I know, I say that about every city, but European cities are just so beautiful). I seriously wanted to take a picture of every single street we turned on to: they were all so cute and so quintessential Italy to me. I'm not sure why, and I can't really describe why they were so cute:: the architecture, the curved cobblestone roads, shutters and flower boxes on the windows, and cute old Italian women carrying home their loaves of bread from the bakery. I love the streets even more than the sights themselves! That being said, we did get out and see some sights: a lot of public piazzas (same as anywhere in Italy), more beautiful churches/basilicas, and the famous bridge, Ponte Vecchio. We climbed up hill at the edge of town to find a little church on the top of the hill, and Piazzolla Michelangelo, from which you can see a gorgeous panoramic of the entire city of Florence. We hiked up just in time to grab some gelato and to sit and watch the sun set behind the Tuscan hills. It took my breath away. I breathed  in the sweet aroma of fresh air, and I could feel every ounce of stress from the trip just melt away. It was easily one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

While in Florence, we also took some time to get out of the city a little bit and took a bus ride to a nearby small town called Fiesole. It is set up in the hills, so we could, again, see a view of the entire city of Florence below us. It was even more gorgeous than from the hill in town, because we could see even more of the city and more of the surrounding Tuscan countryside, hills and mountains in the background. I could have stayed up there all day. The town was really cute too: a sleepy little town with nothing more than a single piazza and a modest cathedral in the center. We explored around the residential area for a little while (and dreamed about what it would be like to have the Tuscan view right outside your window every morning) and then headed back down to Florence. We had been staying at a quaint little hostel; and by quaint I mean too small and crowded (3 rooms, each with 6 beds, everyone sharing one bathroom), but kinda adorable at the same time, run by an old Italian woman, who didn't speak any English and  had just converted an old apartment into a hostel. But for our last night in town, we ditched the hostel and were able to stay with a couchsurfing host, Anna, who was so sweet and generous. She is originally from the U.S. and moved to Florence after falling in love with it when she studied abroad there. She currently works with a study abroad program, helping students have a good experience in Florence, just like she did. Sounds like a dream job to me. Anna cooked us a delicious Italian meal for dinner before sending us off to Venice in the morning with wishes for safe travels.