Firenze

Ultimately, I only had about a day to spend exploring Florence. Fortunately, I planned everything out so that I would have enough time to see the top things on my list of what I wanted to see. I woke up early that day, and luckily, I was feeling much better than the evening before. After a quick breakfast, I headed out to the first sight on my list: the Duomo. It didn't take me long to get there, and I bought tickets that would allow me to go inside, and to climb the 463 steps to the very top (and I thought I was done with stairs after Cinque Terre...). Inside the Duomo, the design was much more minimal than the ornate style of the one in Siena, which I think I prefer. I then got in line to ascend the building, and after about a 20 minute wait the line began to move, leading us into the building and up the stairs. After Cinque Terre, the stairs weren't bad, but the narrow, spiraling design of the passageway made it pretty claustrophobic. Finally, I reached the top, and was rewarded with a breathtaking panoramic view of the whole city below.

Once I was back down again on the street below, I decided it was time for me to head to the second big place I planned to visit: The Uffizi Gallery. The museum was extremely close to the Duomo, and only took me about five minutes to get there. Because I had bought my tickets in advance, I wasn't forced to stand in the very long line to enter the building. I absolutely love art museums, but visiting the Uffizi Gallery was special, since I was experiencing artwork that I had actually studied in art history classes during previous semesters. I spent about three hours inside the museum, walking around the corridors and galleries and admiring works by Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Carravaggio, and the like. Afterward, I did my usual routine of visiting the gift shop to pick up a few postcards of my favorite works. 

I left the museum, and wandered around the streets of Florence for a little while. I met back up with two people from my group for what was to be my last supper in Italy (unsurprisingly, it was delicious) By the time we finished dinner, the sun as about to set, so we rushed off to see the sunset from the Ponte Vecchio, Florence's most beloved bridge. Watching the sky turn pink and the lights of the city illuminate the river was definitely one of my favorite moments of the entire trip. I stood there watching the sky for at least half an hour, until it was completely dark. The city itself had such a different but equally alluring quality to it at night. Musicians, artists, and vendors all filled the streets, and walking back to the hostel allowed me to experience Florence through a different lens, and provided a near-perfect end to my Italy adventure.