Florence, Italy

This week has been a bit wild. In total, we have traveled to 4 different cities within a one week spand. I am loving every minute that I am here apart of this wild adventure. After we stopped in Venice for 2 days, we traveled to Florence for 2 days/1 night. Because of our lack of time in each city, we were rushing through each city attempting to see as much as possible in the small amount of time we had. 

When we first arrived in Florence, we made our way to this amazing church that is in top of the hill called the San Miniato al Monte. I personally thought it was the best way to welcome me to Florence. Check out this view

(Ignore the thumb print in the corner, sorry) 

The church on top of the hill...San Miniato al Monte

View from another spot, just around the corner

Saw the fake David. Seeing the real David was the #1 thing to do on my list in Florence, but apparently you have to make a reservation ahead of time in order to get in so this is as good as it got for me this time. Another reason to go back to Italy right?

We then took a little walk down to the Bridge of Gold

On the bridge of gold there are tons of shops selling... You guessed it, GOLD. It's quite the tourist attraction with plenty of people shopping and local musicians playing on bridge.

View from the bridge at sunset. It was magical. 

Later that night, we went exploring in the heart of the city. We happened to run across a Symphonic Pops Concert just about to start in a plaza downtown. Taylor (a musical geek like me from the study abroad) and I decided to see what all the hype was about and I'm so glad we did! The concert was a blast! They played music from Mama Mia, Grease, Pink Floyd, Phil Collins, Sting and many more. I wish my mom could have been ther with me, you would have been loving every minute of it! I think what I loved most about it was the fact that there were so many local Italians there to support their friends and family who were playing in the symphony. It was probably my highlight of Florence.

Unfortunately my camera and phone both died right before the concert started so I didn't get any photos. :/

The next morning, we woke up and went to see the famous cathedral in Florence called the Duomo.

It's really hard to tell in pictures but the detail and design of this cathedral is amazing. I found this cathedral especially interesting because the exterior is ornate and detailed compared to the inside. You look at the outside and examine all the fine details and then you go inside expecting it to be equivalent to the outside and I hate to say it, but its a bit disappointing. 

Like so many other cathedrals, you can climb to the top of this one as well! With all the stairs I am climbing, im getting my booty workout in without even trying!

The view from the top!

The view is absolutely breathtaking 

We only had a short visit in Florence but it was fabulous... Now we are off to Rome!