Exploring Florence and Visit to Massa

These last few days have continued to be amazing. It was supposed to rain all week in Florence but luckily for most of the week the sun came out and it was beautiful yet very hot. On Wednesday, Matt and I hung out with our friends Matt Hall (pictured below), Danielle and her sister Kate and just walked around Florence. There is a gelato festival going on all week, which we can't wait to go to. 

We climbed up to the top of the Campanile di Giotto, which is the big bell tower by the cathedral and

spent some time looking at the city from above. It was a hike up the stone steps and I thought I was going to die but the view was worth it. Its incredible up there and you really get a sense of how small Florence is as a city. Afterwards we just walked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, which is on the other side of the city across the river by the church of San Miniato, and it overlooks the city of Florence. It is also a bit of a hike up these steps but it is with out a doubt one of the coolest places in Florence I have seen so far. The view is stunning and people just hang out up there with their drinks listening to music or getting a bite to eat. The five of us sat outside at a restaurant overlooking the city for hours, enjoying the beautiful sight before us. Then we met up with my roommates who were having some wine on the steps and listening to the singer that was there (who was a lot like an Italian version of Phoebe from "Friends"). We watched the sunset from the steps and seeing the Florence skyline with the pink and orange sky in the background is something that takes your breath away. The whole scene was just picturesque and I have to go back and spend more time there. It was the greatest ending to the perfect day. 

Piazzale Michelangelo

The rest of the week was spent with me further exploring other sites around the city mainly focusing on Santa Croce with one of my classes. Its become my favorite of the churches that I've been to so far with the exception of San Lorenzo. Yesterday, Matt and I had plans to go back to Massa, near Cinquale where we were on our Introduction to Italy week to visit our Italian friends Caterina and Marco. We were going to go to Pisa for the day first but we ended up taking a later train out of Santa Maria Novella and just going to straight to Massa where Marco picked us up from the train station Massa Centro. He gave us a little car tour of the town which is much smaller than I thought but has so much character. It was different seeing the town from a car instead of the bus that we had been on in our earlier visit and Matt and I were pleased when we could recognize certain places we had seen before. The scene was something straight out of a movie. Matt was hung over and not feeling well and sitting in the backseat of the car while dying of dehydration. Marco drives how you would imagine a wild Italian guy to drive, speeding down these little winding roads so we felt like we were on a roller coaster. Windows down and music blasting, he took us up one of the mountains a little bit to San Carlo where we could see the entire town of Massa and the Mediterranean Sea along with La Spezia in the distance. It's amazing up there and I absolutely love everything about the place. After our little tour, we got ready for the night and met up with Caterina for a lovely little tradition that the Italians like to call aperitivo. It's basically the Italian version of happy hour. You buy a drink and they give you appetizers with your drink for free. We all ordered spritzes and chatted before going to dinner at this place called Franky's. Marco and Caterina know the owner of this cute little place, situated on the water and we had a great time. It's the kind of restaurant where you don't choose what you get to eat rather the owner and the chef decide. All the food was seafood, but I was adventurous even eating squid and sea bass and then having the best tiramisu I had ever tasted. Everything was delicious and Matt and I were beyond happy to be back at the beach with wonderful friends. After dinner we all went back to Vintage Cafe, the bar where all of us had met and then to a discoteca to dance with a bunch of their Italian friends who they go to school with. Massa is a small town where everyone knows each other and it's a very sweet sight to see. Every single one of their friends that we meet are so much fun and they just make us want to move to Italy more! We stayed the night in Massa, going to the beach today with Marco and Caterina before taking an afternoon train back to Florence. We loved getting to go back there and I know it will not be the last time we visit.