We started the day with a leather factory; where a woman talked about how leather is made and the trick of telling apart real and fake leather. We wandered through the factory at all the lovely leather bags noting the price tag to be well above what we wanted to pay, and not quite 'retro' enough for our liking. Lauren and I knew that we could not leave Florence without a bag, so we set off on our mission just the two of us.
The streets of Florence looked so much more inviting during the day and the heart of the city. It was just gorgeous! Little streets like these were just exactly how I had pictured Italy...
We searched through countless little leather shops where we fell in love with so many that were just too expensive. When all was lost, we found THE store.
It literally was the last one we were gonna try before we ran out of time and had to meet up with the rest of the group! We both liked the same one which was rather funny, then we both hated it after awhile and fell in love with two completely different ones. And yes within the price range, so we bought them from this lovely gentleman and walked out... beyond happy. Too happy almost!
We met the rest of the group and were guided on a walking tour of Florence - the city which just became more and more beautiful by the second!! The female guide (win for feminism) explained the story behind the intricately detailed scupltures surrounding the square.
We wandered through Florence passing where Galilelo lived! There were cute little markets where we bought souvenir leather bracelets and an abundance of street art which was all very tempting.
The Pont Vecchio was very cool. It was the last bridge - the only one that the Germans had not bombed during WWII. Gorgeous jewellery stores were stationed all along it. Very unique I must say.
Everything in Florence was so pretty. Even one of the drains was pretty.
We approached the Piazza del Duomo. Probably the most incredible block of buildings I ever seen. I literally was just speechless. It was unbelievable! We turned the corner and there it was. Im sorry but none of these photos do it any justice - you will just have to see it for yourself and only then you will understand!
The walking tour stopped shortly after, and we all headed to grab lunch before the meeting time of 1245pm to head to Rome. We went and grabbed a delicious ham and cheese sandwich thing at a cafe. Right after, Lauren got her gelati, and I experienced the BEST coffee that I have ever had in my entire life. It was too good to be true! Ahhh will definitely be visiting Florence again sooon!
Feeling very content with a fantastic cappucino in my belly, we headed to the bus and were off to ROME! Just casually. Very excited. The bus was alive in song. Quite literally.
We arrived in Rome 3 hours later. We did a quick bus tour of some of the main attractions so we could get a feel for the streets and where everything was located. My first glimpse of St Peter's Basilica - the largest church in the world - was spectacular!
We saw the Colosseum and the Castle d'Angelo, and much much more. Around every corner it appeared to hold something ancient, falling down, or something we had all most likely studies in school. It was pretty overwhelming. We hopped out right by the Colosseum and had a couple of photos outside it. We continued on to what Lauren and I were probably most excited about seeing in Rome - The Trevi Fountain. And it was better than I had imagined. It was huge! There were so many people crowded around it in the blistering hot sun, but we still managed to sneak a few cheesy photos. And of course we had to make a wish. It was a love wishing fountain after all. So in my 50c NZ coin went.
After the Trevi Fountain was where all the fun really began for Lauren and I....
We thought we heard Garai say to meet near the Trevi at 5 to 8 so we decided we would just get dinner nearby at the Trevi Fountain restaurant. We had such a lovely dinner. We had the most amazing bruschetta with delicious real Italian tomatoes and were in heaven.
Next: Marguerita Pizza in Rome!!!!
It was just amazing. We were just too content with life...
Half through bliss, we realised that we had totally heard the instructions wrong. My phone was dead and Lauren's was close to dying. We called a couple of people to make sure where the meeting place was. I called over the waiter to ask if we could borrow a pen to write down a couple of numbers that we might need to call.. and the waiter thought I was asking for his number! And in shock he kept saying: "no no my manager!" or something along those lines in his heavy Italian accent. How embarassing.
We realised that we were meant to have left the Trevi quite awhile ago and were meant to have had dinner at the Piazza Navona. Oops. The dinner part didn't matter as we had had such a perfect dinner. But where was the Piazza Navona??
We ran through the streets of Rome in search of it. We really were lost in Rome. Quite unintentionally. We asked a number of people for directions on every street just so we wouldn't lose time and head in the complete wrong direction.
One of my biggest fail moments of Contiki was this:
We were running and we passed the most amazing building. I racked my brains and could not for the life of me remember what it was called. I remember yelling out to Lauren that I just had to take a photo. But then at that moment my camera died. Wow I was so guttered.
This is what my picture would have looked like, although not this quality as my camera is not this amazing. But what was it? The Pantheon. Yes. Stupid me.
We eventually got to the Piazza Navona - with a few minutes to spare of the meeting curfew! Everyone pretty much laughed at us. But hey, our dinner beat their dinner. Winner(s)!
We caught our breath and admired the beauty of the Piazza Navona. It had so many adorable little Italian restaurants to choose from. And the most stunning fountain in the middle of it - of which I later realised made an appearance in the film Angels and Demons. Grool.
We made our way back to the campsite, all very excited for the following day when we could really explore and intentionally get lost in the city of Rome...
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