December 19, 2018
Our first day with the tour group took us through the smallest country in the world, Vatican City. We only had the morning to visit, so we quickly headed down to the garden, walked through the Vatican Museums, marvelled at the gold-framed paintings and delicate tapestries, and silently admired the Sistine Chapel.
The Sistine Chapel was a lot smaller than we expected, but we didn’t have much time to stay, so we used the time we could to look for Michelangelo’s famous paintings. After being quietly shuffled out (no talking or photography was allowed), we winded our way down to St. Peter’s Basilica to spend our free time before heading back to the bus. The church was grand, with a breathtaking altar, beautiful gold trim, stunning statues and beautiful stained glass windows.
When we got back to our bus, we settled in, as our time in Rome was done and we were on to a new city. We got into Florence just before dinner. We got to pick our roommates for the two nights there, so Priscilla and I chose to bunk with Cindy and Ava. It turned out for the best, as they became our close friends and we spent much of our trip bunking with them.
We went to dinner with the tour group, taking the bus to a spot outside the city. While Priscilla was focused on the appetizers (they were delicious), I was more impressed by the free wine. As most of the people on the trip were younger, they liked drinking the sweeter white wine, so that left the red wine all for me. It was delicious and a great introduction to Florence.
December 20, 2018
The first full day in Florence started with a guided tour through the streets where we visited Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio, the “fake” statue of David and Arno River. We walked across Pointe Vecchio, a bridge that is lined with stores. Lastly, we arrived at Piazza del Duomo and walked through the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, a large cathedral. Inside was a large nativity scene, beautiful murals and colourful stained glass windows.
The only things on Priscilla’s to-do list in Florence was to have gnocchi and gelato. So, we headed out to find her some gnocchi. We wound back through the streets and found a little place called The Rooster Cafe (edit: As of February 2020, this cafe now only serves American style cafe food – no more Italian dishes). As the name suggests, the restaurant was filled with artwork of roosters. Priscilla got her gnocchi, while I got a macaroni with black pork ragu and mushrooms. We both enjoyed our meal.
After a few more circles through the city for good measure, we headed back to the hotel for some rest before dinner with the rest of the group.
For dinner, we wound our way through the tiny streets to a little Italian place. There we at bruschetta, garlic bread, spaghetti and some cake. While the rest of the tour group headed to karaoke, Priscilla, Ava, Cindy, Isaac and I decided to head out into the streets to see the sights at night.
We stumbled across a little Christmas market, where we ate silver dollar pancakes filled with Nutella and I picked up a gift for my new nephew. We walked our way back to Ponte Vecchio and watched the light show dance across the bridge. To cross off Priscilla’s last to-do item, we snuck into a little chocolate shop for some gelato just before they closed.
The night was a beautiful way to end our time in Florence. With the Christmas lights and markets, we were getting into the spirit of the holidays.
Stephanie Fraser 