Ah Firenze

Back from Italy and, as I suspected, it was quite amazing.

Milan wasn't at all what I imagined. Maybe because it just isn't a very pretty city or maybe because the area I spent the majority of my time was dank and relatively non-descript. Despite not feeling much of an affinity for the city, my time working there did have its moments.

We stayed at the newly-opened Nhow Hotel. So new, in fact, that cab drivers didn't even know it existed. All the trendy folks did, though. Aveda had a huge conference going on there, and the people it brought in were real characters. There were also model auditions and a Ferragamo fashion shoot taking place during my stay. I can't even begin to really describe the wacky hotel and its uber-trendy interior (and exterior) decorations. It was...an experience indeed.

The area of town we stayed in is what the Milanese describe as a changing environment. Much how Wicker Park was 10 years ago. Only different. Aside from the old section of town where the Duomo looms large and the famed La Scala opera house stands proudly on its corner lot, there is graffiti everywhere. It's beyond sad to walk or drive past buildings hundreds and hundreds of years old that have been desecrated in such ways. Though I was there for a week, I was sensitive to it every day, never waning.

Aside from a couple nights in the old part of town including a walk through fashion row, two visits to the best little gelato shop owned by the cutest old Italian lady who didn't speak a lick of English, and playing Yahtzee with some locals and GBF during an especially inebriated night, Milan was...eh. Just eh.

I was thrilled to head out to Florence, where I just knew I wouldn't be disappointed. And I wasn't.

Ah Firenze.

I immediately fell in love and miss it sorely. Words cannot describe the beauty and magic of every square inch of this city. It is perfectly preserved from its Renaissance period right down to the cobblestones, the iron loops on the sides of buildings for which locals could tie their horses, and the grand Ponte Vecchio.

My friend and I stayed at the Hotel De Lanzi, located one block from the Duomo on a quiet little street that I almost missed walking from the train station that first night. It's a typical European hotel and was perfect for our needs.

Given the short period of time we had (just under 2 days), I'm amazed at all that we packed in and still had time for many stops for wine. The Uffizi Gallery in all its grandeur; the Accedemia and its main atraction--the breathtakingly beautiful David; Pitti Palace; the Duomo and Bell Tower; the Medici Chapel; the San Lorenzo market; the leather market; the Ponte Vecchio; and, of course, a stop at a very fine wine shop.

Did I mention the stops for amazing wine? Yeah, it's all really incredible and the house wines- obviously all local- are fantastic and inexpensive.

Though I navigated the town well right down to enjoying some of its most hidden treasures, there are some things I wish I could've done. On the agenda for next time: the Boboli Gardens (inclement weather changed my plans of traipsing through that corner of beauty); the Riccardi-Medici Palace; the Bargello (I enjoyed the knock-off sculptures in the outdoor piazza and admired them while sipping some chianti in my last hours in the city but didn't have the opportunity to enjoy all of the sculptures inside the museum); and day tours to Fiesole and Siena as well as a wine tour or two.

Yes, I will return--and hopefully sooner rather than later. It is a life-changing place, Firenze is. A wonderful experience I won't soon forget.