Florence part 2

           One week later I was back in Florence. During the first week, Lilly was on Easter break so she was free for the entire week. During my second week, she was back in class, so I was adopted by her friends and basically had a week-long rotation of one on one dates with each of them. On Tuesday morning I landed in Pisa, hopped on the Pisa Mover and got into to Santa Maria Novella around noon. I walked from there to the “Academy Hostel” which was right next to the Duomo. It was a cozy little spot – 6 beds to a room, no hot water, but at only 25 bucks a night, it was well worth it.

            I left the hostel, and met up with Lilly’s roommate Olivia. We sat, had some gelato, and then walked to St Lorenzo to meet up with Sam, Caitlin, and Julia. I picked up some wine at the bodega and the 5 of us sat on the steps and drank wine in the sun. They all had to go home for dinner with their host families, but Lilly was still in class until 7:30 so I walked to Santo Spirito to get a pizza. Santo Spirito is a nice little hidden gem in Florence, it has a colloquial vibe that makes you feel like you just stepped off the map and back in time. It was far enough away from the Duomo that it wasn’t overrun with tourists, the restaurant vendors were friendly without being aggressive, and there were kids playing around the fountain. Julia Caitlin Sam and Olivia said that Gusto pizza was the best pizza they had in Florence, and while it was good pizza, it didn’t live up to the hype. They oversold it a bit, and I don’t think I can forgive them for that error in judgement.

View from Lilly's roof

            I met Lilly at her house with a few bottles of wine, and Julia came over to drink on the rooftop of Lilly’s apartment. The apartment was unreal. It was a 5 floor walkup in a dimly lit old stone building with 2 apartments on each floor. Lilly was on the top floor and her apartment had its own private rooftop. The view from the roof was unbelievable. It was half a block from the Synagogue and had a full view of the Duomo and the rest of the city. We sat on the roof, drank wine, and watched the sun go down. We waited for Olivia to get back from her dinner date, and then the four of us walked to Rosy’s. Rosy’s was a pop up bar in the park next to Syracuse’s campus that’s only open in the late spring and summer. 

            Rosy’s was busy with locals and a wide range of Syracuse kids that Lilly admittedly didn’t like. Apparently there was a huge clique of JAPy girls who were huge bitches. Lilly isn’t subtle when she doesn’t like someone, so there were a couple of interesting interactions. Rosy’s stayed open until 3 and we stayed there drinking until 4. I don’t know when packing a polaroid became a necessity for studying abroad, but somehow every girl had one. For a demographic who complains incessantly about the troubles of lugging around a bulky purse, the polaroid obsession contradicts everything. I don’t even think they use polaroids in the US, they just show up in Europe and as soon as they land back in the US it vaporizes. 

Daniella, Olivia, Lilly, Nicole, Caitlin, Sam

            The next morning, Lilly had class all day so I walked her to school early so we could get a nice breakfast pizza. We ordered a burrata, arugula, and prosciutto pizza and were planning to split it, but they brought out two by mistake so in true Conaghan fashion we overate until we were uncomfortably full. With Lilly in class all day, Sam, Caitlin, and Julia adopted me and we had a nice little tourist day. We walked from school to a famous sandwich shop called Al Antico Venaio. It’s one of the greatest sandwiches I’ve ever had.  The meat to bread ratio is perfect, the sauces are evenly spread across both sides of the sandwich, and the ingredients are fresh and flavorful. To this day its probably the best €5 I’ve ever spent. After Antico Venaio we wandered a little out of the way so that we could get to their favorite gelato shop. It was a little shop called Gelateria Santa Trinita. It was one bridge east of the Ponte Vecchio, on the southern bank of the Arno. The gelato was good, but not next level. We made our way over to the gates of the Pitti Palace, and bought our tickets to the Boboli Gardens. Walking through the gardens is nice, but the gradient is so steep, that we were exhausted by the time we got to the top. We all kind of silently agreed that we were finished walking, and we found I nice patch of grass and started people watching. We hung out there until about 6 when Lilly and Olivia got out of class so we killed time with trivia, riddles, and judged the groups of tourists following a tour guide.

            After the gardens, Lilly Olivia and I went back to Lilly’s house, had dinner with her house mom Carla, and then got some wine and olives at Enoteca. It was a small local place where you could get a bottle of wine for 3 euros. They only had three choices: red, white, and sparkling white, and they ran it like a little machine, no bullshit, no custom orders, and no customer service. We took our bottles to go and made our way across the tracks to the soccer stadium. The stadium was packed, and if felt like every single kid in her program was at the game. The game and atmosphere was unreal. It was one of the highest scoring soccer games I can remember going to, with a final score of 7-4, but neither Lilly nor I saw any of the goals. After the game we all went to a little bar by Santa Croce called “Santo mondo’s” I think. There were no rules at the bar. Jonah, Lilly’s Syracuse friend who grew up in DC, a devout descendent of Abraham and a big fan of the Torah, was behind the bar basically giving everyone free drinks. I’m not sure who it was, but someone insisted on shots, and Lilly immediately ran outside to puke. She rallied and washed it down with a beer and she was back and ready to go. We stayed there all night and I don’t think anyone ever paid for a drink. The owner didn’t seem to mind, he was just happy that his bar was busy and full of life. We left the bar at 3:30 or 4 and by that time their favorite late night place was closed, so we went to Mister Pizza for some late night slices. We were some of their later customers so they gave us all of the leftover pizza. 

Boboli Gardens

            On Thursday, everyone was a bit hungover. I sat outside and had a charcuterie breakfast  by myself and wandered the streets trying to blend in with the locals. I met up with Lilly around noon and we went to the leather school to see the leather making process in action. It wasn’t as informative as I expected it to be. It’s almost like Florence’s version of the Guinness factory. It feels authentic at first, and there are a few people sitting in back rooms making wallets by hand, but at the end of the day it’s just an overpriced gift shop. I napped outside while the girls shopped and tried to haggle with the vendors. After the leather school, there was dissent among the group. Lilly and I wanted to drink, and everyone else wanted to go to the metal & silver shop to get gifts for their parents. So we drank by ourselves. We went to a rooftop bar overlooking Piazza Della Republica. Her other friends came and met up with us – Dylan, Ellie, and a few others. This group had a bit of an edginess to it – a lot of angst, no shortage of eye brow and cartilage piercings, and a healthy dose of “fuck you dad”. It was definitely a different vibe from the rest of the Syracuse group, and almost the opposite end of the spectrum from the JAPPY girls. They were nice girls though.

            After the sun went down, the rooftop lost its luster, and Lilly and I went to dinner. Carla recommended a small restaurant on the outskirts of town. No tourists, good food, and reasonable prices. We sat and had dinner gor hours and then met up with Julia, Caitlin, Sam, and Olivia at Rosy’s. We got nice and drunk and headed back downtown to the Red Garter. The Garter wasn’t exactly my scene. A lot of hipsters, an overly confident DJ, and a karaoke stage. Lilly is a big fan of karaoke, and only sings one song – Valerie by Amy Winehouse. Lilly wedged herself into the front of the line and we belted out Valerie as a duet. After our time in the spotlight we went next door for a quick dragoon at Kikuya, and then down the street to Santomondos for some free drinks. Santomondos wasn’t as busy as the night before, so we called it quits around 2:30  and headed to Mesopotamia for some late night food. Mesopotamia is basically a Greek version of chipotle. It’s definitely closer to a burrito than it is to a gyro, but flavor wise its definitely closer to Greek than Mexican. 

Tea Garden

            On Friday Lilly Olivia and I had a late brunch and then we went up to the 4 seasons to try and sneak into the pool. It was probably one of the easier sneaks to be honest. You needed a room number to get towels, but leftover towels were all we needed. We had our fun at the pool and then we went across the street to a public tea garden. It was actually one of the coolest places. The guy who ran it, Giacamo, basically turned this abandoned school playground into an urban garden and sells the herbs, you can come in and plant or take whatever you want and make your own tea, but he just hangs out there all day and cooks and talks to people. He just sat there chopping herbs, making spices and prepping food. He told us his whole life story and why he started the garden, and told us to come back the next day for a cookout with all of his friends. While we were out all day, Lilly’s house-mom was trying to get her cat pregnant. She scheduled a date and the cats chose Lilly’s room to consummate the marriage. I don’t know if you’ve ever smelled the remnants of a feline love affair, but it was toxic. The whole house reeked and Lilly’s room was ground zero. We had a quick dinner with Carla, drank some wine on the roof and then met up with Caitlin at Rosy’s. The rest of the group was studying for a final the next day so we planned to take it easy that night, but the three of us drank in the park until 4.

  

Rosy's Bar in the park

          Saturday was a slow day, Lilly was in class all day so I went to the Sant Ambrogio market, the Santo Spirtito market and walked along the Arno. I met Lilly and Giacamo at the Tea Garden, but she was too hungover to eat so we didn’t stay for the cookout. Lilly had to go back to class, so I met up with Nicole for lunch and we waited until everyone else got out of class. It was their last weekend in Florence so everyone wanted pictures at the Ponte Vecchio and one last group dinner. Lilly, Julia, Sam, Caitlin, Nicole, Olivia, Danielle, Daniella and I went up to a restaurant called Osteria delle Tre Panche – “Three Benches”. It’s a tiny little restaurant that only has three tables. It’s across the tracks well outside the center of town, but it’s worth the trek. The tables are family style tables so they fit 8-10 people, and the food was unbelievable. Lilly and I agreed to split and swap, so our we had the roast chicken over risotto and four cheese truffle ravioli. After dinner we got some gelato and hit the town. We stopped by Rosy’s in the park, popped into Kikuya for a quick dragoon, and ended up at Santomondos. By that time my body had just tapped out after a long week of drinking. The group wanted to go to another bar and I used that as an opportunity to Irish exit. I woke up the next morning horrendously hungover, and I went out to meet Lilly for breakfast before heading to the airport. 

Julia, Daniella, Caitlin, Nicole, Olivia, Sam, Lilly, Danielle

Song of the week: Paradise by George Ezra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOwihbur34E