Spring Break '05 | Day 2

At the Brussels International Airport we had to go through a thorough security check point before allowing us access into the European Union as visitors. Dustin and I found our connecting gate next to a Beer Bar and we sat down to a drink of Hoegaarden, a tasteful Belgium ale. During the short wait we hatched a plan for our meeting with Shana to meet her separately with Dustin tricking her into thinking how he had lost me at the airport.

The flight from Brussels to Firenze was fairly short with a nice view of the Alps. A delay in reaching the gate was cause for us to miss the first bus out to the station where we were to meet. Getting on the next available SITA bus we made our way to the train station at Santa Maria Novella. Dustin had gone out first as I snuck around to another entryway within the station. I guess our little ploy made for only a short rouse, nonetheless, it was good to see my friend again.

At the station, Shana took us to a currency exchange and we had converted our dollars to euros. Even though I had read that it was a bad deal to exchange money at the station, I had trusted Shana in knowing what she was doing. Unfortunately for us, she has no need to exchange money in Italy and we lost an early chunk of our money in the process. No bother, I was just glad to be there.

It was a short walk from the station to her apartment. Her residence was located in a small gated complex with a cramped elevator that took us up to the third floor where we would stay for the next week. Sitting down to catch up on friendly matters, I emptied my pack and rested a bit before going out to see the city.

Although Shana had led the way for the short excursion, I had made sure to it to walk by certain landmarks of interest. Walking in the direction of the station, we went by Santa Maria Novella on the way to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore with its magnificent Duomo. After some inquiry, Shana found the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, the office that could grant me permission to the sublevel of the church of San Reparata on top of which the current church is built. Alas, the bureaucratic process would hinder such access since they required nothing less than a request by a prominent professor of my school. Across the way was the medieval Baptistery adorned by what Michelangelo had coined the Gates of Paradise. Moving on we came around the corner to the Palazzo Medici, a prototype of sorts for later palaces of Italian Communal power. By the Arno River lay the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge to survive the war and ravages of Firenze's history. A short distance from the river was the grandiose Pitti Palace, right across the street from the Accademia Italiana where Shana continues her studies.

With the sun slowly descending on the horizon, we made our way back home along the Arno River where Shana described these big rats that moved steadily up and down its banks. She was not exaggerating one bit as we came up on one. Here we are, three naive Americans with cameras strut to take no less than 20 pictures each of the wet, disgusting creature.

Satisfied that one of us had caught the monster under the lens, we almost made it home before I decided to treat everyone to ice cream at a gellateria called Slurp. It was the homemade variety and the taste was simply indescribable. Back at Shana's place, we each took shots of lemonciello and wine before committing to a salmon pasta dinner. Shortly after I laid down on the balcony on Shana's exercise mat for a little nap. On our first night in Firenze, they had wanted to take us out for a few drinks and to meet up with Shana's crew from school before everyone had broken up for holiday break.

Again, it was a long walk back to meet up at the Duomo but since we would be arriving late, we headed directly to the Rex Club, a hip local bar where the crew had already begun to assemble. Before entering the bar, we had joined up with Shana's friend Sari from Sweden. Shana's friends from school were all really cool people from all over Europe and even a few from Mexico. Conversing with Sari throughout the night, I had learned that she liked American hip hop, but not the commercial kind--"no 50 cent, no 60 cent." HA! At the end of the night, the crew broke up and I offered to walk Sari home since I didn't understand how a girl like her could make it home alone on the dimly lit streets of Firenze. Common sense directed otherwise that I wouldn't know how to get back myself so we said our goodbyes and left for home.

Trip-O-Meter
Activity: 3 | Energy: 1 | Friends: 3