Week Five in Florence

After a perfect weekend in Tuscany with my parents and my roommates, we drove back to Florence to spend two nights exploring the city that has become my home. As a New York City girl I have been missing my Sunday brunch, and I was so happy to discover that the J.K. Place Firenze offers a brunch that rivals that of The Smith (yup, I said it!). I happily downed a strawberry bellini and one of my absolute favorite dishes, grilled octopus. It was a little slice of New York heaven in Florence and having my parents there to enjoy it with me really made it feel like home. 

Sunday Brunch at the J.K. Place Firenze

Grilled octopus

I took my parents to the leather market where they purchased almost everything in sight and then to my favorite panini place in Florence, Verdi. Afterwards, we walked the streets along the river and admired the beauty of the city... and shopped some more!

A view of the Ponte Vecchio

I finally climbed to the top of the Duomo (463 steps), and although the view was beautiful I don't see myself doing it again anytime soon. Imagine a lot of people and tiny spaces to travel through, not exactly ideal conditions for the claustrophobic type!

A view from the top of the Duomo

After a great five days with my parents it was time for them to go back to New Jersey. Luckily they'll be coming back to Europe in another three weeks for my spring break. We'll be traveling to Zurich, St. Moritz, Milan and Prague, so stay tuned for updates from our 10 day trip! 

This past weekend my roommates and I stayed in Florence and did some of the things that we've been meaning to do since we arrived. One of them was traveling to Piazzale Michelangelo, a piazza that overlooks all of Florence. Here we drank red wine and watched the sunset. It's a beautiful place to come with a picnic and I anticipate that we'll be back again soon once the weather starts getting warmer.

Me watching the sunset at Piazzale Michelangelo

A view from the piazza

A view from the piazza

On Saturday night after going out to dinner my roommates and I decided to stay awake and take a trip to one of Florence's secret bakeries. These bakeries typically open around 2AM to serve hungry young adults who are on their way home from the bars. The suppliers who provide many of the city's pasticcerie with their pastries set aside some of what they make and sell them in the middle of the night. This is done in various locations throughout the city. 

First, we traveled to a bakery that we thought existed near our apartment. We found a location that seemed suspicious and saw an Italian guy standing outside smoking a cigarette. I asked him if he worked for the secret bakery and he looked at me with a blank stare. I guess the secret bakeries are primarily a tourist thing! Needless to say we walked to the next location on our list and smelled our way to the door. We asked for the best thing on the menu and got in return a raisin tart for only 1EUR.  I would never have ordered this item off of a menu but it was absolutely delicious, especially at 2 o'clock in the morning!

The door to the secret bakery

Me and my raisin tart

This Friday I am headed to London to visit my best friend Ryan. We have a lot of Asian fusion dinners planned, I need a break from the Italian food (and so do my thighs)! I've never been to London before,  so I'm really excited to be going there. Ryan also tells me that the city is a lot like New York. They have Whole Foods, Starbucks and everyone speaks English so it will be a nice little fix of home! Stay tuned for updates from my trip. Ciao for now!