Let's just say by the time I got up the floor I hadn't decided anything, and the guys really didn't help me with the decision of where to go, but they helped by being nice and not calling me crazy for the way I acted.
When your on a big trip, like I am, there'll be places you get more excited about than others. Heading to Florence I was so excited I think I said "Oh my God I'm going to Florence" a million times on the bus with a smile on my face. Even after missing my bus and getting one that the owner of the hotel told me I shouldn't get, everything turned out great - never according to my plans, but ok. Whenever I am arriving in a new place by bus, I always have this tiny freakout moment with fear of getting off at the wrong place or that the driver doesn't stop where I need. So, as soon as I saw the thing saying "Firenze" my eyes where wide open and I think I asked almost everybody on the bus "Florence train station?". I am like the crazy person on every bus! I always said Florence would kill my budget and booking eight nights here was a really stupid thing to do, but, since I ended up going to Rome to meet my cousins (while I was paying the nights in Florence because they didn't let me change the number of nights at the hostel), I got to spend five nights in the city which turned out to be perfect (still, I needed one more night in order to hike the Cinque Terre, but well...I guess I can't have it all) and I think I walked almost every street of Florence. I explored Florence like a crazy person. Got the map in my hands and tried to walk everywhere and all the time in diferente streets so I could see it all. I've discovered with this trip that I love wandering around with no specific purpose, I just like to watch people, take photos and enjoy the tiny moments while eating a gelato or a pizza slice. When your doing a big trip, alone, moving from one place to another every three days, sometimes you feel the exaustion, and it's ok! I think my friends and family sometimes think my life backpacking Europe is all rainbows, but I can tell you that it isn't. But want to know the truth? It's not suppose to be that way. This is not a normal vacation of waking up at lunch time and lay on the beach all day and enjoy time to rest. I always knew it would be exausting, and that's my choice. I wake up every day around 7am or sooner because I know I have little time to explore and do everything in each place, so yes, it's suppose to make me feel tired, because if it didn't, then I would be doing this the wrong way. Arriving in Florence I was happier than ever, and excited to finally see with my own eyes how the city looked like. Still, my legs were starting to feel the weight of my backpacks (it really is true that you should pack light, but well, I am a girl, and being the first time I'm backpacking, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into). The good thing about going solo is that I don't have to follow a pace that's not my own. So if I feel tired, I just rest and that's ok. Whenever I want to walk I walk, when I want to sit down and write on my notebook I can do so and when I feel like having a gelato in some church's stairs I can do it. See the beauty in it? I can do anything I want, everyday, all the time. It's totally up to me the way I spend my time. Florence made me think about all these things. I don't know if it's because I was in a big city, but I felt the total freedom to just do everything I wanted, and I enjoyed my time well. And I believe that meeting my family in Rome after two weeks of backpacking made me good, since I got back with full strengh to follow my adventure. Of course I had my low moments, as always: I missed my train to Lucca - because I stood in front of the arrivals screen instead of the departures -, I also missed one train from Rome back to Florence, followed by a run of 400meters in less than five minutes because Italians are crazy! Oh, and I made a mess in my dormbecause once I got back I decided to change beds and this made a new guy steal a girls bed and once she got back she had no bed to stay (I just pretended I had no idea what was going on) And I also had a melt down in Florence. On my last day here I got back from my day trip to Pisa and Lucca, entered the room, sat on the floor with all my crap everywhere on the floor and I stayed there from 6.30pm until 1am. The reason of this was that I had no hostels booked. I had planeed the trip for months and I had nothing done. I was leaving to Venice the next day, would be there for three nights and after that nothing. I couldn't decide were to go because I was too scared and I eventually started crying. The good thing about being the only girl in the dorm is that when the guys see you crying on the floor, they'll offer you beer and chocolate, get your computer and start looking options for you. Two Australians and one guy from California saving my life that night. I was so stressed that when the one from California offered me chocolate I answered him a little badly saying something like "oh, you guys think you can shut us girls up with chocolate" - not my finnest moment because he was super nice and really cute, but my mood improved after that. Let's just say by the time I got up the floor I hadn't decided anything, and the guys really didn't help me with the decision of where to go, but they helped by being nice and not calling me crazy for the way I acted. I loved Florence, but not in the way that you expect, I think. It wasn't a city that took my breath away all the time, or that made me say "Oh my God" every corner, it was different. It was a place I embraced being alone, where I took time to follow my wishes of the moment. It was where I enjoyed the little things, but the ones that made me feel complete and that I am in the right place and doing the right thing. It was where I follow my heart and moved with it. I looked at Ponte Vecchio and followed my sudden will to write. I sat on a place with a panoramic view of the river and just stayed there watching the birds fly. I discovered this place close to the water, far away from the crowds, and stayed there watching the sun go down with a smile on my face as I enjoyed my so much loved silence. Maybe you think that watching birds, write on a notebook and going to a distant place from the center is a waist of time, and that I didn't enjoy Florence the way I should have. What about museums? What about the art? The renaissance? The Duomo? I don't think I can explain anyone this, but trust me when I tell you that I was much happier this way than if I had spend my fulls days in museums and churches no matter how amazing they could be. It's the amazing part of travelling solo. I don't have to explain it, I just have to do what I feel is right at the moment, and If it feels right and makes me smile, than I'm sure it's the best way to spend my time. Florence is the center of it all! From here, you can get a train or a bus to everywhere you want in Italy, and you can do it in a cheap way! Like if you want to take a day trip to Pisa & Lucca, buy a ticket to Lucca but make a stop in Pisa first (the ticket will cost you 7€, 14€ round-trip). And if you always wanted to go to the Cinque Terre, but spending a night there is too expensive (you'll pay more than 50-60 euros per night), stay in Plus Florence Hostel that will only cost you 11,8€ a night, and then get the train to La Spezia (12€) where you have regular trains that do the Cinque Terre coast and stop at all the five towns.
1 Comment
3/5/2015 03:48:00 am
Florença é uma das cidades italianas que mais tenho vontade de conhecer. Aliás, um dia hei-de fazer uma viagem por Itália de comboio para tentar conhecer o máximo possível.
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Travelling With RIta
After creating this blog as I did my Erasmus and traveled for the first time, I've made the biggest decision yet and I'm backpacking Europe solo for a few months! Archives
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