NUMTOT: it stands for New Urbanist Memes for Transit Oriented Teens for all those of you that are not socially aware. Basically, anyone and everyone who has ever ridden public transportation or preferred it to cars is welcome to join. It's a great little community of woke youths that collectively just wanna lower our carbon footprints. It's a great term to describe most of my travels that occurred sans car or airfare.
*apologies in advance as information gets fuzzier, I am now writing all posts today and more recent from quarantine, two months later*
On this particular leg of the journey, I was headed from Venice to Florence, and for once I was not taking a bus, because I actually found a train through the Trenitalia app for just about the same cost, but faster. It involved a lot of transfers, which is unideal with a big old suitcase, but nonetheless it let me experience a magical 70 minute layover in the city of Bologna.
Bologna has the oldest university in the world, and it has some of the most covered walkways (porticoes) anywhere. I debated just staying in the station but decided I could just squeeze in the mile walk to the downtown and historical district in my layover, so I did just that. I hauled my big bag through the porticoes and was really happy I did. Bologna hit a little different than other cities because it exists mostly beyond the tourist agenda. I got to briefly see the city center which has two tall towers, nearly identical, and a beautiful fountain and church or something like that. The sky was bluer and sunnier than ever, which made my chilled body so happy after the long weeks in the frigid European winter. I got a cup of boba because I saw a place selling it and I am not at all mad about it.
Back on the train, I got to Florence (Firenze, in Italian) in the middle of the afternoon and checked into my hostel, which at first appeared to be the place to be, except it had no stove or oven and I was finally ready to cook my own food, but alas I couldn't! As my trip was coming towards its end, I was looking to pinch pennies as much as possible, which included living off of home-cooked pasta for as long as possible.
It was a rainy day when I arrived in Florence, but that didn't stop me from seeing the Mercato Centrale with bustling food vendors, where I bought my first bag of multi-colored pasta! It is beautiful, and the best part is that when you strain it, the water is colorful as well! Also featured is an overjoyed Katia that got a basket of the ripest tomatoes for just a buck!
I roamed around the center of the city and past the main cathedral, which is a very unique building in a style I had never seen before. It is mostly bright white with green and pink accents, and absolutely massive. I didn't bother to go inside per other travelers' suggestions, and instead delved further down the main strip to see more of the city. I wandered all the way to Ponte Vecchio, which I discovered is actually just like a continuation of the street. If you're not approaching the bridge from a perpendicular street, you don't even notice that you're crossing the water, because there are shops on either side just as normal and you can cross to the other side.
The bridge from far away and what it looks like when you're on it-- like a normal street!
I ended up at Piazzale Michelangelo which has an amazing view of the city, even on a rainy day, you can see the beautiful duomo framed in the whole city, and look across at the river beneath you. The walk up is a beautiful set of crossing paths and the top rewards you with a 360 view and a mock David statue.
I worked my way back rather early, as most of my nights went, and ended up cooking pasta in the microwave, pro tip you can do this yourself if you want! I met some cool girls staying in my hostel with similar travel experiences to me, and then decided to splurge and book a guided full day tour for the next day because I was starting to get overwhelmed by all the movement and planning.
My mami had hyped me up for Florence my whole life because she said it was one of the most beautiful places she had ever visited, so it was really special to make the most of this rainy day in the heart of the Renaissance.
