More Markets and Florentine Steak (July 22nd)

We spent most of today walking around the city of Florence. We started under the arch where the original Roman forum in Florence was. It was in the center of one of the many piazzas. As we walked under the arch and down the road, we spotted another leather market and decided to peruse. Many of the purses were the same as we had seen on Friday, but it was still fun looking. We managed to come across a statue of a boar that had a golden snout to rub for good luck. So we did so, obviously...who doesn't want good luck? As we were walking up a shopping street we were given a flyer for a pizza place. I quickly dismissed it, but Jennifer noticed the words "Jersey Shore" on it. Could it be? Was this really the place that Jersey Shore worked while in Florence? For those of you that have absolutely no idea what Jersey Shore is, let me fill you in. It's an extremely dumb reality show about kids who like to party and do stupid things; however, it's addicting. Kaleb is obsessed with Jersey Shore, so that was all we needed to convince ourselves it was okay to eat there. It was still rather early for lunch, so it was just us in the restaurant. I'll admit, it was pretty cool. I am not obsessed with Jersey Shore, but I do watch it on a regular basis; it's always very cool sitting where celebrities sat and pretending that you're famous. The pizza was actually amazing! It was rolled, tossed, and prepared right in front of us. I ordered some spicy salami and mozzarella pizza and I was impressed. It was way too big for me to finish it, though. Before leaving the restaurant, we managed to sneak some pictures, as always.

As we continued our walk through the town, we made our way to the bridges. The first bridge we stopped on overlooked the river (obviously), and we stayed for a while. I kicked my shoes off and laid down on the bridge, relaxing and soaking up the sun. Shelley had booked another reservation for he Ufizi museum, but the other three of us had not. So, while Shelley went off and toured the museum, we sat in a piazza and watched a miming performance. It was perfect timing really. It's hard to really describe what he did...considering he's a mime. Nonetheless, it was very entertaining and kept Kaleb, Jennifer, and me occupied until Shelley returned from the Ufizi gallery. When Shelley rejoined us, we walked over to another bridge that had markets all along and inside the bridge. It was packed with tourists and the shops were way out of our college budgets, but it's always fun walking around. Intro to Walking Around... A+.

For dinner, we headed back to the Duomo to a restaurant that we had spotted on Friday. It had a great deal for a Florentine steak and fries. I was beyond excited. I love me some steak. Although I tend to prefer filet, any cut of beef would satisfy me tonight. The steak was a gigantic T-bone and accompanied with a good amount of fries. I ate quickly, and then slowly, trying my best to savor this meal. I knew that the next time I would have steak would be in America. While eating, something happened. As always. I'm sitting there, just minding my own business, and I feel something on my foot. I look down and a pigeon is crawling on my foot! After saying some mean words to the pigeon, it walked off my foot and continued meandering along and finally out of the restaurant. Not a dull moment when traveling in Europe...I love it.