Strasbourg > Bâle > Milano > Firenze

Four day weekend, two days of which were spent travelling.
Friday we took a train from Strasbourg to Bâle (Basil), from there to Milano (Milan), and then on to Firenze (Florence). With the most beautiful view through Switzerland.

We got into the train station just after 6:00 (18:00). We had some difficulty finding the bus we were supposed to take...and then even more trouble figuring out which stop we were supposed to get off at. After we got off the bus, if I had thought that was going to be the hardest part...I was wrong. We had to hike up a gravel path (uphill) to the villa my mom had booked a room in (keeping in mind we have our luggage with us). We finally got there...only to discover that there wasn't where we were supposed to be. Luckily, we were on the right property, just the wrong building. So we just had to go up a little higher. We finally got checked in and into our room at about...9:30 (21:30). Mom and dad went out for dinner (I was too exhausted and grumpy to hike back down that damn hill for food). So instead I stayed in, took a bath and went to bed.

Saturday we got up and had an awesome breakfast. Afterwards, mom and I were standing in the courtyard in front of the villa, gauging the weather, and I made a friend. He came wandering up and I bent down and was petting him; and when we started to make our way towards the door, he trotted ahead of us and waited till we opened the door to sneak inside. He followed us all the way upstairs to our room, but we closed the door before he came in. He had disappeared once we came out. Oh, by the way, we was a cat. Then we got our bus into Firenze. Once there, we saw a couple of massive Basilicas.

We just kinda wandered around the town, and discovered a huge, sprawling outside market. There was booth after booth of; leather purses, leather jackets, trinkets, scarves, hats, etc. We spent a good amount of time wandering around here. 

After a while we were starving, so we found a really neat restaurant for lunch. I got gnocchi in a delicious tomato sauce, and the best lemonade I've ever had. Once our bellies were satisfied we wandered around some more.

We ended up coming upon the museum that had Michelangelo's David. Now, normally for the museum's in Italy, the lines are just ridiculous. A person would generally spend 2-3 hours waiting in line to get inside the museum. So, instead, what you can do is make a reservation ahead of time online, then you just wait in a really quick line to pick up tickets from your reservation and then you go inside.
But, the line to get in to see David was miraculously short. So we were standing in it, trying to decide if we wanted to go in or not. My dad checked the price to get in, and it was 10 euro a person. So we decided not to go in.

After that, we discovered the Jewelry Bridge. I had heard a woman talking about it earlier in the day, but I didn't think anything of it. I didn't even think it was a landmark. But it's actually really cool. It's a bridge with buildings on both sides, and the shop windows are FILLED with jewelry. The weather that day was very cold and overcast, and so when you looked down the bridge, it practically glowed. I felt blind once we left the bridge from all the bright lights and glittering from window shopping.
We then stumbled upon a massive piazza with statues and a huge building we later discovered was the Uffizi Gallery, which was where my mom had made reservations for Sunday. Good thing too, because even late at night, in November, there was a super long line.
After this, we found our bus and rested at the villa for a bit. Then we wandered into the tiny town we were staying in just outside of Firenze, called Galluzzo. We ate at a pizzeria. Oh. My. Goodness. Best pizza, hands-down. I don't even know how to describe it, other than to quote my dad, "Magical pizza." SuUuper delicious!

We of course tried Gelato!

All over, during our wanderings I kept seeing these stores selling marbleized papers decorated by hand, handmade notebooks, stationary, quills, fountain pens, and wax seals. Of course I had to go in one. I ended up coming out with a wax seal. I had the choice of 1 initial, 2 initials or a symbol. I had to think about it for a bit. If I got 1 initial, then I would obviously get a Z. If I got 2 initials, then I would get a J and a T. If I got a symbol it would be a fleur de lys, but I already have one of those. Not to mention the symbol's were more expensive. In the end, I got a J and T. Perfect for stamping our invitations!