Florence Sunrise

This morning, after getting to bed much too late with a long Gelato crawl, I woke up at 4:15 a.m. to watch the sunrise. It was the first time since I have been in this city that #1 I have been crazy enough to get up that early, and #2 I have realized how beautiful it actually is here. It is easy to let the smoke, loud mopeds, car exhaust, dog diarrhea on the sidewalks, tourists (myself included, Italian men, lack of traffic and pedestrain and organizational laws, etc...get in the way of seeing the true beauty of the city.

But as I was sitting in Michelangelo's Plaza, a lookout point that looks out (go figure) over the entire city, I realized how much history is really here. For the first time since my arrival here on May 16 I realized that there were mountains surrounding Florence (usually the smog and smoke gets in the way of the view) and trees around. I also learned that it can actually be quiet. We only almost got run over by one moped on the 45 minute walk up to the point, rather than like 10 mopeds and a few buses everyday.

It was so wonderful, a wonderful way to spend by second-to-last morning here. AND today is a city holiday so I DON'T HAVE CLASS!!! Funny that the ONE morning I was able to sleep in, I got up early and watched the sun come up. And you know what I realized?? It was worth every mintute.