The dome and Italian Festivals

Although I had not expected to be hungover, booking Brunelleschis dome on this day was not a good idea. I had a great sleep given I was in a comfy bed for the first time in a while, but when I learnt I had about an hour to get home and check out, I was rushed into a more focused mindset. I left the girls' place, walked to my accommodation, quickly packed my bags, found my luggage drop location, and made my way to the main square. This, however, was only the beginning of my pain. Before my lay over 500 stairs before I could reach the top of the dome.

As part of the Brunelleschi's dome, we got to see the full Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. This was interesting but not as impressive as some of the others that I had seen. This was surprising given its the biggest cathedral in Florence, but I think the main attraction is the dome. Nonetheless, it was cool to see the ceiling from inside the cathedral, then see it up close halfway up the dome, then see Florence from the rooftop. They did not lie about the confined space in which they expected you to walk through. For someone of my size, I hit my head multiple times trying to watch my step. The view was well and truly worth it, though. It was amazing to see the city of Florence from that high up. You could pinpoint key locations around the city, see the countryside and hills overlooking everything. I could not have been ready for the incredible views. You simply have to see the pictures to get any sort of valid description of the views. Florence is truly a beautiful city. Its global significance dwarfs its actual physical size and, as such, makes moments like this even more special. You aren't just overlooking replicas of the same building, but you are overlooking thousands of years of architecture, artistic design, compact living, cultural spaces, beautiful nature, and impressive feats of engineering. A view like this in Brisbane would likely not even be worth the steps. But in a place like Florence, I would have done 5x that to witness the view (even as viscous hungover as I was). It hasn't been long into the trip, but Florence has taken the cake as the city to beat in terms of beauty, culture, art, and all the rest. It's truly incredible.

My day was far from done there, however. It had barely begun. I then had to return and pick up my bag, and take it to the train station for my trip to Rome. I had lucked out once again by staying with Stef and securing free accommodation at a proper airbnb as opposed to a hostel. The catch (that wasn't really a catch) was that she was going to a music festival that night for an Italian rapper. Although I was very tired, she was kind enough to let me stay with her and so I felt I should go to the concert and spend some time with her. It ended up being a bigger fuck around than I had expected however. She went into the festival early to get a good spot and I trailed behind because it was a long train ride. I got to the accommodation but didn't have a key so I had to give myself a make do shower with wet wipes and throw my belongings over the fence. I could then make my way to the festival but never in my life had I seen so many people in such a compact area. I have been to many a festivals in my time but trying to get through the crowds an hour before he even came out on stage was as difficult as anything I've ever done. But eventually I made it to Stef. When the guy eventually came out it was so dense and sweaty with people I knew I wasn't gonna make the whole way through. Another thing I learnt is that Italians are very short so I had many woman complaining that they couldn't see over me, not that I could do anything about it. But I did find it comical to look over the crowd of brunette people all significantly shorter than me. The photos reflect this. I've also never seen so many people choosing to film the event rather than enjoy it either. The girl in front of my literally posted the whole 1.5 hours onto her instagram story. About 20 minutes until the end, I decided it was time for a drink and a break. That being said, getting out was almost as hard as getting in. People were happy to let you out, but it was so compact in there that people could barely move if they wanted to. And the number of people who had joined the festival since I arrived meant that the distance I had to squeeze through people had tripled. It took me a while, but eventually, I got out. I had fun but fuck me was it a big night. We eventually made it back despite a very dodgy uber driver, who must have been in his 60s trying his best to hit on Stef. When we got home, we had a little smoke and passed the fuck out to prepare for yet another big day ahead.

Overall, despite not understanding the rapper and being cramped the whole time, I did enjoy the festival and it was still cool to witness. It was a nig day but it was worth itRead more