I met someone in Florence

As a fan of Dan Brown’s novel, Florence was on my top list of places that I want to visit. This city was an essential place in his book, Inferno, which is happen to be my favorite.

I planned my trip to Florence almost immediately after I finished my exam.

I didn’t always have someone to go on a trip with, so I traveled alone. It’s always like that, so I’m used to it. At first, I felt so lonely traveling on my own but lately, I’ve been unexpectedly enjoying it because there is a certain person that made it very enjoyable which is why I wrote this story.

When I told my close friends about this story, they were like :

“What in the Before Trilogy is this?”

There are at least 2 out of 3 people who said this. I still couldn’t believe that it was real.

At the beginning, I booked a very cheap bus ticket to Florence and back on February 6th. Then, I proceed to book a ticket to Palazzo Vecchio on the same day. I really wanted to visit it because, for someone who reads Inferno by Dan Brown, that place has its own story and beauty. However, I didn’t realize that it was Monday. It was so stupid of me to book the ticket without knowing that Uffizi Gallery and Accademia Gallery are closed on Monday.

God damn if I could cancel or reschedule my visit to Palazzo Vecchio, I would.

I wish to visit Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi Gallery, and Accademia Gallery all in one day because I don’t have any intention to go back to Florence again since there are just so many other places to explore in Italy. But again, what a shame, I booked my tickets on Monday and I couldn’t do anything about it anymore.

I regret that decision, I really did. I tried so hard to reassure myself about it hahaha.

Little did I know that my mistake could lead to such a beautiful meet.

My trip to Florence started very early. My bus departure from Padova at 7.15. I walked to the bus station and it was so cold, I think it was -4 degrees celsius. I remember I walked on the frozen grass lol.

I didn’t usually interact with people while I’m on the bus or any type of public transportation. I never even had the courage to stare at them because I didn’t think it was polite.

On the way to Florence, the bus stopped for 15 minutes somewhere around this area (?) I don’t know where this was. There was still a little bit of snow, but the sun always shines in Italy so it was so bright even though it was cold.

Everyone was getting their coffee but I didn’t drink coffee so I was just standing there outside to feel the warmth of the sun on this winter day.

(apricity : the warmth of the sun during winter)

I smiled a lot when I’m enjoying something, when I’m eating, when I’m reading, or when I am simply just sunbathing.

I was feeling my moment of silence under the sun, when a certain boy came to me.

He smiled, maybe because he saw me smiling the entire time like a fool. He was asking me something in Italian, so I said “Sorry, I can’t speak Italian.”

So he talked in English, he was asking me about where I was going. I told him that I was going to Florence for sightseeing.

I didn’t usually tell strangers about this thing but he looked like a student, just like me, so I was just being nice.

He is a student at the University of Florence and he went back to Florence from his trip to Venice. Then we talked about the weather and it was awkward actually haha.

When I arrived in Florence, I was going to buy the tram ticket but I don’t know where to buy it and I couldn’t find it online. Luckily, I got off the bus at the same time as that boy, so I asked him about it.

He asked me where I was going, so I said Palazzo Vecchio.

Turns out, we were going to the same direction. He taught me how to buy the ticket and said we could go there together. It was very nice of him.

At the tram, it was awkward. It was just silence between us, I was thinking about what topic I should bring up. But then… “my name is Andrea,” he said.

And I introduced myself as well.

From our conversation, I know a little bit about him. He studies political history, he is an Italian-Japanese, and he can speak Italian, Japanese, and English. Also, he can read Latin and Greek.

It was surprising to know that he can read Latin and Greek, because why would someone even do it? So he said that it was because he studies history so it will be easier for him. There are a lot of historical texts that require at least basic knowledge of Latin and Greek.

When he said he is Italian-Japanese, it all made sense. I could see it from his appearance, but I didn’t want to assume.

“I love reading books that are written by Japanese authors, like Keigo Higashino, Haruki Murakami, and Sayaka Murata. Do you know them?”

He took his time to think and he repeated those name in a Japanese accent. “Murakami Haruki? Murata Sayaka? Higashino Keigo?”

I was like, whoaaa that was very Japanese of him hahahaha. And then we talked about them.

Oh, he asked me where I’m from, so I said Indonesia and he was like “Oh, so you know Majapahit?”

“Yeah, kind of.” I don’t know anything about Indonesian history.

After we got off the tram, I thought he was going to leave me because he probably wanted to go home but we ended up walking around the city center. He showed me a lot of historical buildings, complete with their stories.

The first place that we went to was Santa Maria Novella Church because it was the nearest to the station. He pointed out a lot of details, he was very enthusiastic about it. Maybe because he studies history.

I didn’t take a picture of the church but I did take a picture of our shadows hahaha.

After that, we went to Santa Maria Maggiore Chruch. He said it is the oldest church in Florence but it was not very popular among tourists. It was pretty much like a hidden gem. He told me that he wanted to pray so I went inside the church as well. That was the first time I enter a church, I was so confused because the benches are not for sitting, they were all for kneeling and praying.

I really didn’t what to do hahaha. Again, I was just standing there. I just watched him pray. Though, he didn’t take long and he continue to point out a lot of details about the church.

This was him trying to translate the Latin that was on the floor of the church hahaha.

Next, we went to the iconic dome, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. At the front of this cathedral, there’s the Baptistery of San Giovanni. We actually took more time to see the baptistery instead of the cathedral. This was because there is The Gates of Paradise. He basically told me the whole story that was carved on the gates. I was very impressed that he could remember all those faces, they all look the same to me hahaha.

After our walk around the cathedral, we went to Palazzo Vecchio which is the main reason I went to Florence. This was because Palazzo Vecchio is an important place in Dan Brown’s Inferno and I really want to see The Hall of Five Hundreds and Dante’s death mask. However, before I went to Palazzo Vecchio, we went to Ponte Vecchio. There’s nothing particularly historical about this place but we kind of just stood there and talked.

I smiled the entire time, it was a good talk. I like how passionate he was when he told me about Niccolo Machiavelli and Cosimo Medici. I never thought that my solo trip to Florence can be this fun. I was alone and suddenly I wasn’t anymore, thanks to Andrea. I would definitely go to Florence again and when that time comes, I know I have a friend (and a free tour guide). Well, I probably should buy him coffee next time.