stories of twilight in FloRenCE~

Stop 2: Florence@Firenze

Day 1
So after 4 long days (with 3 short summer nights =P) in Rome, we headed out to Florence. The train got us there around 4pm and our 1st challenge as always is to first find our lodging. After getting our ticket to Pisa the next day, we headed off with Aween leading the tour this time as head of Florence. With hopes that things dont get messed up dis time around with our hostel, we dragged our wheely bags on our task to find Ponte Vecchio, where our hostel will be. One step into town centre, I let the idea of how posh of a place Florence really is. Designer brands littered the scenery. Names like Miu Miu, Roberto Cavalli, Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo - just to name a few, were everywhere we turned our heads to. Oh and the air smelled like a mixture of garlic bread, leather and money.. I'm pretty sure I'm liking the place already, really good to be day dreaming of someday being able to afford to come here again and really shop here.

Ponte Vecchio was a bridge made up of tiny jewellery shops, famous for its eccentricity. As we push through the crowd to get across, our eyes couldn't help but to stare in awe at the vast amount of gold, diamond, silver and even crystals that were in abundance. We finally found our hostel, checked in and chose our beds. It was a nice and clean hostel and the beds were clean and comfortable. After having Maggi for dinner together on the terrace, we made plans for our stay there.

We headed back out to walk around Florence, seeing the open museum with sculptures and saw a real good imitation of David of Michelangelo. We went to see Duomo, Academia and a lot of other really pretty buildings in Florence. But the highlight of the day definitely has to be watching the sunset fr Ponte Vecchio. That was the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen in my entire life. Then we headed back to our hostel later around 10-ish.


Day 2: Pisa

Early on the 2nd day there, we headed out the train station to catch the 1st train to Pisa. It was about an hour's journey and as soon as we got there, we headed straight to the tourism office to get directions. The Pisa tower was about 20mins walk from the train station and once we got there, the feeling was SO unreal. It's like u've only jst seen pics of it but actually being there is really sumthin different. So obviously, we took TONNES of pics once we were there. We even climbed up the tower, on foot, obviously. I still can't believe we did that. The climb up was a challenge but the view u get at the top and knowing that u're climbing the PISA TOWER makes it all worth it.

We head back to Florence for lunch and I had the most amazing Penne with cream n salmon sauce ever!! Then as planned, we headed for the central market area to have a look around the bazaar over there. It was SO tempting, all the handbags, t-shirts, leather goods.. I'm so proud of myself for being able to hold myself against temptation! =P We walked around till near sundown to have the last experience of Florence at night before retiring for the day.

Day 3:

Early that morning, we headed out for a breakfast picnic in Michelangelo park, on top of a hill. Altho it took quite a walk to get up there but the view was breathtaking. Florence was all round beautiful, at any time of day and from any view.. Being up there made us realise that. As we ate and enjoyed the view, we took loads of pictures. Then we headed back to our hostel to check out and make a move to catch our train to Venice, our last stop for the trip...

to be continued...