Day 4: 22 October (Monday)
Caught the 10.30am train from Termini Station (Rome) to Santa Maria Novella (Florence). The train was really punctual.. it left at 10.31am sharp. I was looking at the clock.
A good 1.5 hour journey. Train was due for Milano with a stopover at Firenze.
We were hit with a blast of cold when we stepped out of the train. Vapour when we speak.. fun! Ya lah, i know lah.. we very suaku.. hahahaa. Thanks to yours truly and her meticulous planning, we had no problem finding our way to the hotel ;P It was a 7-10 mins walk from the train station.
Hotel Martelli - Via Panzani 8
The hotel was really lovely.. but our room.. was a joke. Small but we are not too bothered by it.
Same drill.... unpacked our toiletries and hit the streets! Bundled up tight too.... cold outside! :D It was.. i dunno... 12 degrees? right zack?
You know how a place can captivates you and render you speechless.. And you just fall in love.... I got hit by cupid on that early monday afternoon. I fell in love with Florence... (Firenze if we are to be politically correct here)
Florence.. is incredibly beautiful. As we walked along the streets.. i was literally drinking in every sight. The gray old roads.. the brown medieval buildings.. the centuries old cobblestones.. I feel like i'm in a fairytale... *sigh*
As we walked and buildings fell away.. the Duomo and Baptistry came to sight.. *gasps* I grabbed zack's arm.. "i have to take a picture of this, you stand there."
old world... just imagine horse carriages trotting by.. ladies holding lacy parasols..
a florentine street
GUCCI!!! There were only 2 Gucci boutiques in Florence.
Do you know that Gucci originates from Florence?
psssttt.... i see a joy bag.......
a street market selling leather goods.. mind you, the price aint low.
we walked.. and walked.. snap and filmed... Too caught up with the florentine beauty.. then nature calls.. or rather.. growled. Found this pizza takeaway shop.. they have some tables at the back. Rather eat indoor cos it was really cold but we were simply too hungry.
the pigeons got bold.. served zack right for feeding them.. haha.
Fueled and happy, we walked somemore... Zack kept asking me where do i wanna go and i kept telling him.."San Lorenzo market darling!" but somehow we ended up walking down south.. haha. When you see more tourists, you know you are reaching some place. Lo and behold..... we saw the Arno River.. and PONTE VECCHIO!
it was really really cold....
zack looking cool here..... *giggles*
PONTE VECCHIO (OLD BRIDGE)
Ponte Vecchio, the oldest of Florence's six bridges. Probably going back to Roman times with its stone pillars and wooden planks; it was built in stone but then nearly destroyed by a flood in 1333. It was built again twelve years later.
In the 15th century these shops were grocers, butchers, fishmongers. But then perhaps because of their bad smell, they were replaced with goldsmiths, making the road more elegant and cleaner.
Caught the 10.30am train from Termini Station (Rome) to Santa Maria Novella (Florence). The train was really punctual.. it left at 10.31am sharp. I was looking at the clock.
A good 1.5 hour journey. Train was due for Milano with a stopover at Firenze.
We were hit with a blast of cold when we stepped out of the train. Vapour when we speak.. fun! Ya lah, i know lah.. we very suaku.. hahahaa. Thanks to yours truly and her meticulous planning, we had no problem finding our way to the hotel ;P It was a 7-10 mins walk from the train station.
Hotel Martelli - Via Panzani 8
The hotel was really lovely.. but our room.. was a joke. Small but we are not too bothered by it.
Same drill.... unpacked our toiletries and hit the streets! Bundled up tight too.... cold outside! :D It was.. i dunno... 12 degrees? right zack?
You know how a place can captivates you and render you speechless.. And you just fall in love.... I got hit by cupid on that early monday afternoon. I fell in love with Florence... (Firenze if we are to be politically correct here)
Florence.. is incredibly beautiful. As we walked along the streets.. i was literally drinking in every sight. The gray old roads.. the brown medieval buildings.. the centuries old cobblestones.. I feel like i'm in a fairytale... *sigh*
As we walked and buildings fell away.. the Duomo and Baptistry came to sight.. *gasps* I grabbed zack's arm.. "i have to take a picture of this, you stand there."
old world... just imagine horse carriages trotting by.. ladies holding lacy parasols..
a florentine street
GUCCI!!! There were only 2 Gucci boutiques in Florence.
Do you know that Gucci originates from Florence?
psssttt.... i see a joy bag.......
a street market selling leather goods.. mind you, the price aint low.
we walked.. and walked.. snap and filmed... Too caught up with the florentine beauty.. then nature calls.. or rather.. growled. Found this pizza takeaway shop.. they have some tables at the back. Rather eat indoor cos it was really cold but we were simply too hungry.
the pigeons got bold.. served zack right for feeding them.. haha.
Fueled and happy, we walked somemore... Zack kept asking me where do i wanna go and i kept telling him.."San Lorenzo market darling!" but somehow we ended up walking down south.. haha. When you see more tourists, you know you are reaching some place. Lo and behold..... we saw the Arno River.. and PONTE VECCHIO!
it was really really cold....
zack looking cool here..... *giggles*
PONTE VECCHIO (OLD BRIDGE)
Ponte Vecchio, the oldest of Florence's six bridges. Probably going back to Roman times with its stone pillars and wooden planks; it was built in stone but then nearly destroyed by a flood in 1333. It was built again twelve years later.
In the 15th century these shops were grocers, butchers, fishmongers. But then perhaps because of their bad smell, they were replaced with goldsmiths, making the road more elegant and cleaner.
This is also the only bridge Hitler didn't destroy back in World War 2.
street of gold.... that's 2 policewomen at the left background.
zack checking out the next bling bling for ju *beams*
He said if we were not married / engaged, he'd buy a diamond on Ponte Vecchio and propose to me! Awwwww....... i dont mind doing it all over again!
Us on Ponte Vecchio. Arno River behind/beneath us.
a St Bernard in a shoe shop!
PALAZZO VECCHIO
David by Michelangelo
This is the replica of the original statue which is currently housed in the Accademia. The original was initially placed at the Piazza Del Signoria until some idiot attacked it with a hammer.. part of poor David's toe is gone.
sorry i have to do this.. i couldnt resist! ahahhahha
ju: pssst.... (show zack her cam) look at this....
zack: (burst out laughing) i just knew you'd do something like this!
So.. italians may be hunks but they have small dicks! (mindful that most paintings / sculptures we see are creator's impressions)
PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA (Signoria Square)
adjacent to Palazzo Vecchio..
houses a range of statues.. from our dear David (replica) to the Rape of the Sabine (women).
The Rape of Sabine (women) by Giambologna
I read about it in the books.. and managed to identify it. I tried to show off abit to zack.. "You know, this statue is called the Rape of the Sabine Women.." *smirk* He must be so impressed by my vast knowledge... ahahhahahaha!
A historical story behind this statue but i'm too lazy to write it out. In short, Roman and Sabine at war. Roman men capture Sabine women and rape/make them their wives. War continues but sabine women intervenes cos they are married/pregnant with the Roman men. Then there was peace. *rolls eyes*
and we chanced upon an Ambulance Post in Florence!
look how excited zack is.
We
A fleet of ambulance
he made me take a photo of a paramedic... hahahha.. You'll see it when i post up the link to all our pictures. Most of the paramedics speak italian, hardly any english. So there goes my dream of living in Florence.. i tried convincing zack since he is very good in linguistic, he would have no prob picking up italian! Well, i'm now in Singapore typing this so........
THE BAPTISTRY
it's famous bronze doors - DOOR TO PARADISE
These doors took 27 years to complete (1425 - 1452). 5 panels on each side which makes it a total of 10 panels dedicated to stories from the old testament of the Bible. Pictures of close up of the panels will again be in the link.. watch for that. It's amazing how detailed these sculptures are.. created by Leonardo Bruni who was both a goldsmith and a sculptor. Pity we dont get any of these of late. Where are our talents??
at dusk....
Managed to find SAN LORENZO MARKET! For some strange reason i didnt take any pictures. It was basically an open-air market selling leather goods.. stalls and stalls of them! Bags, shoes, coats, scarves.... Florence is famous for its leather products, you'd think it'll be cheap. Think again. I saw a really beautiful red leather bag.. but it's like €100 odd. No way i'm paying that much though we probably could bargain. Zack bought a pair of gloves.. yes its that cold! even my macho man had to wear gloves. And i saw a lovely fushia mohair neck scarf.. for only €4!!!
This pretty much sums up what we had covered on our 1st day. Quite a bit i must say. We pretty much walked everywhere, there wasnt any need for trains or buses. Florence is very easy to get around on foot plus the cold weather makes you forget how achy your feet was.
We went back to our hotel for a rest and consulted our travel guide book for a good dinner place. Found one.. Trattoria Le Mossacce and goodness, it was the best meal we had in Italy by far! It was a very small homey Tuscan restaurant and it was always packed to the brim - we were there twice. We had to wait for awhile before we got a seat. Run by 5 men (the Fantoni and Mannucci family it seems), friendly and efficient.. and dishwasher.. so handsome! I tried their specialty, the Ribbolita Soup - a traditional Tuscan vegetable soup and it was so good! The Creme Caramal zack ordered for dessert was FANTASTIC! Cost: Not cheap.. Perhaps about €35? But it's so worth it!
We had a terrific first day in Florence. Decided not to go to Cinque Terre.. and spend all our days in Florence!
Day 5: 23 October (Tuesday)
City Tour: 3 hours
PIAZZA MICHELANGELO
on top of a hill south of the Arno River.. it overlooks the entire city of florence. That was another replica of David at the right background.
that's ponte vecchio at the left background
Tour guide brought us to the ACCADEMIA GALLERY.. to see David! Sorry no photography allowed inside. He was droning on and on about some sculpture when all we wanted to do was go on to the next gallery to see David! Then when we finally went into the gallery, he held us all back at the entrance and start his story on Michelangelo.. It was like so near yet so far...... Zack and i were like trying to inch forward.. Of crse we finally did get up close and personal with David. Oh David! (with the large hands)
Do you know Michelangelo was gay?! and he was said to be ugly... how sad. No wonder his sculptures have small dicks.. hahhaa.
INSIDE THE BAPTISTRY
the clock reads... 18 days to the next full moon.
we had lunch at this small eatery in San Lorenzo Market. Most of the stalls (selling fresh meat, fish etc) were closed by then. Portion small but food was pretty good. Family-run.
Didnt hit many sites in the afternoon.. just meandering around the streets.. enjoying Florence. Gave my Alfie a little rest.. not wise to tire him out. But there was this one street i was eyeing on.. cos at the back of my head i know there's something in store for me! VIA TORNABUONI.... here is where you'd find high-end shopping.. designer outlets like Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Ferragamo... and GUCCI!!!
Our Gucci spoils
Zack: keypoach
Ju: keypoach, wristlet
Zack picked the wristlet and when he showed it to me, it was just what i wanted! It's so gorgeous.. and zack said that's.. MY HONEYMOON PRESENT!!!.. and i couldnt resist its matching keypoach!
*huge grin*
after Gucci shopping... was GELATO! This is THE HIGH LIFE..... i can certainly get used to it *grins*
look at the vast variety of gelato!
WE LOVE FLORENCE!!!
By the time we finished our gelato... we reached Via Calzaiuoli. Another shopping street. It was the 2nd time we were back there and zack was grumpy.. haha. After sleeping on it for a night, i decided to get the FURLA Bag! One for myself, one for my sister!
my Furla Bag.. So pretty right? i love the scent of genuine leather.. :P oh, all the raves i received... *sigh*
Zack had some fun that afternoon too.. One word: NIKE!
Now you see why we love florence.. haha. We had our best buys there. Almost best :D
Our 2nd night.. we had another rather expensive dinner. A Tuscan restaurant. Not quite fine dining, probably a notch or 2 down. For fine dining, we coded them: 4 wine glasses. This one is probably 2.. haha. The ambience was lovely but food somewhat disappointing. Dinner was €46!
It started to drizzle that evening..
Next morning.. we'll be off to PISA!
Next up: Zack and Ju in Pisa
Previously: Zack and Ju in ROMA - the Eternal City
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