Florence Pt 1

11 January 2013
Florence is an hour train ride from Pisa. After disembarking at Centrale, it was immediately obvious that Florence was a much larger city than Pisa.

One of the first stops in Florence was the supermarket and once again, I stocked up on salami, cheese and bread. I also bought a iced tea drink however I couldn't open the bloody thing! Normally I am pretty good, but this lid was just glued on. I actually asked two male Korean tourists if they could open it for me but they couldn't. I was actually really close to throwing out the drink (although that would have been such a waste of €2). On my way to the duomo, a middle aged gentleman was walking in the opposite direction and I stopped him and with my incredibly limited Italian (which consisted of "Hi, excuse me" and then motioned towards my drink lid). He struggled and I tried to tell him that it was okay but he insisted and actually - and this was so adorable- he got out his keys and basically pried off the lid from my bottle and I thanked him profusely.






The Duomo was incredible. Absolutely incredible.





Eventually, I stumbled upon Arno River and Ponte Vecchio. On the bridge as I was taking a photo of Florence, an elderly Italian gentleman - Pierre- approached me and asked me if I wanted him to take my photo. After the experience in Pisa, I was a little hesitant and I told him that it was fine. But he was persistent so I caved. He started to ask about my background and he commented on the fact that I was travelling by myself ('My daughters would never do that') and offered to give me a quick tour of Florence. So off we went. He talked about the history of the city, the Medici family and the palace. We stopped off at Chiesa di Santa Felicita which had this incredible painting (and the guy said it was very important, but I can't remember what it was. Whoops). We must have walked for an hour or so and it was so enjoyable since he was so knowledgable. We talked about the city, his home and his family. He also showed me the "most romantic spot" in Florence and it was incredible. When we parted, he gave me a proper cheek kiss and such a lovely, lovely hug. What a sweet man.






Ponte Vecchio