We reached Florence — the station is big! It reminded me of India’s Bombay VT Station or Penn Station in New York — people everywhere.
The information center is right across the street from the station, my always “to-go” place. I got a couple of maps there. It looks like the city has more than 50 museums and galleries. It was so funny when I said, “No museums for us, please.” The man looked spellbound — didn’t know what to say! He must be thinking -you dont want to see David? the most ogled man ;) We might be among those rare tourists who don’t want to go to museums.
He showed us a few places on the local map and suggested some areas for meals.
Then we walked to our place — an apartment within a big old building full of apartments and rooms. After a lot of codes and doors, we were finally in! A big enough room right in the middle of downtown.
In the afternoon, the streets were busy — full of shops, people, and food smells. But at night, after 8 o’clock, it became a whole different world — no shops open, just people eating, laughing, and hanging out. Everyone seemed to be enjoying life — sitting outside, eating a pastry, and sipping wine with friends. The wine shops are open like coffee shops, serving pastries and plenty of wine.
After getting ready, we went walking and did some city bus hopping. One market we wanted to visit closed at 2 PM, but I still wanted to check out the area — that was a useless idea, nothing much going on. The same area, though, comes alive in the morning.
We took the bus up to see the Bronze David (by Italian sculptor named Clemente Papi) at Piazzale Michelangelo for sunset. It felt like the whole world was there — people sitting on the steps, watching the sun go down, taking in the city view, and dancing to the street musicians’ tunes.
We hung out there for a while, then went to a sit-down restaurant for dinner. I wanted something simple since I wasn’t dressed for anything fancy, but it is what it is. We had a perfectly done risotto and a sea bass.
Mr. Husband wanted to try something new — I enjoyed my meal thoroughly. Instead of taking public transport back, we decided to walk — about 0.8 miles from there to our hotel. That was when Florence truly came alive — from 8:45 PM till we reached around 9:30, every street was full of people.
We were tired and had an early morning ahead, so we came back to the hotel. I could still hear the fun going on outside. I wished I could go back down and join them. Getting old really sucks — I wish I could stay up late and still wake up early!
There are so many gelato and pastry shops — people walk, use public transport, eat, and drink. That’s just the way of life here.
I ate so many desserts that day and walked around 8.5 miles!
The Information center. No one was rushing, the staff were taking their own time, chatting joking. They could care less that people were lined up.
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