Manvir Randhawa

Our Tuscan adventure was not over yet. With 2 more days and 1 more destination, we packed our bags and left the scenic country side of Poggibonsi to reach the artists paradise called Florence or Firenze as the Italians prefer to call it. Our hotel was a few kilometers out of the city. We quickly checked in and headed straight for the city. We were quick to realize that we had only 2 days and had a lot to see. Someone from the hotel told us that Piazzale Michaelangelo offers free parking and then one could walk to the city center from there. So we parked our car at Piazzale Michelangelo and walked into Florence. Piazzale Michelangelo is on a hill top and offers an amazing panaromic view of Florence’s skyline. I just could not help but take a few photographs of this super view.

Florence really is a lively place with a lot of tourists and joy all around. People singing, painting and in general having fun. Florence has a life of its own. We wanted to visit The Uffizi Gallery that day but unfortunately, the museums were closed on Mondays.

With hope to see the amazing interiors of the churches in Florence, we entered Saint Marias Cathederal. The paintings on the roof are really a delight for art lovers. We saw some people climbing up some stairs. Curious to see where the stairs lead to we bought tickets and started our climb. After walking up what seemed like a never ending spiral coridor, we reached the top of the tower. WOW is what we could say. A full 360 degrees view of Florence.

We roamed around the streets of Florence for a few hours before settling down for dinner. The dinner was deliciouly Italian. It was time to retire back to the hotel so we started our long walk back to the hill top where we had parked our car. On reaching Piazzale Michelangelo we were stunned by the beautifully lit skyline of Florence. This was one scene that I had to photograph.

The next day we visited The Uffizi gallery that hosts some of the best paintings in the world. It is advised to pre-book your tour with the gallery or like us you would be standing in a queue for a few hours to get in. For lack of time, we could only visit Uffizi gallery and could not see “David”. Hmmmm…. Something to inspire us to go back. Though to be honest, Florence itself is the reason one would love to go back.

We walked the streets of Florence the last time trying not to miss any corner of the city. Italy was by far the best country that I have visited. Scenic, lively, fresh and simply amazing. I am just waiting to go back to Italy soon.

Next hop Nice….