italy
Two days in Florence
31 de agosto de 2019

Hello everyone! Today I bring you photos and tips on our Florence trip. The trip itself was booked even before I knew when my vacations where. I went to Skyscaner and searched for the cheapest time to go, and voilá, to my surprise, August was on the top. After that we just had to book the hotel on the Booking website (use my code to get 15€ back on your reservation) and we were all set.
Before departure though, there was one more thing I did that saved us a lot of time in lines - I reserved our museum tickets. It might not seem like you'd save that much time for 1/2€ more on the price, but trust me... The lines to buy them there were always massive and rarely on the shade.
--- Day 1 ---

This was the day when we landed in Florence. Our flight had started early, we weren't able to sleep before on on the plane itself... basically, we were exhausted. Nevertheless, we tried to push through the day and visit what we had planned. The Basilica di Santa Maria Novella was the first thing we saw, right in the middle of Santa Croce Square (Piazza di Santa Croce). Not from the inside unfortunately, since the tickets were a bit expensive for out budget, but the outside is as beautiful and massive as you can see. What surprised me more, not only regarding to this, but to all the city - everything is in pristine condition. Every single building and monument was clean and restored, like it had been built the day before.
Our next stop was the Academy Gallery (Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze) where the famous David statue stands. It is, in fact, the center of the whole place. Unlike the Mona Lisa when you expect to see a decent sized painting and you end up seeing this tiny thing on the middle of a huge wall, David's size is unimaginable. I was expecting it to be big, at least my height, but it doubles that easily.
And the food. THE FOOD! Italy has ruined every single pasta, pizza, tomato sauce, dessert and ice-cream I've ever tried in my life. Everything is so tasty and flavorful... I can't even put into words how happy my stomach was during these days.
Still on our first day, we saw the Vecchio Palace (Palazzo Vecchio, previously called Pallazo della Signoria) located on the Piazza della Signoria where you can find a copy of Michelangelo's David statue. It was technically our last stop of the day since we were so tired that we sat there (for almost two hours) before we decided to return to the hotel and start from scratch the next day.
--- Day 2 ---
And welcome to our second day. A day with a lot more energy to burn and many more places to explore. We started the day by going directly to the famous Uffizi Gallery (Galleria degli Uffizi) where you can find painting by Michelangelo, Rafael, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli and Rembrandt - one of the best places to see art from the Renascence era.
I honestly cried when I saw Allegory of Spring by Botticelli live, right in front of me. That and many more amazing paintings and sculptures are inside this massive place. If you have the time to spare I advise you to stay half a day or more to see everything properly.
Next place to traverse was through the Vecchio Bridge, one of the most famous bridges in Florence composed of jewelry stores from one side to the other. What you see on the photos is the outside of the bridge, full of windows and colors. Taking pictures inside the bridge itself is almost impossible because of the amount of people going everywhere. This bridge allows you to go to the southest part of the city where you can visit the Pitti Palace (Palazzo Pitti) and its gardens (Giardino di Boboli).
Our last stop and one of the most amazing places I've visited in Florence - Michelangelo Square (Piazzale Michelangelo) where you can get a full and free view of the city. You can get a wonderful view from the Duomo in Basilica di Santa Maria Novella but it's paid and buying it online was a bit too expensive. Buying there, well... it was out of question. The lines were so massive that I think I'd still be there waiting to buy the ticket. I advise you to visit the square at sunset and end your day there. If you still have energy after climbing all the streets to get there, take a walk by the river or visit one of the several typical bars that open at night.
After this... you already know what happened from the previous post. If you have any questions feel free to ask!
Hello, Cinque Terre
29 de agosto de 2019
Hello everyone! If you ever get the chance to travel to Italy, I highly recommend you making a stop at this amazing place. This was our last day in Florence so we decided to spend it somewhere near and calm. In order to get to experience Cinque Terre from Florence you have three options:
- By car to La Spezia - which I wouldn't recommend since you'll miss most of the incredible landscape. Nevertheless, if you pick this option you can there take the boat (battelo) or the bus to travel between the tiny villages;
- Train from Florence to La Spezia - there you can catch a bus that goes around the villages;
- Train to Riomaggiore - where, if you don't get easily sea sick, you can catch the boat, visit the villages and return either by boat to Riomaggiore and then catch the train back, or stay at the last stop of the boat (Monterosso) and catch the train back there.
Since we were up for adventure, we decided to go for the third option. There are several types of tickets you can buy to go on the boat and the prices vary. What changes is the number of stops you can make along the way and the direction you're following. The fact that we were short on time and didn't want to rush anything, we bought a one way ticket (which means one trip from Riomaggiore - where we started - to Monterosso - where we ended), with the possibility of making two stops (the last stop and one in between). After the boat we caught the train back to Florence in Monterosso.
Like I said, you can make travel by boat in both ways so, if you have time to spare, you can make the trip from Riomaggiore to Monterosso, then return to Riomaggiore and catch the train back there. It all depends on the time you have and what you want to do with your trip.
The boat tickets have to be bought on the spot but, if you want to save some time waiting in line, the train tickets can be bought online. The only thing you have to do is bring a print of them with you to the trip - just don't be late to catch them!
If you want more information regarding the boat, timetables, stops and prices, you can check their website to plan whatever is best for you.
Cinque Terre, or Five Villages, are coastal villages that manly live out of agriculture and fishing. The villages themselves don't have access by car, so that's why I recommend the other two options. Either way, the five villages are: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. Since we decided to make an extra stop we left the boat in Manarola and spent about 2 hours there calmly walking and taking the view - hence why most of the pictures are from there. From all the stops, this one was definitely my favorite and I highly recommend you spend a little of your time there as well.
Next post I'll be showing you our Florence trip, what we visited and what I loved the most. Until then hope you like this entry!
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