FLORENCE, TUSCANY- ITALY

Ponte Vecchio

Hi Again! Sorry this took so long! I actually wrote the post already, but I accidentally replaced the whole post ! Agh!

Anyways! After a great sleep, we were wide awake and were ready to be on our way to Florence! We took the 11.20 AM train from Roma Termini to Firenze S.M.N. It took around 1 Hr + and reached at 12.50PM. We booked our tickets around 5 months in advanced on Italiarail. Or you could check out Rail Europe which is pretty good for rail tickets as well! The train was really comfy and spacey! Somehow in Europe, everyone gets up really fast and prepares their luggages to line up to get out of the train! I guess no-one wants to be locked in - which I'm not sure has ever happened?

I really love Florence! It's really pretty interesting! I suggest going to the Tuscan region as it's a different scenery from Florence city itself! Much more beautiful if you asked me! I don't really find the river in Florence that fascinating! However, it's one of the must visits if you're in Florence - especially at the Ponte Vecchio- the old medieval Bridge! There's great scenery, food, culture and history in different parts of Florence - depending on where you go!

Day 1

When we arrived, we walked to our hotel and it was really easy to get there from the train station! Just cross a road and walk along a small road which took around 5 mins to get to!

Florence

HOTEL
MERCURE FIRENZO CENTRO (Link) (More Reviews)
Via Nazionale 21/23 R
50123
Florence, Italy

We were quite fast in choosing our hotel for Florence, because the hotel Mercure Firenze Centro sure caught my eye once I saw it and the reviews on trip advisor were quite good, though not a lot, as I think it was quite a new hotel. No regrets at all! It was really clean, comfortable, convenient and simply awesome! We booked through Hotels.com-Mercure Firenze Centro which was the lowest priced at that time.

Walkway to our room

Mercury Firenze Centro hotel room

How sweet of the staff at Mercure Firenze Centro as well! We told them it was our honeymoon, and they left us a Congratulatory note with Firenze's famous almond cookies! Thank you Mercure Firenze Centro!

We quickly left our luggages in the room and headed out once again! We were going to The Mall (Link)!- For SHOPPING! Wohoo! There was no time to waste! We took the direct bus service from  the BUSITALIA /SITA bus station which was near the train station. Opening hours are from 10am-8PM Monday-Sunday! However, check their website for the latest timings!
We bought our tickets at the train station as we weren't sure which timings we could make. The bus to the mall was really comfortable and the air-conditioning was cold! Great!

Direct bus to The Mall

Finally arrived after around 40 mins! Time to shop away!Was quite surprised that it wasn't as crowded as people always say it was! Probably the time that we went in September was off peak!

Gucci!

Prada!

Gucci Cafe!

I regretted not buying more! But probably next time I'll go again in June/July where people say the sales are really great! But the crowds would definitely be heaps more!

After an awesome shopping day, [Traveller J wasn't as enthusiastic as me though;)) we caught the last bus back to Florence train station and headed back to our hotel.
We asked the front desk to introduce us good restaurants around the area and they pointed a few out to us. We decided on the closest one -Le Fonticine and it was FABULOUS! The Bistecca ala Fiorentina was the best that I have tasted in Florence on my short trip there.

Le Fonticine (Link)
Via Nazionale 79r, Firenze (Italy)

Just Look at that juicy steak! GAH! It's much more reasonable there than in Singapore as well! I think it was around $50 ish SGD.. as compared to in Singapore where it's around $100 ish? Well I guess, as the meats come from around there!

Bistecca ala Fiorentina @ Le Fonticine

The wine we had as well as the sides were all really fine & delicious!

After our satisfying meal, we were on our way back to our hotel, where we found a hidden gem -this small gelato shop and it was so good! Not too sweet and really cold and refreshing! It's at a corner and I think the place was called Triangolo dell Bermuda (Link). It's a cafe but on the outside they sell gelato and has a gelato sign outside. I had the pistachio and a chocolate flavour on a cone! How satisfying to end the night! I couldn't help but go back the next day again to get more!

Day 2
Tuscany

Good thing we decided on a good hotel, as it's really important to me that I have enough sleep to last the whole day! If I don't get my doze of sleep, I won't have any mood to do much! Hah! Lucky people who are able to survive on little sleep!

Our itinerary for today was.. The Tuscany in one day Sightseeing Tour! We booked via viator which you can book through this (Link)! We were looking for a suitable tour and this was IT for us! No regrets! Viator has never let us down so far.. !haha! Getting a tour is so much easier and they explain all the history to you as well! No time wasted getting lost!

Our tour departed at 8.30 AM from the Santa Maria Novella Station which was really convenient for us considering our hotel was just there! Don't need to wake up too early! YES!
This tour was for around 12 hours and included a lovely lunch with wine tasting at a vineyard in Chianti! Our tour guide for the tour was really friendly and the bus was comfortable as well! Just note that food isn't allowed on the bus so have your breakfast first before boarding the bus!

First Stop!
SIENA

Our first stop for the tour was Siena! Such a beautiful name for a beautiful place! Siena is a city in Tuscany and it's historic center has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. It's known for it's medieval streets and it's interestingly shaped town square- the Piazza del campo which hosts the famous horse race- Palio, twice a year.

You can just imagine at the time of the year for the Palio, crowds are jeering, horses around, and the sides of the streets are all cleared just for this occasion!

Piazza del campo-Siena

Siena

Torre del Mangia

Above is the Torre del Mangia. This was the place our tour was supposed to meet back to get back on the bus! This clock tower is known to be one of the tallest secular towers in medieval Italy. 

Our Tour guide then brought us around the city for a tour as well as a free entry into the duomo-Siena's Cathedral. I just can't get enough of the architectures in Italy! Especially the cathedrals! They have such amazing architecture and the Siena Cathedral is a masterpiece of Italian Romanesque- Gothic architecture! Look at how Magnificent it stands!

Siena Cathedral- Duomo

Inside Siena's Cathedral

After bringing us to the Cathedral, our tour guide gave us some free time to roam around the streets of Siena and introduced us the Dolce Siena store (Link) which is one of the oldest in Siena since 1970s. It's famous for it's Sienese Panforte, Riciarelli di Siena. And of course, I just had to get my hands on them!

Dolce Siena

Panforte

                 

Now off to our Second Stop and my favourite- Lunch & Wine- to the Chianti Vineyards!

Loved the scenery on the way to the Chianti Vineyards! Rolling hills of greenery everywhere you look!

Chianti

Check out my medieval castle from afar in the photo below! Haha!

We finally arrived one of the vineyards in the Chianti region! What a gorgeous view! I could totally stay here! We were met by one of the staff at the vineyards and they showed us around and how wine was made at this vineyard!

Chianti's Vineyard

Inside the factory

There were even Olive trees around the vineyard! They probably made their own olive oils too! I just love the look of olive trees!

Olive tree!

Meet my cow friend!

After that wonderful and knowledgeable tour, it was time for our lunch! Wohoo! We were served some bread, cheese and cold meats as starters. Really yummy! For our mains, we had a meat pasta as a main. Fresh and delicious! We could have second servings as well! Three different wines were also provided for tasting! Loved it! For dessert, they gave us these almond biscuits which we were to dip in a dessert wine! Fantastic end to a great lunch with beautiful views! At the end of the lunch, my face turned as red as the wine!
We could also buy some wine back but as we had quite a few other stops after Florence, we didn't want to bring along anymore heavy items! Next time then!

Pasta with Meat Ragu

After lunch, it was time to board our bus to San Gimignano!
San Gimignano is another medieval town in Tuscany. We called it San-Gi for short! It was a quaint & interesting town! The roads were also all cobbled with little quiet roads which I loved for photo taking!

Welcome to San Gimignano!

Awesome view from San Gimignano!

There were a few stores which lined the streets and which sold all sorts of stuff! From olive oil to magnets and souveniers! It was actually quite crowded and thus it was awesome that we could find this awesome path out of all the tourists way! It should be the backyard of someone house? Italy is great when you find a spot where there aren't any tourists or people, to just savour all the beauty around you!

We were given free time to roam around San Gimignano and we wanted to try some Gelato which had won loads of awards- Gelateria Dondoli (link)! There was quite a long line as well, but cleared up quite fast. I really liked the Gelato here, however I think I still somehow preferred the one I had before in Florence -Triangolo delle Bermuda!

Gelateria Dondoli

After our refreshing dessert, it was time to meet our tour guide again to go to our last destination for our Tuscan tour!
PISA!
Photo time!

There were quite a lot of people around and were all ignorant to people around them and doing funny poses on the leaning tower of PISA! When you're there, you just got to do it! I bugged Traveller J to join me to join in the fun! 

The originality of the tilt was actually caused by the inadequate foundation of the ground! 

The Leaning tower of PISA

You could choose to climb up the tower of PISA and prebook your tickets. However, we didn't want to climb up there as it could take up to 30 mins! After taking loads of our compulsory funny photos, we walked around the area, had a view of the Cathedral, the Baptistery and the monumental cemetery in PISA. A great way to end our whole day tour in Tuscany!

Finally it was time to get back. We sat on this cute train as seen in the photo below to get to our bus back to Firenze city!

By the time we reached Florence, it was already around 8 + pm. Just right for dinner! We sure had a wonderful time on our tour, and it was a great way to see Tuscany for an overview! Next time, I would like to spend a longer time in the Chianti region if I have a chance to come back! 

Here's the Link again if you want to book this awesome tour from Viator if you're in Florence!

Florence

Food

When we were back in Florence at night, we checked out Trattoria Za Za (Link) for dinner! I read awesome reviews on trip advisor and it sure enough, it was really Yummy! Awesome! It was pretty close to our hotel as well! A walking distance!

Trattoria Zaza

Piazza Del Mercato Centrale 26R

50123 Firenze Italy

We ordered their famous Florentine grilled T-bone steak (1 kg) and it was really juicy & delicious! However, I still preferred the first one we had at Le Fonticine as it was more charred! Still really good though! As it was truffle season, we tried one of their specials- the Prawn and zucchini Risotto with truffles! OHMY It seriously was SO flavourful with a slight crunch from the fresh prawns and zucchini- totally ended the day well! We also had the truffles fries which usually never fails! Awesome as well!

At Trattoria Zaza, you're able to buy their truffle products! We bought 2 truffle oils- one white truffle and the other black truffle. I kind of regretted though, as I read up online that truffle oil actually do not have any truffles in the making of them? Not too sure on this-let me know if anyone makes truffle oils! Should have got their truffle butter or something like that! Nevertheless, it was pretty fragrant to put on our home made fries, soup, salad etc! It was much cheaper than Singapore! The next time I'll buy more truffle products back!

Trattoria ZaZa's Menu

Famous Florentine T-Bone Steak

Prawn & Zucchini Risotto with truffles

Truffle Fries

The next night, after we had our tour in Cinque Terre, which I would write in my next post, we went to Mercato Centrale to have our dinner! Mercato Centrale is actually a central market where they sell all sorts of fresh produce such as cheese, fish, meats & etc! Pity, I did not get to go in the day time which I suppose opens only in the day time. However, the second floor of Mercato Centrale opens everyday from 8 am to 1 am according to their website! AWESOME for foodies who eat late! They have all sorts of stalls and even has a cooking school!

Mercato Centrale (Link)
Via dell'Ariento,
50123, Firenze

Here's what I ordered!

This store -Il Tartufo below specialises in Truffles! I had the truffle risotto & was totally delicious! Quite alot of truffle shavings as well!

Il Tartufo

Truffle Risotto

This mixed meat platter was really good as well! Not too healthy though;)

Mixed Meat Platter

Do drop by if you have time! In the day time, there are stores lined up outside along the street as well. I got a Italian leather bag for a pretty good price! Hope it's real though! They sell leather belts, shoes, clothes & etc!

Trattoria Mario
Via Rosina 2r
50123, Firenze

Another place we went to try out was Trattoria Mario (Link). They had a huge number of reviews on trip advisor!! We managed to squeeze in this Trattoria before leaving Florence. As it was a Saturday, they were only opened for Lunch which was from 12PM to 3.30 PM. We got there just on time and didn't have to wait at all! Great! The food was quite traditional and felt homey. I wouldn't say its the best I had in Italy, but they are probably famed for being one of the oldest and serving authentic home made Tuscan cuisine!

We had the Ribollita which was a vegetable-bread soup. It wasn't as soupy as I expected it to be, well I guess it was what it was! Vegetable and bread! Quite thick and filling! A traditional tuscan dish!
The pasta with meat sauce was really good, but just a tad different from other bigger restaurants. Is this actually what authentic home tuscan pasta should taste like? It was really fresh and there's Not a lot of sauce.

Ribolitta

Tortilla with meat rage

We definitely had to try the Bistecca Fiorentina at this place to see what it's like! Well for us, it wasn't as great as the first two we had. Maybe it wasn't to our taste as it wasn't as charred on the top, and not as much flavour! But it was really big and pretty good too-if you don't mind it not as charred!

Sightseeing

Once again, in the city of Florence, architecture is just as beautiful! We did not go into any of the attractions, but just an overview from the outside.

There were a lot of people around! I liked the small shops that were set up in the city around Mercato Centrale!

Some sights we spotted while walking around was the Piazza del Duomo and the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral. You can also visit the Piazzale Michelangelo which is the original one which is found opposite the Arno river from where we were. Since it was further off, we made do with the replica! Pretty awesome as well!

Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral

The Dome & Baptistery of St Johns

Below is the heart of Florence's City - Piazza della Signoria!

That's where we saw one of Michelangelo's David! Wonderful sculptures indeed! I feel that I learnt a lot just travelling to Italy! Travelling is sure an interesting way to learn about history and geography!

Alright, That is about all for our Florence trip! Beautiful & fantastic for food! Such fresh produce everywhere! Here's a last photo of the famous Ponte Vecchio for your pleasure! Take a boat ride or just chill by the bridge/ grass if you please!

Ponte Vecchio across the Arno River

Stay tuned for our next post on the Breathtaking views, heritage sites and more in Cinque Terre!

XOXO! Till next time!