Happy Birthday Idiot :)
Well well well its my Best friend's birthday today and so I'm happy by default .
I woke up happy this morning , packed my bags and got ready . The plan was to explore the city and evening I'd take a bus to Germany.
*Don't worry, this time I booked from the right pickup point ,lol.*
So I talked to my Idiot friend and wished him happy birthday. I told him about all the adventures so far while having breakfast in the hostel's common area. As I was planning the day, I got a ping from a girl on Couchsurfing asking if I would like to explore the city together. She told me that there's a city tour starting from Santa Maria Novella at 11 AM. So we decided to meet there.
I reached the meeting point on time and there I met Makayla . She was a tall blonde girl from the US.
There were several other travellers with us on the city tour . Our guide was a funny person with an Italian touch to his English. He carried a flag and also gave one to each of us to identify his troop. We began to walk with him.
This city is rich in its culture. It is full of galleries, museums, and amazing sculptures . Most of the famous artists from the ancient times have lived here and its very much evident from the overall look of this city. They have retained their art in the best way possible.
I'm not much of an art, gallery,museum person but if you are, you must definitely visit this place. Its treat to the eyes.
The most famous figure here is the cathedral of Florence, the one I saw from the sunset point yesterday. Its too huge and has very fine and detailed carvings on its wall.
After this we went to see the other famous art created by the artists. Its commendable that they have kept it intact in such a good condition after all these years.
Florence has been the house to many famous artists from the Renaissance period . During the tour we saw many of these houses.
As we continued the tour, Makayla and I had a nice conversation. So this was a 18 year old girl teaching English to the Italian kids as a part of some programme. She was having her semester break and was in Italy for a total of three months. How awesome was that ? As a part of the programme, she gets to stay with her host family and teach their kids and also get paid by the organisation for teaching the kids. For a moment I thought what the hell was I doing at 18!
She told me about her time in Italy and well she was going to Slovenia after this. I told her about my experiences and she was looking forward to visit Lake Bled.
We finished with our tour in 1.5 Hours. below ware some pictures from the tour.
After the tour, we were hungry . A friend had suggested a place called " Gusta Pizza " . It ha d a long queue but we waited. We ordered a variety of pizzas
And DAMN, Best pizzas EVER.
I don't think the pizzas we eat here are anywhere close to the Pizzas in Italy. They are on a different level altogether. If not for anything, I'm going back to Italy for Pizzas and Lasagnas.
Makayla had to go after lunch while I continued my exploration.
During the tour our guide had shown us a place which was the first to start with the concept of gelatos. I went back to that place. I don't have a sweet tooth but this was too good to not try .
It was almost 3 PM now and had my bus for Stuttgart, Germany at 9 . I roamed around for another hour or so and returned to my hostel . Took another shower as I was tired and sweaty after the walk .
I left the hostel pretty early today thinking I would rather wait than regret. So I left from the hostel around 6 PM, I anyway didn't want to spend more time at the haunted hostel, lol.
I managed to reach the pickup point by 8.30. This was an overnight journey. I'd be reaching my destination at 9 in the morning.
I'd some spare time ,so penned down the experiences in my diary. The bus came, and I directly slept once I got in.
Well here comes a break to my Solo trip. Next five days will be with my friends from Pune , before I hit the last lap of this trip. Its been an interesting journey alone so far. Cannot believe the way last few days turned out .
As you could make out, I didn't enjoy Italy as much. Probably I'm not meant for a " Typical Tourist Place " but definitely loved the food in Florence.
Learning from the day : If not anything, enjoy the amazing food.
Rise and Shine sweetheart 💞💞