Day 1 in Florence

Before the sun had even rise yet, still in pyjamas with our sleepy heads we took a train from Pisa to Florence  The journey took 1 hour and 15 minutes at 5.70 euro per way. You can checkout for more information of the timetables at http://orario.trenitalia.com/

We experienced the worst hostel location here in Florence. The location of our hostel were up on a hill surrounded with private housings though it was beautiful and peaceful, we spent 5 euro per way and the ride was long about 1.5 hours. We learnt so much not to be over-thrifty when choosing a hostel because we wasted so much of time travelling down the city and also money for transport. You might as well consider splurging those money on choosing a slightly much expensive hostel with a strategic location.

You can see beautiful houses or cottages along the main road. I feel like I was staying in a small peaceful village on a hill far from the city. However it was a pain in the ass when travelling to and from every single day for three consecutive days.

This is our hostel. The bed was small and hard. And the heater was not functioning! We were freezing at night since it was just the beginning of spring. The person who managed the hostel did not allow us to get even a single cent of refund when we wanted to move to another hostel for the second and third night! We had no choice but to stay in this hostel for our entire trip in Florence :(

We departed early for Florence however because of the lack of research on how to get to our hostel, the never expected time wasting travel to the hostel, some little argument with the hostel manager, we only managed to go down to the city when it was already almost 4pm. Jye was not feeling so well that day so she insisted to stay in the hostel while Crystal and I decided not to waste more time to explore Florence even if it was meant for just few hours and the night was already approaching.

Basilica of Santa Maria Novella.

 Waffle with nutella spread! Did I ever tell you how we save money by buying a loaf of bread and a jar of nutella for breakfast and lunch for almost the entire trip in Italy (Rome, Pisa, Florence) ! We actually got pretty bored and sick of nutella sandwich but what to do we were poor students but still want to see the world!

Giant jar of nutella(as big as the size of your head) at 30 euro!

The Duomo, the biggest church in Florence. It also have the largest brick dome to be ever constructed.

Facade of the cathedral.

Me and the main portal of the cathedral.

Anyways I have a frightening experience to share. As I was walking alone exploring the basilica alone, a man in his 40's suddenly approached me and asked if I would like my portrait to be drawn. He claimed himself to be an artist and he has a shop nearby.He began to praise on my looks saying I should follow him to his shop and when I showed signs of no interest, he didnt feel turn off but instead became more and more friendly. Being firmed with my decision I told him I didnt have much time for that as I had a friend waiting for me nearby at the moment. I tried walking away but he grabbed my hands and asked me if I ever tried gelato! He  asked me to give him one minute to get a gelato and gave me a peck on my lips before running off and told me to stay where I were! I was shocked of course for being kissed by an elderly man whom dressed raggedly. Well of course, being frightened I ran off to look for Crystal and apparently she told me some security guards around warned her not to receive any edible items from the locals. Apparently there was a famous syndicate going around where these people put drugs in the food where you would feel unconscious  after consuming. The rest of the imaginations I leave it to you.

Giotto's bell tower.

Because of the scary experience we decided not to stay too late at night in the city. We had a scarier unfortunate event in the upcoming trip in Santorini, Greece. I will talk about our beautiful but dangerous journey in Santorini after the next few posts. Xoxo!