🗺️ Florence was my fav city! 🇮🇹🥷

I think I liked Florence the most DESPITE the burglary!

A burglar came into our Airbnb and ransacked our luggages but by God’s grace, we were safe 🙏 Nothing was lost except maybe our sanity jk. We even slept the night but it was not a good sleep at all. Every sound that night made me a lil anxious 😟

Burglary aside, the moment I got off the train and started walking, I already like the vibes of the city.

1️⃣ Walkable

Every thing was within walking distance it seems! We walked to our accoms near the Duomo and all the main attractions.

I liked that I could get around places with my own 2 feet 👣 no need to wait for (unreliable) transport or figure out their system.

2️⃣ Beautiful bridges

A huge river runs through Florence, and it comes with beautiful bridges! The scenery along the river reminded me of Venice somehow, but the space felt VAST. Some room to breathe even as many ppl were chilling on the bridge 😮‍💨

3️⃣ (Window) shopping

We didn’t go looking with the intention to buy anything but got tempted 🫢

There were countless stalls near the Mercato Centrale Firenze selling all sorts of leather items!

Noticed that the stalls were mainly run by foreigners who sold bags of similar designs. We got tempted and bargained like aunties - they were willing to give more discounts if we paid in cash.

Offis roomie recommended the leather school - their workmanship seems btr but it comes at a heftier price, somewhere in between the stalls and luxury brands. No bargaining here but there’s tax refund. We also got tempted here 🙈

It was quite fun to shop even if we didn’t get the best leather ~

4️⃣ Good affordable food

Found good food that wasn’t very overpriced -

All’Antico Vinaio

Gelateria Artigianale La Sorbettiera | Santo Spirito

Vivoli

Gustapizza

Trattoria San Pierino

Customer service was also generally good. I felt that elsewhere, some waiters couldn’t tolerate our slow decision making or just didn’t like that we’re Asians.

5️⃣ Art wasn’t too inaccessible

Managed to purchase Uffizi Gallery tix on the fly without having to camp online or queue much! Got in within 30 mins and it turned out to be the only art gallery we got to visit. That said, there were snaking queues for the other attractions so gotta pick and choose or book them way ahead…

🔥🔥🔥

I like that we got to experience a little of everything

• retail therapy & getting scammed? / talking nonsense with the sellers

• getting cultured & artducated

• strolling while taking in nice views

• enjoying good food

• burglary anxiety

A little crazy keeps things fresh right?

#lemon8travel #florence #italy #ThingsToDo