The rest of the train ride was okay-ish. It’s not particularly fun to spend the night in a train where you can’t lie down, locked in with two teenage girls (or at least they behaved like it). But at 6:14 in the morning, we safely arrived in Florence S.M.N., where we killed the time till 7:30.
When in doubt, take pictures.
At that point, we were able to pick up the key for our Airbnb and immediately fell asleep there.
Now, don’t think we did proceed to just sleep all day! No, we woke up around 12, showered (with ice cold water, not voluntarily) and headed out to first have some pasta and then explore the city.
Omnomnomnomnom.
Seeing the giant churches, I wondered how they were able to build this. Even with modern technology, this would take ages and cost a shitload of money!
Weird angle to minimize the amount of tourists.
I ... what?!
I bet he loved chocolate.
Ancient nudes, back when it was still an art form
Another thing that was rather weird, but didn’t relate to the architecture, was the fact that you can find leatherware everywhere in Florence. Jackets, backpacks, purses, it seems like every second shop smells like leather.
I don't understand fashion.
After braving the waves of tourists for a while, google maps lead us a bit outside the city. Bit by bit, there were less people, until we were alone. The question why wasn’t hard to answer, as we were walking up a very steep mountain.
Up and up we go.
But we were rewarded for it! A bit of sweat and 2€ per person later, we entered “Forti di Belvedere”, which gave us a magnificent view over the city.
Inside this castle/fort, there was a small museum, with a floor that was completely covered in sand.
Imagine the poor person who has to vacuum this.
We spent some time there, looked around, and finally headed down again. That’s when we – finally – found an ice cream shop that sold ice cream for less than 3€, which was the average price inside the city. For 1.50€, I got the best dark chocolate ice cream so far!
A nice dinner concluded our first day in Florence.