Pisa and Florence.

Well my latest trip was to Pisa and Florence. Finally Italy baby!!!!! Have wanted to go the country since the day I landed and must say it was no way disappointing. But the journey to Charleroi was an ordeal. Had to battle some cold wind, snow, delayed bus and a bus which refused to start and get moving once it reached.

Land at Pisa airport and luck finally changed. Got out of the plane had some warmth. Mind you not warm by a summer standard, but warm as in not low single digits. Also the forecast had predicted snow and rain. So that is why I say the luck finally changed.

We headed straight to the famous Leaning Tower from the airport. Had some pizza for lunch and learnt something very interesting. Till a few years back it was frowned upon to eat pizza for lunch in Italy. If there is some community in the world which is as passionate about its food as Indians then they are Italians.

After food clicked a lot of photos of the square on which the tower was. There is not much more to see in Pisa. But I must say, the town looks very similar to an Indian town. But was easily one of the most beautiful squares I have visited so far.



From there we headed to Florence. Upon reaching Florence we had dinner and rested. Next day morning we walked towards the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. The ‘P’arty boy kept insisting that you will be amazed by walking out of a small street and seeing this huge structure. And he was so right. Walked out of a small street, and out of nowhere this huge structure pops up. It just feels so out of place, which became even more evident from the Piazzale Michelangelo ( a high point in the town which gives a good view of the town). It is so much bigger than the surrounding.



From there we headed Uffizi Gallery. I am not a museum kind of a person, so did not enjoy this so much. But the view of the town from one particular window was perfect. The brilliant part about most of the European towns/ cities I have visited is the there is always a river/ stream flowing right through it and they have some of the most beautiful bridges over them. Florence was no different.



We could also climb the dome of the basilica. The view from the top was breath taking. Also since it the highest part of the town, the sun had a direct view. We sat on the sun and enjoyed the view from there. Very peaceful and warm :).



Now for the nit picking part of the trip. The food for as good as it was, it was also equally pricy. I would say same rate as Leuven for a meal. I was expecting it to be a tad cheaper as was the case from my previous trip to the Canary Islands.

But over all a wonderful trip with a wonderful group of people. Let me exploration of Europe continue.