03-06-18

Florence, Italy / 3 nights

I’ve always known Florence as one of the prettiest cities of Europe just through word of mouth and seeing images online. I for one, can definitely approve of this statement.

Although, before my visit to Florence, I always assumed the prettiness lay inside of the city. When in fact, I believe the true beauty is held when you get close to the edge of the city and look back and for that reason, you have to visit Piazza Michelangelo!

The magnificence of Florence comes from how obscure it appears compared to all other cities we have visited and you will know exactly what I mean when you visit Piazza Michelangelo. It’s a look-out point over the whole city which you guessed it, means you have to trek up quite a few steps and hills. After having to take 3 rest stops on the journey up Mount Everest the view was to die for and so worth the prior struggle.

You really can see the whole of Florence right to its outskirts where it then becomes mountains covered with green foliage and magic grape trees (if you know what I mean). After all, Florence is in Tuscany so had I known that geographical fact, I probably would have been hunting for a wine tasting in the hills!

If you have ever been to Florence or seen pictures online of the city then you will know of it’s most famous landmark, The Duomo, or just Dome for us English folk. This is one of the most beautiful landmarks I ever seen as it is so unusual and really beholds how historic and untouched Florence is. You will get a real feel for this when you’re at the look-out point, no other building has been built taller then The Duomo and that’s what I think makes Florence so gorgeous. Standing in amongst yellow and orange glowing homes and rooftops it is the Queen of Florence.

A beautiful gem I found actually way back to when we were planning our trip is a rooftop bar which I don’t believe could get you any closer to The Duomo. It is located on the rooftop of The Grand Hotel Cavour. If you head to the reception and ask to go to the rooftop bar, they simply just ask for an ID and then send you up in the lift. Next thing you know you’re 7 floors up, sipping away on Aperol and lounging on a sofa to the sight on The Duomo.

Side note: if you decide to go to the rooftop bar, try and head there in the late afternoon rather than evening. We went there at 5:30pm and it was lovely and empty, however, I could overhear the waiter taking phone calls from people trying to book in for the evenings and he was saying they were fully booked so just be aware.

Oh and of course this would not be a, ‘Where’s Yasmin Now?’ post if I didn’t tell you my food highlight and saddle up kids because this was my best dinner of the whole journey so far!

Bottega Conviviale

A wonderfully decored petite restaurant with velvet cushioned booths all warmed by the built-in pizza oven. We stumbled across the restaurant by chance and liked the look of the menu plus I could see glimpse of the pizzeria chefs throwing dough so I was totally in once I saw that! We arrived at 8pm and managed to steal a table for an hour and a half before a reservation was due to arrive. I believe we were very lucky with this as everyone else after us were being turned due to the reservation-popular restaurant this seemed to be.

What to order:

Now, if you like pizza, cheese and shrimps, you have to go for this next item. It’s on the Pizzeria menu and is simply called, ‘pecorino cheese, black pepper and shrimp’ which honestly lists all ingredients of the pizza. Without blasphemy as I was blessed by the pope in my last post (Rome) but Oh My Goodness what a heavenly masterpiece of a dish. I can’t even explain how insane it was you’ll just have to go and try it for yourself!

Another key tip I would pass onto you is once you’ve felt like you’ve seen The Duomo enough, go across the river. Florence is a very small city which means its super easy to see everything, including the secluded and empty parts. There is something so refreshing about all the locals looking at you like you’re an alien because they never see tourists in their area. Although the towns were empty because of an Italian bank holiday it was still so great to see the true Tuscan living experience outside the heart of the city. Plus, we came across a great discount store which was blissful for us travellers. We managed to secure a tape measure and a foot pedicure kit all for €2 – yeah, best not to ask!

The one thing I’d like to say about Florence and my experience is that I would like to go back and do the city ‘properly’. By properly I mean I would be able to spend a bit more if I solely went back on a city break rather than my backpackers wallet. Don’t get me wrong, I would never have taken Florence off of my route and I loved every second of being there, however, I would like to go back and be able to dress up for the evenings and maybe pay for some nice experiences in the Tuscan green hills rather than the backpackers simple life which works just as well for me. All I’m saying is that I will definitely be returning to Florence for a more focused holiday.

Peace and love,

Yasmin xo