After Rome, we traveled by train to Florence and spent one day there. We booked our train tickets online before we even left Manila via ItaliaRail. Booking in advance always guarantees cheaper fares.
From Roma Termini we traveled to Florence Sta. Maria Novella station. The train ride took less then 2 hours.
From the train station, we had to ask around for directions to our hostel. I knew we had to take the bus, but knowing which was the correct bus was a little confusing since there were many of them lined up outside. Once we found the correct one, it took about 20 minutes to get to our destination.
In front of Hostel 7 Santi
After checking in, we asked the girl at the reception if it was worth getting an unlimited bus pass. She said that since we were just staying one night in the city, we should just get the regular bus ticket that would take us to the city center, and from there all city attractions are just walking distance from one another so having an unlimited bus pass was unnecessary.
The girl from the hostel was right when she said that the major spots of the city center were just literally steps away from one another.
Map of Florence City Center
Florence tourist spots were mostly churches, the most famous of which has got to be the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, more popularly known as The Duomo.
The Duomo
More churches and cathedrals:
Florence is also known for its art culture, but sadly, we didn’t get to go inside any of the famous museums and galleries since we were pressed for time. So we just took photos outside.
Another interesting area in Florence would be Ponte Vecchio. The place looks really medieval, and at night the shops literally glow because they mostly sell gold. My phone camera did not give the place justice, so here’s a Googled image of what the place looked like:
Image from Wikipedia
We talked to this nice lady with her dog and she said that this place was her dog’s favorite spot. 🙂
I was sad to leave Florence right away because, although the city wasn’t as big as Rome, I felt that the culture of the place needed to be fully experienced and that would take at least three days.
But Germany was waiting and I was excited to set foot again in the first country I ever visited outside of the Philippines (but I was only two years old back then so that doesn’t really count).
