Sketches in Firenze (Florence), Italy

I'm going to take a short holiday in Florence- the city of my childhood's dreams

 Things I packed in my suitcase. If you don't know who Ben is, I'll happily introduce him to you.

 Before going to Florence, I still had enough time to go to a party held in a farm, where the air is fresh and reeks of cows' droppings...

 ...and saw there for the first time in my life, how people milk cows and roast a whole pig...

 ...and enjoyed a very frustrating German song sung by a guy sitting on a strawroll at the party. What a day to remember!

 Because I wasn't able to wait to drink coffee in Italy,I went to a coffee house in my city and ordered me a "Moby Dick".

 

Finally, I flew to...Paris Charles-de-Gaulle. While waiting for my flight to Florence, I bought some postcards of "La Tour Eiffel".

 Hotel Ariston, Firenze.
No fridge. No hairdryer. It didn't annoy me at all, as long as I still had clean bedclothes to sleep on.

 Carriage first in front of the cathedral, later at Piazza della Signoria

Although there's a lot of horse-drawn carriages at the centre of the city, the streets aren't full of horses' droppings, because each horse carries a bag behind.

 Crests on the facade of the cathedral

As a crest fan, I found in Florence my paradise. There are crests everywhere in this city.

 

The drawn wall clock  in the cathedral from the year 1443

 Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore, Piazza del Duomo, 10:30 p.m

The square where the cathedral is located is full of tourists in the daytime, that's why I waited for the night. During the day, it was hot in Florence, but it became very cold at night. As a result, I caught a cold.

 Santa Croce, Piazza Santa Croce, 03:00 p.m

What a beautiful day! I visited the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo in Basilica di Santa Croce and bought there a lot of postcards.

 View from Piazzale Michelangelo, 06:00 p.m

From this hill, I could see Palazzo Vecchio, San Lorenzo, Duomo and Santa Croce. What a view!
Besides, this place was full of German tourists. No more Italian, only German. It made me wonder.

Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, 01:00 a.m

The streets at the centre of the city are crowded to midnight. It was funny to eat ice-cream at this time of day.

 Mozzarella cheese made from buffalo milk and me writing postcards 

It's a passion to write postcards. Ben was a little bit upset, because he would receive no postcard from Florence.

 Panforte Fiorentino

Panforte is a traditional Italian dessert containing fruits and nuts, similar to ginger bread. A piece of a Panforte from Gilli- a famous coffee house located at Piazza della Repubblica- could cost 12 Euro. Crazy!

 Montefioralle, Greve in Chianti, Toscana, 03:00 p.m

A walk to remember!

From Florence to Greve in Chianti by bus, then to Panzano on foot through beautiful vineyards and olive orchards.

 Piazza G.Matteoti, Greve in Chianti, 02:45 a.m

Unfortunately, I missed the last bus from Panzano to Florence. I went back to Greve and stayed for the night there.

 Dishes I ordered in a restaurant in Florence and another in Greve. I'm now deeply in love with Italian food and decided to learn a bit Italian, in case I come back to Italy or want to read a real Italian cookbook in Italian.

 Florence is a great city. And the reasons are...