wish upon a star: Florence Part 1

So after a quick stay in Bologna, I was on the train again to the beautiful Tuscan city of Florence. I've never really heard of Florence much, except that it was pretty. Well, it was really beautiful, with quaint cobblestones, beautiful architecture and small narrow alleyways. Definitely a very romantic city with plenty of culture and history.

There's a river that runs through the middle of the city, and I lived on one side, whilst the friend I was visiting lived on the other side.

This is the bridge that separates the two sides.

gorgeous architecture

the streets of Florence are filled with many shops with artisanal food, fantastic italian fashion, leather goods etc. there's so much to explore just walking around Florence.

aerial view of Florence, and the famous Duomo!!

DAY 1:
- Trattoria Casalinga

Anyway, I met T and he took me to Trattoria Casalinga for dinner! It was rustic and cosy with hearty Italian fare.

This was a chunk of pork that was tender and flavourful.

A fantastic lasagne! We ordered this because we saw quite a few other locals eating this, and it definitely did not disappoint. So yummy!

roasted potato sides, just because he knows i love them :D

and of course, authentic italian tiramisu to round off the night (:

DAY 2:

- Gucci Museum

- Il Santo Bevitore

The next day whilst T was in school, I went exploring, and went to visit the Gucci museum

(There are SO MANY museums in Florence, museums for everything seriously)

some of the exhibits on display, bags, shoes , clothes etc

good food is everywhere in florence, so I had a really yummy spicy farfelle (butterfly pasta) from a random cafe for lunch

after lunch i went for more shopping, and then met T for dinner at Il Santo Bevitore, a quiet romantic restaurant for modern italian food

This was a ham and cheese tasting platter with pear salsa. I never knew prosciutto tasted this good!

and we had some perfect pastas! A tagliatelle and a gargenelli!

DAY 3:

- Uffizi Gallery

- Salvatore Ferregamo Museum

- Tea at Gilli

- Dinner at Boccadama

- Drinks at Volume

- Secret Bakery!

Day 3 was quite productive indeed. I went to the Uffizi Gallery, which is one of the most famous museums with the biggest collection of renaissance art in the world.

The artwork at the uffizi was very impressive, but unfortunately i can't take pictures in the uffizi ):

on to the salvatore ferragamo museum !

Winding stairs leading downwards to the museum

I was so impressed by the toilet which was so nicely decorated with soap in perfume bottles hahah

and of course impressed by all the beautiful and delicate ferragamo shoes!!!!

I had enough of walking around, so I went to have a nice piece of tiramisu at Gillis! (:

Dinner at Boccadama, where T was embarrassed by me because I made him ask for butter with my bread hahah (Italians don't do butter, they do olive oil)

rose wine

Rigatoni for T

and the yummiest cabonara ever for me!

after dinner, we went to meet T's friends for drinks at a bar nearby called volume. After that, T brought me to visit a 'secret bakery' which doesn't open unless you knock, and then you can get freshly baked croissants and crepes and other yummies at just 1 euro each! :D

DAY 4:

- NYU campus!

T brought me up to his campus to visit! The view was lovely on the way

but his campus was even more beautiful! look at the rolling hills of the Tuscan countryside

we had lunch at his school 'canteen' which served cheese and potato croquettes, pastas, prosciutto, an assortment of vegetables and meats. so delicious!