I've heard so much about Florence's shopping and have regretted choosing Milan over it the last time so this trip's main objective is to cover Florence. Mr Grumpy is fully aware. Just that I used Liverpool as a bait :)
Anyway, we took the Tuesday 6pm Ryan Air flight from Liverpool to Pisa and arrived at 9+ local time. It's a budget airline and tickets are relatively cheap but do take note of the extra charges especially baggage. It's cheaper to pay for these prior and not upon check in. Even printing of e-tickets require a crazy fee if you do not do so prior! I didn't read that each passenger has to have his/her e-ticket separately and printed both on the same paper. Had to ask the hotel to make a copy for us in the end. Also, each passenger is allowed to check in one bag not more than 20kg and they do not allow you to share the weight limit. They are really strict with hand carries - each has to fit into the measuring casing and we saw a poor guy perspiring much from trying to squeeze his in.
I was worried about the safety of such budget airline but reviews online were mainly about the hidden costs and the flight proved to be fine. It arrived earlier than actual arrival time and 'boasted' it's the nth time they managed to do so.
So we got our bags very quickly (since it's getting late and we heard Florence isn't exactly that safe) and headed to the taxi stand. Got into a taxi very quickly and showed the driver the address. He said he has not heard of the place and I thought that's normal - can't expect all drivers to know all hotels. Mr Grumpy showed him the google map which he has saved in his phone. Driver asked if the hotel is in Pisa and I said of course while wondering what a strange question it was. So guess what? The hotel's in Florence but we were in Pisa.
It's a 1.5hours drive and it would cost us about 150 euros. He was nice enough to suggest taking the train which costs less than 10 euros per person and we got him to drop us at the train station instead. We couldn't stop laughing at my stupidity. Ok, I did think something is not right but I didn't check in-depth hence the mistake. Come on, there has to be some boo boos to make it memorable, no?
So we bought the tickets for a 1030pm train and waited at the rather sleazy station for about an hour. It was late and suspicious characters were standing around. We had to stay very alert and stuck around 'decent' people. Made our way to the platform and found a few more suspicious men. Luckily there was this Italian family who was very noisy (they were sent off by their friends and happily chatting) and I decided to stick with them. Made me feel safer as there were people who were trying to take a free ride and got thrown off by the three police officers in the train. Also, remember to validate your tickets - scan them under this green & white machine you would see before you go to the platform - because failing to do so would get you a fine. It got us a stern look from the officer but thankfully nothing happened.
Lesson learned: check your tickets, directions and all and be wary of your surroundings especially when it's late.
And so we arrived safely past midnight. Not before dragging the bags down the steps and to the hotel.
DAY ONE in Florence - with a few hours of sleep, we went for the Best of Tuscany Tour by Walkabout Tour. I wanted to book it on the next day but looked at the wrong dates, ha. It decided to turn warm that day and the sweater and coat I brought along were left in the coach.
Anyway, the tour is highly recommended as they have good English speaking tour guides who brought us to Sienna and Pisa (yes, where we came from the night before). Visited the main tourist sites, had lunch overlooking the vineyard, had the world's champion gelato and walked a lot.
Anyway, we took the Tuesday 6pm Ryan Air flight from Liverpool to Pisa and arrived at 9+ local time. It's a budget airline and tickets are relatively cheap but do take note of the extra charges especially baggage. It's cheaper to pay for these prior and not upon check in. Even printing of e-tickets require a crazy fee if you do not do so prior! I didn't read that each passenger has to have his/her e-ticket separately and printed both on the same paper. Had to ask the hotel to make a copy for us in the end. Also, each passenger is allowed to check in one bag not more than 20kg and they do not allow you to share the weight limit. They are really strict with hand carries - each has to fit into the measuring casing and we saw a poor guy perspiring much from trying to squeeze his in.
I was worried about the safety of such budget airline but reviews online were mainly about the hidden costs and the flight proved to be fine. It arrived earlier than actual arrival time and 'boasted' it's the nth time they managed to do so.
So we got our bags very quickly (since it's getting late and we heard Florence isn't exactly that safe) and headed to the taxi stand. Got into a taxi very quickly and showed the driver the address. He said he has not heard of the place and I thought that's normal - can't expect all drivers to know all hotels. Mr Grumpy showed him the google map which he has saved in his phone. Driver asked if the hotel is in Pisa and I said of course while wondering what a strange question it was. So guess what? The hotel's in Florence but we were in Pisa.
It's a 1.5hours drive and it would cost us about 150 euros. He was nice enough to suggest taking the train which costs less than 10 euros per person and we got him to drop us at the train station instead. We couldn't stop laughing at my stupidity. Ok, I did think something is not right but I didn't check in-depth hence the mistake. Come on, there has to be some boo boos to make it memorable, no?
So we bought the tickets for a 1030pm train and waited at the rather sleazy station for about an hour. It was late and suspicious characters were standing around. We had to stay very alert and stuck around 'decent' people. Made our way to the platform and found a few more suspicious men. Luckily there was this Italian family who was very noisy (they were sent off by their friends and happily chatting) and I decided to stick with them. Made me feel safer as there were people who were trying to take a free ride and got thrown off by the three police officers in the train. Also, remember to validate your tickets - scan them under this green & white machine you would see before you go to the platform - because failing to do so would get you a fine. It got us a stern look from the officer but thankfully nothing happened.
Lesson learned: check your tickets, directions and all and be wary of your surroundings especially when it's late.
And so we arrived safely past midnight. Not before dragging the bags down the steps and to the hotel.
DAY ONE in Florence - with a few hours of sleep, we went for the Best of Tuscany Tour by Walkabout Tour. I wanted to book it on the next day but looked at the wrong dates, ha. It decided to turn warm that day and the sweater and coat I brought along were left in the coach.
Anyway, the tour is highly recommended as they have good English speaking tour guides who brought us to Sienna and Pisa (yes, where we came from the night before). Visited the main tourist sites, had lunch overlooking the vineyard, had the world's champion gelato and walked a lot.
It was really good. Queue was systematic and moved very fast. Once you try this, you'd probably not want others.
Doesn't look like it's leaning much does it? A lot of people have warned me to not have high expectations and indeed, I wasn't exactly that thrilled. To date, Milan's Duomo still impresses me the most.
Travelled in a chocho train in Pisa to save us from all the walking, phew.
This is a local guide in Sienna and most of the time, I couldn't understand her English.
We arrived back in Florence at 840pm (dinner's not included) and decided to sign up for the Fiat 500 driving tour the next day by the same company before looking for dinner. Not sure about the rest but we gave the tour guide and the driver a rather good tip so you may want to do the same too.
DAY TWO in Florence - bought tickets to the Uffizi Gallery and honestly, I'm not the artsy kind so it's not really my cup of tea. We did spend about 2hours there and Mr Grumpy seemed to enjoy it. Buy advanced tickets and be prepared to queue when you are collecting your tickets.
Went for lunch after the gallery tour and to my horror, I found my bag stained by the new pants! I could only blame myself for being vain, really.
I've since brought it to Colorwash and it costs me S$350 and three months to fix it.
Didn't want the bag to ruin the rest of the holiday mood and walked around a bit before going for the Fiat 500 driving tour.
Posed with the Vespa. Gotta give it to the American girl who was riding it. She did a half an hour crash course prior and was on the road with us. Rather dangerous I would say but they do have local guides with us.
Mr. Grumpy was so excited although it was a little challenging for him to control the mini car. He stalled a couple of times! I didn't even bother trying so who am I to make fun of him?
We went to the oldest church in Florence.
Drove to the countryside and saw this.
At 170 euros for two, it was a great 4hours experience. How often do you get to drive or sit in a Fiat 500? You also get to see the other side of the city. We were brought to a local chic place for dinner but cheese and bread is not enough.
And so we went to this local restaurant recommended by his friend. Be prepared to wait but it's not that long and I would say it's totally worth it, more for the experience. The waiter reads the menu to you and you choose it there and then. Probably doesn't work if you are indecisive. Honestly, food is not superb but it could be because we didn't go for their specialty. I didn't quite like my fish and the waitress came to ask if I didn't like it and if I would like something else. I sort of lied that I was too full but she's probably upset I wasted their food.
DAY THREE in Florence. Shopping. Enough said.
First to Space Outlet.
Took a train from Santa Maria Novella to Montevachi (about 1hr, less than 10 euros) and then a taxi to Space Oulet at 3 euros per person. Taxis are few so get ready to share and get the outlet to call one for you. Shopping at the outlet was good but I didn't go all crazy. Had to make a few rounds before I found some items. You have to be quick and lucky to get what you like actually. Because we bought the return train tickets, I gave ourselves more than an hour to make payment and to head back to the station. We made a mistake of not asking the outlet to call a taxi for us and went to ask to share one with a couple. The Chinese lady was rather reluctant - we don't know if she didn't understand us or just think she's too high class because she has a ang moh bf - but I couldn't care less. Her Italian bf was better and told us to follow them. When a maxi taxi (the van type) came, we hopped on only to realise two other couples squeezed in as well. Like WTF, I had to ask and accept the fucked up face from the Chinese girl and these couples didn't have to to enjoy the ride. It's just not fair but be nice, we reminded ourselves. The taxi wasn't ours to begin with.
Made a second mistake to hop on to an earlier train that took us half an hour longer to reach Santa Maria Novella. Ended up with a late lunch and early dinner at 4pm before combing the rest of the boutiques from 5pm to 7pm. Looked and felt like a rich tai-tai with bags of bags.
And that's our last night in Florence.
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