Italian Job Part 1: Pisa & Florence

This is the post you've all been waiting for.. My Summer Italian Trip.. 13 days, 4 states, 7 cities.
I dont really know how to start.. but let me just try my best.. hehe..


Day 1. [29.06.2011]

Our flight was at 10 am (if i'm not mistaken), so we left the hostel around 6 am. Arrived at the airport quite early because there was no traffic. We checked in around 8 and my bag was overweight. We took Baltic air and I didn't know there was a 8 kg limit for handluggage, and if you want to put your bag in the cargo, you have to pay RUB1200. So I had to take out some stuffs and put them into my handbag. Lucky I brought a huge handbag! hahaa.. and we had a nice stewardess at the counter. ;)

The flight was delayed for almost an hour and we arrived in Fiumicino Airport, Rome 1/2 hour late. So we rushed to get off the plane, took the airport express to Termini Roma Station which costs €15/person.

We got onto the aeroexpress as quickly because we were trying to catch the 2:45 pm train to Pisa from Roma Termini. But we didn't quite make it. We bought the next train to Pisa which was at 3:20 pm. We wanted to catch the 2:45 pm train because it was the faster train which takes only 2 hours to Pisa. The 3:20pm train takes 4 hours even though it was way cheaper. Costs us only €3/person for the seats since we already had the Trenitalia pass. So we just pass the time, ate some lunch while waiting for our train to arrive.

At 3:20pm, off we board on our train to Pisa. The train ride was awesome. The view was super magnificent. Subhanallah. Only Allah knows of such beauty. There were endless fields of sunflowers! Everytime the train stops, I wish to get down for a while and just take a photo among the sunflowers! I've never seen so many sunflowers in my life! The yellow, green and the sun makes them even more beautiful. I wish I could catch a picture of what I saw, but the train was going too fast, so the pictures all turned out blurry. :( Then we pass by the ocean. All I could do is sigh at such view.. They were truly beautiful.

That yellow field is full of Sunflowers!

Ocean view. Breathtaking!

We arrived at Pisa around 7pm. According to reviews we checked on the net, they said it only takes about 15-20 minutes to get to The Leaning Tower of Pisa from the Stazione Pisa Centrale and you can see the tower from far. IT'S A LIE! Took us nearly 35 minutes to get there! Plus we didn't have a map, we had no idea where we were heading and we had to pull our bags! We kept asking people every 10 minutes of walking or so. PLUS we only had about an hour to spend in Pisa because the next train to Florence is at 8:30 p.m. So when we came to the tower, we furiously took our pictures with the tower and decided to take a cab back to the Stazione Pisa Centrale because we didn't really have much time. Cost us €7. :S

The famous Leaning Tower of Pisa

We didn't have to pay extra for seating to Florence. Just hop on and sit anywhere.

We arrived in Florence about an hour later. It was already dark by then. We got off the train and start searching for our hostel. It wasn't that far from the Train Station. We stayed at Afossi Hostel House. The place was ok. No WiFi, no kitchen and no aircon or even a fan despite the heat, but it was clean and the owner was very hospitable. Plus, it was near the Train Station. :) AND WE WERE DYING FOR A BATH!!!

After we were all cleaned up, we had a walk around the city. The city is beautiful. There were live music playing by street, people eating supper and drinking wine. Teenagers hanging by the rivers. We were searching for a cafe with WiFi, since bB can't live without the internet. So we found one cafe. Very nice and cosy (but don't ask the price). We asked the waiter, he said the WiFi is free (of course with an order). So we ordered 2 drinks, and we forgot to tell the size, and came 2 big glass of Iced Lemon Tea! Both of us were like, "oh no!". Then we tried connecting to the WiFi but failed. So then bB asked the man at the counter about the WiFi, he said the WiFi is only until 11pm and the time had passed. Both of us were like, 1st day in Italy and we got cheated! Dang... >.<" I hate being a tourist sometimes.. So we just enjoyed the city and the night, what else to do right? And maybe (may be) not walk into a cafe anymore.. :P

2 big glass of Iced Lemon Tea!

Don't remember what this Piazza is called, but it's beautiful.. ;)

We went to McD's near the train station to ask whether they had any WiFi. Unfortunately, they had some problem with their router and the WiFi wasn't working. :( So then we returned back to our hostel, disappointed.

Day 2. [30.06.2011]

We woke up early in the morning, got ready and search for some breakfast. So tried walking around the block to search for any cafe with WiFi service but there was no luck. So we had to return to last night's cafe in order to use the internet. Oh well.. what to do right? Mr. B can't live without the internet. ;P

Breakfast & WiFi

After breakfast, we checked out and kept our bags. Then we head out to Piazza Michelangelo which was situated at the hilltop where you can see the whole city of Florence. We took a taxi to get there because we, once again were catching time. Costs us about €9.

Piazza Michelangelo

The view was magnificent and breathtaking! The scene was like in the movie Letters to Juliet. It was really beautiful. We decided to walk down the hill back to the Centre, we went through a garden called Giardino delle Rose. There were a lot of roses and I love roses!

Giardino Delle Rose

Once we were downhill, we went around the city. Mostly the same spot as last night. Florence isn't really a big city. You can walk around the city within an hour or so. We didn't go to any museums or galleries which were the main attraction in Florence since we didn't study arts or had any interest in them. Plus, we didn't have the budget and time. But if you do stop by Florence and interested in arts, you should definitely go to Uffizi and Accademia. That's were Michelangelo's famous masterpieces are being exhibited.

Ponte Vecchio

Crossing Ponte Vecchio

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. 

I don't know why but the architecture made it look like it's made out of cardboards.. huhu..

We returned to the hostel around 1:30pm to collect our bags. After lunch, we boarded our train to Venice at 2:30 pm. The ride took 2 hours. It was an expensive train. Costs us €10/person for a seat. But the seat was very comfortable. ;)

Stay tuned for Italian Job Part 2: Venice!

The train in the movie The Tourist ;p