During our stay in Pisa, we took a day trip to Florence where we explored lots of incredible areas of interest. Starting with an early morning get-up, Chris and I walked from our hotel to Pisa's central station ready to board the 9am train to Florence. On our walk to the station we came across some amazing art pieces which you can read more about within my upcoming blog post on our time in Pisa.
The Pisa train station was quite crowded and there were long queues which made our potentially relaxing 15 minutes before the train departed, to a very anxiety inducing 15 minutes, whilst we watched various different people try to come to terms with how the ticket machines work. Fortunately, it all worked out in the end and we were able to buy our tickets with 4 minutes to spare before our train departed. Luckily, the platforms were signposted and it was easy to find exactly where we needed to be. After waiting on the platform for a couple of minutes, the double decker train pulled into the station. The train was very busy but we were able to get some seats on the upper deck with a beautiful window view of the Tuscany region throughout the journey. The train journey from Pisa to Florence took around an hour, stopping at 5 stations in between which was pretty good going! Unfortunately the weather was a little rainy when we arrived in Florence but we were keen to not let the weather affect our sightseeing of this picturesque city. The main city centre of Florence is a short walk away from the train station and the majority of people are heading in the same direction, so it is easy to find your way.
Once we were in the main square, we were immediately met with the most beautiful and stunning architecture that I have ever seen. Santi Apostoli is genuinely jaw-droppingly beautiful with the most stunning and unique design cascaded throughout the main square. Around the corner from this famous church is another gorgeous church which lights up the whole square. Every turn that you take in Florence, you will be met with stunning sights. We stayed around the main square a little while, taking in all of the incredible sights, before deciding to do a little shopping within the hundreds of shops located around the main square. Being chocolate lovers, we took a much-anticipated trip into the Lindt store where we were met with delicious chocolates wrapped in bright-coloured foil that immediately catches your eye when you walk in. One of the workers also greeted us with a chocolate sample which was very much appreciated and just as delicious as we expected. Throughout the shop there was a wide variety of flavoured chocolate and we of course ended up buying a pick and mix of all of the fancy flavours that we do not have within the UK, including pistachio, which was absolutely delicious!
We visited lots more shops during our time in Florence, which included a sports shop where Chris bought his new favourite top that fittingly has the slogan 'never stop exploring' written across it. After an hour or so of shopping we found a nice area of restaurants where we chose a beautiful looking restaurant, located within a conservatory of a quaint square. I had a glass of Tuscan wine alongside the duck spaghetti and Chris went for a pint of Peroni and a pizza. My spaghetti was absolutely delicious and was a reminder of why Italy is one of my favourite countries with the best food that I have ever eaten. Chris wasn't too keen on his pizza but he did thoroughly enjoy his pint of Peroni and as an avid Peroni fan, I was informed that it tasted a lot better than what we have here in the UK.
Once we had finished our meals, we made our way down to Piazzale Michelangelo (the Michelangelo square) which is home to some amazing statues alongside the very famous 'Fountain of Neptune'. The square was busy but the height of the statues and the enormous size of the fountain makes everything easy to see, even amongst the mass crowds. After exploring some of the incredible art within this area, we made our way to the Arno river, which is located just behind the square. From here, we were able to see the stunning Ponte Vecchio bridge which is the only bridge in Florence that was not destroyed within World War II. This bridge is made famous for having houses and shops built along the side of the bridge, being one of the few bridges in the world with this unique feature.
After the excitement of all of our exploring within Florence, we didn't have long until our train back to Pisa so we decided to end our time in Florence by finding a bar. We stumbled across a stunning bar that had the most amazing and extensive list of cocktails. We ended up having a variety of cocktails within the bar before making our way back to the station for our 1 hour journey back to Pisa.
Overall, Florence was so much fun and I would highly recommend a trip to this unique and stunning city. Whether you decide to stay in Florence or take a day trip from one of the surrounding towns/cities, I can assure you that you will be blown away by the stunning architecture that can be witnessed within Florence.
