FLORENCE

I reached Florence at around 3pm and had just three hours to tour the city. I asked the tourist information for any conducted tours. They told me that the only thing that was running in this rainy melancholic afternoon was the hop on hop off bus. I knew that these buses usually had a 24 or 48 hour pass but I thought I could just sit in there without getting down and get to take one complete round of the city. I waited a long time for the bus and was about to take the map and take the peril of walking on my own when I saw one bus. I bought a one hour ticket for Eur 10 and it was just perfect for me.

The bus had a running commentary in language of our choice. It was a beautiful rainy day and I was sitting inside the cozy bus. The first stop was the Academia, I got tempted to get down here to see 'David' of Michelangelo but then decided to take the city tour instead. We drove past the Piazzas and streets of Florence as the headphone explained everything point of interest. The streets were posh and had stores of all major brands. We reached the River and I could see beautiful greenery on the the other side. We crossed it and drove by the scenic hills.

To me Florence looked like a hill station. It was beautiful and romantic beyond imagination. One one side I had seen the modern shopping streets and now was seeing the pristine beauty. The drive was by the hills and we reached the Piazza Michelangelo. In the center was a big green statue of David. So I see it finally here if not in the museum. The bus stopped here for ten minutes. From here was the beautiful and breathtaking view of the entire city of Florence. The greenery, hills, clouds, river and cottage like houses made for a lovely sight. Florence had once been the capital of Italy. It was as big as Rome but not as many monuments so one could immerse in the romanticism without getting distracted by the history.

Then we headed back to the bus and all the way back to the station where we started. I had an hour and a half and two options either to goto Academia gallery or change the train timings and try to reach Venice early. I tried to do the second option but the ticket counter refused. The time was less for a museum so I decided to goto an internet cafe instead, finally after four days in Italy mainly to take directions for the hotel in venice. I sat in the cafe for about an hour surfing , checking mails and jotted down the precise directions. I also noted the phone number and called the hotel to confirm my reservation. The hotel was a 35 minute commute from the train station and then 2 blocks from the local train stop. I felt quite relieved now and soon boarded the train to Venice.