Hey All. So yesterday Holly and I decided that we'd hit up Florence to do some awesome shopping as well as explore some of the city (but not everything because we wanted to save some exploring when Josh and Christine get here). At first the day didn't look too promising. It was super gloomy outside (which made for awesome pictures). Then it turned into a crazy thunder/hail storm...when...??? yeah when we were at the top of a bell tower overlooking the city. We got stuck there for about a half hour. After that, all was well again with only a little bit of rain. It didn't hinder our shopping time though. Found some awesome stuff. I went a bit nuts and bought way too may things. A knock off burberry scarf, a Girogio Mariani tie (yes I spelled that correctly) and this amazing leather jacket. the market in Florence is awesome for shopping. It's all these little street vendors that have full shops behind all their kiosk's. Holly bought a second pair of shoes for her new stylish outfit to be debuted at the wedding of Sir Douglas Brown & Madame Erin Porter. With the help of one of the guides here, Gorana, we had some inside scoops on a few places to definitely check out (again saving some to find with Josh and Christine). Holly and I decided the one place we did go to was this little gelataria. It took us an hour of walking in circles (while shopping) to find the place but it was so far the best gelato that we've tried. After that.. Florence was done
After gelato we headed back to the train station for an epic adventure to "The Mall". Literally... that's the name of the place. It's just outside of a smaller town in the Tuscan hills. Beautiful scenery and...more shopping. The Mall is an outlet centre for high end fashion. Everything there is discounted around 50% off which is AWESOME. There were onlu like 10 or 15 stores there. Gucci, D & G (about 5 minutes away), Georgio Armani, Y S L, Dior, Valentino, Alexander McQueen, Fendi, Burberry, and yeah everything super high end. (Christine, Holly misinformed you.. there is no Prada outlet there) We were lucky enough to catch a taxi over there from the train station with a couple of older men from Singapore and split the fare there and back to the station. Holly didn't buy anything and was just amazed at the prices of some things. One of the first things we saw was a Christian Dior dress that was marked down 60% off or so.. it was still 2300 euro on sale from somewhere in the high 6000 euro. Since going to The Mall was my idea, I couldn't come home empty handed. I bought something at one of the shops. Something stylish I may bust out at Doug & Erin's wedding. Holly and I are going to be the super fashionista's with Italian style.
After our shopping endeavors, it was back home where we enjoyed an amazing night thanks to Katherine. Before leaving, she gave Holly a 10 euro note with the sole purpose of buying alcohol. What'd we get, a 12 pack of Moretti and 1.20 euro change. Thank you Katherine. Holly and I finished the 12 pack the same night.
All in all. One good day
After gelato we headed back to the train station for an epic adventure to "The Mall". Literally... that's the name of the place. It's just outside of a smaller town in the Tuscan hills. Beautiful scenery and...more shopping. The Mall is an outlet centre for high end fashion. Everything there is discounted around 50% off which is AWESOME. There were onlu like 10 or 15 stores there. Gucci, D & G (about 5 minutes away), Georgio Armani, Y S L, Dior, Valentino, Alexander McQueen, Fendi, Burberry, and yeah everything super high end. (Christine, Holly misinformed you.. there is no Prada outlet there) We were lucky enough to catch a taxi over there from the train station with a couple of older men from Singapore and split the fare there and back to the station. Holly didn't buy anything and was just amazed at the prices of some things. One of the first things we saw was a Christian Dior dress that was marked down 60% off or so.. it was still 2300 euro on sale from somewhere in the high 6000 euro. Since going to The Mall was my idea, I couldn't come home empty handed. I bought something at one of the shops. Something stylish I may bust out at Doug & Erin's wedding. Holly and I are going to be the super fashionista's with Italian style.
After our shopping endeavors, it was back home where we enjoyed an amazing night thanks to Katherine. Before leaving, she gave Holly a 10 euro note with the sole purpose of buying alcohol. What'd we get, a 12 pack of Moretti and 1.20 euro change. Thank you Katherine. Holly and I finished the 12 pack the same night.
All in all. One good day
So many beautiful buildings.
One of the piazzas in Florence.
Close up of the church statues all engraved into the building.
Beautiful church on the other side of the piazza
So many tourists were around these buildings. Fair enough. They are epic.
It was just screaming "Climb Me!"
Entrance to the Bell Tower
Climbing the Bell Tower
View from the top
You can just tell there's a storm brewing. Look at that sky!
The Duomo viewed from the top (you can also climb to the top of the Duomo but we've been told that the bell tower gives you a better view of the Duomo and everything else)
We had to take the touristy photos!
Before the sky cleared up. We love how the cross shines through.
Another view form the top
The wet streets of Florence.
Bell Tower
Bronze Hog. Rub it's nose for good luck and place a coin in it's mouth. if you notice, the nose is all polished from people rubbing it.
Bums everywhere! We saved the statue of David for when Josh and Christine get here.
VERY Yummy Gelato.
Chris' secret shopping purchase.