Florence for me, hit a romantic soft spot, hence the title of this blog post. The first night warmed my heart to the brim when we were wandering the city and stumbled upon a piazza filled with musicians playing soft accordian beats in front of an arch and a lit up merry go round (the child in me died at the sight of this) filled with happy couples and families. Resembling a low key version of Rome in architecture, but buzzing with an atmosphere of joy and amore, I couldn't help but just want to stand and stare for the the remainder of the night. Good thing I didn't because heading further, we were stopped by the view of the Arno River against the night sky, yellow lit light poles along it, and multitude of people taking selfies to capture this evening moment. Oh and before all this,  I was already jaw dropped seeing a giant cut-out like pink, green, and white marble cathedral structure against the dark sky. Surreal!!
We were actually on our way to where our host recommended as the best Florentine steak in town at a restaurant called Trattoria 4 Leoni, but we were turned away as it was fully booked upon discovery. Not surprised at their popularity, but shocked that it was around 9pm when this happened, we ventured to a restaurant next door instead after making sure to reserve for  lunch booking the next day.

Earlier in the day we had took the bus to "The Mall' to check out the luxury brand outlets an hour outside of Florence. The cost was 10 Euros for a round trip and you can take the bus at the transit station just behind the central train station.  Personally, I still found the prices expensive despite being 40%-70% off, but again these are luxury brands straight from the runway, so if you are a regular customer of such, definitely worth a shot at scoring a good deal. Plus, as a tourist, you can claim the VAT tax back when you leave Europe if you spend $150 or more per receipt. Leaving with nothing for myself, we ventured back to Florence to go to the San Lorenzo Leather Market. It was a joy to bargain and as the market was closing at 7pm, it made it easier to get a markdown (as we know everything is marked up anyways) and as Florence is known for leather, the prices are decent for what you get. Just make sure to get them to do a burn test to ensure that it is real leather and not faux. Also remember to compare prices as most sellers sell similar items and have a price in mind of what you are willing to pay for it, because there's no point bargaining if you aren't going to buy it at the end, and this makes the seller mad as well.


Day 2
The next day we walked all over central Florence. Starting at the Santa Maria Cathedral that left me jaw dropped the night before, we took as many photos as we could amongst the crowd. Lunch was amazing, and though we didn't try the T-bone steak, their signature dish as it was 50 Euros, the beef steak at 25 Euros did the trick and we were so so satisfied! Definitely a must!
Piazza Michelangelo was a farther trek and took a steep set of stairs (sounds worst than it is), but the view will relieve all your complaints if any. Here, you can sight a panoramic view of the red brick Florence roof tops and the dusty yellow buildings. You can even spy the duomo and other attractions as well. As talked about as this view is, it wasn't as busy as the piazza and duomo, probably because its a distance away from it all, so take as much as time as you like enjoying the view and soaking it all in.
The Uffizi Gallery was partly under construction, but there were some artwork outside of the building besides the paintings inside. We decided not to go as the line up was long and saving the money was nice as there was a small gallery adjacent that you can freely walk into. There's also a fake David statue here, the great work of Michaelangelo named after the biblical character. Again, we didn't find the need to see the real thing as though we do appreciate art, seeing a replica version was satisfactory.

The Oblate Library was read about and also recommended to us, but honestly, it is just a library. We went there with high hopes, but today, its still a functioning library. I guess travelling for a while has blurred us of the reality of students studying as we were quite in awe to see people with their heads in between books haha! The building and architecture is quite neat, but other than typical library, there is not much here.
Wandering the streets, there are many unique shops known just to Florence. Many local prints, stationary, and leather goods shops as well as locally designed clothing stores too. I fell in love with one clothing brand that's fairly new to Florence called Flo'reiza and now I have a jacket to show for it when I get home! Apparently some gelato shops in Florence aren't made fresh nor is legit according to our accomodation host, but we were recommended a place called Carapina, which has a few locations around Florence. It was similar in setup to the hidden gem we went to in Rome (lids covering the gelato), but they have some unique flavours and I tried a new favourite combo: mint and pinenut!

Finally, my time in Florence closed with a giant egg yolk of a sunset. Words can't describe how I felt, so these photos will have to show for it and I hope it gives you an allure of the romantic essence of this Italian city.