My Historical Second Home- Florence, Italy

I'm Mikki from the Philippines and I've been here in Florence, Italy for almost 6 months since Februray 2017 to pursue my study in Master in Interior Design at the Florence Design Academy. This is actually my first time in Europe and my first in travelling alone in a very far place. 

It wasn't really a well paved road for me to be able to come here and I was even late for the course for 4 weeks because of my visa just to come here. But anyways I'm here, enjoying the historical buildings and structures of Florence, also most importantly the Florentines and its locals. 

Since my arrival here, many things have changed with me- physically, socially, mentally and so on and so forth.

Body fit and Walkable City

One distinct change is that I lost weight here in Italy, though I know its hard with all the delicious foods around. The reason that I lost weight is that whenever I go to any place here in Florence all I do is - WALK!! as in WALKING AROUND THE CITY Though there are many mini buses around the city, I just preferred walking and that Florence is a very safe and walkable city. You can go from the Santa Maria Novella Station to other known sites in the city by just walking. For example, from the station to the Duomo would take you maybe around 10-15 minutes walk, it depends on how fast you walk and where you walk (because there are many routes you can take). Also that the streets of Florence are practically small and not much cars or buses are passing through the walkways towards the Historical sites. 

So if you want to tour around Florence, you can lessen your expenses by just opting to walk around the city, and I tell you that you won't regret doing so because there is a chance you would walk by a very cheap and delicious gelato place or other restaurants. But if you still opt to ride the mini bus around the city, you can buy the tickets from the Tabacchi store for more or less 3 euros. Also they have here the double decker red tourist bus that circles around the city, you can also go for that but I don't know how much it cost though. 

Historical Sites, Gardens and so on

If you are visiting the city and would want to really enjoy Florence, I think a good 3 days and 2 nights would suffice. There are various sites in different locations like Religious Sites (Piazza del Duomo, Piazza di San Lorenzo..) and the Civic Sites (Piazza Signoria, Piazza Republica..) and even musuems (some with very long lines like the Urffizzi Gallery, Palazzo Vecchio......). You can also choose to go in public park like Le Cascine and also gardens like Boboli Garden. 

Food, Restaurants, Supermarkets and Shops

Then foods in Florence.... absolutely AMAZING! If you know where to eat right and not be shammed with the expensive restaurants and such. My tip is if you want to eat authentic and more affordable Italian meals, go farther from the tourist sites. Like the Osteria Santo Spirito in the other side of the bridge near the Santo Spirito Church, they serve really good Italian food in a more affordable price. I already went there twice, if I remember correctly. If you are staying longer in the city and you would want other cuisine to eat there are also many Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian and other cuisines in the area. 

You can also choose to get food delivered at your door step, they have many food delivery options you can choose from - Just Eat, Deliveroo and so on. You can choose from veriety of cuisines from their websites. 

Then if you want to cook at home or your hostel (if you have a kitechen at the place you are staying at) you can buy your groceries from Conad (many stores around the city, there are 2 near the S.M. Novella station- one in the front and one in the back; and near Duomo also there is one branch), PAM (a more of a convenience store vibe- one branch in Via Nazionale and one new branch in Via Camillo Cavour which is near the Palazzo Medici Riccardi). 

Last but not the least- Mercato Centrale (near San Lorenzo Church), you could buy your fresh produce here from salami (you can buy 100g slices of salami piccante for more or less 5 euro), cheese, wines, meats, vegetables, fish and so on and so forth. You can even eat here there are several restaurants inside the market. Mercato Centrale has 2 floor levels, the ground floor is the market place with some restaurants also and on the second floor is like a big food court where you can choose your foods from various stalls. There is also a culinary school there- Cucina Lorenzo de Medici, you can enroll and attend class if you want prices per class ranges from 65 euro to 80 euro. 

There are also various affordable stores here if you are looking for a place to buy like towels, shampoos, insect repellants and etc. There is the Tutto 99 cents store (There are many branches of this store sround the city, here are some that I know of one in Via Nazionale, one behind the San Lorenzo Church and one in Via de' Ginori) and Tiger (there is a branch below the S.M. Novella station, one beside the S.M. Novella Church and the other one that I know of is also near Duomo).

Searching for a cup of joe in the morning, Florence has you covered for it. There are so many cafes to choose from in the city - very affordable and delicious Italian coffees. Also their pastries are to die for, so you should also try. 

Weather

Currently, it is summer here in Florence and its really super hot. Just the other day the hottest temperature was ever recorded in the city, it reached to 42.4 degrees celsius. Fortunately, the hottest week will eventually end they say. The weather is getting ready for Autumn, you could evidently see it through the trees that their leaves are changing colors. 

I was able to experience a short month of winter here last February and it was cold especially for me, who came from a tropical country, and it lasted until April before spring came in (in which the start is also still cold, the temperature would still drop to 0 degrees celsius based on my experience). 

Overall, my stay here is so wonderful and worth remembering once I go back to my country. I would even imagine once I leave here, I would really miss grocery shopping in Mercato Centrale and walking around the city looking at the historical buildings and structures most of all. 

Photo gallery