Italy; Firenze.

So, I deserve some pretty harsh slaps for being so lazy, but here it is, the third part of my post on Italy! *applause* And to think I'm only doing this because I haven't really properly recorded any of my other trips properly (well, on this blog anyways) and I owe this to myself. Also since I'm going to begin work tomorrow at the hospital.

Still studying to be an architect of course, no worries. Managing / working in a hospital is as deep into the medical world as I'm gonna get.

So, before we move on, here are my previous two posts on Italy;

Roma

Pisa, Toscana

We departed early in the morning and headed first towards Piazzale Michaelangelo (Michaelangelo Square) situated on top of a hill in Firenze (Florence) with a fantastic panoramic view of the city.

The square is dedicated to the great Renaissance sculptor with the name Michaelangelo (surprise, surprise) and thus there are a few copies of his great work in the square itself. Perhaps the most noticeable work of his is the sculpture of David;

Next stop was a tour around the quaint city of Florence itself. Starting off at the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower);

The famous dome, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi.

There is actually a pretty long story that goes along with this dome, so you should definitely look it up if you're interested. If you're an architecture student, especially, it is benefitting that you do so.

In front of the main portal of the cathedral.

It was cold, but yes, being ever so stubborn, I refused the offer of wearing my sister's spare winter jacket purely because it was green, and didn't go with my outfit. Ahahahaha poyo gila I know. But truth was, whenever I'm cold, my body is rarely ever affected by it. My face and hands however... 

Thus why I wrapped a scarf around my face most of the time I was there in Florence.

The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) over the Arno river.

The statue of Poseidon.

Perseus holding the head of Medusa.

Family photo. Why yes, I was... mmm... dancing.

If you notice, I have a jacket on me now. And it was bought here;

Peruzzi is a master in fine leather clothing and accessories since it was first established  in 1948. Their leather jackets are undeniably very soft and light and has none of that leather-y smell you find in most other leather products.

I'm honestly not kidding about their leather's softness though. A family friend that was on the tour with us was actually considering (she was, and I do not exaggerate, obsessed with it) purchasing a red leather jacket that shares the price of the cheapest Chanel bag. Yeah. You do the math.

Mine was on sale and had a cut down price, so not very extravagant lah. But I was still very happy about it. Comfortable and stylish; always a good combi.

A gold ribbon.

A demonstration on how they transfer the gold from the ribbon onto their products.

Its during this trip to Italy that I realize that I apparently have a fascination towards pigeons. It may have been an influence from my childhood (I used to lure pigeons with rice grains and catch them using a rope I tied up to be lassos, but of course, I let them go afterwards), but yeah I realized that almost everywhere I go I'd have a memory of feeding pigeons. 

If being a cat lady won't work out either (coz at this rate I don't think I'll be getting a husband), you know where to find me. I'll be that pigeon lady you hear people talk about.

The tip to be a global pigeon feeder is to always have food prepared in your bag. In my case during this Italy trip, I always made sure to grab nothing less than four packets of bread biscuits from the breakfast buffet. 

Pigeons go crazy for some bread biscuits.

We had some free time to ourselves, so what better way to spend it (other than feeding pigeons, sorry I'm  obsessed) than indulging in the famous Italian dessert; Gelato.

I think mine was a mixture of vanilla + mint chocolate chip.

Afterwards was more food at the Osteria dei Baroncelli:

I think the only reason why we weren't sick of tomato pasta at this rate was because the tomato paste was always fresh, and also because our tour group had a packet of chili flakes handy at all times.

Asians will be Asians.

I was already sick of fish at this point though.

My sister has this huge obsession with doors (pretty sure if she didn't accidentally leave behind her camera, she would've captured a picture of every single one that we come across).

Florence is a wonderful city, but we didn't explore much of it. After only a day walking through their cobbled street, we moved on to the Adriatic Coast and to the floating city of...

To be continued...