So I got up & hubby came and told me that I got our tickets booked & we are leaving the day after tomorrow, I was like Whaaaaat!! I have to do shopping & buy more clothes before the trip etc Ali loves to give surprises, but this one was not quite one of them. We actually already plan to travel but at the end of September. Although due to some personal, work things, plans changed and we did it earlier. It’s so hard to define my excitement in words, these places were on my bucket list for so long & getting to actually see them felt- god da*n amazing. (Alhumdulilah)
I completed & packed everything in like a day & we also had to attend a Mehndi (Henna Night) function, so we did that as well. The flight was smooth, our seats were not together which pisses me off so much, every time. We both had aisle seats and kept passing Zahra around. Lol. The flight was from Toronto to Montreal (stay for like an hour/two) and then 8 hours to Nice, France. I felt that wasn’t bad because I have traveled like 14-15 hours for Pakistan, Dubai & Saudi Arabia. We all know the pain, don’t we?
Zahra decided to not sleep at all on the flight & the moment the plane landed, she was knocked out. We spent Two days and One night in Nice, France but I will include about that in my France post. We rented a car & were out the whole day except nights. so our hotel selection was not that great (except Switzerland/Venice) especially because of the last moment bookings.
So let’s start roaming in Italy:
Day One: Pisa & Florence
Piazza Dei Miracoli
First Stop- The City of Pisa:
We drove along the coast of French Riviera, saw the beautiful colorful building of Italy & listened to some awesome music, if you follow me on Instagram you must remember this. I would say it was a 4 to 5-hour drive, which is not bad at all. The drive was worth the view.
As soon as I entered the Piazza Dei Miracoli (which means ‘field of miracles’ or ‘field of dreams’), aka Piazza del Duomo, my eyes were searching for the leaning tower of Pisa. This field of miracles is not just home to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but also the Camposanto, the Duomo and the Baptistery. Wow, I can never remember all these names but I can never forget their beautiful architecture.
Leaning Tower of Pisa
The leaning tower of Pisa, of course, was the one in limelight here, it started leaning soon after it’s construction & took about 200 years to complete (woah) due to wars. It is leaning at about an angle of 43 degrees. We didn’t go inside or up the tower because children under 8 years of age are not allowed & secondly they have a lineup because only a certain number of people can go at one time. It was so fun to see almost everyone trying to take their leaning picture with Pisa, I made hubby do it as well and then we took a family shot.
We saw a few halal donor kebab places here as well, though we had plans to eat in Florence, so we skipped it. You can find so many souvenir kiosks here selling beautiful stuff. I couldn’t help but picked a few masquerade fridge magnets. Their color & beauty is exquisite.
The Baptistery
Second Stop- Florence:
One word for Florence: the heart of Italy, well that’s not a word but you know what I mean. Florence stole my heart such a beautiful city, so peaceful & so beautiful. Florence was like stepping back in time, with the cobblestone streets and breath-taking architecture. We arrived at dusk & the whole sky looked like a painting. There is so much to see at Florence that it gets overwhelming, if you are an art lover maybe you would want to stay longer here. But for us, we had more stuff lined up so we set up our priorities & didn’t get into too much detail of the architecture or paintings but rather enjoyed ourselves by strolling through the city.
Palazzo Pitti was our first stop, we spent time absorbing the beauty of the palace itself and then starting walking towards the street that led us to our second stop, Ponte Vecchio. Ponte Vecchio, old bridge in Italian is the most famous bridge in Florence and undoubtedly one of the city’s most illustrious landmarks. It is incredibly breathtaking with its reflection in the water.
Santa Croce: It is the burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo, Galileo. & others. Such a beautiful church, I couldn’t stop clicking.
Piazza Della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio: This is Florence’s most famous square, in the heart of the historic center, with an open-air sculpture exhibit, filled with statues and also find a replica of the Michelangelo’s famous statue David. You can see the actual sculpture in Galleria Dell’Academia along with other creations by Michelangelo.
Yes I blurred it
And then our next stop was Nutella flavor gelato which was just delicious! Having Italian food along with local music on the streets was just a perfect end to this day. This city is a perfect combination of breathtaking views, architecture, food & art. There were so many locals roaming with long stem roses & I was constantly eyeing them. Hubby got me one hehe I wanted to go and stalk the guys & find out where they stock all their roses. We end the day with some delicious Salmon Pasta which was delicious. I always made sure to dine at a restaurant which had sitting arrangements outside on the street. You have to experience the beautiful city while having delicious food. Love these restaurants! so many eating options in Italy for sure.
Florence (Rain)
Melting But Worth The Shot
Rosa (Rose)
Stay tuned for the next post for Italy, talking about Rome, Venice & Lake Como.
Don’t forget to Comment, Share & show some love.
The information will never be shared for third party.