Foody Florence

hey peeps!
In florence now for a short weekend trip....really rustic sort of place...has a old world laidback sort of feel...but it's really touristy though...loads of carts and road side stalls selling fake gucci sunglasses and prada bags plus throngs of US tourists.
arrived yesterday to meet up with caline who was here a day earlier so she brought us around to the places she has already walked. She was in turin visiting 2 days earlier and we had a small dinner party for her with the sponda pple. also had brought her around a bit and had aperitif a this place called 'zonk!' kitsch looking place with pretty good food,okay drinks and good atmosphere for chit chatting.
anyway yesterday really was like a foody day....after visiting all the sights we had dinner at this little restaurant next to st. nicholas church. not very cheap but not too expensive also for a restaurant...we actually wanted to try the pastas but they only had one pasta dish on the menu that day so we ordered meats instead....the gers had lemon chicken and i had rabbit...it's really like chicken!..hahha anything u cant describe tastes like chicken! btw when u order meat in europe it's really just meat...a plate of meat...no side garishes of veggie or potatoes etc etc...just meat...but usu they serve bread also so we just eat it with the bread....
after that we had desserts!!! yum...really good...had creme brulee...chocolate panna cotta...and this tuscany dessert wine with almond biscotti....yuuummmy!!
ANNND....after that on our way back to the hostel we pasted Santa Croce ( the church with michaelangelo's tomb) and there was this organ donation event held there....it was pretty late already and the organisers had to pack up...but there was all this food left over so they started giving out free food!..haha being the typical s'poreans we decided to join in too!!waahh...i was so stuffed!!...think all the tourists and locals alike were all really happy also cos the pple were jus dishing out plates and even whole trays of food for pple to take and they were also giving out free red wine. really couldn't eat anymore so we just ta baoed the food back...heh
AAnndd...as we continued our way back we found Vivoli! It's this famous gelato shop in florence...haha me and weiying couldn't possibly eat anymore but caline decided to buy a cup cos she was going to leave florence the next day...so it was now or never!...but we went back the next day to try it and it really was very good...only thing was that they didnt have pistachionutt icecream that day...sigh( oo..just in case you didnt know....i always try the pistachionutt ice cream everytime i buy gelato from a new place...heh...that way i can see how good the gelato really is! and why pistachionutt?..er...it's just something that started cos the gers always say i should eat pistachionut cos of my email add...err..okie..not important!)
Next day we woke up to send caline off - she's moving on to visit rome- and we had really good breakfast!! in this hostel you order a meal from a choice of 9 different meals ( eg. french toast, cheese omelette, eggs with bacon etc etc) and they cook it on the spot for u! plus there's always this plate of small sandwiches and butter cake for u to take...ooooo...the butter cake!!! it's really really good!!!...i could eat the whole plate for breakfast!! soft..fluffy..sweet and buttery...yummilicious!!
ahhh...eating good breakfast really makes you feel like you'll have a good day!
Anyway...after that me and weiying set off exploring the city...we went to
the duomo...santa croce...and also went into the boboli gardens..very big garden! and lots of slopes and steps...man we were so tired after that...but it was a lovely day so it was all very pretty. Went to ponte vecchio ( the old bridge) after that to place our locks on this monument. it's said that if u put a lock on it and throw the key into the river ur wish will come true or something like that...a bit hard to explain how it's like...will upload the pics for u guys to see...
ooo...and we met one of our mexican friend and his cousin there too!! such a small world! met up with them for dinner and took a walk with them after that. he had been to florence about 5 yrs ago for a art history exchange program so he could explain to us quite a lot of florence's history.

Next day we wanted to visit some of the museums cos we thought they might be free cos it was a cultural week in florence but they were not free so we decided to leave for pisa. man..it was like a super fast in and out visit to the leaning tower!...we only spent like 2 hrs there cos we had to catch a train back to torino...besides there really isn't anything much there... i think everybody jus goes to see the tower and the duomo!...heh..and of course we had to take the silly touristy photos...holding up the tower and all..haha... the tower is quite small actually i thought it would be much bigger...

On the way back on the train we past La Spezia...it's this coastal area thats really beautiful...we actually wanted to stop over initally but we didnt have time. Hopefully we can do it another time...and we can go visit Cinque Terra also...it's this part of italy where there are 5 connecting towns that are near the coast...heard it's really nice too...

yup..and that was our little week end trip...(bleh..and we had to come back and pia our project..eesh..)