FLORENCE

Ok so, Florence is beautiful, I think we can all agree with that. Ponte Vecchio, Duomo, Battistero, all really really beautiful things you need to see, but there's also something more. In this weekend me and my friends spent there, we discovered a couple places that aren't traditionally on a City Guide, but that are worth a visit nonetheless.

» GO FOR A STREET ART SCAVENGER HUNT

We all know Florence has been home to some of the greatest artists of all time (think Dante, Donatello, Brunelleschi or Michelangelo), and it hasn't stopped yet: wandering around the city, especially from Ponte Vecchio to Piazzale Michelangelo we noticed some similar street art works, so we decided to try and find them all. Now I don't know if we did, but as you can see there were quite a lot. So if you ever happen to be in Florence, have a look around and see if you can find any little man living adventures or a Gioconda wearing a snorkel.

» GET A PINT IN FRONT OF THE DUOMO

After the concert we were in the mood for a little booze, so we headed up to the city. We had a hard time finding a pub, though, so when we saw this Irish Pub glistening in green lights and packed with people right in front of the Duomo we thought it was heaven. The place is called The Old Stove and it's a very narrow two floors pub. On the first floor you can find a bar that provides delicious cocktails and shots at reasonable price considering the position (€6 for a cocktail, €3 for a shot), while upstairs you'll find this super narrow room, all absorbed in a green light, with sofas and tables. Also, the room ends in a small balcony that's right in front of the Duomo, so it's perfect if you want a bit of sightseeing together with you Long Island Iced Tea.

PS: they do a shot called Chocolate Cake which is amazing and tastes just like chocolate

» EXPLORE THE WORKSHOP OF AN ALCHEMIST

Again, we were just wandering on this street that was completely empty, when we saw a door decorated with velvet and plumes. Intrigued, we ventured in and found the most amazing place. The room is very small, and has a loft on which you can get though wooden stairs. Everywhere there are lutes, books and paintings. On numerous wooden shelves are aligned dozens of ampoules and bottles, some big some small, all with a label that reads things like 'Rome 2014', 'Silver Sulphate' or 'Summer Snow'. From a speakers medieval music is played, that covers the ticking sound of the weird mechanisms you can find all around, one even generates a small lightning. But most of all, the room is filled with jewelry. Unicorn rings, spider collars and golden bracelets, everything incredibly crafted. On a ring there's a hand from which multiple platinum branches come out, each one ending in a purple stone. Those are not jewels to wear, this is art. We are in the workshop of Alessandro Dari, goldsmith of Florence. He is inspired by anatomy and alchemy, and his work is simply unbelievable, magic. We stayed in that workshop for at least one hour, uncapable to say anything but 'ooh' and 'aah', struck by the amazingness we were witnessing.

» HAVE AN ACAI NA TIGELA BOWL

Oh Acai, the amazonian wonder everyone is raving about right now, would you even think you could find it in Florence? Nope, neither did I, but as we were heading to Piazzale Michelangelo we spotted this tiny local called Cantina del Gelato. There is a lovely South American lady working there, that told us the right pronunciation was Asaì and prepared us this big bowl of Acai, Banana and Muesli for a mere 5€. It was so good but to be honest, didn't taste anything special so if you're thinking about spending 30€ on that big pot of Acai powder on Amazon I would't recommend you to, but, if you happen to find yourself near this little gelato shop, give it a try!

» TAKE THE COOLEST PICTURES (AND EVEN SEE SOME LLAMAS!)

All of this stuff happened to us as we were walking to Piazzale Michelangelo, the best place in Florence for sightseeing, as you can see the whole city from up there. It's a long walk but we did it effortlessly (and we're not super active people!) and it was so worth it! See that picture up there? I took it from there. Also, as we were sitting looking over at the beautiful view, we turned around and saw there were two llamas! We were so confused we cracked up, but basically there's this man who breeds llamas (in Florence, crazy right?) and he had taken two of them for a walk! There was a girl who even took a selfie with them while we were crying with laughter.

So as you can see Florence is quite a weird and unique place, which is definitely worth an exploration. I hope I'll be able to write more mini-guides like this, let me know if you'd like to!