Florence

Monday, 29th October 2007. We took the train from Rome to Florence. It was a 3 hour trip. Florence used to be the capital of Italy in the 19th century. The city centre is a World Heritage site, and has a massive church called the Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as the Duomo:

It took 140 years to build!

At the front and sides of the church were African vendors selling fake leather bags. If a police came one vendor would alert the other and they would only take a few minutes to pack everything and run!

The streets of Florence, like Rome (or any Italian city) are very narrow:


So more people invest in motorbikes, mini lorries and smart cars...


An electric car. Note the power plug at the lower side, it's being charged!

On Halloween's (31st October) I decided to take a walk around the city without looking at the map. Night came and I decided to check the map, feeling excited and worried at the same time because I couldn't find where I was! What if I wandered off the map? It was only when I walked into this piazza...
Did I find myself again! The Basilica di Santa Croce, a Francescan church, sponsored by rich families during the middle ages for its construction. I felt so relieved and quite mad at myself for not checking where I should go first on the map. Then I walked into this narrow street and saw this:

A Halloween party! It was so nicely decorated I was a bit shy to go inside because it might be reserved for guests. But then I stepped in...


There was a lovely bar inside, and the bartenders had witches' hats on! One of the workers told me that the party would start at 7pm and it was free! So I stayed around, waiting for 7pm to come and taking more photos

Pumpkin used for the lighting feature

7pm came and nobody was there! I waited for 20 minutes more but still no one came. A group of kids dressed as witches, mummies and ghosts came in, had a look around and came out with their mouths full of sandwiches. I gave up and started walking back to the Hostel. When I got to the Duomo, I realised I haven't changed my hand phone time to one hour ahead because of daylight savings! D'oh!

Still was a very festive Halloween experience. I love pumpkin lanterns!