It has been approximately three years since our last trip to Florence with Busabout. This trip turned out to be another brief visit as we detoured to spend the first two days and one night at Civita.

When we returned from Civita, we spent a day walking the streets of Florence, getting some food and ice-cream before resting the night for our next destination.

Florence in brief? Walking through Florence is like being in a huge open-air museum for Arts. The exterior walls of buildings and churches are beautifully and uniquely tiled.

The Uffizi Gallery is an open-air gallery where home-grown talents are honored in plaster every two pillars apart. Some famous names which many of us had no idea that they were born in Florence – Donatello, the sculptor; Andrea Orcagna, the painter, sculptor and architect; Galileo Galilei, the father of observational astronomy.

The easiest place to navigate around Florence with minimal preparation is to arrive at Firenze Santa Maria Novella. The Basilica di Santa Maria Novella is within 3 mins on foot and can easily be spotted as part of the skyline.

My favorite spots in Florence is the Conrad City at the intersection of Largo Fratelli Alinari and Piazza della Stazione. Their ice-cream and fruit juices are sometimes unbelievably cheap and delicious. The next is a Mandarin restaurant along Via Luigi Alamanni, 中意壹家. Feeling hungry and desperately low on cash? Their dishes are within EUR1,00 to EUR10,00.