Firenze

By the time we got to Firenze or Florence we realised that when traveling by train, the best place to stay is close to the railway station. You would think that was obvious but it took us a a while to work out. It was a bit cold and wet in Firenze, spring time weather. We wandered the streets and came to Ponte Vecchio. This was the only bridge over the Arno River to survive the war and is quite impressive. Lined by shops that equal the gold alleys of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, the bridge was packed with people.

Looking at the prices, I was left wishing I was back in Qatar in the gold souq. The products and the prices were much more NZ dollar friendly. I wear my ring and the necklace from there everyday. My necklace has my name in Arabic, a very precious reminder of the people I worked with in Qatar. The teachers tried their best to to have me fluent in Arabic through immersion but alas I only learnt to write a few words, including my name and understand some of their conversations. 

I bought a T shirt, a bit touristy but I liked the rip off of the coke label. We also found some shoes the youngest would have been impressed with. Unfortunately Kez, these were a little out of our price range and we had already bought your birthday present.  

Mmmmm, did I say it was snowing outside? Brrrr.