Florence, Italy

My favorite city. For some reason, I believe that I was an Italian man in a previous life. When I look at the Duomo (cathedral) in Florence, I am swept by a pleasant feeling from head to toe as if my heart and soul is being washed clean. Maybe I did something good or bad in the past life and that’s why I ended up visiting this place so many times.

The colors of the white and green marble walls of the cathedral calms me.

When I go back to my home country, Japan, I don’t feel that way. Florence is special to me.

If you haven’t visited Florence, please include in your bucket list. Be sure to see the statue of David by Michelangelo as well. Michelangelo is just a genius. The statue looks small in a photo, but the real thing is about 3 meters high. It is a perfect sculpture with not a single mistake. It’s just beautiful. It is sculpted from one rectangular marble rock, and it is amazing how it ends up like this.

Speaking of food, there are many delicious things in Florence. The Florentine steak is worth eating. A thick grilled steak comes with a lemon wedge. Squeeze the lemon juice on the steak. It is really refreshing taste as it cuts the steak grease.

For sweets, Florence is famous for pistachio gelato. All the gelato shops are great, but I remember Gelaterianeri.  I want to eat again.

The last time I visited Florence was in 2012 when we traveled with good friend.

I can laugh now, but my bag was stolen while we were chatting and eating at a restaurant. Since we used to live in Naples,  Italy, I was advising our friends to keep an eye on their valuables. Man, it happened to ME!  When I realized that my bag was stolen, I stood up from my chair with a pale face.  Well, the money and cards were just stolen, and the rest was fine. But be careful when you travel to Italy. There are many professional thieves.

It’s a wonderful place. If you’re traveling to Italy, check out Florence as well.