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After another long day of travel to Brussels, in planes and trains via Milan, I arrived in Florence, a place that I had been to before but somewhere that I knew I had to come back to, to explore further. I had already seen many of the ‘must sees’ in Florence on my previous trip, so chose to spend my time people watching and absorbing the Italian atmosphere. Food seems to becoming quite a highlight in my trip and Florence didn’t disappoint. Lasagna, pizza, gelato and granitas became part of my daily diet. Actually my fruit intake for the week came from the many different fruit flavoured gelatos I tasted. My favourites were apple and limoncillo flavoured gelato. I walked around town and checked out all the sights and also explored the local leather markets which was an enjoyable experience, despite my apparent lack of bargaining skills. I leave with a heavier bag after buying two new leather handbags.

The next day on a beautiful sunny summer’s day, I ventured into the Tuscan countryside on a wine tour. What a delightful day it was making our way from one winery to the next, tasting the local wines and trying out the local Tuscan delicacies. This included amazing balsamic vinegar, crackers dipped in olive oil flavoured with truffle, Tuscan prosciutto with fennel, parmesan cheese covered with honey and bruschetta. All in all a taste explosion for the taste buds. This coupled alongside the gorgeous Tuscan countryside on a hot summer’s day made for a delightful day. Last stop on out tour was the small Tuscan town San Giamigiano, which was perched on top of the Tuscan hills and gave amazing views over the countryside. This beautiful little town was also home to the winner of the World’s Best Gelato for 2009, so a stop off in this gelateria capped off an awesome day in Italy. My last day in Florence was supposed to include a day trip to Sienna but a dramatic change in weather including many thunderstorms, heavy rain and cool weather meant a change in plans and more time spent wandering the streets of Florence. All in all another great few days in Florence!

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