Birthday weekend in Florence..

Planned a suprise visit to Florence to add some spice to P's birthday this year. Only fair to mention that I have not been able to make it for the last 2 birthdays so this one would have been especially sore if I played truant again. With my usual last minute style, plane tickets were out of question so got night train tickets instead. Could not keep the suprise all the way as I had to convince her to be back home early on friday so I told her that we were going to Salzburg. Inspite thinking how unimaginative I was (does'nt much for Salzburg), she acted all nice and suprised. Needless to say she was not prepared for Italy, finally gave in because wanted her to get her wardrobe right since Florence was all sunny that weekend (Munich weather absolutely sucked). The thank you kiss did not go abegging :). Got to the train with time to spare and in time to see one of compartment mates get ejected for not having a passport and traveling to Italy. The night train compartments were absolutely crap, not comfortable at all. Got to Florence at 5.30 in the morning and we had trouble getting a cab to the hotel. Had an excellent cup of coffee. Caught a couple of good winks and hit the town a few hours later in what seemed almost perfect weather, of course I organized it as part of the itinerary. Walked around the Dome, admired the bronze doors and queued up to see David. Spent the next lounging around town and taking in renaissance art in Uffici. Foodwise, the big suprise was the Bistecca alla fiorentina - huge chunk of meat grilled. The pasta was not too bad either. Fell in love with Italy again - they really know how to live life eh! As I have said before, my next incarnate should be as Italian! Wished we had a little more time but I think it was not bad considering that I was actually here for her birthday. Off to KL again this weekend..next post will be about the Oktoberfest..