travel
experience an enchanting view of Florence.
aBOve
Whilst wandering through some of the oldest streets in
The view from
the top of the hill,
the city, we crossed the Arno River and landed on the Ponte looking out to the
Vecchio (The Old Bridge). There have been stores on the Ponte
countryside.
Chianti, Tuscany.
Vecchio since the 13th century. Initially, there were all types of
shops, including butchers and fishmongers. In 1593 only gold-
smiths and jewellers were allowed to have their stores on the
rIGHt
bridge. Cellini, a 16th century goldsmith, is honoured with a
An old church in
bust on the bridge. By night, the wooden shutters of the shops
Chianti, Tuscany.
mimic suitcases and wooden chests. Everything about Florence
is eloquent – even the street music that is played is classical; as
the violin serenades, you can enjoy the enchanting view. As
you walk along the bridge, towards ‘new’ Florence (Oltrarno),
street vendors offer you bags, sunglasses and accessories, all
promised to be ‘original fakes’ at unbeatable prices. On the
other side, we stumbled upon a halal restaurant that served
up Tandoori Chicken Pizza and traditional Indian/Pakistani
cuisine. The owner, Mohammad Aslam-Asghar, told us very
proudly that his was the “first halal restaurant in Florence”
and that they “did not serve any alcohol”. Florence, he says, has
a small Muslim population of 15,000 and they have plans of
building a large mosque, just 20 kilometres away on the out-
skirts of Florence in order to serve the Muslim community
better. Mr Aslam-Asghar tells us that he and his family are
actively involved in this project.
Our trip to Florence was filled with mouth-watering cui-
sin
I
e
n
, w
side
a
, i
l
t
k
’s a s
s al
i
o
m
n
ila
g A
r
rno River, breathtaking scenery, amusing
stre
st
e
o
t v
ry w
en
ith c
do
ri
r
s
s a
p
lines, no-fuss des
n
ig
d
n
some of the most captivating architectural
woanndd weristh c. Wleoar uld I go back? Yes, without a doubt – and this time,
even i
ergo
f
n
I
o
d
mic
id
s.
n’t get my room with a view, it’s okay, because the
whole of Florence is a work of art. l
68 emel magazine | www.emel.com
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104