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Florence

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FLORENCE     Florence –  the capital of the Tuscany region and the cradle of Renaissance   We opted for Flix Bus while traveling from Venice to Florence. The road journey takes about three and a half-hour. In Florence, it terminates at the rear end of Santa Maria Novella (SMN) train station. One of Italy’s busiest stations, it got its name from Santa Maria Novella Church just across the plaza from the main entrance. We debarked at the station and refreshed ourselves at McDonald's before hiring a cab for our hotel. Florence, popularly known as ‘Firenze’ by the Italians, is located in central Italy. This dreamy city with a romantic name is the regional capital of the lovely Tuscany region.   Columbus Hotel, where we stayed, is located in Lugarno District. We always prefer to book our hotels through Booking.com as we always land up getting good hotels at good locations. Despite being a little away from the heart of the city and Santa Maria Novella station

ISTANBUL

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ISTANBUL  -  the city of tulips and rhododendrons                     (Part I) PRELUDE In my school days, circumstances compelled a deep interest in history for me. I attended La Martiniere College, Lucknow, and my surroundings were so rich in historical significance that I could not help but fall in love with the past old imposing buildings, the intriguing but magnificent architecture of the main building ‘Constantia’ – an unusual mix of Gothic, Georgian, Palladian, and Nawabi styles, the three majestic cannons on the terrace overlooking the ‘Lat’ ( a 40m long solid fluted column) standing like a silent spectator right at the centre of an artificial lake, the wooden ballroom dance floor in Spence Hall —–a summer palace for Maj Gen Claude Martin. a French soldier who acquired a large fortune while serving Asaf-ud- Daula, the Nawab of Oudh, before founding the La Martiniere schools in Lyons, Lucknow and Kolkata. The ‘Constantia’ was designed and built by Martin himself in the