I just got back from the best girls' weekend in Nantucket, but first, I need to finish recapping Italy! I can't believe it's taken me over a month to get this post up, but I really don't want to forget to document the second half of my trip to Italy with my boyfriend, Joe, at the end of May. If you've missed the initial recaps, check out the Rome Recap, Cinque Terre Part 1, and Cinque Terre Part 2 blog posts!
Let's dive right in! We spent the last five days of our Italy trip in Florence, with a day trip to Tuscany. We stayed at Hotel Caravaggio, which was lovely and in a great location, but just ok... the wi-fi didn't really work, and for two Americans with bad service, we were a little less than pleased about this, hahaha. Other than that, the location was great, the room was lovely, and I can't complain!
Wednesday
We took the train from the Cinque Terre to Florence and we were able to walk from the train station to our hotel! See this post for my thoughts & tips on the train (bottom line: it's so easy and we had great train experiences). We arrived around lunchtime, changed clothes, and began exploring! We hadn't yet had pizza on the trip so we stumbled upon a delicious and cute place called SimBIOsi Pizzeria for pizza and a glass of wine - we just walked right in.
After lunch, we explored Florence! We made our way to see the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi Gallery, and more. Eventually, we made our way back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. Around 7, we arrived at Trattoria 13 Gobbi for dinner. They open at 7:30 and we were one of the first in line, but unfortunately, we didn't have a reservation and they were completely booked. It came highly recommended by a friend and some of you, so I'm sure we'll make a reservation next time we find ourselves in Florence!
After wandering around for a while, we found a spot for dinner that we could walk into. We ended up at Trattoria Giovanni and everything was DELICIOUS! One of the best meals of the trip - it all worked out! Florence is known for more rustic Italian foods, like ragus and meats, so we had some wild boar and rabbit ragu pastas and loved it all.
Around the corner, we found one of the photobooths! I'd heard of this but had kind of forgotten -- Florence has a few photobooths around the city, so random! It was adorable to take photos in the photo booth, such a fun memory and a perfect way to end the night.
Thursday
Thursday was our private Tuscan wine tour day! We booked through this company and had a great experience. We booked the "full day chianti classico wine tour with lunch in a winery" option and we had a private driver who took us out to three wineries in the Chianti region. The company organized all of the wineries and appointments so all we had to do was walk outside (they picked us up right at our hotel!) and get in the car!
My friend Katie had done this tour with her family, as well as her brother and his girlfriend, so we knew it would be good! It was essentially three stops, each providing a private tour and information session about the wine (some briefer than others) and a tasting. The cost was 500 euro total for the driver, and then we paid around 100 total (I think?) for the lunch, and then additional for the wines we purchased.
The tour picked the wineries for us and our favorite was Oliviera. It was lovely to have a private tour and tasting, and we purchased a case to have shipped home. We had lunch at the second winery and then on our way to the third winery, we got stuck in the most insane hailstorm I've ever seen in my life. The hail was SO loud and the streets began flooding like crazy! Ultimately we made it to the third winery and the sun came back out, but it was... wild.
Friday
On Friday we did more exploring around Florence! We went to the Duomo again, and then walked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, which is a park/area on a hill with the best view of the city! It was a fabulous site.
I found some fabulous hand towels at a local linen shop that are 100% Tuscan silk, along with a vintage Ferrari model car at a cool vintage shop that I gifted to my brother -- he got his Italian dual citizenship after a four-year process a few weeks ago and it was a perfect gift!
We had amazing sandwiches at a spot called Gustapanino, before going back to the hotel to change -- I seriously felt like I was getting sun poisoning after how sunny it was at the top of the Piazzale Michelangelo. Finally after that, we crossed the Ponte Vecchio and shopped around!
We also ventured to see a few other monuments! We got the best gelato at Gelateria Dei Neri and explored that area. This gelato spot came highly recommended and was so worth it.
Friday night was our big dinner res of the trip: Buca Mario. We arrived a few minutes early and waited in line until we were greeted by the loveliest staff. Everyone inside the restaurant was so kind, and we had a delicious meal. It just felt so special to do something fancy as the trip came to a close - our love language has always been going on dates, and to go somewhere so lovely, and dress up in fabulous outfits in Italy was a special and lovely experience.
I had the spaghetti alla carrettiera and Joe had the gorgonzola gnocchi. Both were so delicious. We shared the wild boar for our main course and loved that as well. To top it all off, we shared the tiramisu and lived happily ever after.
Saturday
Just kidding! We had one more full day of our trip!!!
We started our morning with pastries from a place called Forno I Tre Pini - it's an adorable bakery and they have endless pastries and goodies to choose from. Saturday was more exploring, more shopping, etc.
We found the loveliest, most beautiful home store called Julia B Casa, ate delicious sandwiches from Antica Porchetteria Granieri 1916, and I even purchased a silk scarf at Pucci.
The sandwiches at Antica Porchetteria Granieri 1916 were incredible. It's essentially just a window that serves a few types of porchetta sandwiches for takeaway. Joe was excited about the whole Porchetteria thing and I loved it too. One thing about me: I will never say no to a sandwich!
We had a final dinner at a random spot, followed by more gelato (from a place called My Sugar - soo good and unique flavors!), and enjoyed our evening in the square. We had to pack up and at this point, we were simply exhausted, so that was it!
Sunday
Sunday morning we grabbed coffee and then made our way to the airport.
I am so grateful for the trip Joe and I got to experience together, and for the opportunity to travel back to Italy! It was a trip of a lifetime and I just feel so overwhelmed by the happiness in my life right now. Life has been very good to me lately, and I'm so incredibly grateful for every little thing that has led me to where I am now.
xoxo
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