Category: Florence

He said, “There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live”

-Dalai Lama

 

TRIP ITINERARY  (15 days total)

Prague, Czech Republic – 3 nights

Rome, Italy – 3 nights

Florence, Italy – 3 nights

Cinque Terre, Italy – 2 nights

London, England – 3 nights

We arrived in Firenze (as the Italians call Florence) by train. The train station isn’t too far from where we stayed in San Lorenzo. Our airbnb was an adorable little apartment with a rooftop terrace overlooking the Duomo. The photo just above this is our view from the terrace! There are quite a bit of tourists in Florence but the vibe is already different than in Rome. Much less crazy, even though we’re right in the heart of the city.

It’s lunch time and we’re getting hungry so our first stop is the Mercato Centrale. Hands down the coolest, most colorful and interesting market we’ve ever been in. I always like looking through the seafood since we don’t have much of that in Minnesota. I’m looking at the underside of a fish trying to figure out what it is and the Italian man behind the counter sees me. He flips that huge fish over and it’s staring me down!

Florence’s Duomo is the center of the city. Once again the detail of the architecture is beautiful. Inside the actual dome part is painted all the up to the point and I have to say I thought it was maybe even more impressive than the sistine chapel. We climbed the 465 tiny, steep, spirally stairs to the top of the Duomo for an amazing view of Firenze.

Lovin’ the food scene in Florence. It was much easier for us to find good, non-touristy restaurants than in Rome. Cute little wine bars, lunch cafes, bakeries, and trattorias are everywhere. Most have adorable outdoor patios with fresh flower baskets and even if they don’t, the people drink their wine outside lining the cobblestone streets in front of the bar.

Florence is known for their Tuscan cattle which produces awesome steaks and leather goods. We popped into a little family owned restaurant called Pandemonio for a bistecca Florentina. We have a 9pm reservation and good thing, because the place is packed! We can tell a lot of locals like this spot, a good sign! The owner is a little 73 yr old Italian woman. I called her signora and she instantly corrected me saying “No no no, I am Mama.” Love it!! I hear other guests calling her Mama. The food here was the best we had in Italy. We ordered a tortellacci filled with fresh ricotta and pesto and covered in a red meat sauce…to die for! When you order your steak, they bring it out raw to show you the cut and tell you the weight (ours was 1.3 kg)! It’s always cooked medium rare and it would be a sin to ask for it medium-well. We almost finished the entire thing!

The few hours we got to spend in Tuscany were HEAVENLY. Like, literally. Take a look at that rainbow! It was a rainy day and while we were inside doing our wine tasting, it down poured. We came outside to see the most amazing rainbow we have EVER seen. The rain and wet landscape in the hills and vineyards was beautiful. The photos don’t do it justice. Within the first few minutes we decided we’d definitely be spending more time here on our next trip to Italy.

Next stop: Cinque Terre