Florence, Italy

Day one

HELLOOOOOO FLORENCE!!! As soon as we got off the train I was in-love. Guys, every city so far has been amazing. No complaints…but Florence? No words.

So let’s dive in shall we?

We got off the train and found our way to the taxi area and got in line. In no time at all we were on our way to our hotel. Like I’ve done in every taxi, I people-watch. The city streets had a warmth to them that I hadn’t felt in the other cities. There was “life.” If you’ve read the past few posts you know that we are visiting during the off-season. Because of that, each of the cities have been quiet…not a lot of “life.” Florence was NOT that way. The energy there was electric! Even now, writing this post I can’t put my finger on it. “It” meaning the energy. It wasn’t the same kind of energy you feel when you’re in a big city like San Francisco or New York. It was so different. So relaxed. Idk. I still can’t figure it out. It’s UNEXPLAINABLE! Haha just go check it out yourselves and you’ll understand!

Anyways…our hotel, the Antica Torre, was amazing! My favorite hotel we have stayed at so far! The most incredible spot in this whole hotel is the rooftop terrace. (On our walking tour tomorrow, our guide informs us that he believes our hotel has the best view in all of Florence!!) We thought so too!! I sure hope you were following along on either my Snapchat (@maddiehittle) or Aaron’s because we couldn’t stop documenting the view.

Once we settled in we decided to start exploring. We walked down the beautiful, cobblestone road in search of a snack. Aaron’s snack was a Florentine classic called Lampredotto, the 4th stomach of the cow. This cut of meat is usually served like a sandwich. He LOVED it!! Does that surprise anyone?? I was terrified to try and I got a truffle and cheese sandwich instead and thoroughly enjoyed mine as well.

After our snacks, we decided to pick up a bottle of wine on our way back to the hotel and drink it on our patio. We also had a wonderful view of the city from our room and we intended to enjoy it! While we sipped our wine, we got ready for a fun night out in Florence.

Our dinner reservations were for 9 pm at Trattoria Za’Za’. We received multiple recommendations that we had to check this place out! So we did, and it was delicious!! Are you seeing a theme here? We haven’t had one bad dish!!

(Spoiler alert: we never have a bad dish…it just keeps getting better and better.)

After dinner we had big plans to check out this Irish pub and another place but we were SO tired and full from our yummy dinner and wine that we walked back home and went to bed. We tried…but just couldn’t hang.

Day two

Feeling a little bit hungover…we rolled out of bed, grabbed a quick breakfast and met our walking tour guide, Roberto, in the downstairs lobby. Our tour was wonderful! Always, always, always do this when you visit a new city for the first time!! Roberto took us to El Duomo, The Academia to see Michaelangelo’s David and many other historical locations throughout the city. He shared interesting knowledge about art, history and names I had only read about. It was so SO cool. Roberto was very warm and welcoming. It was the perfect start to exploring this beautiful city.

After our walking tour we decided to walk across the Ponte Vecchio Bridge to the Pitti Palace, home to the Medici family during the Renaissance period. Unfortunately, the palace was no longer allowing visitors for the day so we walked back to our hotel. I was super bummed because I really wanted to see the Boboli Gardens inside the Pitti Palace. So we bought tickets to see it early the next morning.

On the train to Florence we had met an American couple that recommended Il Mercato Centrale. They explained it to us like one large food court but with bars and fresh food…not the same kind of food court we have here in America. So we decided to pack up some work stuff and head over there for dinner! It did not disappoint. The couple was right, such a cool, young place to go and hangout. We decided we would both take turns walking around while the other saved a good seat.

While we ate and drank, I worked on the blog to HOPEFULLY get up our first post. Due to the poor internet, I still had no luck…so we headed back home and went to bed. We had a long day ahead of us tomorrow.

Day three

After a quick breakfast at our hotel we took a brisk walk towards the Pitti Palace to see the Boboli Gardens. We knew we didn’t have much time before our scheduled tour in the late morning so we booked it to the gardens! Fortunately, it was right across the bridge and only about a 10 minute walk.

The Boboli Gardens is my FAV thing we’ve seen so far!! If you know me, I LOVE a good garden, flower moment. And not like a vegetable garden…more like a boxwood, rose, cyprus kind of garden. Chic vibes only! And the Boboli Gardens were very much “on brand.” We spent the morning exploring and checking out every nook and cranny before we had to head back to the hotel for our late morning winery tour.

I was SO sad to leave the gardens. I could have been there forever. No seriously I would happily move in! But it was time for Italian VINO!

On our private drive to Chianti (about a 45 min drive from Florence) we enjoyed the gorgeous views of Tuscany. Guys…it’s insane. Coming from wine country ourselves I will say we take it for granted. We have Lodi at our finger-tips and Napa/Sonoma county just an hour away. But Tuscany…there’s nothing like it!!


We finally arrived to the winery. It was called Casa Sola, a small estate in the Chianti Classico region. They first gave us a tour of the olive orchards and then one of the vineyards. Sharing information regarding everything from soil to harvest. It was very interesting! After our tour, they provided us with a private lunch and wine pairing experience. We loved it!

The estate was absolutely beautiful. They sell both Chianti Classico wine as well as Extra Virgin Olive Oil. We have found that this is very common in Tuscany, to make both the wine and olive oil. Overall we had a wonderful experience at Casa Sola. They were informative and welcoming! We loved indulging in a winery “experience” in Italy! So different from what we see here in California.

It was hard staying awake after multiple wine tastings and lots of yummy food on our drive home but we made it back just in time for dinner! No nap for us..we couldn’t wait to keep exploring our favorite city! I wanted to officially post my first post (Zurich) so we decided to head back to the Mercato Centrale to (crossing our fingers) post Zurich! WE HAD SUCCESS!!!!!! After almost a week of trying to post it, I FINALLY got it up. You have NO IDEA the relief. I will just say…Italy, get your shizzz together…your internet is the worst EVER!

Anyways…it was a successful evening of eating, drinking and working even more.

End scene.

Day four

We knew we were in for a long day today…unfortunately our last day in Florence. We started the day with breakfast at our hotel and met our driver down in the lobby.

This day would consist of two winery tours and lunch in Montepulciano…a full day event! We were SO excited!

Our first stop was winery and farming operation, Bindella. We were welcomed by a young women who first showed us the vineyards, winery and shared bits and pieces of the farming operation. She was wonderful! After a walk around the estate, we made our way to the tasting room. There we tasted multiple wines, all estate grown.

After Bindella, we made our way to Montepulciano where we would have lunch. We ate at a very cute restaurant called Dolce Vita. We enjoyed a meat platter, lasagna and a bottle of wine. After lunch we had a little bit of time before our driver would pick us up again and make our way to Pienza for our last stop of the day. So we walked around, exploring Montepulciano. It was a very cute little town.

Our trip from Montepulciano to Pienza was quick. We arrived at the Boscarelli Winery in no time! Boscarelli wasn’t our favorite stop but overall it was very interesting and fun to see another winery in Tuscany. Bindella was just so amazing we knew it would be hard to beat.

As you can imagine, our full day of winery tours and food…we were a little tired. We tried our hardest not to sleep the whole way home but it was inevitable!!

When we finally got back into Florence, we knew we couldn’t just jump into bed. We decided to go for a long walk and see our favorite spots within walking distance and get some dinner. The Duomo was only a 10 min walk or so away from our hotel, so we walked that direction in hopes of finding a good restaurant to end our stay in Florence.

After walking around for a while we finally found Buca Niccolini. We both ordered pasta dishes and talked about our favorite city…Florence.

As I am writing this I still feel like I didn’t explain it to the best of my ability…it’s so much better than I could ever describe.

Florence you will forever have our hearts. We did NOT get enough time with you…and we will be back!!


Where we stayed:

Where we ate:

What we did:

  • Walking tour of Florence
  • The Academia to see Michaelangelo’s David
  • Walked across Ponte Vecchi bridge
  • Explored the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens
  • Private wine tour of the Chianti Classico region (half-day)
  • Private wine tour of Montepulciano and Pienza (full-day) : Bindella Winery and Boscarelli Winery
  • Recommended but didn’t get to: Uffizi Museum and walking to the top of the Duomo

(Stay tuned…Rome, Italy is up next! Our last of the Europe Travel Diaries)

xoxo, madison naomi

 

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