We got to Florence Sunday night, so we woke up Monday morning and had breakfast in the hostel where we decided that today would be themed "shop till you drop" and seriously we did just that. We wanted to get all our leather shopping done before Beth's parents got there so that her Dad wouldn't be tortured. We are so kind we know.
The Hog that is now referred to as the Little Pig. If you touch his nose he brings you good luck and brings you back to Florence. It already worked once, let's hope it works again!
My new apron the Italian lady sewed for me!
While we were shopping we ran into a family that the dad had on a Vandy hat. I slightly chased him down because I knew how proud my dad would be to find Vandy fans in Florence. They were from Texas and both the parents graduated from Vandy and were on family vacation. Dad, he was jealous you were at the college world series. College World Series or Florence, Italy? Tough choice.
For lunch we went to a place right near San Lorenzo for lunch where we really started to master our eating habits in Florence. It all revolves around how much gelato we can fit into one day. Typical eating day in Florence: breakfast at hostel, light lunch (bruschetta for Beth and caprese for me), afternoon gelato, Italian dinner (pizza or pasta), more gelato. We love it. While we were at lunch we met two guys next to us that are private pilots and are flying a jet around Europe for a family. The family is currently being driven around the countryside so the pilots were just following behind in the jet and taking some time off in Florence. One tough life let me tell ya. Oh ya, and by the way it seats 14 people in 28 inch seats (the same size plane could fit 60 people commercially). Unfortunately, the family doesn't have any sons...we asked.
After lunch we did more shopping and went in all the paper stores which are Beth and I's person heaven since we love office supplies. Seriously the greatest place ever.
All the shopping made us tired so we got gelato at a place called Perche No (it means Why Not in Italian). It was delicious (my favorite gelato in Florence) and it was even better because they had gluten free ice cream cones!
After our afternoon gelato we went back to the hostel and regrouped and headed to dinner at i'Toscano. It was really good we both had spaghetti and meatballs. After dinner we walked around and ended up getting gelato at Piazza Signoria where we listen to a guy play music right outside Town Hall.
Tuesday
Tuesday morning we took a free walking tour with our hostel where we got to see all the main sites of town and learn some history of Florence and the Medicci family. After that we walked down to the Ponte Vecchio to see the bridge and get some lunch. After lunch we met up with Beth's parents who had just gotten into Florence and walked around town and through the leather market. While I was in the leather market I ran into Robyn Eudy who is studying in Florence which was such a fun surprise! We got our afternoon gelato and Beth's dad pointed to tell them he wanted a cone. He accidently pointed to the biggest cone they had which led to an obscene amount of gelato that made us all laugh for a very long time. After gelato, we climbed the bell tower where after 414 steps we got a beautiful view of the Duomo and the city.
After sightseeing we all cleaned up and went to dinner at Ciro & Sons. I'm convinced it is the best restaurant in all of Florence.
This is our new friend John.
Yum pasta
They even had gluten free crepes for dessert. Dad, it was a nutella crepe. You would have loved it.
Wednesday
We started Wednesday looking at paper stores since Beth's mom hadn't been to any and then we headed to the Uffizi to see some beautiful artwork and really famous paintings. Afterwards we headed to lunch where we stumbled across a delicious lunch place with a precious waitress. I had risotto with mushrooms. It was delicious. After lunch we had to get gelato duuu. We went to Vivolia which my book said was suppose to be the best gelato in the world. It was good but didn't compare to Perche No.
After gelato we headed to the Academia for our date with David.
Town Hall
The Academia should really work on their security.
Museums wear you out.
After the museum we went back to the hostel to rest, catch up on email, shower, and do LAUNDRY!! I cannot tell you how wonderful clean clothes are. For dinner we went to Il Portale.
My flaming creme brulee dessert.
After dinner we went to Town Hall and got more gelato and listened to some music before heading back to the hostel for the night.
Thursday
We spent the morning wandering around shopping, eating lunch, wandering around town, and of course getting gelato at Perche No. I had the mango which is my all time favorite gelato. Then we went back to the hostel to be picked up for our wine tasting. We went on a tour through the Chianti region and got to tour two different wineries. The wine tastings were both really good but the bus ride....not so much. Windy bumpy roads...Mom and Katherine, you would have hated it and been throwing up.
Barrels for balsamic. It smelled so good!
Chianti
After we got back into Florence, we went across the bridge and went to a place called Osteria Santo Spirito for dinner. I had risotto with asparagus which was delicious.
Florence sunset
Friday
We got up early Friday morning and went to the train station to figure out how we were going to get to Switzerland. Afterwards, we went back to the hostel to get ready and eat breakfast. One of the girls from our room came out with us afterward and we wandered around town and made our way to Gelateria de Neri that Robyn had recommended to me. It was really good but sadly was our last gelato in Florence...
Florence Gelato Count: 8
After gelato we went back to Ciro & Sons for our last Italian meal because it was really that good when we went for dinner.
Why does America even try?
Seriously, the best pizza I have ever eaten.
We don't eat, we inhale.
Beth's chocolate souffle
Nutella crepe round 2
After lunch we headed to the train station and went from Florence to Milan and Milan to Bern. We love Switzerland already except that when we got here everyone was staring at us because they all had on winter coats and pants and we were wearing shorts and a dress. Oops. We are going to find the yodelers tomorrow!!
Peace, Love, and Euro
Hope all is well in the states or where ever you are!
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