Venice, Italy

Venice was our third and final stop of our trip. We arrived at the train station, jumped on the vaporetto right outside, and walked a few blocks to our hotel. That's a lot of modes of transportation in one day!

We stayed at Hotel Becher which was a charming hotel right on the canals. Having breakfast right on the water away from the crowds was worth the cost alone! The location was fantastic too. Once we got settled in, we made the quick walk to the area around St. Mark's Square. It was definitely full of tourists, but you can't beat Venice at Golden Hour!

We had a quick bite to eat at Dal Moro's and we took the pasta to go and had dinner along the canals. Apparently this is a generally a no-no in Venice, but they directed us to an area where the police look the other way.

The next morning, we had a quick breakfast and then caught the vaporetto to Murano island. This island is known for its glass creations and we each ended up buying some beautiful jewelry! We had lunch along the canals here as well. The island was so laid-back and lovely!

Taking the same ferry, we went a few stops further to Burano - known for lace and the multi-colored houses. This island was even sleepier than Murano and we wandered around the streets for a few hours here enjoying the weather and the lack of crowds.

Back in Venice, we made our way to the Grand Canal to see the Rialto Bridge, grabbed some pizza by the slice at Antico Forno (the ONLY pizza place that Venetians recommend), and went to bed!

Our last morning in Venice was jammed-packed! We started by going to see St. Mark's Basilica, but pictures are only allowed from the outside.

Then, we jumped on another food tour - this time the "Off the Eaten Path" tour with Venice Bites. It was probably the best food tour I've even been on. The owners, Adam and Maya, led us around to 7 fabulous spots for food, explaining the history of the neighborhoods along the way. As the name implies, we explored areas that are typically more local - which I always prefer!

This tour definitely lasted longer than expected (almost 6 hours!), so we got a later start back to Rome than expected. It was definitely worth it, but it did make for an early morning to catch our flight home the next morning.

Overall, from my perspective, this trip was a good introduction for mom to experience the joys of international travel and Italy. But ultimately, she'll have to tell you whether that's true or not! For me, it was great to go back to one of my favorite countries in the world and see the sights - both familiar and not.

Up Next: We recently got back from a quick trip to Maui, so I'll be documenting that soon!

Florence & Cortona, Italy

We caught a quick train from Rome and arrived in Florence a few hours later! After a quick taxi ride, we arrived at one of my favorite hotels ever - Hotel Davanzati. Between the free breakfasts and happy hours each evening and the amazing customer service, we were very happy with our 3 nights here. 

Florence is such a walk-able town that we basically hit all the big sights our first afternoon. We had our daily gelato at Perche No! and continued exploring. We walked all around Piazza della Republica, the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio, and up and down the Arno! That evening, we picked up a delicious sandwich at Osteria All'antino Vinaio and ate on the steps in Piazza della Signoria!

The next morning, we decided to go to the Bargello Museum to avoid the crowds of the Accademia and Uffizi. It was a great choice! We saw tons of beautiful works of art with hardly a soul in sight.

We grabbed lunch at Mercato Centrale and then explored the nearby Mercato di San Lorenzo for leather goods. We didn't end up finding anything besides a few small trinkets, but it was still nice to smell that beautiful leather!

That evening we went to my favorite meal of the trip at 4 Leoni. Everything we had was fabulous - from the fried zucchini blossoms, to the pear pasta (my FAVORITE!), the spaghetti vogole, to the cheesecake. On the walk back to the hotel, we crossed the Arno and listened to a street performance for a while. A perfect night!

The next morning, we jumped on a train to Cortona. This town was literally only one stop past the town where I studied abroad at, but I never went! I'm glad we finally made it here. We took a quick bus from the train station up to the town. The views were incredible, so we took them in for a while. 

We popped into a few shops and made our way to the center of town. The town square was so adorable! Right off the main square was a little place called La Grotta which ended up being a fabulous choice. We started with bruschetta and for the main dish, my mom had some prosciutto and I had the truffle pasta.

We finished exploring the town (it's tiny, so only takes a few hours) and caught the bus back down to the train station.

Since we had a hearty lunch, we decided that picking up some picnic items and heading up to Piazzale Michelangelo was perfect. We called a cab and took the easy way up - ha! We took in the music and the sunset for an hour or so. 

We honestly couldn't have asked for a more beautiful sunset! As it started to get dark, we made our way leisurely back downhill into town.

Our final morning in Florence, we went to the Duomo before checking out and getting a car to take us to the train station.

Florence was such a breath of fresh air. It always feels like slipping back into a familiar place when I go back and it was wonderful to show my mom around!

Up Next: Our final stop in our Italy trip - Venice!