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!
No comments:
Post a Comment