Hi friends!
It has been quite a while, but I am finally getting around to blogging about our trip to Italy last fall. This was my third time to Florence so I think that I have the itinerary down pretty pat 🙂 It was a fun trip taking Ryan to Italy for the first time along with his sister Alison and brother in law Trevor!
Since I have been to Florence in the past (check out last year’s blog) we decided to skip the museums. If you are a big museum person than Florence has a lot to offer, but there are also so many other things to do that don’t involve museums. To be honest, I was okay going back to Florence mainly to eat. Florence has some of the best food I have ever eaten and this trip didn’t disappoint on the food front!
A few highlights of the food we ate along the way!
Trattoria Za Za- this place is fairly touristy, but I have been there I think 4 times now and they always have such good food and it is a central location so I highly recommend.
My sugar gelato artigianale- I am very particular about my gelato and this place was amazing- I highly recommend. Did you even go to Italy if you don’t get gelato every day?
Gusta Pizza- On the other side of the river and a great pizza place! They don’t take reservations so it can be quite busy, but the line does move quickly.
La Tarrazza- a rooftop with beautiful views! I highly recommend going early for a cup of coffee or checking it out later for a glass of wine. We had both 😋
Trattoria 13 Gobbi- we went here at the recommendation of a friend and it was good. We got the Florentine Steak. It was good and a must- try in Florence although it was so raw that I felt that I was eating the cow. Then, we went to a next door restaurant for a final glass of wine. I had to take a picture of that rabbit art 😂
Wine Tour:
Although activity that we did was a wine tour through Tuscany! I actually did this exact same tour last year and it was so good that I thought it was good enough to take the rest of the group on! It was a beautiful day with amazing views. I probably would have enjoy it more if I took it a bit easier on the wine, but you live and you learn 😂
Cooking Class:
We decided to do a pizza making class just outside of Florence. We booked with and it ended up being about a group of 40 older Americans. The average age must have been about 50 haha. I did a pasta making class in Florence city center last year, so it was fun to get a bit further out of town to see some beautiful views and also try making pizza and gelato instead of pasta.
The pizzas turned out great and we had beautiful views while making them! It was funny, at the end we got a very cheesy certificate saying that we completed the class. Although, since all 4 of us were on the reservation, they accidently only gave a certificate to Ryan and I haha.
We checked out of the Boboli Gardens which is something that I haven’t done in the past visits. It was okay, but not a must-do in my opinion. Part of the appeal is the flowers in bloom, but in October there wasn’t anything specific in bloom.
One thing that I thought was very interesting about Florence was the vast number of Americans that we there. Walking around we honestly heard nothing but English. I remember thinking this the year before when I visited as well, but having the experience again confirmed it. I would say that this must be a classic stop on American’s Italian itinerary. I like using Florence as a base to explore the region, but after it being my 3rd time to Florence I think if I go to Tuscany again I will stay in a smaller town.
Below are a few more random pictures from our trip! I would also add that we bought purses, belts, and wallets from the leather market and I highly recommend! Make sure you negotiate, but I bought a purse there and use it all the time!
Thanks for reading and I hope if you are going to Florence you check out a few of my recommendations. Next stop- Venice
❤
Melanie
Smiles from Miles Away 