Hello, friends! Last month I spent two glorious weeks exploring Italy with my sister, and I'm very excited to share each place we visited. Our trip began in Florence, but Sophie had already been in Italy for a five week study abroad program before I arrived so I had a built in tour guide! Our first stop was lunch at Gusta Pizza and a long walk around the city. We hiked up to Piazza Michelangelo which was by far the highlight of the first day (and well worth the long jet-lagged trek). I was also able to see the building she had been staying in and have gelato from one of her favorite paces, Gelateria de Neri. I loved visiting the leather market again and discovering the Central Market. I can't believe I missed this when I studied abroad in college! I highly recommend getting at least one meal there if you are in Florence. Our evening ended with dinner right outside the Duomo and stumbling across the Museo Nationale del Bargello which ended up being fantastic. After some tiramisu at Cafe Finisterrae I was beyond ready for a good nights sleep.
Day two began with an early trip to the Galleria Academia to see the David statue. Afterward we ate breakfast and then headed off to shop! I found a few cute things at Zara and visited Patriza Pepe for the first time. For lunch we headed to the Central Market and I had some of the best pesto pasta of my life. In the afternoon we wandered in Laduree and made a quick stop in the Gucci store. We also visited the Gucci Museum which was one of my favorite parts of the day! By this point we were ready for another round of gelato and I would definitely recommend Amorino. (They serve your gelato in the shape of a rose!) Next we visited the Santa Croce church where Michelangelo and Galileo are buried and then finished our day with a boat ride down the Arno river.
We were able to spend one more morning in Florence on day three, and we had a few errands to run before heading to our next location. After breakfast we packed our luggage and found a store that would ship home some of Sophie's souvenirs and paintings she created during her study abroad class. Next we stopped in a few stores and picked out a few gifts for family members before checking out of our hotel. After one last lunch in Florence we were off on the train to Pisa which I will recap in my next post! I'm so grateful I was able to experience Florence with Sophie's perspective after having been there for so long. Ciao for now!
