We arrived via train to Florence, but what I didn't do was although I had our transportation from city to city booked and all set, I didn't have transportation set up once we reached the city to get to the hotel. Which is ok since the hotels were always very close to the transportation hub, however, we learned very quickly that I can NOT be trusted when it comes to directions.
We took a tram to get closer to our hotel however we still got lost and thankfully Jason always steered us back in the right direction.
Many places were closed for 'holiday' so we decided to hop on a bus going to' The Mall'. The Mall is a designer outlet (Prada, Gucci, Valentino, Burberry....) and funny enough ate lunch in Gucci at the Gucci cafe. We didn't buy anything but had a fun trip checking it out.
We then walked around the streets of Florence and many little bars were open. We decided to take a seat so I could buy an infamous 'spritz' which is an orange liqueur with soda and Prosecco. In Venice they make it with wine instead of champagne. Then we found an amazing 'mom and pop' restaurant called Trattoria Armando, which words can't describe, it was that good. So so so good. Can't rave enough about it. We got there early enough to get a spot since they take mostly reservations and are booked for the night. We enjoyed the beautiful sunset below while resting in a food coma from all the amazing food and wine.
The next morning, we got on a tour bus with our first stop in Sienna. Sienna has the worlds oldest bank started in 1472 and is still open.
Another view of the bank from the courtyard
Sienna and Florence had always been in battle back in ancient times. The core of the two cities were based on rich families in constant feud, which they say inspired Romeo and Juliet. The story of Robin Hood was also inspired from Sienna.
We just happened to be in Sienna when they were celebrating the famous Palio horse race. It was set to happen the day after we were there (occurs annually). There are 13 districts that make up Sienna. Whatever district you were born in, regardless of whom you marry or where you have moved, is the district you are to cheer for. Each district has a different silk scarf that each individual wears during this celebration. And here is where the horse race takes place.
Winning the Palio horse race gives that district bragging rights for that year and its a huge honor with lots of celebration.
Beautiful alleyways
The main church in Sienna
The bell tower is the only striped looking portion of the church
We toured the local museum with beautifully painted ceilings
Next we traveled to a vineyard in San Gimignano. Our meal was made entirely from the orchard. It is overlooking the main city with skyscrapers wayyyy in the background where it has tall medieval towers which is why it is called the Medieval Manhattan.
Rows and rows of all different grapes
They have their own cows specific for beef or milk
Happy Sunday bull !
Olive trees. They told us their process of how to make the best olive oil. They made sure at lunch we had plenty to try and I could have drank it from the bottle!
The vineyard is also a bed & breakfast. I can imagine it would be quite phenomenal to stay there
We were able to try 4 different wines that they paired with each part of our 5 course meal. We didn't leave without buying our favorite wine which was a Chianti.
Pictures doesn't do the view justice.
We took the tour bus into the city and were told which Gelato was voted the best in the world. However, we got Gelato from a place that claimed to be the best in the world, and then turned out to see the real place that was recommended was behind us. Whoops! It was still amazing.
Then we shopped into town and found Jason a beautiful pair of Italian wing backed shoes and also found my mom her one request of silver hooped earrings. Most of what we had seen for jewelry so far was gold so once we found a pair, we thought...."Earrings from Tuscany? Perfect!!"
Our last stop for the day was in Pisa to see the leaning tower. This is the view we saw the moment we got off the bus.
After the tower was partially built up the people ran out of money, and construction had been stopped. ( the tower was already leaning at this time as it was built on a foundation of sand) Then once decided to continue building they tried to correct the lean, which is why the tower curves almost like a banana.
They told us where to go to get the infamous 'holding up Pisa with a finger' photo. It was hilarious to see all these people holding up their hands or fingers randomly in the air to get the right shot.
So we attempted quite a few to try and get it right
We are standing on these taller sculptures just like everyone else around us
I captured Jason's feet in this one so you can see, we are crossing over the gate trying hard not to fall into the grass with clear signs saying "don't step on grass"
We were able to walk into town a little bit. Surprisingly we had a hard time finding a quick pizza slice to go. We were on a time crunch as we had a specific time to tour and climb the leaning tower.
We made it to the top. It was hard to do with the slippery marble steps that were leaning. Not to mention we had to pass some people in the narrow stairwell that were having a hard time making it to the top. The stairs weren't close together so coming down was actually more difficult since it's slippery and people are trying to climb up and get down in a very narrow space.
You can walk around the top to get an entire 360 degree view
The beautiful bells
The view of Pisa
