Rome

RrrrRrRRrrrOMA. I learned to roll my r’s while in Rome and overused it a lot.

So we flew into and out of Rome, it was the first and last place we spent time in Italy. The day of our arrival was rough. Okay, it was terrible. The worst part of our trip no doubt. A combination of our phones not working, our cards not working, and being generally confused and lost led to 4 hours of wandering before we finally found our Airbnb. Thankfully our hosts were very gracious and patient with us! Our first place we stayed in was perfect- everything we needed in a great location. We were right next to the Tiber river and Campo de Fiori which turned out to be where we spent most of our evenings.

We loved walking over to Fiori for dinner and watching the street performers. One night we watched a clown for at least half an hour make fun of unsuspecting tourists. I loved how such a mixed group of nationalities could all laugh at stupid slapstick comedy! During the day this square turned into a huge market stocked with flowers, produce and handmade pastas.

The Colosseum was crazy. People used to have to fight giraffes.

Our favorite area was the neighborhood of Trastevere. Smaller streets and tons of cafe’s for cheaper prices than near the center of Rome. We ate a couple of times at a spot called Carlo Menta and I got “cacio e pepe” both times. Spaghetti with cheese and pepper. So simple, so delicious. It was here that we first saw how much a liter of wine really is. It’s a lot.

When we stayed in Rome for a second time at the end of our trip, we were so exhausted we barely left the airbnb but to see the Vatican. This second place in Rome that we stayed was by far the most modern apartment we had seen- so clean and everything was white and it was HUGE. We were soooo impressed with this place. Though the location wasn’t as ideal, it was the perfect place to rest and prepare for our flight home.

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Florence

FLORENCE.

If Florence was a girl, she’d be  beautiful and wealthy, but also a super kind, fun, and generally awesome girl. You’d really want to dislike her because COME ON it’s so cliche to love Florence but you truly can’t help it. It’s like everything you want Italy to be.

Our Airbnb was minutes from the train station on foot and we met up with out host, Daniel, fairly easily. Daniel was the REAL DEAL. He told us that he’s has an olive orchard outside of town and that next year they’re going to to open up a place on their orchard to rent. We will be back. Stay there yourself and check it out here!

Florence was particularly special because I got to meet up with a good friend who’s studying there this semester. She introduced me to her favorite coffee shop, Ditta Artigonale. The coffee was amazing and there was sitting room. It felt like it’d be okay to stay awhile and read or write (which is not a feeling you  get from most coffee shops in Italy). My conversation with Anna about Italian Confidence contrasted with American Fear was another highlight of our trip. It was good to hear her put to words why she thought Italians initially came off as rude, but in actuality are just direct and know who they are and what they want. I loved it.

Our busiest day in Florence entailed a walk around the Garden of Boboli, paninis for lunch from All’Antico Vinaio (5 euros, so good), seeing David, and climbing up to Piazzale Michelangelo at dusk (the view can’t be beat). This was also the evening that we met an Italian man engaged to a girl from Conway, Arkansas. He was working at a restaurant and insisted to treat us to “champagne on the house for my Arkansas friends!” If you’re headed to Florence from AR make sure to stop in Giubbe Rosse and say hi to Sonny. You’ll know you’re close when you find the piazza with the carousel, Piazza della Repubblica.

One of my favorite dishes I had was in Florence, labeled simply as “roast beef” from Le Antiche Carroze. If you go here, look past the cultz mt font on the sign. We loved the ambiance inside. It was the rarest meat I’ve ever had, but SO filled with flavor alongside simple house potatoes seasoned to perfection.

I could have stayed in Florence for a week at least. So much beauty in one place so full of life and history proved to be once cultural experience that Gray and I won’t ever forget.

Venice

Okay Venice was COOL. I had let comments from people like “Venice is SO touristy” or “Venice smells like fish” lower my expectations and almost miss this city all together. We only had 24 hours to get a taste of Venice and it was dreamy. I was impressed with the water taxi system that took people from the train station across the Grand Canal to the mainland of Venice- it was clear which one to get on and super cheap. Maybe 2 euros. Gray has such awful motion sickness that we were worried about it, but the boats were surprisingly steady. So that was pretty chill.

Meeting up with our Airbnb host was kinda tricky and we ended up waiting around for about an hour, but we weren’t that annoyed because I mean we were waiting around in Venice on a sunny day. So. Not bad. Once we met up with Nicola, we ditched our bags and headed towards Saint Marco’s Square. We stopped along the way and got drinks at a cafe, split a spinach calzone and watched the boats come into the harbor. I’m not sure why this stands out so much in my mind as a highlight, but sitting there in the sun with Gray and watching people walk by and sipping my spritz, I was totally content.

Saint Marco’s square was super packed and we sat there for a few minutes before deciding to get lost. The first glass shop we stopped in I was like “oh wow this is so cool!!!!” and then we passed about 15 other exact same shops. The canals through the city were insane. We learned that being a gondola driver was actually a prestigious position and that they only allow a certain number to have the job at one time. The price for a ride is mandated at 80 euros for 30 minutes, no negotiation. Needless to say, we just watched. Truly it was just as fun, especially knowing we still had our 80 euros.

As we wandered through the streets we did get a little lost and ended up asking a host trying to get people to eat at his Pizzaria for directions. He helped us find where to go and as we walked off he said “but you must come back to eat!!” So we did. The outdoor seating was right next to a canal so we watched the gondolas dock and tie up for the night. My very favorite thing about Venice though was the couple we met that night. They were an older couple from Sydney, Australia, and we talked with them into the night about all kinds of things. At the end of the night, Cathie slipped me a piece of paper and said “well here’s your airbnb if you’re ever in Sydney.” It was their home address and email. How wonderful is that?! I miss them. CATHIE IF YOU’RE READING THIS I LOVE YOU.

 

Montefollonico (Siena)

Oh my goodness. Wrapping up our trip in Montefollonico was the best idea I’ve ever had. This hilltop town reminded me of the cities in the movie The Emporer’s New Groove. All the towns were tiny and perched at the top of a hill, and you could see other cities on top of their hills in the distance.

Considering how removed Montefollonico was from the bustling cities we’d been to, we had to take a train to Siena and rent a car from there. To our surprise and DELIGHT, the car they gave us was an adorable white convertible Fiat 500 (see below). The Italian man working at the Hertz place could tell we were excited about it and goes “umm, yes, free upgrade for you.” Yeah right, it was obviously the last one left. We laughed. After all the trains we had caught up to that point, the ability to drive our own car gave us an incredible sense of freedom. I really wouldn’t recommend renting your own car to drive around cities, but we LOVED driving through the winding roads of the countryside and rarely passed another car.

When we arrived in Montefollonico we were greeted by our smiley Airbnb hosts. They grabbed our bags and hauled them up the stairs of the tower. Though they didn’t speak much english, their kindness was evident. The tower had a bottle of wine waiting and a fire in the wood burning oven already started for us. The interior was very farmhouse and adorable- white simple bedding on the beds, flowers sitting on the dresser and a wooden kitchen table in the center of the room. It was heaven. The window of our bedroom looked out across the green valley and waking up to that each day was a major highlight of the entire trip.

Our hosts lived in the bottom level of the tower so we ran into them every now and then and they’d smile at us and tell us to take as much firewood as we needed from their garden. Each morning when we woke up we would gather sticks to build a fire to heat some water to make our coffee and because of the work that went into it, it was seriously some of the best coffee I’d ever had. Being in Montefollonico forced us to slow down and made us crave a slower life. I found myself saying things like “Babe we could totally live on a farm.” or “Babe it’s time we live off the land.” or “Babe when we get home let’s plant a vineyard how hard could it be seriously.”

Highlights from Montefollonico:

• Vineyard tour and wine tasting at Avignonesi
• Making wildflower crowns in the garden
• Cooking our own dinner on the wood stove
• Hanging out on the porch of the “Bar Sports” (coffee shop with sports on a tv) with all the old men playing cards

If you’re EVER in Italy, make a point to go to Montefollonico and stay with Andrea. Here is a link to their Airbnb page!

Italy Trip

17 days in heaven a.k.a. the trip of a lifetime a.k.a. our vacation in Italy has come and gone. We returned home just a couple of days ago, and I want to make sure and blog it all while visions of gelato and vespas are still dancing in my head.

This was a trip of firsts for both Gray and I. Neither of us had been to Europe before and needless to say, we learned SO much about ourselves, each other, and traveling in a foreign country.

Our itinerary was loose as this was intended to be a true vacation. I think Europe offers so much to go, do and see that often people return exhausted. Gross. We picked one or two things a day to see in each city, and even cut some things last minute simply because we didn’t feel like it. I don’t see the pleasure in tying yourself to a busy itinerary anyway and we really didn’t feel any FOMO.

We saw 5 cities (Rome, Positano, Florence, Venice and Montefollonico) and stayed at least 3 nights in each place, with the exception of Venice. I will be posting pictures categorized into cities and try to hit the high points of each place. Stay tuned!

XOXO, gossip girl

 

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At the start of our 24 hour travel day