The plan from Pisa was to head out to Cinque Terre, a picturesque town we had never been to. However, since we aren't planners, and were booking our accommodations as we went, we couldn't find anything that looked great. After hours of searching over dinner, and back in our hotel room, Marco asked how I'd feel about going back to Florence for one more night. I was totally down.
If you couldn't tell, Florence is a favourite for both of us and since we had lost our luggage and spent our only full day there on a wine tour, the thought of getting a little more QT with the city was just what the Doctor ordered.
We packed our bags and hoped on (the wrong) train in the morning--which may or may not have been my fault--and eventually made it to the city in the early afternoon.
First stop: paninis on the street!
We had walked past this place, on a little side street off the beaten path, on our second night in Italy and it was buzzing. Tons of people lined up outside the teeny restaurant and the street was lined with people sitting on the curbs eating their dinner and drinking wine from plastic cups. Marco was adamant we eat here and it was an awesome experience.
Line up, place your order, pay & wait. Grab a cup at the end of the bar and fill it with wine for two euros. Amazing. It was one of the best sandwiches ever. We sat on the curb with everyone else, people watched, and laughed at pigeons trying to steal crumbs.
Then it was off to explore. We stayed at an Airbnb that was slightly outside of our former grid, so we saw a bunch of new landmarks while walking about. There is something to be said for familiarity, but it was also cool to see other parts of the city that was steps away from before, yet we hadn't explored previously.
And of course, the Bell Tower and the Duomo--two places you must visit when in the city. Again, we didn't buy tickets to go inside because we did that the last time we visited, but it's definitely worth the wait.
A pop into the Celine store to see what they had. I didn't buy my bag in Florence, but more to come on that front once we hit Venice!
This was the perfect outfit for walking around in--it was a warm day, so jeans and a tee was just right for coverage and warmth, and I tend to find Zara pants often slide down, but these ones really impressed me. They are comfortable, stay up & are budget friendly. #teamnohips
Later that evening, we grabbed the camera and took a little walk to see the city. The picture above is Ponte Vecchio, the most famous bridge in Florence, taken from the next bridge down. It's kind of ugly during the day, totally touristy, but you have to see it. At night, it's obviously gorgeous and everything just glows.
A special dinner on our final night in Florence, we tried La Butchetta and it was incredible. Easily in my top 5 dining experiences--we were so happy we found it on Trip Advisor and they squeezed us in despite not having a reservation.
The next morning, since we weren't familiar with the neighbourhood, we wandered down a block and found an amazing, small, bakery that was run by two women. They didn't speak English, but one was taking orders and the other was bringing out fresh pastries and paninis from the back. Italians were coming in, clearly on their way to work, grabbing their breakfast. It was just so authentic, and so Italy.
We took our paninis and pastries to go, and found a little coffee shop-bar to get cappuccinos, sat down and enjoyed our last meal in Florence. I really, really hope we can return to this city one day. If you head to Italy, you have to stop here--it's a large city with small city charm and it just feels warm. Definitely a huge highlight of our trip.
Next stop: Venice!
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