My Family Visits Ital(ivv)y Part Two: Florence

Firenze we have arrived and somehow (well I have a feeling this was not at all by chance) our B & B was located right on the main square, Piazza della Signoria. So the views from our bedroom windows were those of postcards. We arrived hungry and ready for lunch so we took a few side streets to a cute local restaurant. Our waiter was all business but it was a fun experience because he was running around working so hard and we got the real feel of an authentic italian restaurant. Our meals over all I’d have to say were less seasoned than we are used to, but it was still a good start to the vacation.

After this we headed over to view the famous Ponte Vecchio lined with shops and gellato stands and bustling with tourists. We then ventured to a local irish pub and partook in happy hour, which was happy indeed. Then my darling brother in law bought maddy and I each a rose from the local florist.

Before we knew it, it was time to head out to dinner atil Desc0  this place was a gem where I enjoyed fresh pasta with cherry tomatoes and langostines

 

The next day was our highly anticipated cooking class day in Florence, the funny thing is that we chose to learn about Sicilian cooking and it turns out that our instructor was actually from Sicily. The class was four hours long and included everything from rosemary, garlic herb crusted lamb to traditional Easter cookie baskets.

        

After our cooking class we chose to walk back towards the city along the river and came across a sign for the Piazza de Michelangiolo. My dad had read that it was worth the hike up and so we ventured off to see what all the fuss was about. Pretty soon it was obvious that we were going to be in for a real treat as the views of the city below were peaking about the trees and proving themselves to be absolutely astonishing.

That night after a long day of eating and walking around we decided to venture to a more casual place for dinner as I was hinting (okay no, demanding) to have pizza 🙂 None the less the pizza was up to par and it was a relaxing place to spend our last night.

The next day we ventured off to see the Duomo, and to wander around the side streets of Florence. One of my favorite things was seeing a lady at a window buying bread in a little alley from a fresh bakery. It felt like I had walked back in time. (the picture is below).

Then we came across one of our favorite places in Florence All’antico Vinaio where we hopped in line and grabbed fresh sandwiches topped with different kinds of meats, cheeses, vegetables and spreads right in front of our eyes. The bread was hot and the sandwiches were exactly what we needed before heading off to Venice for the last leg of our adventure.

 

Until Venice!

Olivia