Italy is in my heart forever. I went back again last year for the first time in 34 years and now this year, back to Florence and some other places I had not been to before. Going back with Mark makes it all the more special and we had a wonderful trip. I shared this particular trip with you all last year, as I was a tour coordinator for the first time and attempted to fill a tour by myself with Go Ahead Tours, the same tour company we traveled with last year. I wanted to go on a tour and experience it for myself, before I tried to do my own tour and they do such a great job with all the planning, excursions, hotels and some meals. This trip was equally as memorable as last year’s trip to Italy and we will forever hold the memories in our hearts.
I did sign up enough people (7 total) so that I earned a free spot for my trip and we paid for Mark’s trip, so that was nice. The people that signed up with me were so nice and it was great to meet them in person. I won’t mention them all by name, but I’m so glad they joined us! We had a memorable week together, along with 8 others who were on this tour, for a total of 15. I’ve mentioned before, but the best thing about Go Ahead tours is how they plan every detail for you and you just pack, fly to your destination and show up, ready to go. That really makes it easy whether you are traveling alone, as a couple, or with a friend. There were a few ladies who were traveling alone and others who met up with friends. There were only 2 men on the trip, Mark and another couple (Mike and Julia) who signed up with me. We loved meeting them all and getting to know the rest of the group. We had a great group of travelers and the perfect number. Mike told Mark he read his story of traveling to Italy last year and decided to go along on this trip! If you missed that, it’s a good read.
We arrived our first morning in Florence, tired of course from flying all night with no sleep. Neither of us can sleep much on a plane, so we made the best of it and figured we would get some sleep that night. We got to our hotel and were able to check in early and then took off on a walk for some food before we went back for a nap before dinner that night. We had a welcome dinner with our group and that was nice. We met our tour director, Dimitri, a native of Florence and he did a great job keeping us on track all week long as we experienced all the fun and beauty of the area.
Walking along the Arno River.
A view of the Ponte Vecchio on our first walk the next morning.
Our hotel, the Grand Hotel Mediterraneo was very comfortable and pleasant for our 4 nights in Florence. We had a hard time sleeping the first few nights and it was only the last 4 or so nights, we started to get back in a good sleep rhythm. It’s normal for us not to sleep well when we travel, it just happens to us most of the time. I figured we would sleep when we get home and we had to keep going to see and do all we wanted to do.
Here’s a little sidenote for you. Turns out, they don’t offer washcloths in hotels in Italy and maybe Europe. It was like that last year too. I like to wash my face with a washcloth, but there were none to be found. They have beautiful white linen towels hanging above the bidets, but nothing for the face! I wasn’t about to use those pretty linens towels, but I did use a corner of a smaller towel. I even asked the girl in the hallway outside about it and I thought she understood, but nothing ever showed up, so I made the best of it.
Here’s an assortment of some of the food we ate in Florence. We enjoyed trying different restaurants and I could eat pizza or pasta everyday and be very happy about it. I got my share of Limoncello and Aperol spritz, both of which I discovered in Italy. They are very popular there. The food, oh the food is so fresh and good in Italy. It was a pleasure to try many different things and I only wish there were more days to eat more!
It’s been 34 years since the first time I went to Florence, so it was almost like being there for the first time again. I went before cell phones so my old photos from there are grainy and not great. I did remember a few things from the first trip, like this David statue outside that’s a replica of the original marble one. We saw the original as well, see below.
We did a lot of walking around the city and then back to our hotel which wasn’t too far away from the city center.
Of course, the architecture in Florence is just breath taking. Italy has it’s own special vibe.
The famed Ponte Vecchio bridge.
A beautiful tree sculpture in town.
I dearly love the trattorias and restaurants all over Italy. They are so inviting and I just wanted to stop at all of them.
I also couldn’t get enough of the cobblestone narrow streets winding through the town. There are views to see from every angle.
And the doors, I have a thing for old doors.
Of course, there’s a lot of shopping as well and we had time to do that since we had 4 nights in Florence. We went to leather shops and I bought a new leather purse. Florence is also known for gold, but I didn’t partake in gold this trip. I do still have a gold chain I bought the first time I was there.
See that bell tower? I actually climbed it this trip. This is next to the Duomo, the world famous cathedral in Florence. You have to get tickets way in advance to climb the Duomo now, so we didn’t do that. I did climb it my first time there, but this time my friend, Susan and I climbed the bell tower. We’ll get to that below.
After lunch, we bought tickets to climb the Giotto bell tower and had to wait our turn to get in, so we did have some time to kill. I met Susan and her sister-in-law, Martha, on our Viking River cruise last fall and we became fast friends. She lives in Marietta not that far from us, so we stayed in touch and I invited them to come with us to Italy and they did! Climbing this tower is not for the faint of heart. My heart was beating out of my chest as I made my way up the 414 stone steps. I felt every one of them. With my bad hips, it probably wasn’t a good idea, but I was determined to make it to the top and I did! The views were amazing as you can see!
The buildings in Florence are works of art and the Florence Cathedral, or the Duomo is truly amazing.
The churches in Italy are unbelievably beautiful, so intricate in their detail with marble and stone.
Truly works of art!
The Duomo, which is the center of tourist attractions. This big square has lots going on with restaurants, shops and touring the cathedral.
The bell tower again, you can see how tall it really is.
The Duomo from a side street. Magnificent!
I love all the outdoor restaurants, truly the best of outdoor dining.
And the picturesque narrow streets.
We did go inside this church with our tour director, Dimitri. It was nice, but my favorite cathedral was in Sienna, which I’ll show you on another post. This one is Basilica of Santa Croce, burial site of Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Galileo.
Those doors!
Inside the cathedral.
There’s so much history to hear and see with these amazing sculptures.
Italy has so many treasures.
A lunch break in Florence.
With Limoncellos of course.
One of our evenings in Florence, we all opted for an extra excursion. On these trips, there are included things and extra things and this was an extra. We headed to a beautiful countryside villa for dinner, the Il Borgo Machiavelli, and that was a spectacular experience. We all enjoyed it so much. This was our view as we got out and looked around.
The sun was going down and it was such a memorable evening.
The host gave us a background on the villa and then we went through a rock tunnel to the other side and came out and up to a room where we had dinner.
This is Dimitri, our tour guide, and he did an excellent job keeping things on track for us. We asked him a million questions during the week.
Another view of the villa before dinner.
Outside before dinner.
Our table all set for us.
And the tasty food on the menu, plus wine. It truly was a wonderful and memorable dinner for all of us.
Outside before we headed back to our hotel. Those are some gals with our group taking pics.
Mark and I walked to the Pitti Palace one day to take in the Boboli Gardens behind the palace.
I don’t know the history of the palace, but it has a large footprint on the hillsides of Florence.
This is the back of the palace as we started the climb up the terraces of the vast garden.
And this is the top of the gardens with a beautiful view of Florence.
Florence below.
Florence with the red roof tops, that’s one of the things that stuck with me from my first visit here.
A selfie at the top and you can see how big the gardens are from here. You’ll do a lot of walking if you decide to do this tour.
On the same day, we headed to Uffizi gallery to take it in. I have to admit, we are not really museum people. I go through museums and enjoy seeing the beauty, but I’m not one to spend hours in a museum, so we were in and out of here in an hour.
I just wanted to go one more time. I know I did this museum when I was there years ago too, but I hardly remember it. It’s beautiful though, truly gorgeous works of art.
View from the gallery.
We had time to stroll through the shopping around the Ponte Vecchio and I enjoyed that. I bought a pretty olive oil bottle in this shop to the left.
We got gelato a lot along the way. Mark discovered his favorite flavor last year, Amereno Cherry and was hunting it down in every gelato shop. Some of them had the big chunks of cherries and some did not, so he was looking for chunks. It really is delicious!
I was so excited to spot this shop, as I’ve picked up these Florentine trays over the years at yardsales. I think they are beautiful, so I bought a small one to bring home.
Isn’t it pretty?
Later that day, a group of us had made reservations to go into the Accademia gallery, where the famed David statue resides. I saw him on my very first visit to Florence, but it was great to take it all in again. Of course, this is the biggest draw at this museum.
It’s a really beautiful museum too and we were glad we took the time to go. You have to buy tickets for all the extra events in Florence and many times you need to do it ahead of time. We bought through Viator, so we were able to score some last minute tickets, but we paid more than face value to do so.
Florence was a wonderful city to visit and if you go to Italy, you have to go to Florence. We all left happy with so many great memories to carry home with us. I try to share the highlights with you all when I return from a trip and it’s hard not to overshare, but I hope you enjoyed this recap of Florence and what we did while there.
While in Florence, we also visited Sienna, a charming village in Tuscany, as well as San Gimignano, but I’ll save that for next time!
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