It’s been a while! Honestly, I’ve been so busy but I’m ready to catch you up on our life in Brunico. The good, the bad, the fun, the travels, oh.. and the hockey.
For this years November break we decided to head to Florence, Italy. Everyone has told us to see Italy while we are living here, everything else can wait.
We took the “fast train” from Bolzano to Florence. I can’t say that Miika absolutely loved her first train ride but she did wonderful! I’d let her sneak up on the seat with me when no one was watching. We know that princess does not like sitting on the floor!
We arrived in Florence around noon and took a taxi to our beautiful hotel! A very typical, italian (not updated) style hotel right on the side of the river. Let’s be honest, I picked the hotel based on the fact that it said “dog friendly, pets free!”. However, the staff was absolutely amazing and I knew that they only thing we’d be doing there was sleeping. I would recommend the hotel to anyone who isn’t looking for something fancy and a clean, quiet, walking distance hotel in Florence. The name of the hotel is, Hotel Silla.
We were extremely lucky that our first day there it was nothing but sunshine!
We spent the our first day hitting a lot of important sights and things to see. Not without stopping at Subway of course.
Must see’s while you are in Florence: The Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, Museums, Churches, we saw as much as we could in two days.
Piazzale Michelangelo was my favorite sight and view, don’t miss it if you ever visit Florence. I loved that we were just a nice walk away from the this sight as it was on the same side of the river as our hotel. It is a lot of stairs but it’s great exercise and was perfect for getting a good walk in with Miika. However, the view should be enough persuasion to make you go! You get to see the entire city of Florence.
Jerry and I had two amazing dinners. Our first night we had Hard Rock Cafe and the second night we ate a highly recommended restaurant that I would recommend to everyone as well. It’s a must while in Florence but a small hole in the wall so I doubt you would find it if someone didn’t recommend it to you. The most popular dish to eat in Florence is a Florentina Steak but since I don’t eat steak I checked to make sure there was a lot more on the menu! The pasta was amazing and Jerry’s Florentina steak with blueberry sauce was a big hit.
The restaurant is called: Acqua Al 2
The next day was a rainy one, might I add that every November break it rains on us? Haha. Rain doesn’t stop us though, that just means shopping time! You could shop for days in Florence.. it never ends!
Towards the end of the day the rain seized and we went out for a long walk, miika included!
While in Florence we witnessed an engagement! Super cute and Jerry took pictures of them that we later sent to them. I would have been so happy if someone was able to capture mine and Jerry’s engagement so quickly like that! They were so happy we took photos. Yes, I cried.
Two days wasn’t quite enough in Florence, I’d say three or four to see absolutely everything. I’m not really into galleries and art, so we didn’t even see a lot of that stuff. Which is why I know you would probably need another day or two! Florence is beautiful, the people are nice, there are a lot of Americans there, especially students who attend the University. The food is amazing and there is so much too see! It is definitely a favorite of mine but didn’t top Venice! If you are in Florence for a couple of days there are a lot of organized tours to see near by places such as, Pisa or even do a wine tour in the vineyards of Tuscany!
Florence: Check!
Stay tuned, I have a lot of catching up to do!
Until then,
Amanda
Traveling Between The [Pipes] 