It is hard to believe it has been a whole year since our wedding! We couldn't think of any better way than to go back to Italy to celebrate. We spent 4 1/2 days in and around Florence and loved every minute of it!
The first day we wondered around the park, Boboli Gardens, to be specific. It had great views of the city from every angle and the day was just to pretty not to take advantage of!
After a bit of wondering we found a great little place with an amazing view of the Old Bridge. We are not the only ones who thought the bridge was beautiful, the Nazis also thought the bridge was too beautiful to destroy, so they took down the buildings at either end as a means to slow the Allied Troops.
Jeffrey tried the Spritzer :)
What a view to end the first day of our trip!
Day 2 - We were up early for a day trip to Pisa and Cinque Terre
And of course this day trip included a climb of the Leaning Tower of Pisa!
We had no idea it was originally intended to be a bell tower
It is hard to tell from this picture, but all the buildings here are actually leaning.
I guess that is what you get when you build on sand!
Having a good time being silly holding up that tower and giving it a little lick haha
Our tour guide recommended the Camposanto (Holy Field). It was contructed in 1278 around sacred dirt brought back from Golgotha during the Crusades. It is the burial place for some of the Pisan upper class. We found some interesting graves in the building, some of which were very recent (like 2009!)
I worked hard on this picture to get all sites in - Leaning Tower, Cathedral and Baptistery!
We had to get the selfie in before we headed off for the coast!
We had some amazing views in Cinque Terre. The whole area is a Unesco World Heritage site and is composed of 5 little towns. The first stop was Riomaggiore. This was the view from our lunch table!
The second stop in Vernazzo
it had a great little pebble beach access
The weather was perfect - a little to cool for me to dip the toes in the water though!
and of course great views looking down from a tower top!
The last stop, Manarola, had the postcard views!!!
We loved every minute of the trip and the breath taking views!!
The next day we were off exploring the wider Tuscan region with some wine tasting!
The first stop had some amazing wines for us to try... one of which was Lovers Wine. The second most common dessert (next to Gelato) is the cantucci, which is a hard, half-moon-shaped biscuit. You dip it in dessert wine and then eat it. Our host picked on us a bit since it was our anniversary and we showed the rest of the group how to eat it :)
We were able experience the wonderful rolling hill views of
Tuscany on the way to the next winery
The next winery was a little smaller, so our host took us to the fields and expanded more on life in a family winery.
These are 2 very unique barrels I had never seen before... a large oval shaped wooden barrel on the left and a cement barrel on the right. The wooden one has to be cleaned through the tiny hole at the bottom... and yes a very tiny man gets in there to rinse it out every year! The cement barrel is said to be another tradition that was almost lost. Apparently the cement holds the flavor from the previous barrels and helps the wine mature safely.
Very cute and fun winery!
Before heading back to Florence, we were able to explore San Gimignano, another world heritage site. I couldn't resist taking some monochrome photos of the old city...
This was the day of our actual anniversary, so we had booked a nice meal for dinner at Osteria del Cirghiale Biarco. I had no idea when booking, that we would get the table at the top with a view looking over the rest of the dining room. Very special! To top the day off, we also went for the Fiorentina, which is a super-thick, juicy T-bone steak from a Chiana cow. It was delicious!
The next day we did a 'Naked and Food Tour' that started out with a tour of the museum with David followed by a food tour. I am really glad that we did the museum part because she gave more on Michelangelo's life, how he grew up and why this masterpiece is so special. Great refresher right before seeing David. It was just Jeffrey and myself on the Naked part and then we joined up with others for the food
The first stop was for some traditional coffee and a rice cake. We have noticed that in Italy people stand at the counter to drink their coffee and rarely sit down. The coffee is often much stronger as well... so it was good to hear her local perspective
The second place she took us was the market - we loved all the bright colors and fresh food!
The display behind our host was almost too cute to eat - but in the end we ate every bit and found a new favorite - Pistachio Cream!! Looking forward to eating this back home :)
Here is a picture of the typical Fiorentina steak
and yes that is 20+ euros, but totally worth it!
I didn't take pictures of all the gelato we ate in fear of being a piggy - but we had some of the best stuff there is. Not only did we have some... but we had a lot! The tour ended with about 7 different samples and a mousse and tiramisu sample. All lip smacking delicious!!!
Taking a break from it all and soaking in the day!
(can you tell I am loving the black and white photos?!?)
On the way to see the Duoma, we ran into these strangers....
the next door neighborhoods from Winston-Salem, Wrenna and Rachel! It was sooo good to see them and a prime example how small this world really is :)
Before heading to the airport, we went back to the last stop on the food tour where we had our wine tasting. I went for a prosecco and Jeff went for a home brew from the sommelier and shop owner.
We love ITALY!!! I hope that we get to celebrate many more anniversaries here in a place that is close to our hearts!
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