We are finally posting pictures of our anniversary trip to our blog.
Almost 2 months late... but at least they are getting posted.
This is going to be a long post because Brian and I are hoping to one day take Rylan there and we want to remember all of the little bits of knowledge for next time.
Brian and I knew we wanted to go somewhere but we couldn't decide on where. We called my mom to see if my parents would be willing to watch Rylan for 10 days over my mom's birthday and she "reluctantly" (haha, yeah right!) agreed. There are just so many amazing places we have never traveled to that the decision was overwhelming.
We eventually decided through fate or chance or whatever you want to call it..
Brian and I individually wrote 3 places in the world we wanted to go. I chose Iceland, Ireland and Greece. Brian chose Italy, South of France, and Germany.
Then we put the pieces of paper in a box and Brian reached in and grabbed one.
We were both really excited that he chose Italy.
One of the most exciting things to do pre-trip were buying our tickets and having our passports arrive in the mail. I feel like once you get your passport, the windows of opportunity for places you can go are limitless.
It was unreal.
I purchased 3 books from Steve Ricks; Rome. Florence and an Italian phrasebook.
Honestly, you don't really need a phrasebook.
Pretty much everyone you talk to will know how to speak English and when they don't just google an Italian phrase on your phone or get an app.
We also watched some youtube movies he has out so that we could decide where we want to go and learn more about the culture.
We did a lot of research on Italian customs, etiquette, clothing etc.
We wanted to make sure we assimilated as much as we could at least so that we didn't unknowingly do something disrespectful or get duped by tourist traps.
Brian is always really good with researching maps and transportation so he knew exactly how to get every where we went.
I would've been totally lost without him!
The flight to Italy was unbearable. Rylan must have felt our stress because she refused to go to sleep the night before our trip until 3 AM. We had to be at the airport at 5:30... so yeah.
Rylan did terrible on the first flight. I think she was just scared but she was a pro on the other 3.
She just fell right to sleep.
We purchased tickets with Delta and flew Alitalia to Italy.
I would definitely recommend a red eye flight when flying on an international flight just so you can completely sleep through it.
Flying over the south of France.
After our 22 hour trip, we were exhausted. We took a train to Rome and then from there we took a bullet train to Florence.
*when you arrive to a train station, there will be people: women, men, children, teenagers who will ask if you need "help."
Don't trust these people. They are "gypsies" who will lead you away from the public area and rob you or strip your card when you aren't looking.
Always look for a ticket office and only take assistance to the people in the booths with a uniform.
We arrived to Italy on a holiday, Women's day.
It's a big deal. You have to get reservations to restaurants a month in advance. They give yellow flowers to women. It's really nice.
The first hotel we stayed in was called Hotel Centrale Relais.
It was somewhat close to train station, while still being central.
Florence is only a 15 minute walk across.
After 5 AM, cars are not permitted in the central part of the town.
Florence was seriously the most AMAZING place.
It is safe, romantic, relaxing and beautiful.
Brian would go on walks early in the morning and he said he would love to live there one day.
This was the view from our hotel room.
Every hour the bell tower would play the most beautiful songs.
Luckily, the windows were super sound proof so you could choose if and when you wanted to enjoy them, haha!
Ponte Vecchio was a fun bridge with tons of artisan shops lined along it.
I have honestly never seen so much intricate jewelry all in one place in my entire life.
The whole street sparkled with diamonds.
The Palazzo Vecchio is a popular hangout spot in Florence. It is a huge square where people go to have lunch, listen to music and chat. The square is lined with cafes that serve delicious sandwiches, pastries, hot chocolate and coffee.
Cafe Riviore is a famous place in Florence. It is an absolute must to try a cup of their hot chocolate. It seriously looks like straight up melted chocolate.
YUM!
Brian found this incredible sandwich shop called, All' Antico Vinaio. It's a tiny shop. You pick up a number (you must take a number absolutely EVERYWHERE that you go, or you won't get service... or you'll wait in a line twice.
Brian just ordered a meat and then told them to put in it whatever they thought would be good, which is I guess, the way the shop typically works.
I am not that brave so I chose procioutto (get this everyday in Italy, seriously), mozzarella cheese, olives, arugula, zucchini on ciabatta bread.
$5 for a sandwich bigger than your head and neck. Seriously the most amazing sandwich I have ever had in my entire life!
Alone at last.
Palazzo Vecchio courtyard.
This was a rare site because even though we were there during the end of off season, it was terribly busy. I can't even imagine what it would be like during peak season: Madness!
Palazzo Vecchio.
I seriously wore blouses, flats or heels and dark pants everywhere that I went.
Italians are not fans of casual clothing.
Italians are definitely not slobs.
We went to the Academia and saw the David. We loved it. They also had a display with 13th-19th century instruments. Brian is looking at a 14th century double bass. I can't believe someone played that, it's ginormous!
Brian and I checked out a food and wine festival in one of Florence's many squares.
One thing you need to know if you're traveling to Italy is that shopping there is not fun.
In most of the nicer shops, there is only one shirt, dress, pant, or skirt on the rack. You have a shopping assistant that greets you at the door and follows you EVERYWHERE that you go. If you want to try something on, you show them the dress on the rack and they go in the back and bring your size to the dressing room.
I don't like shopping under supervision. It stresses me out and makes me feel like they are pressuring me to buy so I rarely shopped at all in Italy.
Underneath the Duomo in the crypt.
Inside of the Duomo.
Everything is so intricately detailed.
I really wish that architecture was done as beautifully here as it was there.
It's incredible to think how much time and respect was put into each piece.
I think this was called the tree of life. You take a new candle and light it from the flame of a dying candle so that way the tree is continuously illuminated.
I thought it was a really gorgeous concept.
Outside of the cathedral part of the Duomo. Brian and I would take walks here pretty much every night. It was our most favorite thing to do. We looked forward to it every day.
It was a really incredible way to unwind.
Seriously, have you ever seen something so intensely gorgeous!?!
I can't believe how beautiful this place was. It seriously took my breath away and made me cry to just imagine the artists and architects that built this place.
INSANITY!
Everywhere you go are beautiful stained glass windows.
You could be in one cathedral all day long just studying each and every image depicted.
Brian loved the cherubs so there are plenty of pictures of those.
You feel so minuscule compared to these humongous buildings with vaulted ceilings and pillars that are 6 times the thickness of yourself.
A sweet little old man standing outside of a museum playing music for us patrons.
He was seriously the cutest. He danced, sang, and played adorable Italian songs. And always with a smile on his face.
The lady in the red coat was incredibly creepy and followed me everywhere in Florence for our 4 day stay. Seriously, I kept seeing her everywhere. Probably because Florence is so small, but it was a little unnerving.
Italians motto in life must be "go big or go home." Seriously everything is massive.
Through a recommendation of a friend, we made sure to save one day for Cinque Terre; 5 cities.
It is a coastal town. There is a hike you can take that goes through all of the cities alongside a cliff that overlooks the ocean. Make sure to stop at every pastry shop you can. We were only able to do a small portion of the hike as most of it was closed due to rockslides and flooding. Make sure you leave early in the morning as it takes about 3 hours to get there by train. Once you get to your stop, go inside the station and get a day pass which will give you unlimited access to the 5 cities for a 24 hour period. Our favorite towns were Riomaggiore and Monterosso.
In Monterosso, we found a secret beach and gathered shells. I seriously took a huge ziplock bag home full of Mediterranean rocks.
A view from the coastal hike.
This place was definitely my favorite part of Italy. I would recommend anyone traveling to Italy to stay here. Next time, we definitely plan on staying here for a few days.
Gorgeous!
I want to get this photograph enlarged and put somewhere in our home. I love the bright colors.
It was so beautiful there I could hardly mind the humidity and cold.
This is my favorite picture from the whole trip.
When I look at this picture, I seriously want to teleport myself back there.
Cinque Terre: Heaven.
Touching the Mediterranean Sea.
One of the many highlights of my trip.
This was outside of our hotel room. We were devastated that it was our last night in Florence.
Florence, we will be back!
From Florence, we took a train back to Rome.
I was super sad our first few hours in Rome.
It was just kind of dirty (as most big cities are). I missed the simplicity and quaintness of Florence.
Also, we decided to go grab some food to hold us over until dinner and we stopped by this little pub and it was disgusting.
I seriously want to barf just thinking or writing about it.
Luckily, I had the opera to look forward to.
When Brian and I chose to visit Italy, I decided, hands down, that we needed to go to an Opera.
La Tosca was playing.
My family has always been super involved in the arts.
My grandfather played in an orchestra and I remember going to Operas and Ballets in NY that he was performing at.
When I would take voice lessons and perform in competitions, most of the songs were written in Italian.
If you go to Russia or France you go to a ballet,
so when in Rome...
you go to an Opera.
For Valentine's Day, Brian got us box tickets. There were supposed to be 2 other people sharing it with us but they were either never sold or the people no showed, which was cool because we got the whole place to ourselves!
Outside of the colosseum. After going, Brian stayed up until 3 in the morning watching Gladiator, ha ha!
You need a reservation for EVERYTHING and ANYTHING in Italy or else you risk waiting for hours to get into major tourist attractions.
We had a reservation for 2, and we got there a bit early, so we decided to go to lunch.
Brian suggested we eat at a sit down restaurant, we headed over and they had a super long wait.
So we decided to go to a pizzeria-- ended up being the best thing ever!
We loved the place ( I need to figure out what it was called!)
We ate there 2-3 times during our stay!
Dark, hidden places of the colosseum.
A view from Pallatine Hill.
During our last day in Italy, we decided to go to St. Peters Basillica. It was gorgeous.
We also ate a yummy healthy cafe.
It was a nice break from heavy pasta, steak, chicken etc.
They made the best homemade juice right in front of you.
Gelato everyday, all day.
My favorite combinations of flavors were:
cherry and dark chocolate
raspberry and dark chocolate
dark chocolate and almond
mint and dark chocolate.
if you couldn't tell... I like dark chocolate.
Next time we stay in Italy, we will definitely stay in Spagna.
It is incredibly gorgeous and the hotels are beautiful and elegant.
There is also a lot more to do there than at the hotel we were staying out.
But, the hotel we stayed at was perfect for our trip because it was right across from the opera and a short walk from the train that we needed to take in order to catch our flight early in the morning.
We had an absolutely fabulous time.
My final word of advice is take tons of pictures.
TONS!
Seriously, I felt like I was taking pictures 24/7 but I still wish I would've taken more pictures!
Brian and I are already planning our next trip for 2016!
"Oh the places you'll go!"
