There are three things Kevin and I love to do when we travel to a new European City: Eat, Drink, and Walk. Fortunately for us, walking 10+ miles sightseeing each day helps to offset the massive amounts of food we eat and all the beer and wine we guzzle down. So that’s good news.

I think food is one of the greatest ways to experience a different culture. You don’t have to speak the language to point at something and hold up your fingers to wordlessly ask for two servings. We did our best to get a taste of everything Rome has to offer, from eating flaming pasta flambé to testing out Rome’s burgeoning beer scene. I think we did a pretty decent job for having only three days there.

Read on for the things we most enjoyed eating and drinking in Rome!

The Aperitivo, Italy’s Best Tradition

In Italy, the word aperitivo literally means a pre-dinner drink that is meant to stimulate the appetite. Traditionally, an aperitivo might come with some light snacks like olives or chips. Nowadays, most bars have scaled things WAY up and are offering a full-blown buffet aperitivo. In many Italian bars, you can get an alcoholic drink plus access to their buffet for just 8 to 12 euro! While we didn’t hit up an aperitivo in Florence (they’re everywhere there, too), we did visit two different bars for an aperitivo in Rome.

Rec23 Bar

Located in the trendy Testaccio neighborhood, Rec23 was a great first foray into the aperitivo scene. They have an extensive list of cocktails, which is what drew me here in the first place. I wanted to try the Testaccio Mule, which is their take on the Moscow Mule cocktail made with ginger beer that I fell in love with at a speakeasy-style bar in Kansas City a couple years ago.

The Aperitivo at Rec23 is available daily from 6:30pm to 9pm. Some nights it runs until 10pm. Some nights they have live music! For just 10 Euros, you get a cocktail and unlimited trips to the buffet.

The buffet food definitely fell more in the “bar food” category than the “Italian food” category. That was fine with us since we’d been in Italy for almost two weeks, but you might want to look elsewhere if pasta/pizza is on your must list.

Fafiuché Wine Bar

Fafiuché sits in the Monti neighborhood, not too far from the Roman Forum. Their Aperitivo that runs daily from about 6:30pm to 9pm is just 8 euro! You pick a glass of wine from their extensive wine menu, then get one trip up to the buffet. The food here was decidedly more Italian than at Rec23 – the buffet had lots of little crostini (toasted breads with various toppings and spreads), cheeses and cured meats, plus a few warm dishes, and even a little cake for dessert.

Flaming Pasta at Trattoria Vecchia Roma

Well, we’ve done it. We found a pasta that all future pastas will be measured against. At Trattoria Vecchia Roma, their house specialty Bucatini all’amatriciana Flambé will blow you away. After preparing the pasta, they pour alcohol into a huge pecorino romano bowl, light it on fire (to heat the pecorino bowl up and melt its cheesy innards slightly), then mix the pasta right in the pecorino bowl! It. Is. Amazing. And it was also amazingly delicious.

The servings are enormous at Trattoria Vecchia Roma, so be sure you arrive hungry. I’m not exaggerating – I felt like I would burst at the seams for at least 2 hours after eating, and didn’t feel hungry for 8 hours. The pasta was just too good to leave behind…

We also ordered Spaghetti alla Carbonara, which was VERY good. The bacon they used still makes an appearance in my food dreams every now and then.

The food was SO good and our server was so friendly that I didn’t mind having to pay for the bread they brought to our table without asking. I usually hate it when restaurants in Italy do that. Maybe the half liter of wine we had with our lunch dulled the pain.

Best Gelato in Italy – Gelateria del Teatro

Gelateria del Teatro has great gelato, and they know it. They charge a little extra because it’s so good, but I think it’s totally worth it.

The cherry and cheese flavor BLEW MY MIND. Admittedly, I am a cheesecake lover – my annual request for my birthday is white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake with oreo cookie crust from Cheesecake Factory. (Only 259 days to go until I get it again…) If that cheesecake and vanilla ice cream had a love child, it would be Gelateria del Teatro’s cherry and cheese gelato. I’m salivating at my desk here in Croatia writing this post… We might need to return to Rome solely to get it again.

Rome’s Up and Coming Beer Scene

It has been fun to travel through Europe and learn about beer in each country. Kevin does his best to hit all the top-rated beers everywhere we travel, and Rome was no different. One of my friends recommended a bar named Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fa in the Trastevere neighborhood that has a dozen or so microbrews on tap, so we obviously had to go!

We headed to the bar and were pleasantly surprised at their selection. They had quite a few microbrews from Italy, and even had some harder-to-find sour beers from Belgium. For the bargain basement price of 20 euros (I’m joking, to be clear, I do not consider this a bargain), you can get a big bottle of Belgian Cantillon Lambic. We skipped the hefty price tag and went local on our beer choices.

We also happened past a beer shop named Domus Birrae near Roma Termini station. We popped inside because they had a sign saying they sold homebrew equipment, and we were curious to see what they had. The homebrew section was a bit sad (think stacks of Mr. Beer kits instead of real brewing equipment), but we were SUPER excited to recognize some beers from our neck of the woods:

Kevin’s Life Dream Fulfilled

Westvleteren 12 is widely regarded to be the “best beer in the World”, and is brewed only in small batches by monks at a monastery in Belgium. This beer is notoriously hard to get a hold of because of the rules surrounding sales. It’s supposed to be available only at the brewery in Vleteren, Belgium. Buyers are required to make a reservation ahead of time and show ID because sales are limited to one 24-pack per person every 60 days! In 2013, a limited amount of Westvleteren 12 was shipped to the United States and sold for $100 per 6-pack (crazy, right?!?) to raise money for a new monastery roof.

Lucky for us, Kevin did some internet sleuthing and found a bar in Rome selling this rare beer. Technically it was being sold on the black market. (How do we always get ourselves into these situations?) We’ll take what we can get.

When we arrived to La Boticella in Rome, they had just two bottles left! We paid 15 euro for one, and sat and sipped and savored. Westvleteren beer aside, it was just a cool bar. The owner was excited to talk Seahawks Football with us in spite of the fact that he’s a Steelers fan. (We tried not to hold that against him.)

The owner even told us we could have one of the custom Westvleteren chalices to take home for free! We’re planning to give it a place of honor in our home when we’re back in Seattle.

In the end, we decided that this beer is definitely worth trying if you ever see it anywhere in any bar in the world. Is it worth planning a thousands-of-dollars vacation to Belgium for? No, we don’t think so. But if you ever happen to be in Belgium with a car and some free time, you better go get a case or we’ll never speak to you ever again.

Other “Don’t Miss” Foods in Rome

Tiramisu at Pompi

Pompi is the self-proclaimed Tiramisu King of Italy. They have a handful of locations now, which means service feels more industrial-assembly-line than personal, but DAMN they have a tasty Tiramisu.

The lines reportedly can stretch the whole block during high season, but we were the only ones in their store near Plaza di Spagna in February. Tiramisu will cost you 4 euro at Pompi.

Pizza Bianca at Forno Campo de’ Fiori

For a quick, cheap lunch, Forno Campo de’ Fiori is a great stop. They serve up delicious Pizza Bianca, which is sort of a naked pizza. If pizza dough and focaccia had a baby and topped it with salt and olive oil, it would be something like Pizza Bianca. It sounds simple but MAN is it delicious! They serve several types with toppings, too – we had the tomato mozzarella and the zucchini varieties. (Zucchini was the surprise winner!)

They also have sweet pastries and other types of breads. You really can’t go wrong here.

We Want to Hear From You!

Writing this post has made me want to return to Rome immediately. Have you been to Rome? Did you enjoy the food? Leave us a comment and let us know where we should eat or drink on our next visit!

In my previous blog post announcing that we’re heading home in May, I talked a little bit about how long-term traveling can sort of turn you into an asshole. It can make you stop appreciating the fact that the ruins you’re seeing are thousands of years old. Cathedrals start to blend together, you stop caring as much about the history of the sights you’re seeing, and you start to feel kind of like a jerk about not appreciating your travels.

We hit peak travel fatigue in Rome, epicenter of old-ass Roman shit. We spent just 3 nights there, which I think was enough for one trip. It would be so easy to spend a whole week there and totally wear yourself out with sightseeing – I think it’s better to bite off a small chunk of Rome and savor it.

Even still, we found ourselves getting pretty fatigued Sightseeing in Rome. It is a huge behemoth of a city – we walked over 10 miles each day, maxing out at 14 miles one day! To keep our sanity, we started joking about all the old-ass Roman shit surrounding us everywhere, which is where this blog post gets its name. Don’t get me wrong, we LOVED Rome and loved visiting all of its wonderful sights; we just also happen to need jokes to get us over the tourist-fatigue-hump.

We barely made a dent on Rome, but tried to hit all the most major sights. I know I’ve raved about Rick Steves’ Guidebooks in my blog posts before, but I think there’s probably no city where you’ll be happier to have a Steves’ book in hand than Rome. I hope you enjoy this old-ass Roman shit as much as we did.

The Pantheon

It’s not often anymore that an ancient site leaves me so awestruck that my jaw hits the ground and I’m at a loss for words. That is exactly what happened when we rounded a corner in Rome and the massive Pantheon came into view. There’s something incredibly magical about seeing something in real life that you’ve spent your entire life looking at just in photos. In person, the Pantheon was even more impressive than I could’ve imagined.

Because the Pantheon is free, it can sometimes be absolutely packed with a wait to even go inside! Lucky for us, we visited in February. Thank heavens for low season and small crowds.

The Pantheon was originally a Roman temple dedicated to all (pan) gods (theos), hence the name Pantheon. The structure we know today as the Pantheon was built here around A.D. 120 on the site where the original older temple (built all the way back in 27 B.C., holy smokes) once stood.

The Pantheon’s Dome was the model for the Florence’s Duomo’s famous dome, which launched the Renaissance and inspired all domes built afterwards, including St. Peter’s Basilica and the dome of the US Capitol Building.

The Colosseum

We unexpectedly walked past the Colosseum in the dark on our way home from dinner our first night in Rome. I can’t get over how small these Roman sights make me feel. Their sheer enormity makes me feel itty bitty, but the impressive design and crazy history makes me wonder what dent I’ll leave on history. I better get cracking on my legacy, I guess.

The Colosseum is almost 2,000 years old! It was built at the peak of the Roman Empire in A.D. 80, and is an impressive representation of the feats that Roman Engineers were able to achieve during that time.

We learned that the Colosseum’s real name is “The Flavian Amphitheater”; tuck that one away in your brains for trivia nights in the future. Back in the day when killing was a spectator sport, it could hold up to 50,000 screaming Romans.

The Colosseum has been damaged over the years. Earthquakes caused some of this damage, but mostly pieces were lost during the Middle Ages and Renaissance when huge chunks of stones were scavenged and carted away to build other buildings. In fact, only 1/3 of the original Colosseum structure remains, the rest has been restored.

Traveler Tips: It costs 12 euro to get into the Colosseum, but that same ticket gets you into the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. If you’re traveling in high season, it’s a good idea to go online and purchase your tickets in advance so you can skip the line. We hear that in high season the Colosseum is much less crowded in the afternoons when the temperature is at its hottest. In February, we showed up in the morning without reservations and had to wait about 25 minutes to go inside. If the line is really long, head over to The Roman Forum, where the line is usually shorter to buy tickets! See the Forum first, then come to the Colosseum and use the same ticket to enter later.

The Roman Forum

This is it, the epicenter of old-ass Roman shit. This is where Rome was born and bred, the place where all the magic happened It was the political, religious, and commercial center of Rome. According to my Rick Steves’ guidebook, it’s “arguably the most important piece of real estate in Western civilization.” Armed with my Kindle, we followed Rick’s walking tour through the Roman Forum.

First we saw the impressive Arch of Titus, with a less than happy background story. The arch commemorates the Romans’ victory over Judaea (Israel) in A.D. 70. They enslaved and brought back 50,000 Jews and forced them to build this arch and the Colosseum.

I also thought that the Temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina (built in A.D. 138-161) had an interesting backstory, too. After Rome’s downfall, many of the buildings here in the Forum were pillaged and scavenged to build other new structures elsewhere in Rome. In the photo below, you can see diagonal cuts on the columns, marks left by an unsuccessful attempt to use rope and vinegar to cut through the columns and take them away!

The Temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina was used as a church starting in 1550, during the time of Michelangelo. The green door was actually at street level during those days! Excavations in the 1800s revealed the lower staircase.

While at the Forum, we also learned the interesting story about the Vestal Virgins. These women were selected at the young age of 10 to hold this prestigious position, and were responsible for keeping the sacred flame in the Temple of Vesta burning at all times. It was considered an honor to be selected to be a Vetsal Virgin – they were highly regarded by all Romans and even had their own private box at the Colosseum. The Virgins were required to serve a 30-year term. If they served faithfully, they received a huge dowry and could marry. If they didn’t live up to the Virgin name, they would be ridiculed in a parade (strapped to a funeral car, no less) then buried alive! Usually, the no-longer-a-virgin was given a loaf of bread and a candle before they locked her down in the crypt. I can’t decide if that makes it more or less torturous?

Somewhere near the Arch of Septemius Severus (pictured below with Kevin), we realized that J.K. Rowling pulled a bunch of names for Harry Potter characters out of Roman History. The other name we recognized in the books is Remus. In roman mythology, Remus was abandoned by his mother, then rescued and raised by a she-wolf. (Now it makes perfect sense that Remus was the name of a werewolf in Harry Potter.)

I can’t even fathom how long ago 497 B.C. was – it’s hard to get a grip on how old this stuff is.

The Vatican Museum

Kevin and I aren’t huge museum people. But knowing that the Vatican Museum is one of the top handful of museums in all of Europe, we knew it was a mandatory stop. We heard that 3pm is the least crowded time to go (it closes at 6pm), and when we showed up at that time there was absolutely no line whatsoever to get in! Victory!

Sadly, no photos are allowed of the Sistine Chapel. Here is a consolation photo of Raphael’s School of Athens Fresco:

Some of our other favorite photos from the Museum:

Our favorite part was the hall of statues next to the courtyard. I like to come up with creative things that the statues could be thinking, based on their body positions and facial expressions. I captioned some of the photos below with some of my ideas…

And now the word is out. Kevin and I go to museums and spend our time giggling at the statues. Can you believe we’re full fledged adults?!

St. Peter’s Basilica

After hitting up the Vatican Museum, we took the secret hallway out of the Sistine Chapel over to St. Peter’s Basilica. This exit is marked “groups only”, so we tagged along with a tour. I should tell you that the tour was an African American group from the States, and it’s possible that we stuck out, slightly. It actually was sort of hilarious, but the guards let us right past anyway.

St. Peter’s is billed as the most impressive church on Earth, and it’s the largest church in the world. It is absolutely massive, with an incredible dome, an impossibly ornate Altar by Bernini, and it even has its own Michelangelo sculpture. St. Peter’s is so big that birds roost inside; in addition to the birds, it can hold up to 60,000 standing people during worship services!

Rome’s Many Piazzas

One of the best things about Rome is just walking around the city exploring its many different Piazzas. Each one has a completely different vibe. Some have open air markets, some have street vendors and musicians, and some have protests and riots, but all of them are great places for people watching!

Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps

Piazza di Spagna is just a great place to hang out. Its famous Spanish Steps are one of the best spots in Rome to grab a takeaway Gelato and do some serious people watching.

Perched on the steps, you’ll get to watch the locals hang out and chain smoke and you’ll also have a fun view of the Sinking Boat Fountain.

If you’re unlucky, you may stumble upon a footbol-game-induced riot near the Spanish Steps. When we walked through Piazza di Spagna after the football riots on February 19th, the ground was sticky with beer and covered with broken beer bottles, and the beautiful fountain was completely trashed:

Piazza Navona

This square was originally a racetrack in A.D. 80! It’s fun to stand in the square and imagine chariot races that happened here so many years ago. In the 1800s, Rome would flood this square with water to cool off the neighborhood – isn’t that nuts?! Today, Piazza Navona is home to the massive Four Rivers Fountain, and is filled with cafes, artists, and street musicians.

Campo de’ Fiori

Easily my favorite piazza in all of Rome was Campo de’ Fiori, which literally means Field of Flowers. This neighborhood has a much more bohemian vibe than other areas of Rome, which probably has a lot to do with centuries of unplanned urban development in this area. The charming ramshackle buildings make a fun backdrop for the square – some are even built right into the old outer wall of ancient Rome’s Theater of Pompey!

Aside from the hodgepodge buildings, this neighborhood is also known for being free spirited, and it’s not out of the ordinary to come across anti-authoritarian protests. In fact, there was a demonstration near the Giordano Bruno statue when we first visited!

Campo de’ Fiori also has a produce market in the mornings, and there are always flower vendors around!

Piazza del Popolo

Do you feel like watching the sun set over St. Peter’s Basilica? Head over to the viewpoint at Piazza del Popolo for the best views in town:

Other Rome Sights

The Trevi Fountain

I’ve been raving about traveling during low season. Want to know why it’s sometimes a bummer to be here in February? Take one look at the Trevi fountain and you’ll know:

Church of San Luigi dei Francesi

If you’re into churches or art, this freebie is definitely worth the stop! The Church of San Luigi dei Francesi is near Piazza Navona and has a beautiful interior. There are frescoes painted by Domenichino, but the church is most famous for its Baroque paintings by Caravaggio.

We Want to Hear from You!

Have you visited Rome? What was your favorite site? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Kevin and I have learned in our travels that we definitely prefer sightseeing that involves being outside. Nothing makes me cranky like spending hours at a museum that is dimly lit and packed full of tourists. In fact, on the rare occasions when we DO visit a museum, we spend a couple hours researching online to figure out the least busy time to visit. Also, we never go to a museum without an emergency chocolate bar on hand. What can I say? We know ourselves very well now.

So we were excited about a couple day-trip-worthy destinations within a stone’s throw of Florence that were entirely outdoor affairs. Pisa, home of the iconic Leaning Tower, is definitely worth the trip. The other destination we visited was Lucca, a charming little town surrounded by an entirely intact medieval wall.

There are other Day Trips from Florence we would’ve liked to do, like a visit to Siena or a trip down to Orvieto, but we decided to avoid charming-medieval-town-fatigue and hit those on a trip in the future. Plus, we’d love to come back in the fall to see Tuscany when the trees are starting to show their Autumn colors!

Pisa: More than Just a Tower

Contrary to what I’ve thought my entire life, Pisa is SO much more than just its Learning Tower! If you have the time, consider spending a night in Pisa like we did. We arrived late in the evening, had a nice dinner, and were able to visit the Leaning Tower in the morning before all the tour busses and huge groups arrived at around noon. It was amazing how much busier things were at noon than they were at just 11am! Totally worth the overnight to avoid the crowds.

In addition to crowd avoidance, staying overnight lets you give the city the time it deserves. The beautiful Arno River runs right through Pisa, and has a river promenade that is perfect for a relaxing stroll.

If you happen to be in Pisa on a Sunday, the streets will likely be lined with lots of people selling crafts and homemade goods!

Pisa is a fun city to explore and get lost in, and had so much more character than I expected:

While you’re in Pisa, though, you MUST visit the iconcic, touristy Leaning Tower of Pisa. The Tower is part of a much bigger complex called the Field of Miracles, which also consists of a beautiful Duomo (Cathedral), a Baptistry, a hospital-turned-museum, and the Camposanto Cemetery. (Fun fact: the Tower is actually the Duomo’s bell tower!)

The only site at the Field of Miracles that you can enter for free is the Duomo. It’s totally worth having a peek:

It costs a whopping 18 euro to climb the Leaning Tower. We didn’t go up because I think the outside is pretty darn impressive itself. Be warned, you should definitely reserve Tower tickets online a couple weeks in advance if you want to do the climb. Without reservations, you reportedly might have to wait up to 3 hours in peak Summer season to go in!

Unbeknownst to me, the Tower has an incredibly interesting backstory. It was built over two centuries by at least three different architects. Construction was first started back in 1173. Just five years later, construction on the Tower’s base and first level arcade was finishing up when someone said, “Um guys, do you think the Tower is leaning?”.

Turns out that some genius thought a 13-foot deep foundation would be sufficient for the behemoth Tower, but boy were they wrong! The marshy, unstable soil at the Field of Miracles proved to be a challenge to all of its buildings. The Baptistry and Cathedral both have noticeable leans, as well.

Undaunted by the Tower’s noticeable lean, construction continued until the first four stories were finished. After that, construction was mysteriously halted for 100 years. Around 1272, another architect gave things a go, making an effort to correct the lean by angling the next three stories away from the Tower’s lean direction. This was apparently not a winning effort, because the Tower again sat idle for almost another century.

Finally, the last architect to work on the project, Tommaso Pisano, built a belfry on the top, again kinking it even further away from the direction of the Tower’s lean. The Tower was finally completed, but its lean was getting worse every year. Efforts to stop the lean were ongoing for hundreds of years until 1550 when efforts to reinforce the base kept the Tower’s lean from increasing any further.

Unfortunately, in 1838, engineers made a huge mistake and destabilized the tower when they were pumping out groundwater under the Field of Miracles. The Tower’s lean began to accelerate once again, and the beautiful structure was in jeopardy. In 1990, the problem was solved once and for all. It was closed for repairs, and a whopping $30 million was spent on restoration. Several unsuccessful attempts were made to halt the lean: engineers tried drying the soil with steam pipes (with no luck), used steel cables to anchor the Tower to the ground (nope), and even buried 600 tons of lead on one side of the tower as a counterweight to stop the lean (still no success).

Finally, the engineers tried sucking out 60 tons of soil from under one side of the Tower, which allowed it to sink further into its correct position and decrease its lean. I can picture the conversations between engineers on the soil-sucking day: “You double checked the math, right?” “Yes, but perhaps we should stand back.”

With a price tag of $30 million just for recent repairs alone, I can start to understand why it costs so much to go inside.

The history of the Tower is pretty neat, but honestly I think the best part of seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa is taking out-of-context photos of people who are doing the classic I’m-propping-the-tower-up-with-my-hands pose. Here’s a gallery of some of my favorite photos doing just that (click to enlarge):

Have you been to see Pisa’s leaning tower? Are you in one of my spoof photos? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Lucca: Italy’s Most Impressive Fortress City

Lucca is a small, quaint, unassuming town in Tuscany. Without any one big draw, it doesn’t get a ton of tourist action. But the reason you travel to Lucca is to relax, take in the beautiful scenery, enjoy the cute old buildings (which are surprisingly intact, because this city has never been bombed), and walk its impressive medieval wall.

We took the short train ride from Florence to Lucca, and walked into town. First, we had to cross a formidable moat:

Arguably the most fun thing to do in Lucca is walk its wall. It’s a short 2.5-mile-long walk, and the views you earn are gorgeous. Some photos from our wall walk:

After walking the wall and getting your bearings, it’s fun to just explore the cute winding streets of the old city area inside the wall. You’ll stumble onto a different church every few blocks, wander past bakeries and gelaterias, and see lots of cute little stores.

And of course, any trip to Lucca isn’t complete without sampling some foods that are hard to find anywhere else in Italy. First, we tried Cecina, a garbanzo bean crepe-like baked concoction. It was super cheesy, greasy, and starchy. Exactly what I’ve come to expect in a European snack.

Lucca’s other specialty is Buccellato, a sweet bread with raisins and anise flavoring. As they say, “Coming to Lucca without eating the buccellato is like not having come at all!” So try it we did.

We Want to Hear From You!

What is your favorite little town in Italy? Lucca? Orvieto? Pisa? Siena? Leave us a comment to let us know!

We spent nine indulgent nights in Florence, Italy. I thought we spoiled ourselves in Spain and Portugal, but we set the bar at a whole new level in Florence. Between the wine, pastries, cheeses, gelato, breads, pastas, and the Chocolate Fair (yes, there was a CHOCOLATE FAIR in town during our stay!), we may have gone a little overboard.

Here’s a rundown at some of our escapades in Florence. (Disclaimer: I’m not responsible if this blog post causes chocolate cravings, induces carb binges, or makes you want to open that bottle of Chianti midday.)

We Ate and Ate and Ate.

We had a lot of great food in Florence. We learned we don’t really care for truffles (truffle fungus, not truffle chocolates, of course!), we fell deeply in love with Buffalo Mozzarella, and we learned how good a sandwich can really be.

I didn’t get a picture of it, but if you’re ever in Italy and see bite-sized Buffalo Mozzarella balls (Mozzarella di Bufala in Italian) at a grocery store in Italy, BUY THEM. It’s probably the best cheese I’ve had in my life. We just ate it plain from the container; it was so good I couldn’t bear to taint it by combining it with anything else!

That’s enough of that. On to more food!

A Religious Experience at Due Sorsi & Un Boccone

If you’re reading this from Florence, stop what you’re doing, put down your computer, and go get a sandwich from Due Sorsi & Un Boccone. Now. Do it!

We tried out Due Sorsi & Un Boccone (which is Italian for “Two Sips and a Bite”) because it was recommended in Rick Steves’ Italy Guidebook. We usually take Rick’s restaurant recommendations with a boulder of salt, but this time he really hit it out of the park. The service is incredibly friendly, the sandwiches are incredibly tasty, and the prices are super affordable!

Located a couple blocks North of Florence’s Duomo, this spot is pretty much on the way to anything. All their sandwiches are just €3,50, and you can get a class of wine for just €1! All their sandwiches come on Schiacciate Bread, which is pretty much just flattened focaccia. It’s like eating a little slice of heaven.

Best Pizza of our lives at Gusta Pizza

This is a big claim, but I’m ready to say it. We had the best pizza of our lives in Florence. We ventured into Gusta Pizza and each managed to take down an entire pizza and big glass of wine. Kevin practically had to carry me home because I was so full.

Desserts

Cannoli is not common in Tuscany – it’s much more of a Southern Italy thing. Luckily, Kevin is ridiculously proficient when it comes to Google Searches, and managed to find a place where we could get our Cannoli fix. Carabe Gelateria serves up fresh made-to-order Cannoli that is out of this world.

In Italy, there’s a gelateria everywhere you turn, even in February. We tried a few different places, but were impressed by the serving sizes and variety of flavors at Gelateria de Neri.

We also happened to be in town during Florence’s Chocolate fair:

We Looked at Naked Men. I Mean Naked Statues.

This one’s more of an indulgence for the ladies. I’m going to go out on a limb and say Florence probably has the highest density of nude male statues of any city in the world. Combine the nude statues with plenty of wine and tasty food and you’ve got a world class city, in my opinion.

We Saw Florence’s Sights.

Contrary to what you might think at this point, we saw more in Florence than nude statues.

The Duomo

Florence’s Duomo has a fun claim-to-fame. Its famous Renaissance dome by Brunelleschi was the first of its kind and became a model for all domes to follow (including the US Capitol building). The Duomo was built before the technology existed to build such a dome, so a huge gaping hole was left in the ceiling! The confident Italians were not deterred, though. They knew someone would come along and figure it out. Luckily, Brunelleschi came along and got ‘er done!

The Duomo is decidedly more impressive viewed from the outside than from within. Since we visited in February there were absolutely no lines to get in so we headed inside for a quick peek. However, if the line is long, you should know that it’s totally skippable!

Orsanmichele Church

This church is clearly the underdog of Florence’s church scene. It was originally built in 1337 and used as a grain market! It wasn’t until 1380 that its conversion to a church began. The outside is home to copies of many famous statues, if that’s your jam. The inside is a lot more fun to look at than the interior of the Duomo – you can still see chutes in the wall where grain used to be poured in, and it has a pretty impressive altar. Plus, it’s free and never crowded!

Piazzalle Michelangelo Viewpoint

For the best views and a good workout, hike up to Piazzale Michelangelo. It’s a pretty decent slog uphill, but you’re rewarded with sweeping views of Florence. There’s even a couple places to get gelato at the top.

The Ponte Vecchio Bridge

The Ponte Vecchio deserves its reputation as Florence’s most famous bridge for its backstory as well as for its oddball appearance.

Originally, butcher shops lined the bridge and the river became a handy (but super smelly) place for them to toss their garbage. in 1565, the royal Medici family built an enclosed passage over the bridge to use for their daily commute between their Pitti Palace and their offices in the Palazzo Vecchio. (Tough commute, AMIRITE?!) The Medici family didn’t care for the smell caused by the butchers, so they pushed them out in favor of ritzy jewelry shops like the ones that line the bridge today.

The coolest part of the Ponte Vecchio’s story, though, is from WWII. All of Florence’s bridges were destroyed by the Germans in 1944 except for the Ponte Vecchio! Rumor has it that the bridge was specifically ordered to be saved by Hitler himself. He was so fond of the bridge that he couldn’t bear for his troops to destroy it; instead, they used debris to obstruct both entrances and prevent access, but did not destroy the bridge itself.

We Went on a Wine Tour Where the Company Stated That Their Goal Was to Get Us Drunk.

We went on a Tuscany Wine Tour called the Grape Escape. If that isn’t the greatest name for a wine tour in the world, I don’t know what is. This tour is geared towards people in their 20’s and 30’s, and we were informed upon our arrival that the whole point of booking a wine tour is so you have a driver and can drink as much as you want. So far so good! So drank we did.

Our small group of five loaded up into a van with our nice driver and headed out into the Tuscan countryside to the heart of the Chianti region. First stop was Tenuta Torciano, a winery that also produces olive oils and balsamic vinegars.

Next stop was San Gimignano, the most adorable, most picturesque town I’ve visited. It’s a ridiculously well preserved medieval town perched on a hilltop, surrounded by vineyards and lush countryside. Fourteen of its original medieval towers are still standing, and the winding streets are so cute it’ll make your chest ache. (Pro tip: never visit San Gimignano in the high season, when it is reportedly packed to the gills with tourists. It was delightfully empty in February!)

Fun fact: one couple on our wine tour was from the US, and we later ran into them in the Colosseum in Rome! Small world.

Last stop of the day was Fattoria Poggio Alloro, a farm/winery/olive-oilery/B&B just a couple kilometers from San Gimignano. This may have been our best stop solely because of the view:

It was also a fun stop because the tour guide was so nice and low key and down to earth, which isn’t always easy to find in a winery. We don’t know a whole lot about wine, and I appreciate it when people don’t give me attitude because of that.

If you’re in Florence for a few days, we think that The Grape Escape Tour is definitely worth its 50 euro price tag. We toyed with the idea of assembling a tour ourselves using public transit, which would’ve been a disaster.

We Had the Most Oddball Valentine’s Celebration Ever.

Have you ever celebrated Valentine’s Day by going to a church for a Vespers service (entirely in Latin) with Gregorian Chant Singing? We have! We hiked up to San Miniato al Monte Church, perched on Florence’s hilltop above Piazzale Michelangelo. They have Vespers services every evening with Gregorian chanting, usually around 5:30pm.

It was fun and eerie walking around inside the dark church with the chants emanating all around us:

We Saw a Sunset in Fiesole.

If you have time in Florence, take ATAF Bus #7 up to Fiesole. The ride is only 15-20 minutes, but you get incredible views over the whole city of Florence! Plus, sometimes it’s just nice to get out of the city and walk around in a small town.

Hike up to the viewpoint near La Reggia restaurant, where you’ll find the cute, simple little Church of San Francesco.

We Regretted our Airbnb Choice.

We happened to find a pretty cute little Airbnb in a great location. Those are the only nice things I can say about it. Let it be known, if you have an aversion to smoke, it is a terrible idea to gamble that a smoking-allowed Airbnb apartment “won’t be that bad”. It finally aired out after a few days, but we wished we hadn’t made that mistake. Lesson learned!