Anna's Adventures

Did you know that Florence is considered the art capital of the world? If you didn’t, now you do! We loved learning about the arts, and the history in Florence. It’s also a very walkable city, so it was easy to get around. We did find the city to have a lot of college aged students around so if you are looking for a quieter destination, just keep that in mind.

OUR TRIP TO FLORENCE, ITALY

We traveled to Florence from Venice by train. I think train travel is my favorite way to go! Florence ended up being our second stop in Italy on our honeymoon tour. We also visited London, Paris, Venice, and Rome. Once we arrived in Florence, we went straight to our hotel to check-in, and drop our stuff off before we went out to explore the city.

The first thing we did was go to the il Mercato Centrale Firenze. This is an indoor market with a handful of food vendors. It was pretty crowded inside so we grabbed a sandwich to go, and went on our way. Right outside of the building was a leather market, so we looked around a little but it honestly felt kind of scammy, so we left empty handed.

Our first day was really just us walking around to get a lay of the land. We did stumble across a cafe that ended up being one of our favorite places on our honeymoon trip. We seriously couldn’t get enough of Caffè Gilli. We loved that we could just pop in for sweet treat and some coffee. I think we ate our weight in the tiramisu and the maritozzi.

We walked over to Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence. The sun was setting and the view of Florence and the Arno river was just absolutely beautiful. We decided to explore a little more before we headed to our dinner reservation.

Our dinner reservation was at Antico Ristorante Paoli 1827. This restaurant is the oldest restaurant in Florence. They are famously known for their Bistecca alla Fiorentina, also known as grilled steak. They greeted us with complimentary champagne which added a nice touch to our evening. We ordered the meatballs as an appetizer, and of course the bistecca all Fiorentina for dinner. The steak basically melted in your mouth. It was incredibly delicious.

The next morning we decided to sleep in a little. We didn’t get out of the hotel until lunch time and decided to try a local sandwich shop, Pino’s Sandwiches. These sandwiches were so good, and really hit the spot. You could tell they really loved the students around the area as they had so many collegiate flags throughout the building. It was really sweet, and made us feel right at home.

We booked skip the line tickets for the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze, and it was well worth the extra few bucks. We explored the museum, and saw the famous Michelangelo’s statue of David, took some photos and ended back up at Caffè Gilli for a pick me up!

After our little sweet treat at Caffè Gilli, we headed over to the Opera del Duomo Museum to meet our tour guide. We love booking a tour guide when visiting a new city. We find it very informational to learn from a local. It’s also really fun to be with other people that are visiting. You get to know them, and if you see them outside of the tour, it’s nice to see a familiar face. Inside of the Opera del Duomo Museum is a bunch of artifacts from the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.

After about an hour or so exploring the Opera del Duomo Museum, we headed over to see the inside of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. This is the third largest church in the world, and it’s famously known for its dome. The inside of the church was absolutely incredible. Right next to the cathedral is Giotto’s Bell Tower. The top of the bell tower is around 415 steps, and it’s pretty narrow going up. This was probably the most memorable experience for us, and we laughed at each other all the way to the top. The view of the duomo was awesome!

Our tour ended at Giotto’s Bell Tower, so we decided to go back to Ponte Vecchio to shop for some gold! Since Florence is known for its goldsmiths and local jewelry stores, we decided to see if we could find anything we wanted to take home. We ended up at Gioielleria Matassini, a local jewelry store that has been around since 1923. The family running the store was so nice to us, and they helped us find the perfect something to commemorate our honeymoon trip by.

For dinner we went to a restaurant called Giotto Pizzeria Firenze. It’s only right that we try at least one pizza place in every city we visit. My husband ordered an appetizer for us and we didn’t realize it had octopus in it. You can imagine how surprised we were when we took a big bite of tentacles. Honestly, the taste wasn’t bad but oh my, it was chewy and we just couldn’t do it. Our mistake. Haha! We spilt a bottle of Chianti, and ordered some pizzas. The carbonara pizza was my favorite. We walked back to our hotel and sat in the garden for a little bit before calling it a night.

WHERE WE STAYED: FLORENCE, ITALY

We booked the Hotel Regency, which is part of the Small Luxury Hotel collection. They offered an intercontinental breakfast each morning, and our room was nice. The only minor problem we had with this hotel was that the air conditioning did not work at night, so we did have to get a fan brought into our room as it was quite hot in evening. Other than that little inconvenience, the hotel was extremely well kept and a great place to stay.

MUST SEE: FLORENCE, ITALY

• Ponte Vecchio – The oldest bridge in Florence! Also where the gold district is located.
• Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze – Home of the iconic statue of David.
• Opera del Duomo Museum – A museum of artifacts from the Cathedral.
• Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore – The 3rd largest church in the world.
• Giotto’s Bell Tower – The cathedral’s bell tower with 360 views of Florence.
• Gioielleria Matassini – A family owned jewelry store in Ponte Vecchio.

MUST EAT: FLORENCE, ITALY

• il Mercato Centrale Firenze – An indoor market with a bunch of food vendors.
• Caffè Gilli – The best place for a sweet treat!
• Antico Ristorante Paoli 1827 – The oldest restaurant in Florence, famously known for their steak.
• Pino’s Sandwiches – A locally family owned sandwich shop.
• Giotto Pizzeria Firenze – A pizzeria that’s on the top 50 list for best pizza in the world.