Florence — Blog — The Towering Travelers

In 2014, Jason and I visited Italy on our first international trip together, and when we took a day trip out into Tuscany, he said he wanted to come back someday and stay there for a week with friends. Eight years later, with friends we hadn't yet met, we fulfilled that dream.

On a whim last fall, during a boozy brunch with new friends, we booked a surprisingly cheap villa outside of Lucca for a week in June. To everyone's surprise, eight months later we actually went.

Everyone got to Lucca in various ways - some spent a couple of days in New York and then London, some just went to London first, and a few of us went to Rome for a day before taking the train north. We stayed by the Trevi Fountain, which had been wrapped up and under construction the last time Jason and I were in the city, so we finally got to see it. We also enjoyed a visit to the Roman Forum and our favorite spot in the city, the Orange Garden.

A photo of the Trevi Fountain from the side, with a view of the crowd — The crowd at the Trevi Fountain (photo/Jason Rafal)

Black and white photo of the inside of the Pantheon's roof — The roof of the Pantheon (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of two buildings in Rome, one yellow and one red — Some of the buildings near our hotel in Rome (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a narrow street in Rome with outdoor restaurant tables — Narrow streets in Rome (photo/Jason Rafal)

A close up photo of one side of the Colosseum — The Colosseum against a cloudy sky (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of the view along the wall of the Orange Garden, with the Rome skyline in the distance — Along the wall at the Orange Garden (photo/Jason Rafal)

Close-up photo of a face whose mouth is a fountain — One of the amazing fountains in Rome (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo looking up an apartment wall covered in thick ivy — A green wall (photo/Jason Rafal)

The Roman Forum, somewhat under construction (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a narrow street in Lucca, with a tall arch connecting two buildings — The view down a Roman street (photo/Jason Rafal)

We weren't quite sure what to expect when we got to the villa, since it had looked amazing in pictures but we were still skeptical of the price, but it was amazing. Five bedrooms, most of them with their own bathrooms and sitting areas, and a large kitchen and dining room greeted us. There was a second kitchen outside, as well as a grill and pizza oven, a greenhouse dining room, and a pool.

Photo of a building with mostly glass walls in front of a tall blue house at sunset — The view of our villa from the backyard (photo/Nicole Harrison)

One of our first excursions was to the Villa Reale di Marlia, which was a large, stately house surrounded by incredible grounds and gardens. If you’re ever in Marlia (for some reason?) I think all of us would highly recommend it.

Photo of a very old building with open windows and a rock tiled floor — One of the beautiful views on the grounds of the Villa Reale di Marlia (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of the villa group between two high hedges with a clock tower in the background — The villa group at Villa Reale di Marlia (photo/some random guy)

The group also did a cooking class that focused on pasta. Everything was delicious, and the surrounding winery was beautiful as well.

Photo of a hand kneading pasta dough — Making pasta dough (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a person putting greenish white ravioli filling onto a strip of pasta — Filling the ravioli (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a person running a strip of pasta through a pasta machine — Making the pasta (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of three piles of fresh pasta — Finished pasta (photo/Jason Rafal)

On one of the days, we made an excursion to the town of Lucca, about 20 minutes from where we were staying. It’s a very cute town that features completely intact city walls from the Renaissance era. The top of the wall around the town has been made into a park with lots of trees for shade and a path around the parameter for walking, running, and biking.

The view down one of Lucca’s old, narrow streets (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a fountain with two humanoid statues in the foreground, and more statues behind the fountain — In the beautiful gardens of the Palazzo Pfanner in Lucca (photo/Jason Rafal)

Later in the week, we headed for Cinque Terre. In a day that featured a variety of transportation options, we drove to La Spezia, then took a train to Riomaggiore, then took a ferry to Manarola. The towns are absolutely beautiful - brightly painted houses against a coastline of clear blue Mediterranean water.

Photo of pink flowers with the buildings of Riomaggiore in the background — Looking back at the coast in Riomaggiore (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo looking away from the ocean over the buildings of Riomaggiore — Looking out across Riomaggiore (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a cat laying on the ground with an old wall in the background — A cat lounging in the town (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of the colorful buildings of Riomaggiore along the coastline — The buildings of Riomaggiore (photo/Jason Rafal)

In Manarola, we went swimming and cliff jumping (with various levels of difficulty - the part I was jumping off of was more like a large rock than a cliff, but some of the bravest in our party jumped off the top part of the rocks in the photo below). It was the first time in the Mediterranean, and after I got over the initial shock of the amount of salt (the sea is about 10% saltier than the Pacific), I loved the perfect temperature and the ease of treading water.

Photo of a cove with swimmers and people jumping off of cliffs into the water — The cliff jumping area at Manarola (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of Manarola with the swimming cove in the foreground — Manarola (photo/Jason Rafal)

On our last day in Italy, some of us left and the rest spent some time wandering around Florence. We saw the Duomo, which is always amazing, spent some time shopping at Ponte Vecchio, and walked through some of the Uffizi (we were too overwhelmed to do the whole thing). Jason and I loved Florence the first time we visited, and even though it was a bit too full of tourists this time for our liking, it was wonderful to get to spend time there again.

Photo of buildings at the Duomo — Some of the beautiful tile work at the Duomo (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of an old wall cutting through Florence with dense green trees on either side — The view along the wall from the Piazzale Michelangelo (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of the Ponte Vecchio bridge with the Florence skyline in the background — Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a full-wall painting of Tuscany specifically showing the sea monsters detailed in the sea — The sea monsters detailed in a full-wall painting of the area in the Uffizi (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a close up of part of a statue that features a goose holding up some cloth, with two crossed legs in the background — And excellent goose in the Uffizi (photo/Jason Rafal)

Italy was our first trip out of the U.S. in two and a half years, and it set the bar high for future group vacations. It was wonderful to just hang out somewhere new, eat cheap and delicious produce, struggle with language barriers, and spend time with friends escaping the heat in the pool. Until next time, Italy.

Photo of nine people on one side of a long table recreating the Last Supper — One last group photo (photo/Jason Rafal)

We departed Rome and took the train to Florence. It was a high-speed train, which was pretty great, and it only took us about an hour and a half to get there. The Italian countryside between them was, of course, lovely. As we went north, the clouds came down and the rain started again. The train internet was the fastest I’ve seen in Italy, so I took the opportunity to post a few blogs.

A rainy train ride (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Let me just effuse about Florence for a minute. I’m already in love with Florence. It’s almost absurdly beautiful, with its little streets of shops and picturesque river. Just wandering around, I came across several beautiful old buildings and piazzas. It’s also a bit less hectic than Rome, which is a nice change. Really, just lovely. Come to Florence.

We spent much of our first day in Florence trying to decide what we wanted to do in Florence. We figured that out, had two incredible meals, and did some shopping. Overall, a very pleasant day.

Ponte Vecchio (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Palazzo Vecchio (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Tuesday promised to be less rainy, so after sleeping in a bit, we wandered. We walked down across the river again and headed toward the Giardino di Boboli. We bought tickets and walked through the garden, which was massive, hilly, and had dozens of paths that seemingly arbitrarily happened across statues and other works of art that were scattered throughout. There was also a fountain gate guarded by statues of the wind and goats, which I appreciated. It was lovely and green and damp-smelling, and all in the middle of a city.

The Florence Cathedral (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A statue in the Giardino di Boboli (Photo/Jason Rafal)

For lunch, we stopped by the Piazza San Spirito and had far too much food and a bottle of wine. I wanted to try the vegetable soup, so I ordered a small soup as well as a regular-sized pasta dish. The soup was huge (I have no idea how big a large would be) and there was a lot of pasta as well, so we spent a long time just eating, drinking, and waiting for the want and ability to eat more. It was very Italian of us, especially since we didn’t start lunch until around 2.

Far too much delicious food (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

Post-lunch espresso (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After lunch we decided to go to the Piazalle Michelangelo, which apparently had the best view of the city of Florence. Of course, this meant that it was uphill, which meant that we dragged our overly-full selves up a steep hill and then a lot of stairs. The view was beautiful, though. Definitely worth the climb.

At the Piazalle Michelangelo (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After some more exploring and a nap, we went off in search of dinner (again, we were on Italian time—around 8:30. Only took us six days to figure it out…). We found the Trattoria San Lorenzo, which had good reviews on Yelp, and sat down. If you’re ever in Florence, this place is great. There is currency from all over the world taped to the bar, which is interesting to look at, and the food is amazing. They also have awesome middle-aged male waiters—when Rock Your Body started playing in the restaurant toward the end of our meal, one of them started humming along.

Just a small note about gelato—it’s for before dinner. Don’t go expecting the good gelato places to still have any gelato out at 9:30.

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Italy, Days 5 and 6: Firenze