We knew Florence was going to be one of the most beautiful cities on our trip. What we didnt know was that it was an absolute jackpot for food, gelato, and pizza. Actually, by food, I mean pizza. Originally, we meant to stay there only 2 nights and head to Venice, but on day 1, we stumbled into La Tavernetta, right beside the train station and immediately decided to stay longer. Roberto and Angelo, greeted us with smiles and jokes. The pizza was amazingly light and delicious and one of the best pizzas I (Chris) have ever tasted. This is high praise indeed. I am serious. We then visited the Duomo (one of the big Three of Italy. Duomo, Pisa, and Colosseum) and try out 2 gelatos from the top 5 places in the Lonely Planet.
So the next day, we went to have some pizza from La Tavernetta before hitting Pisa. See the other blog post (below) for more details and cool photos. After Pisa, we took the train back and had more pizza, served to us by Angelos sister, Hui Ming. By the next day, 36 hours after we found La Tavernetta, we had pizza 5 times (from La Tavernetta) and 6 gelatos as well as a couple of other meals. Like I said, HEAVEN!
The next day, we woke up early to hit the Galleria di Academmia to see Michelangelos David. Expecting a huge crowd, we were delighted to face zero line up and only 20 people around the statue. Amazing carving from a single block of marble and we learned how the artists would make a clay mold, a cast, and then carve the marble piece using special tools. Afterwards, we went to Oil Shoppe, another amazing recommendation from Lonely Planet. Despite the map listing it in the wrong place (off by about 2 blocks), it was definitely worth finding for their amazing sandwiches and home made onion rings with homemade sauce. YUM!!! Also, on fridays, you get a free dessert and water with a combo. Not only was it a deal, all of the food was great and the staff was super friendly. We chatted with the dad of one of the owners for a while and he gave us a tip to go walk up to Piazzo Michelangelo at the top of a hill for a great view of Florence. Tiffany said the sunset there is really good but it was a gloomy grey day, so not much sunset to be seen.
So we took off on a 30 minute walk up the hill, had another gelato (caramel and nocciola. Good) and saw an amazing view of Florence. They also had a bronze statue of David there as well but it was green and covered with pigeons. Afterwards, we walked to Carabe for more gelato (another LP recommendation that we tried the day before. GREAT Tiramisu gelato) and strolled by the Uffiza where they had a marble replica of David outside. 3 Davids later, full of gelato, and happy with sore feet, we went back to, yep, La Tavernetta for more pizza and called it a night.
Next up - Venice. We are currently in Venice but do not have a lot to write about since we crashed all day to recover (making time for gelato, of course). The place we are staying is amazing. We decided to splurge a bit and stay in the city at a place called L'Imbarcadero that had rave reviews at hostelworld, hostelbookers and all the other online sites. They kept mentioning good rooms and awesome staff, especially someone named Alex. He's as good as billed and a great cook. I'm not just saying that because he's letting me use his laptop right now (Chris can't type well on iphones, hence his lack of postings). So far, we love Venice. The apartment we are in overlooks one of the small canals and is gorgeous! More later.
So the next day, we went to have some pizza from La Tavernetta before hitting Pisa. See the other blog post (below) for more details and cool photos. After Pisa, we took the train back and had more pizza, served to us by Angelos sister, Hui Ming. By the next day, 36 hours after we found La Tavernetta, we had pizza 5 times (from La Tavernetta) and 6 gelatos as well as a couple of other meals. Like I said, HEAVEN!
The next day, we woke up early to hit the Galleria di Academmia to see Michelangelos David. Expecting a huge crowd, we were delighted to face zero line up and only 20 people around the statue. Amazing carving from a single block of marble and we learned how the artists would make a clay mold, a cast, and then carve the marble piece using special tools. Afterwards, we went to Oil Shoppe, another amazing recommendation from Lonely Planet. Despite the map listing it in the wrong place (off by about 2 blocks), it was definitely worth finding for their amazing sandwiches and home made onion rings with homemade sauce. YUM!!! Also, on fridays, you get a free dessert and water with a combo. Not only was it a deal, all of the food was great and the staff was super friendly. We chatted with the dad of one of the owners for a while and he gave us a tip to go walk up to Piazzo Michelangelo at the top of a hill for a great view of Florence. Tiffany said the sunset there is really good but it was a gloomy grey day, so not much sunset to be seen.
So we took off on a 30 minute walk up the hill, had another gelato (caramel and nocciola. Good) and saw an amazing view of Florence. They also had a bronze statue of David there as well but it was green and covered with pigeons. Afterwards, we walked to Carabe for more gelato (another LP recommendation that we tried the day before. GREAT Tiramisu gelato) and strolled by the Uffiza where they had a marble replica of David outside. 3 Davids later, full of gelato, and happy with sore feet, we went back to, yep, La Tavernetta for more pizza and called it a night.
Next up - Venice. We are currently in Venice but do not have a lot to write about since we crashed all day to recover (making time for gelato, of course). The place we are staying is amazing. We decided to splurge a bit and stay in the city at a place called L'Imbarcadero that had rave reviews at hostelworld, hostelbookers and all the other online sites. They kept mentioning good rooms and awesome staff, especially someone named Alex. He's as good as billed and a great cook. I'm not just saying that because he's letting me use his laptop right now (Chris can't type well on iphones, hence his lack of postings). So far, we love Venice. The apartment we are in overlooks one of the small canals and is gorgeous! More later.
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