May 22, 2025
A four-hour road trip to Florence
We stopped at our new favorite thing—the AutoGrill. Colleen explained the rules of the “entrada” vs. “uscita,” and encouraged us to check out the coffee, chocolates, snacks, etc.
We stopped at our new favorite thing—the AutoGrill. Colleen explained the rules of the “entrada” vs. “uscita,” and encouraged us to check out the coffee, chocolates, snacks, etc.
Everyone got to test out the integrity of their umbrellas! Lots of retail shops interspersed with historic churches, sculptures, and architecture. Culminated in a close-up viewing of the Duomo in the rain.
This dinner was a huge highlight for us! Colleen walked us to a restaurant that she’s been taking tour groups to for over a decade. Once inside, we received a warm welcome from the chef (Massimo) and his family who clearly shared a deep friendship with Colleen.
Best gnocchi EVER! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
We saw it earlier in the day, but after our dinner, Colleen walked us by the duomo again for a nightcap. 🍷
We took a group photo after a full day of bonding. It was so pretty at night, and the city was so awake!
This was one of our favorite days of the trip, even though it was rainy. That's how good the gnocchi was. 😉
The next morning, after a morning walking tour with a local scholar, we stopped by InTavola cooking academy for some intense culinary training.
Bethany and Michelle were in charge of chopping and sauteeing veggies. H & K made pasta dough and homemade noodles.
Our group cheered each other on, even when Bethany got "fired" by the head chef. Michelle also got fired. 😂
“Cutting the spaghetto means the death of the spaghetto! And that goes for biting too!” - Colleen
We were skeptical after the chaotic scene in the kitchen, but the tagliatelle was delicious! Good job, us! 😍
After lunch, we were cut loose to roam the city. Here's what we did:
Not only is he actually a prince—he's the king of celebrity selfies. The whole restaurant is decorated with them.
When we saw his iconic jewelry, we knew we had to ask for a pic ➡️
As our guide Luca would say, this museum was so monumental!
🌸🌸🌸We felt like junior art historians by the end of our tour. Lots of famous artworks were here, like the “Birth of Venus” and “Spring” by Botticelli.🌸🌸🌸
After the morning tour, Bethany and Halle lovingly ditched their moms for some much-needed alone time. 👋👋👋👋
We saw this place (Schiaccia Passera) on our orientation walk and made a mental note to come back. Delicious!!
We loved the backstreets stroll to the Bardini gardens.
🍸🍹 Aptly named, the gardens had an amazing terrace with snacks and drinks.
On our way home, we stopped in an unassuming gelateria and accidentally had the best gelato of our trip. Meanwhile, the moms found another wine window.
We had evening reservations at the Galleria dell'Accademia (aka—we got to jump to the front of the line).
Our reservation was at the end of the day, when the crowds had thinned out. We got some nice 1:1 time with him and even got to sit down. 🪑
The rest of the gallery was extremely cool! There was a special exhibit on musical instruments that we documented for Halle's music-loving dad.
🚶 We strolled home and even crossed the Ponte Vecchio to savor our last night in Florence.
We wanted to show the moms the place from earlier in the day, but it was closed! Luckily, there are a million places to get gelato.
After one more sleep in Florence, we hit the road to Rome on the morning of Day 7.
