Conor & I arrived from london, at the Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station. For the next few days, we would stay at an italian villa in the BACKCOUNTRY of tuscany & spend our time touring the city of FLORENCE, italy, with his family.

Medici Villa of Lilliano Wine Estate

Piazza di Santa Maria Novella, 50123 Firenze FI, Italy

What brought us to Italy this Summer, was a wedding! One of Conor’s high school mates & family friends was getting married at the Villa. As a family trip, I was invited to come along on the journey!

After settling in at our Villa, we were off to Begin our exploration of Florence & to find us some dinner.

Our taxi drove us at breakneck speed into the middle of Florence & dropped us off along the Arno river, on Via de’ Bardi. Instantly, I was taken aback by the buildings along the river. They seemed so pristine & beautiful for how old they probably were & how historic they looked.

We then made our way north along the river, towards Ponte Santa Trinita (aka St. Trinity Bridge), and as we crossed we had made it just in time to take in the sunset!

After a few photos, our tummies were rumbling & we we off to finally find dinner! Once we crossed & wandered around a little bit, we found a smaller restaurant in a quiet cul-de-sac like alley, called Buca Poldo. It was perfect for our party of 6. Under the heat lamps we were able to have a cozy private dinner.

I ordered a seafood risotto

For the rest of our time in Italy, this would be the dish I most enjoyed!

Piazza della Signoria

After dinner we headed to Piazza della Signoria, an L-shaped square in front of Palazzo Vecchio tower (below, left). There was music playing & plenty of people enjoying the space.

Next we wandered off to a gelato shop, before stopping on Ponte Vecchio to see the Arno River again. Unlike Ponte Santa Trinita, Ponte Vecchio is lined with jewelry, art & souvenir shops. We would eventually stop on this bridge again the next day on our walking tour, and learn that because the bridge becomes so crowded during the day, it can also be a hotspot for pickpockets. We didn’t get pickpocketed though. So then it was time to call a Taxi back to the Villa.

The next morning I woke to a beautiful sunrise

Conor & I’s bedroom window faced the back of our villa toward a few buildings that were occupied by people who lived on the property (below left). Over their roofs the sky turned beautiful shades of pink before revealing blue skies ahead of our walking tour.

We met our tour guide in Piazza San Marco at a painful 7:00AM. Luckily though, we arrived early enough to grab some breakfast sandwiches & water at shop in the plaza.

Galleria dell'Accademia

60, Via Ricasoli, 58, 50122 Firenze FI, Italy

Unbeknownst to me, our first stop would be the home of Michelangelo’s statue of David. Suddenly this walking tour got a lot more interesting. Probably one of the most famous sculptures in the world; David has made appearances in everything from American primary school to cartoons like Spongebob. Despite taking art history in high school, I don’t remember much, except for the statue of David.

What my art history textbooks didn’t prep me for, was how massive the statue of david was in person.

Suddenly, I understood the appreciation of art. Don’t get me wrong, but it’s just that… as someone who’s known for her own artistic abilities, I’ve never been able to appreciate art myself. I’ve visited a lot of art museums around the world & they’ve only left me more confused. What were other people thinking to themselves as they stared at a all red canvas? How do people find many deep metaphors in art? I mean most of the art children learn about are in textbooks. Books sometimes don’t do art justice. For me, looking at art in a museum usually felt pretty blank.

But standing in front of the statue of David in person though, I felt a massive amount of respect towards the time & skill it would have taken to complete such a feat.

Finally, we made our way around David and into the final hall of sculptures, before exiting the museum & making our way to the Cathedral of Santa Maria Del Fiore.

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

Piazza del Duomo, 50122 Firenze FI, Italy

As we made our way down the small street of Via de Martelli, the looming cathedral came into the sight & towered over us. Built in the 1200s, with its colorful marble exterior, I don’t think I had ever laid eyes on a more beautiful cathedral.

Eventually we made our way back over to Ponte Vecchio, where our tour group broke up for about 1.5 hours for a lunch break at any place of our choosing. After stuffing ourselves, we met back up with the tour group and ended our tour at the Galleria degli Uffizi (or Uffizi Gallery in English).

Galleria degli Uffizi

Piazzale degli Uffizi, 50122 Florence, Italy

Maybe it was because of how early we woke up, but to be honest, this was the part of the tour where it ran a little bit dry for me. Don’t get me wrong, the artwork was just as wonderful. I just think that after 10 rooms of our tour guide of explaining and endless amount of paintings, I began to zone out. I ended up benching myself in the hallway.

As we made our way to the back of the museum though, we were able to see a gorgeous view of the Arno from the inside Le Galleria degli Uffizi.

The next day was the day of the wedding. A lot of us slept in. Thanks to Conor’s mom & his brother Colin, we enjoyed a nice charcuterie brunch.

I wish I could have spent more time seeing the rest of what Florence had to offer, but I would most definitely be back! I can’t thank Conor’s family enough for taking me along. Next stop though, Croatia!