The day started early so that we could get out to Trevi before crowds. We were all up at and ready by 6:30 except for maybe Kelle who instigated the whole thing but she rallied and we headed out to learn the metro. The station wasn’t too far from the apartment and we bought 24 hour tickets (which was a life saver later on) and boarded the train to Trevi.

We weren’t the first people there but we were still before the major crowds. They don’t start the tickets until 9 so we could be on any level. Kelle, Jed and I threw in coins for luck and our return to Italy but most people were just taking photos. There were several girls there do Instagram stories and I bet they took 200 photos. we all snapped ours and headed on.

From Trevi we headed over to see the Spanish Steps. Sadly they did not have any flowers on them and they were just a staircase. My first trip the area was bustling with shops and bars but it was pretty quiet now. Even the tea shop didn’t open until 10.

We didn’t see anywhere for everyone to get coffee so we jumped back on the metro and went back to the Trevi stop where we had passed several. The first one we stopped at was having trouble with their espresso machine so we went back to one we had passed. It was a bit disorganized but we did eventually get almost everything we ordered. Jeff never got his coffee and Clark’s was wrong but it worked out okay and we headed out to see the coliseum.

We had tried to buy tickets online but could never get it to work on the official site. Thankfully we didn’t buy from a tour group because we saw several people trying to find their tour group so that they could get in. However we did buy from a tour operator when we exited the metro. We paid 30€ for the tour and then they were going to take us to a private line so we didn’t have to wait in the extremely long line to buy the entrance tickets. We were going to get our entrance tickets have a tour of the forum and then go in the collision our own. Turns out the secret line was equally as long. Maybe not as long but we waited around an hour. Our timed entry to the Coliseum was 3 it was 11:30. They kept telling us not to pay attention to the time and the person who sold us the tickets said that they would get us in as a group when we were done with tour portion. All lies.

It was so hot our guide wasn’t good. We had to Sina ladies with us so he spent a lot of hi time just talking to them. He was born in Japan but was mainly Italian. He made several comments about how bad America is. Even though I am not hung ho America it was frustrating to hear someone else say it and even worse someone who took money from Americans to give an English tour. We should have just waited in the line and got the time entrance and then left and come back. Live and learn.

The tour guide was bad, he didn’t even give good information about the Forum and it was hard to hear even though we had headphones. He mumbled into his mic most of the time. We were all hot and tired and Margaret was mad and really fussed about the Coliseum entrance time. We hadn’t eaten enough there was no water or shade. Faye started feeling bad and needed to leave and get food so she and Bob were leaving and Margaret and Clark decided to leave to. They ended up ubering back to the apartment to get out of the crowd and were too frustrated to want to come back for the Coliseum. When we walked out of the Forum over the sea of people we could see the new metro stop so Kelle, Jeff and I decided to hop back on the metro ride it a few stops out to find lunch,shade and drinks. Turns out that was the best decision we made all day. We picked a stop by the name Pignetto, which we hoped was like where the apartment is and most offices and locals but turned out to be most residential. However we found a great spot. Ate outside in the shade with a great breeze. The food was delicious the wine was cold and our day turned around. We each tried different basic pastas. I had the Cacio e Pepe, Kelle had the carbonara and Jeff tried the Gricia. They were all delicious and some of the best food I have tasted so far.

After our lovely lunch we got back on the metro rode back our few stops and walked right into the Coliseum. Once you have your timed entrance you just show up 15 minutes before your time and get in. We walked up at 3:05 no line and walked straight in.

The Coliseum was amazing. It is more impressive now than the first time I saw it. I don’t know if I am older and have more respect for what went into building it or better understanding of the history that happened here but I really enjoyed this visit. They did have a small exhibit that had a lot of artifacts and gave background info that was nice to see. But the fact that we could touch, and sit on columns from 2000 years ago is crazy. Ended up being a great day.

After the coliseum we headed up to the church to see the Moses statute. It wasn’t far and had great views back over the Coliseum.

The church was small but Michelangelo’s Moses was impressive and I am glad we made the effort.

If you noticed that Moses has horns – he does. Seems At some point before the 1500 Moses was mythologized and given horns. I am surprised the church did not have them removed. It seems somewhat sacrilegious to have Moses the bearer of the 10 Commandments have goat horns. Regardless the statue is really good. Not as dramatic as Davis but still worth seeing.

The little church also held chains they claim were used on Peter. You had to pay to get the screen to open to view them but someone did and it stayed open for quite a while and we were all able to see them.

we stopped for a drink in our way back to the apartment and I had my first Negroni of the trip. I am not a big fan but the bartender had misunderstood so I drank it anyway. It was not bad so I had another. The second was a lot stronger so I am going to stay with the spritz.

Dinner was back to the local place we had the day we got there and the pizza again was good.

A little bit of a hiccup but in the end it was a good day.

Are apartment is close to the Vatican and a few of us decided to go see the Pope give the Easter blessing.

It had been a relatively early evening so we were up and out by 8:30. I had read that you could get tickets but couldn’t figure out how to do that so wasn’t sure if we would even be able to get in. Turns out the tickets were for the middle section some of which had seats but the sides were open to anybody. We were there an hour and half before it started so we were actually quite close. A band and military type parade went by but otherwise we just watched the dignitaries and church officials come in waiting on the pope. He did start right on time.

I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was a very nice service. There were readings in several languages a lot of pomp and ceremony that I didn’t understand but I was glad I went.

There was a sea of people and our good spots got crowded quickly. At one point these two older Italian ladies pushed their way in. I think they were trying to get to the fence but they didn’t make it. One got stopped right in front of me. She couldn’t have been 5 feet tall so she couldn’t have seen anything but she tried. She would lean back into me and try to balance on her toes to see over the men in front of her. so until she gave up she was basically using me as her wall and I had no where to go. Her friend got fussed out by the lady in front of us and she tried to use tears and be all emotional about seeing the pope but the other Italian lady didn’t buy it and wouldn’t let her through.

The sun was glaring on us we were packed like sardines and the service was going on and on. When I read that there were 100,000 people there I wanted to get out of the crowd. People had began to leave so we followed them out and made our way over a bit to find somewhere for lunch.

Faye and Bob came out and met us and lunch turned out to be another good spot. We had Italian sandwiches with American fries and some of the best calamari I have had.

We went back to the apartment to regroup then some of us headed out to see a few sights on our way to the trastvere neighborhood where we had dinner reservations.

We walked across the bridge to Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. People were everywhere. We decided to wait in line to go into the Pantheon and it wasn’t too bad. It was free but they handed you a ticket and I guess to some extent kept the crowd size down inside. They had it set up for some type of church service. Not sure if they actually had services but since it was Easter maybe they did. It looked different than the last time I was here not sure if it was crowd or if something had changed.

After that we started the long trek to Trastavere. I had read it was a really cute neighborhood but I guess we didn’t explore it enough. We saw a few bars on the Main Street and stopped at one for a drink midway down but it was nothing special. We got to the restaurant a little early and they had our table ready. Faye and Bob arrived in style in a black Mercedes and we started our dinner.

They were out of the wine that we ordered so she brought a similar one in a magnum bottle. It was easily drank and it looked fun sitting on the table. The menu was a little adventurous still Italian but different combinations than we had seen. I went safe with mama’s lasagna but it was kind of plain. I wish I had tried something else.

The taxi driver almost left without me but we made it safely back to the house where we went straight to bed because we had an early morning for tomorrow.

Travel days are always stressful. Getting everything repacked, making sure you don’t leave anything and making al your connections is never fun but has to be done.

We had a late start time due to the train schedule. We wanted to go directly to Rome so that was 11:48. That gave us time to enjoy one more full breakfast at the hotel. Margaret and I were packed and ready so we just lingered in the breakfast room until they were closing it down. I will miss the croissants and cheese when we are back to AirBNBs.

The cab ride down from the hotel was crazy. The roads are so narrow but still twisty with lots of corners. I felt certain he would have scratched the side of the car on some of the turns but he made it. He did bring in his side mirror for some extra room on some of the streets. We got to the train station with no incidents and had about a 40 minute wait.

Perugia was the origination point for the train so it was there early and we went ahead and boarded. Sadly it was not on track one so we had to go down and up the stairs to get over to the track so again I am wishing I had packed less (not regretting my purchases at all) so that my luggage was lighter.

The train got fuller and fuller as we moved toward Rome so I finally had to get my bag up on the rack. I was actually quite proud that it could be done. Bob had to help and by help basically he did it but we got it up there.

We had to convince Jeff that we didn’t want to do the metro from the train and went with taxis instead. You can order taxis on the uber app and they show up about $15 cheaper but often they are slower to come. Both Clark and I ordered taxis and got Prius. we had to fit 7 people, 7 suitcases and 7 backpack/ bags in. It was a tight squeeze but we all made it to the house.

It took us a while to get in. I was supposed to let them know when we arrived and they would remotely open the outside door. When they responded that it was open another day was trying to get in so we were standing back away from the door and didn’t get to it before it closed. Then they didn’t respond again. At 3:30 the door unlocked because there were some business in the building as well so we just waited until then and luckily the door to the apartment stayed unlocked until we got there.

The apartment looked just like the pictures. Plenty of room but nothing fancy. No 17th century fresco here but it was fine.

We were all starving so we basically dropped our stuff and headed out for food. we found a restaurant just down the road called Zig. It was close had pizzas and a bar so it would work. Turns out it was perfect and we had a great time. The hostess/manager was a lot of fun and gave us good tips about getting around Rome and what to try and what to skip. The pizza was delicious a totally different style than Perugia (thin crust and less cheese) and the alcohol was generous pours. She told us where the grocery was so we headed there after to get wine, water and a few snacks.

Once we were back at the apartment everyone was tired so we were calling it a day and just having some of our wine we just bought. Kelle and I decided to get back out for a gelato but it was only around the corner so we didn’t have to go far.

Not a busy day but we made it to our third stop so still a good day in Italy.

Today we planned to spend seeing the sights of Perugia with hopefully more sun and less wind. The day started with the delicious breakfast at the hotel. Then Margaret, Clark and I began our wandering while everyone else had to go back up to their rooms to get ready.

The sun was out so we went back to the overlook to take some pictures. We also found a second terrace to look out over the other side of town. It was still a little windy but not too bad.

There was some kind of festival or small market with a few vendors out in tents selling painted pottery. Surprisingly I didn’t buy anything but Margaret and I did find some jewelry to buy. In Perugia they hand paint clay beads and we both bought a few of them. I bought one last time and was happy to add to my collection.

Kelle joined us and we headed to the chocolate museum. It was actually much better than I expected. It was mostly the chocolate origin story with information about the development of different types of chocolate. It was a lot of reading but was interesting and they gave you chocolate. The display was around the outer edge with the middle being a replica of coco plants with a slide for the kids. There was a group of boys that just kept running back to slide again. Not sure what that had to do with chocolate but it kept the kids entertained.

After the museum we met back up with Jeff and had a Prosecco on the terrace overlooking the city.

Sadly the wind picked back up and we decided to go to the Umbria museum to get out of it. The Umbria museum is full of 1200 – 1500 religious art. Probably only religious art during those centuries and even that is mostly Mary and full grown manchild baby Jesus’. They seemed to get better for a while and then return to weird babies again. They are also full of cherubs with just wings for bodies. After a while they all seemed to look alike. I did like the prevalent use of pink in some of the paintings.

We popped into the church after the museum. It clearly had lost its stained glass as some point because most of it was modern. It did have some nice needlework which I assume was either an alter cloth or just decoration some point in the last 100/200 years. They were setting up a scene for Good Friday and carried a statute of Jesus through the church on a table covered with a blanket. Like somehow it would be wrong to see them just carry the statute to the right chapel. They carried him on the table took him off laid him on the floor recovered him took out other red cloths covered the table then picked up the Jesus statute and covered him again. It was quite the production and drew a pretty good size crowd.

The sun came back out and the wind died down so we decided to take advantage of the hotel terrace and have some wine and snacks. We had a lovely view and a lovely spread to tie us over until dinner.

We had reservations at a nice restaurant for dinner so no pizza tonight. It was a lovely place that gave you a Prosecco when you first sat down and a little bite of lentil soup just to get you started. We were sitting near the door and Margaret’s Italian crush came in. He is an Instagram guy who owns/works in a men’s clothing store in Perugia. His store is very fancy and his posts are over the top. Margaret was very excited and was debating going to talk to him.

The chef came by to talk to us and had a connection to Texas so stayed at the table for quite a while. Turns out his first job was a place in Midland during the 70s oil boom. After he left our table he went to the table Margaret’s man was sitting at and stayed with them for a really long time. On his way back to the kitchen he stopped to see if we had enjoyed our food and Margaret asked about the Instagram guy so faye asked the chef if he would help her get a phot with him and he agreed. Even said he would introduce Margaret has his new American girlfriend. It caused quite a stir but Margaret was in heaven.

The food was delicious and we had a great evening. I will hate to leave Perugia in the morning but it is time to move on. It was a good stay even with the cold and windy days.

We decided we probably shouldn’t do Assisi on Good Friday so we headed off today. First we had a delicious breakfast in our hotel. We had been kind of snacking for breakfast at the apartment but here we had all sorts of options. Hotel Fortuna puts out a good spread. I went with the croissant with ham and cheese. Clark chose to stuff his croissant with fruit filling. They provided several options in these handy little injection bottles. I think Clark plans to find one to use at home. Faye caught a cold and shared it with Bob so they decided to stay in for the day. Since it was cold and damp it was likely the right call.

After breakfast we headed back down to the main part of Perugia on the bus. We felt very local. The bus picked up in the piazza looking over the lower town so we got some good pictures but it was windy and cold so we didn’t make it long.

The bus ride went smoothly and are train was a little delayed but not bad. It was only a few stops to Assisi so it wasn’t long until we arrived. I didn’t remember the train station being so far from the historical center but we easily caught a cab up to the church.

The church is amazing. It has a very peaceful feel to it. It is big but it somehow feels intimate. You don’t get that cavernous feel when you walk in. the ceiling is painted blue with gold stars and the walls are pretty much frescoed. Sadly they don’t allow pictures but I bought some postcards and scanned them so that I could remember how it looked.

Last time I was here there was a recording on repeat Silenco/Silence. They were more discrete this time around. The staff would just come up and hush you if you were talking too loud.

We went down to see the tomb of St Francis which was moved here from the Church of St Clair once the st Francis was completed. There was a priest at a table handing out blessing cards and it almost looked like someone waiting to read your horoscope with taro cards. I know that was completely wrong but that is where my mind went with him sitting there with various saint cards to hand out.

They currently have a museum of 12-1400 church pieces on display at the church. they had some nice things but nothing extravagant. Most was a collection from an American who liv d and dies in Assisi and donated his collection to the church.

We took a few pictures outside before starting the track up to Santa Chiara to is Americans – Saint Claire. She was a contemporary of Francis of Assisi and also devoted to poverty and started a convent for women disciples. She is often. Displayed in1300 art work right along with St Francis but as a women she has fallen out of favor.

Her church was similar to St Francis but much smaller. It had a similar blue ceiling and similar frescoes but only in the alter and precept areas. Her wax body was prominently displayed. They say that when they exhumed her after centuries the body was uncorrupted but since that time it has deteriorated and now display her in was as she looked when first exhumed. They also claim to have some of her hair which is quite blond. I am glad it is not really her body but not sure why they need to lay her out is wax.

We found a nice spot to stop for a late lunch and they graciously fed us even though we were pushing their afternoon closing time. It was really good and I really needed a break, some food and a drink. I had a lovely truffle cream sauce with sausage and it was one of the best things I have eaten in the trip.

From lunch we headed back down but made an unexpected stop at Santa Maria Maggiore. There were a several people around so we thought we would stop in. It is a rather small church and once you enter you are in the line to view one of the newest saints, Carlos Acutis. He had died in 2006 at like 15 years of leukemia. He used social media to display the e miracles of Christ to bring young people back to the church. Anyway once in line there was nothing to do but walk by his body. Not exactly what I had planned for the day and it just seemed sad. I had seen things around town with his picture and now I know why. All a little creepy for my taste but not being catholic I guess I don’t understand.

We got really lucky has we walked back down looking for a cab and caught a bus heading back to the train station. Arrived with enough time to have a beer and a cannoli before heading back in the 20 minute trip to Perugia.

Once back in Perugia we met up with Faye and Bob for some drinks then headed back to the pizza place to try it again. It was equally as good second time around

It was cold and wet so we called it a night and headed to bed.

Sadly our stay in Florence has come to an end. I am excited about moving on to Perugia but I always hate to leave Florence. It is one of my favorite places and even though I know I will be back it is hard to pack up and go.

The apartment has been amazing. it was a bit of a splurge but in my opinion well worth it. It is not everyday you have your wine sitting on a couch checking out 1637 frescos. Hopefully are other two Airbnbs will be as nice. They won’t have the frescos but hopefully the ocean view will but equally as fascinating.

But first train to Perugia where we are staying in a hotel. The train station is not horribly far from the apartment but no one other than Jeff wants to lug our suitcases through the city so we ordered cabs. The other night it took forever for us to get cabs this morning they pulled right up so we got to the train station super early and we had to stand around and wait about an hour. When they finally gave our train a platform number it seemed like everyone there was headed out in our direction. Somehow we got separated and Faye, Bob and I went one way to get out of the crowd and everyone stayed in the mix of it. We found plenty of seats in our car but I think they weee a little crammed. Wasn’t a long ride so not a big deal.

It was cold and wet when we arrived in Perugia so we caught a cab up to the hotel. Perugia is a lovely hilltop town. Which I loved on my first visit several years ago. I remembered a funicular from my last trip and either dreamed that or they have taken it out. They had something called the mini train which might be it but it seemed different.

Our rooms were all ready so we dropped off our bags and headed out for lunch, snacks or whatever you have at 3:30 when you haven’t really eaten all day. Most places were either closed for their mid afternoon break or didn’t have seats. We finally found something. It wasn’t very Italian looking but turned out they had a full bar and the food was fine. We also got to watch two old Italians play cards which was entertaining.

Having been fortified we tried to walk around but it was super cold and everyone gave up. Except me I made it a bit longer just wandering the back streets. I caught the tail end of a kids Easter performance before heading in myself.

We decided on pizza for dinner since we were all tired and it was cold and wet and the pizza place was close. Turns out it was a good choice the pizza was delicious. They had probably 30 options with all sorts of toppings. I had sausage and truffles. Margaret had pumpkin, blue cheese and ham hers was way more interesting than mine and I was a bit jealous.

It was too cold to do anything but come back to the hotel so a relatively early night in Perugia. Tomorrow we are heading off to Assisi so hopefully the sun will come out.

I had nothing planned for our last full day in Florence. There were a few things I wanted to do but no schedule. Started off wandering with Margaret, Clark, Kelle and Jeff. I wanted to hit the old pharmacy for some skin products, Kelle wanted to find particular bracelet charms and Margaret was looking for something for the grandkids. We wandered for a bit together but eventually broke off and I spent the day with Kelle and Jeff.

We went back to the sandwich place we went to on the first day but got a table inside so we had a bottle of wine. The sandwiches were just as good the second go around. From there we went back to get gelato at Vivaldi’s. Still the best I’ve eaten. We stumbled around for a while and came across and opened wine window so we got afternoon drink.

We weren’t far from our place so we thought we would go to another wine store but it turned out to be a bust. It did have the Sarti but I had found the bottle earlier and had decided it wasn’t worth the valuable space in my luggage. The wine selection was sad so Jeff didn’t take much time at all.

We headed back to a place that had spritz and bruschetta for 6€ to have a few more cocktails. They were good so we had 2 before heading back to the apartment to meet up with everyone for dinner.

We had seen a place on our rambles that wasn’t too far so we went back there. I tried a chicken dish which was good but not my favorite. I finished it off with vin santo and biscotti and discovered I don’t really like vin santo. Really don’t like biscotti crumbs in my drink glass. Kelle helped me finish it and it was back to the apartment for one last night.

We finished off a little red wine had a huge accident with the last bottle of Prosecco which we had left chilling in the freezer before we left for dinner. Never open a frozen bottle of sparkling wine. It spewed out for days and what was left was too flat to enjoy. The red wine was delicious though.

We had a great time in Florence and it will be hard to leave our fancy digs but the adventure continues and we are off to Perugia in the morning.

We headed out relatively early to catch the train to Bologna. It was only about a 45 minute train ride so we arrived before lunch. First stop was for coffee and pastries. Bob’s niece had lived in Bologna and provided several recommendations. The Impero Bar and Pasticceria was quite popular but those with drinks were able to find seats. I just had a lovely slice of sacer chocolate cake so I stood outside.

Bologna is a much bigger city than I expected. It has more of a city feel like Rome. There isn’t really a historic center or area. The sites are just intermixed with commercial space like a US downtown city.

I wanted to get some cheese to take home (vacuum sealed) so we headed out to a cheese shop. First one was small with huge wheels of parmesan but more local and no sealed cheese. Second one was more promising but all the cheese was in huge chunks. Not that I wouldn’t have loved that much cheese my suitcase space is limited. so the hunt continued.

We had a second recommendation for a meat platter at one of the oldest butchers in Bologna so we sat down for lunch. I wish I had taken a photo of the meat platter that came out. It was a lazy Susan covered in prosciutto, mortadella, salami and some kind of pork sausage we had never seen before. There was a little cheese but the main focus was meat. I also enjoyed a Lambrusco spritz which was pretty good. More like sangria but nice.

After lunch we headed to the library to see the Roman ruins in the basement. The library and the main church share the same piazza and both closed for lunch. We had a bit of time to kill before either reopened so we just hung out in the square enjoying the sun. I tried to get information or maybe a map at the tourist office but they were not helpful at all. I asked if there was a charge for the library and he was like why do you want to go there it is a modern building. Except for the Roman ruins in the basement but I guess those don’t count.

The square had a very large and unusual fountain of Neptune. Neptune was fine but the sprays of water came from all the mermaids on the next tier. It was wild to see water squirting from their boobs.

We waited for it to open with several other people but we were the only ones going to see the ruins. Turns out they were free. Just had to climb the stairs. Basically saw portions of the road, an aqueduct and several wells. Makes you wonder what was under all the other buildings in the area.

We still had a bit of time before the church reopened so we wandered the streets around the square which were full of butchers, cheese shops and small restaurants. I found a gelato and window shopped for a while. Still not picked out any cheese. The options were a bit overwhelming.

The church was really nice. Sadly the facade was never finished but that does show you how it originally looked back in the day. It was much bigger inside than I expected. The chapels were pretty ornate and there was of course a few reliquaries. It needed a bit more out in the center of the church to make it feel less cavernous but overall I really nice church.

After the church I let Margaret talk me into doing the little train around the historic sites. We had missed the hop on and off bus so the train was our option. It was slightly bigger than a kiddie train but not much. Only Margaret, Clark and I suffered through it. Everyone else went and had a drink. We however had 45 minutes of torture. We got on a row with the wheel beds and didn’t have room for our feet unless we basically hugged our knees. Surprisingly the little train went right out with traffic. Nothing like looking up to a bus when you are in a toy. We survived and we did learn a bit about Bologna so all in all not horrid but I wouldn’t do it again.

We met back up with everyone else to find a place to eat. There were several to choose from but for a table for 7 our options were a little slim. We did find a good place and I tried the bologna style lasagna. I was going to do the tortellini but didn’t really want it in the meat broth and then couldn’t decide. Margaret and Clark had the forty in the meat sauce and ate it all so it must have been good. It looked more like a soup than a pasta dish. The lasagna was good with the spinach pasta and béchamel sauce and I thoroughly enjoyed it. After dinner I finally decided on some cheese. It wasn’t the just gunk that I wanted because those were all too big but it worked. The price is so much cheaper than what we can do at home for even Kraft Parmesan.

We got back to the train station a little early but were able to find our track without any problems so all went well. The train ride home went smoothly and soon we were back at the apartment. We had a few drinks and then headed to bed. A great day of eating meat through Bologna.

Kelle and I got up early to catch the first bus out to the designer outlet mall. I had been before and had great success so was looking forward to a return trip.

We were a little early so we stopped to have coffee (tea for me) and a pastry before arriving and getting on the bus. It is about a 45 minute drive which seems like half of it was circling around Florence. I am pretty sure we backtracked some. But no matter we arrived right as the stores were opening.

First stop Gucci where I quickly found a cute pair of loafers. Then I found a nice tan leather cross body bag. I am pretty sure it was on the men’s side but I liked it so I bought it.

Kelle wanted silver hardware and Gucci was all gold so she didn’t see anything she had to have. She wanted a fendi bag but they didn’t have what she was looking for either.

We hit up Burberry and I again found a bag. I also found a quilted raincoat. Everything in Burberry was 50% off the outlet price so I got both items for a steal. Very excited about them both.

Kelle was still looking for a purse and she had seen several that she liked but she hadn’t pulled the trigger. Finally in Prada she found her purse. A tan crossbody that also came with a leather strap if you wanted to dress it up. Had I not already bought two purses I would have bought a super cute black Prada bag. Next trip Prada will be my first stop.

We made it home with no problems this time. Which was good because my purchases were heavy. Had to clean up and get ready for our fancy dinner in Fisole, which is the hillside town overlooking Florence. The restaurant was La Reggia degli Etruschi. Our reservations were for 8 but we went a little early to catch the sunset.

Getting the cabs was a bit difficult. We were able to get one but the second one just never went through. We did however catch one on the street so we were just a few minutes behind the others.

We heard about the restaurant on Instagram. A sports guy said it was the best place he had ever eaten and that the views were incredible. He however played down the long walk up to the restaurant. The cabs let you off in the square and point you up a driveway. You can only see a short portion of the climb so it doesn’t look that bad. But then you turn and by then your legs are burning and you’re breathing heavy. Kelle tried to blame it on the altitude but it was just us. It was worth it though the view of Florence was spectacular.

The restaurant was fantastic. We had the Florentine steak, risotto, potatoes and Tuscan beans. It was a whole lot of meat. Delicious but rich. I had always wanted to do it nd gd that we did.

The cab ride home was a speed demon race but we made it safely home. Tomorrow off to Bologna.

Today got off to an early start. Our tour started at 8:45 and we weee told not to be late. We headed off extra early in case we couldn’t find it. Walked right to the right place but they weren’t set up yet. The bus was there and they told us to go over to the table by the arch. There was an arch but then that led to a tunnel under the highway and then to the train station. So that wasn’t it then we walked back and now there was table set up by the “arch”. It was right across the street from the bus I am not sure why he didn’t just say it wasn’t there yet. Would have saved us some frustration.

All was good and we were the first on the bus and took the back seats. There was only 16 on the tour so plenty of rom to spread out.

The driver was fun and things got off to a good start. The first vineyard, Viticcio, was about 45 minutes out of town so not too bad on the bus. This was my favorite of the tour. The place was beautiful and the wines really tasty.

The tour is all taking place in the Chianti region so most of the wines are Chianti Classico but all three through in a rose or sparkling to lighten it up.

We learned quite a bit about the region the grapes and the growing season. There are many rules to be able to claim the DOC or DOCG label. They basically cannot do much to help the grapes along. They cannot water, which is why some years are better than others. They don’t use pesticides only natural insect repellants. The grape vines of the newer varieties ( not the Sangiovese which is native to the area and can produce for more than 50 years) last about 15-20 years and new ones take 5 years to begin producing grapes so they rotate and always have some of various ages in the fields. The older plants produce less grapes but they have the most flavor. So they say it is a balancing act of deciding when to take out a plant and start with a new one. As long as they are not using the plant to make wine they can water so the new plants get to drink while the others do not. It was all very fascinating and I am surprised they are able to produce wine every year. Some years they say they don’t have enough really good grapes to do the Reserve bottles but can usually make everything else.

From Viticccio we headed into Greve for a short stop. Kelle and Jeff had stayed in Greve on there last trip so they knew the area pretty well. Greve has a great butcher shop that was really fun. Prosciutto and sausages hanging from the ceiling, cheese resting in the cheese cave. A very Italian experience. I picked up some prosciutto and salami for back at our apartment and wish I would have gotten more. (Next trip)

We had lunch at the second vineyard Casa Emma. Lunch was simple but tasty. They had a nice sparkling rose that Faye and I had shipped home. We don’t really get a tour here just explanations of the wines we tasted. Casa Emma was a smaller producer than the other two stops on the tour but still nice.

The last stop of the day was San Michele a Torri. We toured more of the production spaces at this stop. They were a pretty good sized vineyard. They had several outside tanks and then the wine could either go into barrels or concrete holding tanks. The concrete tanks were quite large and lined a hallway with a lovely red tile work. The wine tasting was lovely but a little heavier reds than I like so i didn’t buy any from there.

The walk back to the apartment didn’t go as planned. I think we were on the car route and we ended up somewhere we have never been and weren’t sure how to get home. Google Maps was letting us down with various routes that we couldn’t all agree on. Several people were dying for a bathroom break and the only thing in the area was the Four Seasons hotel. They almost didn’t let us in but I think they took pity on us and led us to the bar. We had several drinks and everyone took a turn in the bathroom before we asked directions and headed off again for our Florence home.

After that misadventure we just stayed in and ate snacks and had wine. It was another great day in Tuscany.