Summer 2019: Florence
June 17th: Venice to Florence
Today was a little hectic packing our bags up and leaving our Venetian apartment by 11am to catch our water taxi to the train station, but we arrived in one piece. By now, mom, Jamie and I have become pretty comfortable about catching our European rails after we did so in Budapest, Vienna and Prague this last December. We grabbed a bite of pizza and caught the 12:25pm train with stops all the way to Naples. The other train car goers must’ve been concerned when Jamie pulled a bottle of white wine out and we were clink clinking to anything we saw passing by. Almost 3 hours later, we arrived in Florence and taxied over to our hotel, the Marriott Excelsior. We unpacked our things and ventured out for the night to see some main sights like the Ponte Vecchio and the Duomo. I even recognized some streets and stores I visited exactly 2 years prior. For a quick and light dinner we stopped at Eataly and my dinner was described as the filling of spinach and ricotta ravioli, sans pasta. I was extremely tired from traveling and still not adjusted on a proper sleep schedule, so the night ended with a Lush bath bomb and lights out early.
June 18th: Florence to Chianti Region
Our driver Alessandro was waiting for us at 10am outside the hotel after we had a light breakfast. We took the panoramic road through the hills to Chekee family vineyard on the first hill of Chianti. We knew this before, but learned again on our tour for a wine to be labeled “Chianti Classico” it must come from Chianti region, and have the red circle with the black rooster on the label. This is how they control quality and ensure the wine is truly Chianti Classico. Our vineyard guide was animated as all get out and kept his energy into our tasting, where we sampled 5 of their wines, including one that has only been sold over the last 8 months. While I’m not an avid red drinker myself, I enjoyed each red they presented as nothing was too heavy for my liking. I think this stems from my diet always being sans meat and fish making red sound unappealing for my normal salad. I paired my tasting with a delicious pasta with freshly shaven truffles and went out of my comfort zone continuing to enjoy the different red tastings with my rich pasta. We wrapped our visit to the Chekee Vineyard with berry sorbeto and met Alessandro outside to descend back into Florence. Along the way we pulled off for pictures of the vast country side and spent an hour in a small town munching on world renowned gelato. After getting back to the hotel I was due for a nap before venturing back out for a dinner spot. We ate at a family style restaurant and I had plain penne with Parmesan cheese, as I’ve been having heavy dishes recently, I was grateful for the simplicity. A short walk back to our hotel and a much needed sleep awaited us.
June 19th: Florence
We walked to a garden today and toured the grounds. I chowed on a caprese sandwich for lunch and even asked if I was pronunciating it correct, as this is a pet peeve of mine. Luckily, I didn’t get schooled by the Italian restaurant owner, he only confirmed what I thought. We proceeded to walk the Ponte Vecchio bridge and cut through a market to land back at the hotel. I took a nap, yes another nap, this walking in the hot sun is really taking it out of me. We ventured back out before dinner to see the Duomo and have light appetizers and drinks before getting ready for our meal on the rooftop of our hotel. I dined on spinach and ricotta balls, a mixed salad and hazelnut, strawberry and mango gelato to finish the meal. A glass of red wine along the water and I was ready to count some sheep before catching the train to Milan in the AM!
See you in Milan!
XOXO,
Kenzie Rae
