Foodies in Florence: Florence Food Tour

I know you think that all I did in Florence was eat, which I am not denying at all, but it was because we booked an amazing food tour of the city.  The best parts of our weekend trip were the tours that we did.  At first we were not sure if we should be doing tours both days, but our Florence Food Tour did not even feel like a tour.  Because let's be real... if we weren't on the tour we would still be eating all day anyways.  The food tour allowed us to experience the history and culture of the city as if we were locals.  We hit all the local spots and lived (and ate) like true Florentines do.

Our first stop was the ChiaroScuro coffee shop, where we learned about and sampled two different types of coffee.  Both were super strong, and took some getting used to.  Our frothy, foamy, milky lattes have nothing on these little espresso shots.  Woah, will this wake you up in the mornings.  The place was so cute and cozy that we tried to come back the next morning, but they were closed.  We have heard it is the best coffee in Italy, and can't wait to one day try more than what we sampled on the tour!

Our next stop was the Procacci Company, which is well known around Florence for their creations made with truffles.  We learned about truffles, where they come from, how they are used, and that they are considered one of the most historic delicatessens in the city.  We each got to enjoy a small truffle sandwich that was so phenomenal I could have eaten five.  I even left with a small bottle of truffle olive oil as a souvenir.

From the truffle shop we walked through the San Lorenzo Market to La Divina Enoteca, a small food and wine shop that has been around since 1895.  The shop started and was famous for being a fish shop where people could get fresh fish from beautiful marble tubs.  After being closed for about a decade, the shop was restored and now has a focus on wine, homemade pasta and cheeses.  We were lucky enough to have a wine and food tasting that consisted of two different cheeses, two different wines and two different meats (salami and prosciutto).

 

From La Divina Enoteco we went across the street to the San Lorenzo Food Market.  Once again I was blown away by the easy accessibility that the people have to such fresh foods.  We made three different stops inside the market.  Our first stop was at Nerbone, known for their traditional Florentine dishes.  We each got a plate of the freshest, most beautiful bruschetta I have ever had.  I am proud to say that I did not even enhance the colors in the photo below, that is how fresh the ingredients all were.  The bruschetta was probably the highlight of the food tour for me.  

Next stop was some salty bread from another little stall in the market.  Our tour guide passed the tray of bread around while explaining to us why most breads do not use any salt.  I can't tell all of their secrets, so you will have to go on the tour yourself to figure out why!

We then moved a few booths over to Marconcini Company, a family owned business that focuses on wine and olive oil.  This is the stall where we literally (and gracefully) stuffed our faces.  It was brutal fighting off market-goers who were trying to get in on our private tasting.  We started with bread and two types of olive oil, then had fresh strawberries and cheese with balsamic (so amazingly good), and finished it all off with biscotti and dessert wine.  I loved this because I have never had dessert wine, and it was even better than I expected.

 

The last stop was, of course, something Italian and sweet... gelato at Antika Gelateria Florentina!  Apparently you cannot go anywhere in Italy without getting gelato, and we learned this the hard way.  Our guide explained the tips and tricks to picking the best gelato, and took us to one of the best places in the city!  Cara clearly enjoyed her gelato...

Ciao!

Weekend Getaway: Florence

Our weekend getaways the past few weeks have made me realize that, if all else fails, I could be a travel agent.  But just don’t ask me to book the hotel, because I will probably book the wrong one in the wrong city, like I did this weekend.

I would usually write about the highlights of a trip, but this entire trip to Florence was a highlight, with our hotel being the only “lowlight.”  Florence is absolutely amazing, and I am so glad that we chose to spend one of our few weekends in Europe there.  It was worth every penny and every pound gained (as my pictures will show).

When we landed in Florence on Thursday night, we were excited to stay at the Together FLORENCE Inn (note that ‘Florence’ is in the name of the hotel) located .3 miles from the city center.  To our surprise, the hotel was located .3 miles from the city center of Bagno a Ripoli… outside of Florence.  Oops.

So we made the trek out to the hotel and tried to convince ourselves that our hotel didn’t matter because we would not be spending a lot of time there.  We threw our stuff down, freshened up, and headed out to explore the city, but first we had to take a 20-minute ride on the public bus to even get to Florence.  Needless to say, by the end of the weekend we had mastered yet another European public transportation system.  When we got into Florence we stayed on one the "local" side of the river where we ate at a packed little restaurant called Gusta Pizza.  The pizza not only tasted amazing, but also came out in a heart shape.  We then followed the tradition and used our receipt to write a little message to stick under the glass table.  We sat at a table with a man from Florence and his lady friend and ended up talking to them for an hour.  He gave us the names and locations of the best restaurants and gelato places in town.  We finished the night with gelato (duh) and roamed around “the square” where all the locals all sit and drink on the steps of an old building.

Friday morning we woke up to a little surprise- no water.  Yes, you read correctly, the hotel did not have running water.  This meant no showering, not brushing our teeth, and no going to the bathroom.  Great.  Luckily we were ok with not showering because we were about to spend the next six hours horseback riding through Tuscany.  We got on the city bus, which we thought was the wrong one, so we got off and ended up running through the city in order to make it to our tour on time.  What a lovely start to the day.

We made it to our Horseback and Vineyards Tour and left in the van that drove us to the Chianti region in Tuscany, where many world famous wines are produced.  The next few hours were some of the most amazing in my life.  We rode horses through the hills and vineyards in the hot Tuscan sun for a few hours.  The views were unreal and unlike anything I have ever laid eyes on before.  We rode to the Principe Corsini private estate and ate a traditional Italian lunch, did a wine tasting of the Principo Corsini wines, and toured the wine cellars and estate.  Everything was perfect!

By the time we got back to the hotel we were so exhausted and decided to lay by the pool for an hour.  In the mean time, the water came back on and we were all ready to shower- but oh wait, our shower didn’t work.  The next hour we had to deal with the hotel staff and the maintenance guy, and ended up having to switch to a different room.  Strike two.

Friday night’s dinner was at Tameró, a local pasta shop that came recommended from the man we met the night before (who we ended up running into there).  We really enjoyed the “grungy chic” décor, wine, fruit and cheese tray, and our homemade pastas.  We finished the night with wine and dessert at Golden View Open Bar that over looked the river.  Our night was spent eating, drinking, and reminiscing on how amazing that day was.

Saturday morning we woke up and made our way to a Florence foodie tour with Florence Food Tour.  This tour was far better than any museum tour because we got to experience the history and culture of the city through the eyes of a Florentine.  In a few hours we hit a coffee shop, truffle shop, meat and cheese shop, the San Lorenzo Market, and a gelato shop.  We got to try every type of traditional Italian food and wine that you could possibly imagine.  The tour far exceeded our expectations, and if I ever return to Florence, I would book this tour again and again.  To read more about our day, check out my Florence Foodie blog post [COMING SOON].

From the food tour we went to explore the San Lorenzo Market, which has tons of leather goods, clothes and jewelry.  Each of us left with a little something as a souvenir from Italy. We decided we should probably do a few touristy things, so we explored the Duomo and later made the hike up to the Boboli Gardens.  Our next stop was Piazzale Michelangelo, so we stopped and got a bottle of wine from a little wine shop to drink at the top while we overlooked the entire city.  The view was absolutely amazing, and we found a cozy little bench in the rose garden where we sat and had our own little happy hour before dinner.  Of course we had to cheers to yet another amazing day!

Thanks to Trip Advisor (the most brilliant website ever invented), we had the best Italian dinner at an adorable family owned restaurant called La Cucina del Garga.  This was by far the best food of the weekend, and they treated their customers like royalty.  We started with an amazing sautéed calamari and avocado dish, each had different seafood pastas (mine was the best pasta I have ever had), and finished with cheese cake and chocolate cake.  They even brought us Prosecco, tomato focaccia bread, and a slice of lemon cake all on the house.  We were so stuffed we pretty much floated home.

And guess what happened when we got back to the hotel?  No water... again.  This hotel made me seriously doubt my trip planning skills.

Luckily our flights left Sunday afternoon, so we had the morning to check a few more things off of our list.  Our first stop was the Accademia Gallery to see the one and only, State of David.  We had all of our bags with us, so afterward we schlepped to a small cafe and bakery to have our morning coffee and do yet another recap of our amazing weekend.  We walked around a little more, ate lunch at a cute little restaurant that looked out to the Duomo, and then enjoyed one last baby cannoli in the Republic Square before we had to head back to Paris.

Now we are back in our dorm rooms, missing the many highlights of our weekend getaway in Florence, Italy.  

A Week of Day Trips: Giverny & Versailles

If you are given the opportunity to explore Giverny, take it.

I have never seen something as beautiful and breathtaking as Monet's gardens.  I have also never seen so many flowers and plants in one garden.  It is truly amazing.   After a long trek out to Vernon, we got to explore Monet's home, garden, lily pond and everything that inspired him.  We chose a great day to go because the weather was sunny and hot, and the lines were not outrageous.  

Saying that everything in France is breath taking is an understatement, even though I know I am being repetitive.  Everything is breathtaking in its own sense- Monet's gardens were a quiet and relaxing kind of breathtaking, while Versailles was phenomenal in an architectural and conceptual sense.  Anyone who knows me knows that I ask a lot of questions, many of which remain unanswered.  So here are my questions that my mind could not grasp about Versailles...

How did someone build Versailles?  How much work and money went into it?  How did Louis XIV justify spending all of the people's tax money on such a palace?  Why did Marie Antoinette need her own "mini Versailles" down the road (which was gorgeous, by the way)?  And lastly... Who needs gardens that go on forever?

All I can say is that Versailles is absolutely a sight to see.  Even though there was a torrential downpour on our long walk through the garden's to Marie Antoinette's estate, we still enjoyed every second of it.  Anyone who travels to Europe should set a day aside to visit Versailles. 

And of course we go to Versailles and find the food.  We had a nice little afternoon snack at Angelina, and by afternoon snack I mean their famous iced hot chocolate, a fruit tart and a carmel and creme pastry.

Weekend Getaway: London

What started out as a stressful trip, ended up being a adventurous and relaxing weekend with good friends, good food and good fun.  As we got to the train station in Paris at 7:30 am for our 7:43 am train, we did not realize that they recommend arriving AT LEAST 30 minutes before your departure. Clearly we are Chunnel virgins and did not think about having to go through customs and security. When I saw we ran through the train station like maniacs, I wish I was exaggerating. After getting in trouble with the customs lady for putting "white" as my ethnicity (I was a little scatterbrained), we cut the security line and ran about a mile to our train. We then couldn't find cabin #3, so we hopped on the departing train in cabin #19, and walked through every single cabin.

But we made it. Thank goodness.

We checked into our bed and breakfast in Notting Hill Gate and waited for our friends Molly and Melissa to arrive. When they did, we all enjoyed a nice lunch and a (much needed) cold beer. We bought our Tube passes and made our way to the Tower of London. Of corse every other tourist in the city had the same idea as us, so we had to deviate from the guided tour. We explored the tower, ogled over the queens jewels, and enjoyed the views of the London bridge. Walking around so much made us realize that we were in dire need of some afternoon tea, so we made our way to one of the neatest places in England, Fortnum and Mason.

Fortnum and Mason is similar in greatness to the Grand Epicerie, but the concept is slightly different. F&M is a giant department store with home goods, restaurants, chocolates, a bakery, and much more. We enjoyed the most amazing afternoon tea at The Parlour like true Brits. We drank tea and ate scones and small ice cream cakes...Needless to say, we felt pretty cool. On full stomachs we left to explore the different shops on Bond Street and Oxford Street, which reminded us a lot of New York City. We ended our night like the locals at a pub with a pint of beer and some fish and chips.

Saturday morning we woke up to an adorable little  breakfast cart outside our room, complete with warm croissants, toast, jam, cheese, yogurt and hot coffee. I am starting to think that bed and breakfasts are definitely the way to go. Our place was right off of Portobello Road, so we spent the morning exploring the famous Portobello Market walking into all the cute shops and stands. It is the little things like this that I wish we had more of at home- local markets with fresh groceries, food and flowers. 

Thanks to recommendations from a friend, we had lunch reservations at The Orangery at Kensington Palace.  This is an experience that I will never forget. I ordered this amazing gazpacho and we got a bottle of wine for the table.  I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who travels to London; there was great food and great service at a great location.  After lunch we went to Harrods, which was one of the worst ideas we have had yet. Saturday was the first day of their massive summer sale, and the place was so crowded you could not even move. We ended up leaving with a few chocolate truffles and went to sit at a nearby Starbucks. After re-energizing with some green tea, we went to see Harvey Nichols, which was having their big sale as well. Later that night, Cara snagged us some dinner reservations at an oyster bar called J Sheeky. We were all so excited for some real seafood. I ordered the shrimp and scallop burger, which was amazing, but the service was not. We were disappointed at how snooty and condescending the staff was.

This morning we woke up bright and early to grab breakfast before the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. We ate at a cute little bakery on Portobello Road called Gail's. My porridge and latte were a perfect last meal in London. The changing of the guards was absolutely packed with people, which made it hard to see anything. At least Molly and Mel found distractions...