Buongiorno, Florencia!

Sunday morning Dad and I flew from Madrid (through Barcelona) into Florence, Italy! We arrived in Florence that evening and trekked (luggage in tow) the couple blocks from the train station Santa Maria Novella to the Hotel Rapallo. If Madrid was hot, Florence was downright scorching! The heat and humidity did not make quick friends with my hair, but I'll sacrifice a little just for the fantastic view. The desk man at the Rapallo, Mauro, recommended a great little authentic Italian restaurant called Alfredo's for our first dinner in Italy.

First night in Florence, Italy.

We had pasta with eggplant, zucchini strudel, pizza with ham, artichokes, and olives, and sampled plenty of the red wine.

Dad at Alfredo's restaurant with his best friend.

We called it an early night since we were both worn plumb out, but we were up and at 'em early the next morning! We booked a full-day tour along the coastline, the Cinque Terre region. We took a bus to the coast, where we walked through several of the small towns, then took a boat to the last town for lunch and free time on the beach.

Cinque Terre - Italian coastline

The water was clear and absolutely gorgeous, but silly me came unprepared and fell victim to the sweltering sun! My shoulders and the back of my neck look like a lobster, and I have a gorgeous pattern on my back from the cut of the dress. But other than that, the beach and coast were wonderful!

soaking up some sun.

Tuesday, dad and I decided to FINALLY sleep in for a change, and we booked a half-day wine tour of the Chianti region starting at 2:30 pm. We woke up for a nice breakfast at the hotel and then wandered through Florence and through the street fair and San Lorenzo Market. Dad bought a fabulous lamb skin leather jacket and I bought a Carnivale mask and snake-like jewel bracelet.

Carnivale mask from Florence!

The wine tour was pleasant, but dad and I would have preferred more wine! Most of the tour was riding a bus through the Tuscan countryside, which was breathtaking, but only the last hour and a half of the tour was reserved for wine tasting.

The Arno River

Clearly not enough time if you ask me! We sampled a few wines, such as the Chianti Clasico and the Chianti Reserva, and also the region's Olive oil and Balsamic Vinegars.

Tuscany Wine Tour - Chianti Region

Our sleeper car/train left Florence after dinner (more pizza! more red wine! more caprese salad!) and we ended up sharing our car with 2 girls from Germany, who were very sweet. We all tried to get as much shut eye as we could since we knew we'd have a very busy day ahead of us in Innsbruck, Austria! Arrivederci, Italy!