Sorry this post took so long! Italy was such a whirlwind trip…

My friend and I took a girls vaca over to Rome, Florence, and Positano for 9 days in October.

We flew in and out of Rome on British Airways, connecting through Philadelphia both ways. I will say, if you can pick an itinerary that avoids Philly, do it! It is one of the most obnoxious airports I’ve ever been to and I dread flying in/out of there. Often times, the air traffic around there is so busy that flights are delayed.

Once we landed in Rome (around 9am) we went through customs and immediately hopped on a train to Florence. This was my first time to a country where everyone doesn’t necessarily know English! It was a lot of fun getting to learn some of the language and trying to perfect it throughout the trip. There are direct trains from the airport to the city of Florence which only take a couple hours. We then took a cab to our Airbnb and were met by the owner’s friend who even showed us around part of the city. We stayed in Florence for two nights, which I felt was plenty of time to see the highlights of the city.

Day 1 Florence:

On our first night in Florence, we hiked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo which has phenomenal views of the entire city. There is even a little café at the top where you can enjoy a glass (or a bottle J ) of Rose while enjoying the sunset view. That is precisely what we did… though I’m not sure all of that wine was so smart after traveling allllllll day… or maybe it was incredibly smart of us… Anyways, we then continued down to the Golden View open bar where we experienced our first Italian Happy Hour, or Aperitivo. This was one of the best discoveries! Depending on the restaurant, during the Aperitivo, if you order a drink, there is a whole buffet of hot Italian food for FREE. Some restaurants have a nominal charge, but at the Golden View, it was free. We sat with a view that was truly golden, overlooking the river and the scenic Ponte Vecchio bridge, drinking Prosecco and eating the free food. While walking back to our apartment, we came across some street performers on the bridge which were fun to watch.

 

Day 2 Florence:

We made it back to our Airbnb pretty early and had a good night sleep in preparation for the next day. I had read online that the Galleria dell’Accademia (a.k.a. where the David statue is located) develops incredibly long lines later in the morning/day. Thus, we got an early start the second day, stopping at a café for a coffee and Danish along the way. Something I had not known before going over to Italy is that if you wish to sit and enjoy your coffee, you will be charged more… sometimes $2-4 more! This is why you see all of the locals standing at the bar, chugging their espresso. After the first morning, we figured out the deal and stood up most of the time. That was extremely hard to do for someone who normally enjoys my coffee over about an hour! We continued on to the museum and only had to wait a couple minutes to get in after arriving close to opening time. The museum was very interesting and definitely worth visiting. When we exited, there was a line extending around the block! And it was only 10am!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the Galleria dell’Accademia, my friend and I continued on to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore which was absolutely breathtaking. From the elaborate detail on the outside to the beautiful paintings on the inside, this landmark was worth spending a few hours. We were not able to go to the top of the Cathedral, however, because the tickets were sold out. So, book tickets to climb the Cathedral in advance. That was ok though. We ended up climbing the steps to the bell tower instead… coming down I just about had my first ever nervous breakdown. The stairwell is very narrow (about 1.5 body widths but there are people going up and down at the same time), stone, and does not have many windows. Because it is so narrow in some places, when we were coming down, about 10 people in front of us stopped descending to let others continue upwards. This meant we were completely stopped, with no way out, for what seemed like an eternity. I’m getting nervous right now just thinking about it! By the time we got out of the stairwell, I had to sit and recover so I could stop shaking. Needless to say, if you are claustrophobic at all, seriously consider whether you want to hike the stairs.

 

For dinner our second night, we got a Florence T-bone… uncooked, 6lbs of beef. It was, of course, considerably smaller after it was cooked but it was more than enough for the two of us along with some grilled veggies.   I had been excited to buy some leather while in Florence, but all of the shops nowadays source their goods from elsewhere (a.k.a. China).

Day 3 Florence/Rome:

Our third day in Florence included another gelato and hiking back up to the Piazzale Michelangelo to see anything we had missed on the first day. We got a late checkout and left Florence around 3pm in order to get to Rome before it was dark. Uber is illegal in Italy, so we were forced to find taxi stands whenever we needed a lift.

Getting to Rome near 5pm allowed us some light while we took a taxi to our next Airbnb. It was a great initial introduction to the city! We actually saw a lot of what we ended up seeing during our walking tour the next day. We stayed in Rome for four nights, which was enough time to see a lot of the tourist areas and even poke around a couple local areas. We stayed in the same neighborhood as Campo de’ Fiori which was a stone’s throw away from most of the places you want to visit. The first night in Rome, we took the recommendation of our host and ate at Pizzeria Da Baffetto where we both fell in love with their arugula salad and pizza. We were sat next to a couple from the UK who go there every year. We then went and had a gelato by the Pantheon before heading back to the Airbnb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 1 Rome:

On our first full day in Rome, we did a walking tour that included the Colosseum, the Forum, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and Vatican City. It was a whirlwind, but definitely worth it. We started at the Coliseum and walked to everything but Vatican City. We took a bus to Vatican City and then walked home from there. After a well-deserved nap, my friend and I wandered down our street to pick a place to eat. We wished that we had made reservations, but alas, we did not. We ended up eating at a local place, and were sat at the same table next to two older Italian women who barely spoke any English. That made for an interesting evening!

Day 3 Rome:

After all of the walking the previous days, we decided to reward ourselves with a spa day for part of the day 🙂 We went to AquaMadre Hammam which was a fantastic experience. It is pretty close to a traditional Turkish Hammam, personal scrubbers included. After the spa, we took a nap then headed out on the town. I wanted to try a couple places that my Italian colleague had suggested, but one was closed for renovations and the other was in a sketchy neighborhood. I will say, for as big of a city as Rome is, we never felt like you would if you were two females walking through Chicago or Boston by yourself, late at night. We ended up walking in a big circle, map below, and had espresso martini’s on the roof deck of the fortyseven Hotel during sunset. We then poked around the Colosseum, which was fun to see at day and night, and grabbed dinner at one of the many nearby restaurants.

Day 4 Rome:

For our last day in this ancient city, we walked from our apartment to a few of the “newer” landmarks that we had not yet explored. It constantly amazed me that their “new” buildings were still older than America’s oldest buildings! We also revisited the Trevi Fountain and hiked the Spanish Steps. Turns out, the Spanish Steps are at the end of what must be Rome’s “Rodeo Drive.” We wrapped up our last day in Rome with another dinner at Pizzeria Da Baffetto (and ordered the exact same thing) because we liked it so much the first night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Positano:

We woke up early and took a train down to Naples, then a private car to Positano. Taking a private car either to or from Positano was definitely worth the added expense. We used Rainbow Tours and our driver was great. He spoke good English, put on good music, and stopped a few times along the route to take pictures of us with the gorgeous scenery. We arrived at our hotel, Il Gabbiano, in the afternoon and promptly checked in and headed down to the beach. It was a rather strenuous hike, so if you stay here, just take your time going to and from the beach. Other than that, the hotel was amazing with sweeping ocean views, a nice free breakfast, and the biggest room we had stayed in on our trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Positano we took time to explore the different shops, eat a lot of gelato, and enjoy the scenery. We walked over to the “Positano Smaller Beach” along a beautiful cliff-side path one day for a different view. Even though it was October, and we are both used to the warm waters of Florida, we both managed to jump in the water on our last day 🙂

Rome:

We went back to Rome for one night (staying in the Marriott close to the airport) and jumped on a plane back to the USA in the morning. What a great trip!

If you have any detailed questions about where we went/stayed/ate/played, please just ask!

Stay Adventurous!

-PG