Florence
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Grazie, Italia!
Well, that’s my trip! I can’t believe I actually pulled off blogging about it, but more importantly, I’m so happy I took this trip for myself and by myself. I don’t think I ever imagined going to a foreign country in a continent I’ve never been before all alone. I was so nervous leading up…
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The Expedition to Trattoria Sostanza
Some of you may have noticed that there was only a lunch post, but no dinner post for Day 2 – that’s because my dinner sucked, but that was my own fault for just walking into a place that I thought looked good without doing any research. Since last night was my last night in…
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The Hunt for Leather…Massimo Leather
When you think, “I need to buy something from Italy,” you’re thinking Italian leather. It is so overwhelming trying to figure out which market or store to purchase any leather from since there’s about 20 shops per 50 feet. Who’s going to have the best deal? Best quality? Won’t hustle you? So, I Yelped not literally,…
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Skip the Line: All Florence in 1 Day (Parte Seconda)
The 2nd 1/2 of the tour was led by Paul, who I’m pretty sure is American. He took us around the Uffizi, which was phenomenally, breaktakingly awe-inspiring. Like I said in the intro of this tour, I could spend a year learning about each painting and sculpture in these offices. There’s so much behind every…
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New Friends and Authentic, Yummy Lunch
During the first 1/2 of the walking tour, I met Paul and Kay from Tokyo. Kay couldn’t speak much English, she actually speaks Turkish (but is Japanese), so Paul had to translate. He was quite hilarious with his British humor (yes – he’s actually British…but his parents are Japanese. Interesting, worldly couple!). He reminded me…
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Skip the Line: All Florence in 1 Day
I don’t even know how to write this blog post since today was so amazing it’s hard to put into words. I started early, real early, getting up at 7 a.m. to start my all-day tour of Florence in 1 day. I could say that I wish I did this tour the moment I got…
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Cash Money Money & Italian Sammies Done Right
Sorry – blogging out of order, but the Ferragamo post just couldn’t wait. I started the day later than expected since I overslept and woke up at 11:30am – oops. I was hoping to get up a bit earlier and get a move on walking in circles, but alas, the jet lag won! First order of…
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To Ferragamo or Not to Ferragamo…
…how can you not when you’re in Florence?! I just got back from the Ferragamo headquarters, which is part museum and part store, and is the only Ferragamo store that sells limited edition handmade shoes from the man himself. The museum itself was just OK. Interesting, but perhaps too long if you follow along with the audio…
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The First Italian Supper
My first real Italian meal ever in my life was at Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco and it was amazing. A huge thank you to my lovely friend Sady for virtually hooking me up with the owner, Marco, who was so cute, so sweet, and so generous. He gave me the “Only Sady’s friends” treatment and I…
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Mission 1: Get Lost
I got to my hotel in just 20 minutes from the airport. The cab fare was 21 euros. I gave her a 40 needing change and she handed me back the other 20 saying 20 was fine – I’m officially not in NYC anymore. I left my hotel, the Hotel Lungarno, around 3PM with no…
Katherine Rodriguez 