Summer Adventure 2018: Part Four

Hello once again from Bulgaria! It has been a relaxing past few weeks and Chris is all ready for school to begin! Did you enjoy my joke because Chris didn't. Well before I tell any more bad jokes lets get back into our July adventure. We left off in part three leaving Milan and on our way to Florence! Chris and I have already been to Florence so this post may not be as detailed about the city and things to do there. If you would like to know more and read about our last trip check it out here. But this time around we had fellow adventurers so there will still be plenty of new experiences!

We arrived at the train station in the early afternoon and quickly found our place. After settling in and purchasing breakfast and snacks for the next few days, we wandered around our neighborhood and went to dinner. At dinner we not only had our crew of four but met up with three more from our family. It was a great meal with plenty of catching up and laughter had by all. After dinner we wandered through the streets of Florence once again taking in the beautiful Renaissance city.

The next day we didn't even spend in Florence but rather took a tour to the coastal communities of Cinque Terre. We not only had our crew but also the family that we had met up with the night before. Cinque Terre literally translates to the Five Lands. It is a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We wandered through the towns where we found lots of olive oil, lemons and beautiful views. Each town had something different to offer but we unfortunately did not have lots of time to explore. It was, however a great experience to see the Medditerranian from the Italian coast. We arrived back in Florence where we ate dinner and took some well deserved rest.

Our third day in Florence started out at the Central Market. Chris and I love the fresh ingredients we can find at the Central Market. We bought quite a bit of pesto, olive oil and pasta. After a quick lunch at the Market, our crew dropped off our goodies at our place and headed over to Pitti Palace, an impressive fortress housing impressive art and the impressive Baboli Gardens. We wandered through the palace learning about not only the art pieces but also about the royals who had lived in and shaped the fortress. After dinner Chris and I wandered through the magical city at dusk.

The next day Chris, his mom and I explored a few of the many churches in Florence. We toured through Santa Croce Basilica and the San Lorenzo Basilica. We also walked through parts of the Plazzo Vecchio. We saw quite a few famous people and lots of Renaissance art. We ended our day by taking in the sunset over the city.

Our fifth day in Florence was pretty relaxing. We had quite a bit of repacking to do to get ready for our next leg of our journey. Our crew wasn't quite done exploring Tuscany though. That evening we left on a tour that took us to the city of Siena, another Renaissance city. We walked to the Cathedral, which has some of the most impressive mosaic floors that I have every seen. After that Chris and I went down to Palazzo Pubblico where we got a great view of the square that holds a horse race that the city is known for. It was a quick trip but we were soon off to the main event, wine tasting.

We arrived at a vineyard and everyone on our tour was immediately impressed by the two helicopters and horse stables. We found out soon after that the winery consists of four plots of land for all the different types of grapes they grow, hence the helicopters. We also found out that the winery is a family run winery dating back centuries. The wine was amazing and the food was excellent as well. It was a wonderful end to our Tuscan adventure.