Italia Round 2

Greetings all! 

It has certainly been a whirlwind the last few weeks! After saying goodbye to Michelle, working at the Bed & Breakfast and yet another trip back to Italy, I am now on my way back home to New York for a long weekend for a family reunion! Upon my return, my cousin Courtney will be accompanying me and is going to be my new roommate in the Emerald Isle! Excited is an understatement.

While my first trip to Italy was absolutely perfect, it would be unfair of me to say that this journey was any less wonderful. This time around, I got to spend some time with my Aunt Siena, Uncle Randy and my 3 cousins Ryan, Matt and Brad (along with my mama and hermano of course.) I flew into Florence and met up with them downtown.

Our first stop was the infamous Florence Leather Market. If you’ve ever heard me talk about Italy, you know that I am absolutely obsessed with it. I love anything “market” related and I love handbags so it’s safe to say, this place is pretty close to heaven for me. I made out with 2 bags, a pair of earrings and a few gifts. I probably splurged a bit more than I should on my budget, but I just couldn’t help myself!  We piled back into the party van and started the journey back to our villa in Tuscany. The roads were a bit windy and narrow (Hey, it’s Europe in fairness), but we had some wine juice boxes (yes juiceboxes) to help out with the nerves!

What a fam

The villa was awesome. A little rustic as it was up on a mountain in the midst of a forest, but the place was huge. It had a lovely patio as well as a pool! My only regret was that I didn’t utilize the pool a bit more while I had the chance!

View from the patio

The next day, we ventured into Cortona. We had a lovely lunch in a little restaurant, did a bit of shopping and even stopped in a shop for some wine tasting. Cortona is an adorable little town with narrow alleys and beautiful views. That night, my mom made us a delicious dinner complete with Tuscan roasted potatoes (always a crowd favorite.)

Matthew and I

Food Market in Cortona

The crew minus Aunt Siena

Saturday, we went into the walled city of Castiglione Fiorentino. It was quite a hot day so we enjoyed a nice lunch in the shade looking over the country side. We walked around and took in the sites and even got a little lost (isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you’re wandering the streets of Italy?)

Liam, Matt and myself

We then hopped in the van and made our way to a winery where we had reservations for a tour of the vineyard as well as a full tasting of some of their products. We tried a variety of wines—red, white, dessert, you name it and we tasted it! We even got to try some grapas, which was a new thing for all of us. The only way I can describe it is that it is vodka made from grapes. Our wine connoisseur who led the tasting was a delight! She was patient, very thorough in her descriptions and also just an overall delight. I ended up buying a number of bottles and got them shipped to my apartment in Dublin so I can enjoy them as well as give them as gifts!

What a Crew [Matt, Ryan and myself]

Bradley and I

Nike Ad or what

That night we all went for a swim under the setting Tuscan sun followed by a potluck dinner of whatever we had leftover in the fridge. It was a lovely and relaxed last evening with some of my favorite people.

The next morning my mom, brother, 2 cousins and myself headed to the train station and made our way to Venice! The trip was a bit confusing, but we finally made it! It was also my mom’s birthday so although we spent most of it schlepping all of our bags through the narrow, crowded alleys of Venice, we ended it was a delicious dinner on the water.

The bag man

For our first official day in Venice, we slept in a bit to unwind from the exhausting day before. We decided to head to San Marco Square which was incredibly close to our apartment. We had lunch at a cute little restaurant outside and wandered around some unchartered territory (according to Magellan, aka my mother) before heading back home. Naps were had all around before a nice pasta dinner.

San Marco

Right outside our apartment

After dinner we decided to check out the Rialto Bridge, which was right around the corner from where we were standing. Matthew spotted one of those places that does fish pedicures, which we obviously had to try out! I had read about it and seen pictures of friends doing it, but had never had the opportunity to experience it before. Just to clarify, a fish pedicure is when you stick your feet in a tub of water with fish that feed on dead skin. I’m fairly confident that they are not legal to have in the U.S, but I sure wish they were. It was a weird, wonderful, tickly experience, but we loved every second of it. We ended the night with some late night pizza and gelato.

For my last day in Venice, we did a little bit of shopping before heading out to the island of Lido. Lido is just a quick boat ride from the main area of Venice. We rented bikes and rode all over the island. We saw some touristy areas, some beautiful homes, Jewish cemetery and even made time to stop for a nice ice cream. We got a chance to explore one of the beaches where the water was so warm, it was almost a bath tub.

We had a delicious dinner at one of the restaurants on the Island although the service was a little less than to be desired. After working in the hospitality industry, you really just don’t like when you get a rude or patronizing server. Aside from that, the food was delicious, the conversation was scintillating and the company was perfecto.

We headed back home and finished off my Italy trip with a wine filled sing along to classics from Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen to Dirty Little Secret by All American Rejects. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to end my holiday.

The morning I left, we got some lunch, did a liiiiittle more shopping (I can’t help myself. Everything is Italian leather,) I boarded the boat to the airport and began my journey home! It was a long day, but a truly fabulous trip.

Although I’ve been to Italy a number of times, I actually can’t wait until I get the chance to go back and explore even more of the beautiful country. It still blows my mind that it’s only a 3 hour flight for me to be somewhere in Europe so different from Dublin! One of the many things I love about living abroad.

That’s all for now, folks. I’m looking forward to the next leg of my European adventures with one of my favorite people in the world by my side.

Missing everyone heaps and heaps J

Until next time,

Paige xx