Firenze!

After an entire month of traveling we finally arrived to Florence, Italy!!

We arrived at the train station on Tuesday afternoon, and waiting for us was the first familiar face we have seen in a month, Raika!! (Michka's sister)

Of course, we did not have a place to stay, we are Gypsies.

Raika agreed to host us until we found a place. Unlucky for us there was a big bike race (UCI road world championships) going on right smack in the middle of the town. This sleepy town of 370,000 residents added more than 200,000 spectators, peddlers, riders, crew, tourists and beggars just for the week of the race. The prospect of finding a short-term rental was looking pretty bleak.

The first week was rough. 4 people, one cat, all crammed in one small apartment. Raika was gracious enough to give us her room and bed so we could have a place to sleep. 

Despite all the cramming and chaos (and cat hair) the city is beautiful! We had a couple really nice and hot days, and we were able to tour the city to see the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio and various other sites.

The food has been unbelievable. So far its the best we have had anywhere.

The fresh-made pasta, the cheese, and fresh produce all make you want to live in a restaurant.
Our first week here we were able to go to "Sagra del Tartufo" which translates to truffle festival! Yum!
Hoards of people lined up outside white tents, waiting for their number to be called. We got in line right behind everyone and waited our turn. First things first, you fill out a sheet that tells the staff what you want to eat. You pay for the food, then you wait in another line to be seated. Once seated (cafeteria style dining) you give your sheet to one of the many volunteers who are helping with this festival and you wait. We ordered a few things to share and try. Tagliatelle with truffles,  ravioli with truffles, pizza with truffles, and the best one..2 sunny side up eggs with shaved truffles! Can you say food heaven? We could not believe how incredible each and every item was. This was one of the coolest experiences so far!

Raika's place is located in Piazza Santo Spirito, with windows facing the Piazza. A hip and popular piazza with a fountain surrounded by a ton of great restaurants, trendy bars and cool cafes. Every morning when we woke up, the scent of fresh-made gnocchi, slow-simmered ragu and freshly sautéed mushrooms wafted into our windows.  We have been eating well here.  Using Raika's past trial-and-error experience as our guide, we've quickly found our favorite spots, and they are delicious.

The restaurant industry is so different here! You get charged 2 euros a person for getting table service, on top of that you have to buy a bottle of water if you want any. They do not offer tap water. So right off the bat you have 6 euros on your tab ($8.50). Despite this quirk, this has not stopped us from dining out almost every night and enjoying the local food.  Sometimes you just have to take one for the team.
And don't get me started on the gelato! Just thinking about it makes me want to run out and get one. A cone topped with 2-3 delicious, rich flavors. Cioccolato, nocciola, fragola, biscottino, caffe, are some of the insane gelato flavors we have been trying. Gelato here is like the baguette in France, you just can't help but buy one (or two) every single day.
We will be staying here in Florence for the next month and are hoping to visit a few other places in Italy and neighboring countries!
Stay tuned!
Ciao!

Ponte Vecchio

Pippi, our favorite roommate!

Truffle festival!

Duomo cathedral

Santa Maria Novella

Sister love

Viva Italia!

Arriving in Vernazza (Cinque Terre, Italy) was a change of pace on a lot of levels!

Hearing people speak Italian vs. French was refreshing! And the size of the town was shocking.

Vernazza is a tiny, I mean TINY town (less than 900 people live here).  Most travel books call it "quaint", what they really mean is "small as hell".  

The town consists of a train station, a small strip of land that begins with stores and markets and 2 feet later ends in a beautiful piazza (Plaza) surrounded my colorful homes, boats, and restaurants (4-5)

We arrived mid day and did not have a place to stay. Luckily we had been talking to a lady that books vacation rentals in this town and we were able to meet with her to find ourselves a spot.

10 minutes, and 50 feet later we were in our new home for the next couple days!

There isn't much to do in this little town, but somehow that was completely ok with us. 

We woke up in the morning, grabbed a pastry and a coffee (its almost impossible to try and be healthy while traveling in Italy) and we would head to the furthest point of the town which was the jetty! The sun would warm up the concrete and the view could not be more beautiful.
It was fun watching the fisherman (yes, there is only one) come in with his catch every morning around 9:30.  Curious tourists with zoom lenses tried to sneak a peak of his catch, but he always covered his bucket up before anyone saw anything .  The fish (octopus, calamari, sardines, etc.) is sold to the few restaurants in town and then offered to the townfolk in the daily street market.
Every afternoon we snacked on a "cone" of fried calamari.  The dark purple tentacles told you how fresh they were.  Light breading, sea salt and fresh lemon (this region is famous for their lemons/limoncello, by the way) make for a really special street food experience.  If they only made a bigger cone....
Florence is next!

Menton by the sea

Arriving in Menton was like being back home. It was warm, sunny and was near the beach! The moment we stepped off the train there was a feeling of relief "okay now THIS is a vacation!!"
The beginning of our trip, (save for a few really great moments), felt a little more like work than vacationing.
Between finding our next place to stay, not speaking the language and wandering around with a map in hand (cell phone data packages are hard to come by), it was a little tougher than we expected. We also got our first fine... we violated a rule about filling out our rail pass, and had to pay the conductor a 25 euro fine on the train... No warnings for us!  Straight to the fine.
Once we stepped off the train, we called hotel after hotel until we finally settled with Princess et Richmond hotel, located right on the water on the main strip of Menton, France.
It was so nice to finally be able to check into a hotel and sit on the beach! Yay.
We spent the rest of the days eating at waterfront restaurants on the boardwalk, walking around tiny cobblestone streets and even rented a scooter one day.  We saddled up early one morning and got to drive through 4 different towns including tiny Eze and Monte Carlo.  Eze was our favorite, like a little island-castle-maze.  Walking paths so small that potbellied tourists had to do-si-do to allow each other to pass without bumping Nikons.  Tiny shops with handmade trinkets and local candies, candles and dresses.  It was really interesting. Its a far cry from bustling Monte Carlo, with Prada, Cartier, Chanel and Louis Vuitton playing bookend to dozens of casinos.  There are more scooters in every Monte Carlo intersection than there were cobblestones in Eze.  Perhaps if our slot machine would have treated us kinder, we would have enjoyed Monte Carlo more, but for us Eze was the day's clear champion.

Menton itself was a beautiful little town, houses clinging to the cliffs, painted different shades of yellow.
It just made you feel warm and welcome.

Breakfast on the balcony!

Ezè

Villefranche-Sur-Mer

Beaulieu-Sur-Mer

Menton

Menton