The view of the Arno River from Ponte Vecchio
The view of Ponte Vecchio at sunset from the Uffizi Gallery (not even edited)
I also climbed both the Duomo and the bell tower. I was terrified and pretty much couldn't feel my legs the whole time, as I'm really scared of heights. My legs and feet also hurt a lot afterwards, as I climbed nearly 1,000 steps between the two towers, in impractical shoes I may add. But I got some pretty beautiful pictures of Florence out of it! We started climbing in the evening, and night fell as we reached the top.
The view of Duomo and Florence from the bell tower.
The view of Florence from Duomo (it doesn't look like it, but Duomo is actually taller than the bell tower).
So I struggled a bit with the food in Italy after just a couple of weeks (so many carbs). I was lucky to find this Italian restaurant owned by a British man that actually made salads and chicken and not just pasta or pizza. I ate here four times in the last week I was in Florence. The place is called Acqua al 2 and they even have locations in America! Below are some pictures of the meal I had there every time I went (plus amazing and cheap wine, of course).
Oh, how I missed salad until this moment...
Best balsamic chicken on Earth (probably the deprivation of chicken talking there)
This dessert sampler made me see the face of God: I have never liked cheesecake until I had this strawberry one (top right), and I don't think I'll ever like it again.
The outside of this restaurant is so beautiful and charming, almost like you're in a fairytale. They have about 5,000 stickers on their door from famous food guides and travel guides. Well-deserved, I might add. The food is delicious. They play really cool, lounge-like music inside that makes you feel like you're in a cool nightclub, and they have all these plates with signatures and notes from famous people and actors to the owner, whom I met every time I went. Apparently this is in the theater district of Florence, which you would never know since it is nothing like Times Square or Broadway.
I also visited Boboli Gardens, the private gardens of the royal family next to Palazzo Pitti.
The famous tree tunnels, where the trees grew together to form a tunnel of shade. Immensely beautiful.
Speaking of delicious food and wine, the last week I was in Italy, my group decided to book a tour of a winery in Chianti country. And yes, this is where true Chianti wine comes from. The wine is certified by a board to be "true" Chianti if a certain percentage of the grapes they use in the wine come from this region and are grown in a specific type of soil and fermented for a certain amount of time, etc. They put a black rooster on the bottle to certify it. This experience had to be my favorite part of the trip, not only because of the wine, but because of the food.
This is that amazingly beautiful postcard picture you buy of an Italian vineyard (p.s. this was the view out of the bathroom...)
Meet, cheese, and bread pairings for the wine. They had this amazing bread with the most delicious olive oil on Earth (top left). That thing in the middle was homemade sweet and spicy sauce that the proprietor made for us!
My favorite of the four wines we tasted
Greve, the closest town to the vineyard. Quaint and pretty at night.
Probably the best picture I'll ever have.
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