My final part from our Rome trip
We scheduled another day trip to Leaning Tower of Pisa and Florence on our second to last day
First stop is always a gas station, toilet, and cafe break
On our way to Pisa our van started to have technical problems! The engine was fine but the computer and tech inside was acting like a hot mess. This tour was a small group of a total of 6 people. 4 was us and 2 were another couple from a suburb of Chicago on their honeymoon. We had to wait 2 hours for another vehicle but we all took it in stride. There is really nothing you can do when it comes to car trouble and really when anything goes awry and I am happy the kids didn’t mind it at all. The tour company bought us snacks and drinks as we waited and it was really nice.
We were suppose to go to Pisa first but with the delay we went to Florence first and we stopped for lunch. I had been dreaming of this steak that is famous in Florence since the last time we were here and it did not disappoint!!!
Cute family picture
Legit heaven!!!!! We got it done Rare because the pan stays hot for 45 minutes and it cooks the meat fast. I love this steak so much and was happy to share its deliciousness with my kids (Dan doesn’t eat red meat often but he did have some when the steak cooked to well done.)
Of course the kids got their clam spaghetti pasta
Dan got a salad and Cacio e Pepe pasta
This was a heavy lunch but ugh so good. We finished the whole meal!
Had the kids all eat the meat off the bone too
Of course gelato after
We then met up with our guide, Giovanni, for the Florence tour part.
He took us here, Carlo Lorenzini, better known by the pen name Carlo Collodi, creator of Pinocchio lived here and there is a plaque on the building telling us that
Again, love all the random art. I find it smart to decorate the business door with the business info and add some art work to it
He then led us to the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze. Both kids wanted to see the David and their faces once seeing it was everything! Wish I would have captured it but I was too busy smiling and looking at them lol
Hello Michelangelo
These are unfinished works from Michelangelo and they are called, The Prisoners, so smart and clever to be called that because they do look like they want to break out
The David never disappoints. This biblical story is my oldest Dylan’s favorite Bible story! He was especially in awe and loved seeing it. Him and Logan kept going on and on about the details and how realistic it looked. Our guide Giovanni, told us that Michelangelo used to dissect bodies which was revolutionary because it wasn’t allowed but that is how he was one of the few to get his sculptures to look so real like Da Vinci.
Again, love the low crowds!
Walking around and listening to the history of Florence
My babies
This was where the David original stood until it got moved inside the museum. So nice they put up a replica to get an idea of how it looked in the square
This Fountain of Neptune intrigued Logan but he was sad it wasn’t on
The Ponte Vecchio was the only bridge in Florence that survived the bombings in Florence during WWII
Made it to Pisa
We got 30 min after our tour to explore and take as many pictures as we wanted
We of course took tons, but here are a couple
One final look
Got a really late dinner but it tasted amazing after our long day
On our last day, me and Dan, left it open so the kids could do whatever they wanted.
Logan picked the Colosseum and Dylan just wanted to walk around and shop.
Walking towards the Colosseum the kids wanted to stop for a snack
Soaking in the Colosseum.
Tickets were really easy to get last minute through their official site
Walking around
Of course a gelato break
This place is very touristy but the kids really wanted to go to it after hearing multiple people tell us about the place with 150 flavors! The loved sampling so many flavors
We let the kids pick what stores we went into and where to eat.
Stopped by the hotel for a break and found this complimentary Prosecco waiting for us inside our room and we immediately enjoyed it
After a rest we went back out for dinner. The kids wanted to eat by the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain area so Dylan picked this place. It was good for our last meal because of all the people watching
Saying good bye to our favorites
Trevi Fountain
Another gelato break lol
Spanish Steps
Pantheon
Piazza Navona
The next day we got to the airport. Once there got settled in and found out our plane was delayed! It normally would be ok but our layover was only for 50 min to catch our plane home. I was panicking the whole time.
By the grace of God we made it!!! Lufthansa was AMAZINGGGG and waited for us and other people that were on our flight. They were so kind to wait the extra 30 minutes and I will never not be thankful for it. I already emailed them and let them know how amazing they are because omg thank you Lufthansa for waiting.
I had never been on Lufthansa but I can’t express how much I love foreign airlines compared to our American ones like Delta and United. I hate hate hate the food on Delta and United which is wild because I used to love their food and in general I am never a picky eater, I even love hospital food but ugh the food has gone drastically downhill. Anyway, Lufthansa’s food was so so so good!
I almost cried when I saw they gave out real silverware for economy class. In reality, I can be quite frugal when it comes to airlines tickets in the sense that business or first class sound really nice with the extra legroom and better food, but I don’t drink and when flying internationally they give out beer and wine to economy so I don’t see a point in spending more when I can fall asleep anywhere and never care for the extra leg room since I tend to just sit still and never move my seat back. Dan typically takes over my seat which in rare form I don’t mind because I tend to panic and need the touch to settle down again. The kids though said they would love to sit in the “better seats” and they promised they would take us somewhere and buy us the nice seats one day lolol
The food was so good, I got the pasta, Dan got the chicken, both kids got the chicken and they also really liked it.
To say we had an amazing time is an understatement! This trip was one of the best I have taken and it was so nice to show the kids one of our favorite cities. Of course the kids fought with each other and tears were shed because one was being extra mean or they both wanted my attention and being mean to each other because of that but overall those fights were just small blips in the grand scheme of the trip. The only major delay we had was on our Florence day trip but really the kids were happy so we were happy. We have great memories to last us a lifetime and the kids are already planning our next overseas trip. They both did great on the plane ride back and said they could handle a longer flight if we wanted to go somewhere further lololol
Adventures of Janet 