La Dolce Vita

Being on top of the hill means amazing sunsets

Il Salviatino

The second leg of our Italian vacation took us to Florence and the elegant region of Tuscany.  Going into this trip, Mike and I were in agreement that Florence and Tuscany would be our "splurge".  We had saved for almost a year to take this trip, and decided before leaving that we were going to spare no expense on our accommodations and excursions, so admit-idly, this was the part of the trip I was looking forward to the most.

After a brief and speedy train ride, we were met on the train platform by our adorable driver, Roberto, who took us through the city of Florence and to the outskirts of Florence...on a little hill called Fiesole.  My face was practically pressed up against the glass of our car as he took us through the grounds of the Tuscan mansion that would be our retreat for the next three days...Il Salviatino.  Upon our arrival at the hotel, we were greeted by what seemed like every member of the staff and welcomed with a room upgrade and a special glass of rose Prosecco.  It was devine.

I'm convinced our hotel room had the best view of the whole estate.  Complete with thick wooden shutters, it was like a storybook or straight out of a Disney fairytale every morning to open the window & the shutters to hear the church bells ringing from the duomo down the hill, and the subtle humming of the mopeds below.  If it wasn't my first trip to Florence, I could have stayed within the grounds of Il Salviatino for the entire trip.

But of course we didn't do that!  After our driver, Roberto, returned my husband's lost phone to the hotel concierge, we were so enamored with him, that we requested Roberto be our driver for our countryside adventure the following day.  He picked us up promptly in the morning and had an agenda already planned for us to see all the charm and nature that is so characteristic of Tuscany.

Happy Hour

When people ask about my favorite part of my trip to Italy, I really have a hard time answering, but this was definitely one of the best days I've ever had.  We were nestled in the safe backseat of Roberto's Mercedes, driving all over the countryside while he told us tales of Italian history and taught us about the different wine regions in Tuscany.  The first stop on our road trip was in Siena, a destination that was my only request on our entire Italian trip.  We were dropped off and free to explore the town for hours.  I've never seen medieval charisma like Siena.  Aside from it's medieval cityscape, it's also the home of the Palio - a horse race held around the Piazza del Campo twice a year.  It's an extremely competitive race that celebrates medieval tradition and highlights the immense rivalry between the different city wards of Siena.  Mike and I loved seeing the banners and flags from all of the different contrade/neighborhoods.   Even today, the jockeys still ride bare back and wear traditional medieval costumes!

Piazza del Campo!

After working up an appetite and a bit of a credit card bill from buying artwork, we were taken through the hills of Chianti to the Castello di Fonterutoli vineyard for what Mike & I agreed was the best lunch of the trip. We tasted 4 different wines as we snacked on beef carpaccio and wild boar bolognese.  The owner of the vineyard took us across the street to do a bit more wine tasting when our meal was finished.  Perhaps we had a few too many little sips of Chianti, because we walked out of the vineyard with a shipment of wine back to the States!  It will be such a treat when it arrives.

Our last little stop was another charming little medieval gem, and one that I had never heard of until Roberto called it "the Medieval Manhattan". From a distance, San Gimignano looks like a town of skyscrapers among rolling hills of vineyards. But when you get closer, you realize that those skyscrapers are in fact medieval towers! At this point in our day, we were ready to have another glass of white wine and climb around the towers and ruins to see some of the most breathtaking views in all of Tuscany. 

You can faintly see the towers of San Gimignano in the background

Before Roberto took us back to Il Salviatino, he drove us to Piazzale Michelangelo to see the sunset and have a bit of a romantic moment to end our adventure.  From the square, you can see the famous and majestic panoramic view of Florence. After an the adventure of a day that we had, it was so romantic to stand on top of Florence and watch the golden glow of the sunset upon the city, and hold the love of my life.  These are moments where you realize that the daily grind and the 60 hour workweeks are totally worth it.


The rest of our stay in Florence was a whirlwind of museums, duomos, shopping and of course, FOOD!  After a few hours at the Uffizi and a quick visit to the David (the real one & the fake!), Mike said that he was content at seeing the most well known works from "all four Ninja Turtles"....and there was A LOT to see in Florence.  I wont bore you with all the details of all the Renaissance paintings and sculptures we saw, but I will advise that if you do go to Florence, it's imperative that you purchase "skip the line" passes at both the Uffizi & the Academy of Art.  We bought our tickets weeks ahead of time, and still stood patiently in line for roughly 20 minutes at both!  So you can imagine how it must be for people who bought tickets day of....YIKES!


While we enjoyed the delicious cuisine right at our hotel for dinner, Il Salviatino also had excellent recommendations for restaurants that were off the beaten path in Florence.  They refused to send us to "tourist traps". Each night, we received a little red envelope with the name of our restaurant, a little map with directions, and a phone number in case we got lost.

We had two more unforgettable dinners in Florence.  On our first night, we took the shuttle down the hill to l'Parione.  The restaurant was hidden in a quiet alley and had such an authentic rustic charm.  We dined on caprese, gnocci and Mike's first Osso bucco of the trip!  In order to try more plates, Mike and I became accustomed to splitting appetizers, splitting a pasta dish, and then each getting a meat course....and it worked out fabulously!

It's pretty magical at night too!

On the Ponte Vecchio!

On our last night in Florence, the hotel recommended Peperoncino.  Outside of the delicious pastas and caprese, Florence is famous for the Florentine T-bone, and this place was KNOWN for their Florentine T-bone.  I'm not a huge fan of red meat, but this was heavenly.  The Italians traditionally drown their t-bones in olive oil and cover it with fresh ground pepper, which is a little unconventional, but it was delicious.  I was disheveled and a bit hot by the end of the meal, but I was determined to enjoy as much as my body could handle.  In Italy, it's not uncommon for the restaurants to bring out complimentary grappa or limonchello at the end of the meal, or to throw in a free dessert, even if you're too stuffed to eat it.  Our sweet little waiter sent Mike and I home with a coffee mug from the restaurant as a little souvenir. 

Limonchello...OF COURSE!

It was with heavy hearts that Mike and I left Florence and Il Salviatino.  In only 3 days I fell in love with Florence and Tuscany and I can't wait to come back with my family and spend even more time visiting all the rustic little towns and infinite number of villas and castles.  In Siena, I mentioned that we bought a gorgeous oil painting that will be arriving in the States in a few short weeks, and I'm so happy to have that as a daily reminder of the romantic and charming time we had in this region of Italy.





The final installment of the Mobley's Italian tour took us to Venice for our last two days.  Stay tuned for some more pictures, restaurant recommendations and of course Mobley adventures.  Ciao!