Happy New Year!

Wishing all of our family and friends love, happiness, and success in 2015!

Roman Holiday: Part 2

Seth and I took the high speed train from Rome to Florence. It only took 1.5 hours. I really enjoy traveling by train in Europe. We stayed at Hotel Cellai, which is a boutique hotel I found on Jetsetter. It had some character with its mixed furniture, bold colors, and its honor bar..."take what you want, just write it down and it will be added to your bill". It also had a charming roof terrace with stunning views.

 

We arrived just in time to grab a late lunch. We found Mercato Centrale just down the street from our hotel. It is a covered market with 2 floors. The first floor is a market while the second floor houses different restaurant stands. We LOVED this place. The food and wine were excellent and very reasonably priced. There is something for everyone here, and since they are open 10 am - 12 am you can always use this as a back up or grab an after dinner snack. We went here at least once a day!

Here are a few things we tried over our 3 days:

    

        

The pizza was delicious, light, and fresh. The gnocchi was stuffed with pumpkin and had a butter sage sauce. It was decadent, savory, and just divine! You also can't beat a simple prosciutto on foccacia. Oh my!!

One of the stands was selling truffles! That big guy in the back left corner was 330,000 Euros!

There was a wine stand and shop where we sat and enjoyed some chianti! They had a great selection!

We walked around our first evening and took in the city and had dinner. I wasn't expecting the Duomo to have the coloring it did on the exterior. It was very unique!

Our second day, aka Christmas Eve, we walked around most of the day. We went to a museum, checked out the Ponte Vecchio, explored the neighborhood around the Boboli Gardens, and went to the top of the Duomo. The views from the top are worth the hike!! We fit a lot in because there wasn't going to be much open on Christmas Day.

 

       

On our way back to the hotel we had some incredible gelato. Honestly, I think the best we have ever had. It was called Gelateria La Carraia. It is on the river near the Ponte Vecchio. It is a must do! After resting at the hotel for a couple hours, we went to a place called Harry's Bar for a cocktail, which is also on the river. It was a nice change from all the wine we had been drinking!

      

We stumbled on a cute little place called La Proscuitteria, where we had a meat and cheese plate and a glass of wine. It was so good!

On Christmas Day we walked around and just stumbled into whatever was open for coffee or a glass of wine. We had a pre-dinner cocktail at the Westin. They had a rooftop bar with pretty views of the river. We then had dinner reservations that evening at Osteria Belle Donne, which was tasty. A lot of the restaurants we went to on our trip are small places, so make reservations if you can.

Our last day in Firenze was a beautiful clear, sunny day. We hit the streets! There was more open, but still some places that were closed. We checked out the Boboli Gardens and tried to get our gelato again. Unfortunately it was closed, so we headed back to Harry's Bar for a drink in the sun. Then it was back to the hotel to grab our things and catch the train to Bologna.

    

 

Seth enjoyed a negroni and I had a glass of prosecco!

We didn't have much time in Bologna with our flight the next morning. We checked into our hotel, which was close to one of the main squares. We walked around and stopped off for a negroni and aperol spritz before heading to dinner. The hotel recommended a place walking distance called Grassilli. It was wonderful! It was one of our favorite meals on the trip. The chef/owner was the host and waiting on tables that evening. He was so friendly and was happy to give us menu recommendations. He also selected a lovely bottle of wine for us. Here are the Bologna highlights:

We LOVE Italy!!! It was such an amazing trip. Hope you all enjoyed your holidays too!!

Roman Holiday: Part 1

It is hard to believe Christmas was 3 weeks ago already! Seth and I spent the holidays in Italy! The weather was mild, the pasta divine, and the wine sublime. We started our trip in Rome, where we stayed at the Westin. The hotel was beautiful and walking distance to a lot of landmarks. We had a large balcony with distant views of St. Peter's Basilica.

   

We really enjoyed walking around there. There is so much history and so much to see. We popped into a lot of churches, each one prettier than the next. The food was wonderful! Our first day we went to Pizzarium for lunch. It is located a few blocks from the Vatican Museum. It was a small place with barrels and little benches outside for patrons. We shared a few rice balls, several different types of pizza, and an IPA. It was one of my favorite meals.

We went to the Vatican Museum afterwards and did the short tour. We saw many works of art, and of course, the Sistine Chapel (no pictures are allowed inside). 

    

Our first night we went to Rosciolo's for dinner. It was a really cute restaurant. The food was rich and delicious. They had a very extensive wine list as well, so get a recommendation! We had the burrata with roasted tomatoes, a meat plate and then a couple of traditional Roman pasta dishes.

   

After dinner we walked around Piazza Navona and checked out the Pantheon at night. We enjoyed a glass of wine in front of it and then it was back to the hotel.

Our second day we went to the Colosseum and walked around the Palatine. It was such a gorgeous clear day. We spent all day walking around. We bought advanced tickets so we could bypass the line. I would recommend that especially during warmer months when tourism picks up.

We stumbled on a place for lunch called Parione where we were greeted by an old school Italian in a long camel coat smoking a cigarette. We sat outside, enjoyed a bottle of wine with carbonara and gnocchi. It was delicious!

On our last full day we ventured into Trastevere, a cool neighborhood South of Vatican City on the river. We found this great deli that Seth was obsessed with. I don't have any pictures of that unfortunately. From there we went to the Vatican and did a tour of the Tomb of St. Peter, which lies under St. Peter's Basilica. It was recommended to us by our friend Liz. It was really unique and definitely worth visiting if you can get a reservation. After the tour we went to the Basilica, which is so beautiful and massive.

Our last night we ate at Da Enzo Al 29, a small place located back in Trastevere. I don't have any photos, but it was another favorite of ours. Order the fried artichokes and a pasta dish. The burrata at a neighboring table also looked awesome. This was the only place in Rome we had dessert. We were so full from appetizers and entrees! We had tiramisu and mascarpone pudding with raspberries and white chocolate. Both were to die for. Definitely make reservations.

We loved Rome!! Up Next...Florence! Stay tuned.