Rome – Borghese Gallery

Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! On our first full day in Rome we had a 9am reservation at the Borghese Gallery. This museum is in the northern part of Rome in the Villa Borghese park, and it took us about thirty minutes to walk there. It would’ve been faster to take a…

Florence – Palazzo Vecchio & Tuscan Wine Tour

Hi friends, welcome back to the final post of our time in Florence. It was downpouring at this point, but we had some time to kill before our wine tour so we headed to Piazza della Signoria to see Palazzo Vecchio. This fortress looking building was the town hall in renaissance times. In 1540, Duke…

Florence – Duomo Museum, Bell Tower & Baptistry

Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! After climbing the dome, Jon and I spent about an hour at the Opera del Duomo Museum. The museum underwent an extensive renovation in 2015 and the exhibits are spread across three floors and twenty-eight rooms. Admission was included with our dome climb tickets and we loved…

Florence – Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella & Accademia

Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! After exploring the Uffizi Gallery and grabbing sandwiches for lunch, Jon and I headed to visit the Basilica of Santa Croce. Tickets are eight euros and we purchased them onsite. You can also purchase an audioguide, but we passed on this. Santa Croce is the largest Franciscan…

Florence – Uffizi Gallery

Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! The first museum on the agenda, and one of our favorite museums of the trip, was the Uffizi Gallery. Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance (1450-1500) and this museum houses the greatest collection of Italian paintings by Leonardo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Michelangelo, and Botticelli. I booked our…

Florence – Piazza Michelangelo & Ponte Vecchio

Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! After checking into our hotel and having our first Italian meal, it was time to explore Florence. You never would’ve guessed it was hailing and nasty earlier because the sun came out and it felt like a brand-new day. I immediately fell in love with the quaint…