One of my favorite destinations is Italy! It's probably the most popular destination within Europe for my clients. The atmosphere, architecture, people and the amazing food....need I say more? I decided to take my 16 year old daughter on a 6 night adventure to Rome and Florence. She was excited not only for the fabulous cuisine in store for us but also for the shopping (shoes, shoes and more shoes!) We arrived bleary eyed and early in the morning determined to miss a wonderful day in Rome because of jet lag. We checked into our wonderful hotel, Capo d'Africa, a charming little boutique hotel a couple blocks from the coliseum in a quiet neighborhood. The rooms were quiet, restful and spacious for European standards. We spent the next 3 days exploring Rome by touring the coliseum, climbing the stairs to the roof of St. Peters, browsing the Vatican Museum and loving the Sistine Chapel, visiting the Borghese Museum and the National Museum and of course getting our fill of gelato, pizza and the most wonderful pasta. We couldn't get enough of window shopping, but with the Euro/dollar exchange we didn't find ourselves coming home with too many souvenirs.
Next stop was Florence. We took the 2 hour train ride to Florence station and stayed in the most amazing luxury boutique hotel called The Lugarno. This beautiful, unique hotel faced the Arno River on one side and Ponte Veccio on the other. We had a delightful corner room that gave us amazing views both day and night. We immediately set out to see my favorite museum the Academia. Reservations are a must for this since the lines can be easily 3-4 hours long. My daughter was amazed to see the statue of David as well as the other wonderful Michelangelo unfinished sculptures. We took a 1/2 day tour of the Uffizi museum, which was well worth the price. Our favorite part of Florence was just walking around, people watching and enjoying the feast of incredible architecture. Everyone should travel with a high school student who has just taken European history. She had so much information about the things we were seeing. I was the student and she was the teacher! Florence has incredible flea markets and we actually got some great bargains on purses, shoes, scarves and ties.
Our trip to Italy was a great bonding experience for both of us as well as an amazing learning adventure! We can't wait to go back and see the north.
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