Italy 2026 – Florence via Rome
The first stop in the Italian adventure was a brief stop in Rome. We arrived in Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO). The first order of business was getting Lillian’s luggage and bike to storage. This involved dragging the large box around the airport. After exploring a bit we found it and stored it for pick up later. We then made our way to the Leonardo Express, a non-stop train to Rome Termini.
The hotel was a few blocks away. We walked to a restaurant nearby, Famili for our first real Italian meal. It was yummy albeit salty. We went to bed early after the long day’s travel.
In the morning, May and Jeff got up early and waked to Trevi Fountain before the crowds hit. It was a bit weird to see every with there backs to the fountain. Rather than sitting looking at the foutain the modern Instagram tourists were all focused on poses in front of the fountain. The walk back to the hotel was pretty as the morning light painted the buildings and alleys in a golden light. We had a quick breakfast in Termini train station and browsed some of the shops before catching the high-speed Trenitalia train, Frecciarossa to Florence.
The train ride up was through the country side. We saw a lot of farms. Mostly hay and trees, almost no animals. We took a white taxi from the station to the hotel. The room wasn’t ready yet, so we left our bags and walked to the Duomo and walked around the area. There was vendors selling things and several artists with drawings in the piazza.
Like the entire trip it was hot. Pretty much the entire trip was over 40C (100C) There was a market building we went with food court upstairs that we had lunch. Jeff tried a weird drink from a vending machine that tasted like cough syrup. We had pizza and some other food from the booths. After lunch we went back to the hotel to checkin and shower to cool off. Around sunset we walked down to the river by Ponte Vecchio. We ate at a restaurant acorss from the Hard Rock. It was a great meal, one of the best of the whole trip.
The next morning we had a breakfast box before heading out to our appointment to see the statue of David. We thought it was a tour but it was just entrance. We spent a lot of time at the statue and the adjoining sculptures and paintings. Kate and Lillian stayed in the museum and sketched while May and Jeff walked around. We went back to the market for food. It wasn’t as appealing the second time. The pasta was pretty but overall kind of mid; partly because there was a cockroach that ran across the table.
After breakfast in the hotel we went to our tour of Ponte Veccio. We arrived too late to see the Uffizi museum (we’ll have to come back). The tour gave walked us across the old bridge. The tour guides switching between Italian and English. It’s pretty amazing the age of everything. Seeing the river from the bridge was really cool. Once on the other side we decided to walk up to the look out for sunset. The heat was pretty oppressive but we were getting used to it and good at staying the shady side of the street. It was an impressive vista from the top of the hill. There was a guitarist setting up on the steps. We walked further up to a church. There was a couple having wedding pictures taken that we might have photo bombed. When we got back the steps were full of people waiting for the sunset. The same couple came through the crowd passing out flowers.
Lillian’s phone was fritzing, so we ventured out to the North side of Florence MediaWorld to get a local phone. We took a tram which was really effective. Navigating the phone purchase was a bit of challenge between the limited English and our desire to get a local SIM as well as transfer ATT to the near phone. The mall that the store was in was a bit underwhelming but it was good to see a non-tourist part of the town.
We ate dinner near the Duomo. We ordered the Bifsteaka Florentine. We hilariously struggled figuring out how much to order in 100g increments. We thought we grossly over sized the order, but it turning about perfect, well it was still a lot. Lillian had to lockin to get it all finished.
The last morning in Florence we all ate in the hotel again. Their cappuccino and European breakfast was yummy. Meats, cheeses, fruits, and breads. May and Jeff worked in the hotel while Kate and Lillian walked back to the duomo. They got went to the photo booth and got a big sandwich form a place they spotted. Unfortunately, the artist Kate saw the day before wasn’t setup yet. After checking out we all hung out in the sitting room of the hotel. The old decor and books were really nice. Since we were now experience with the tram system we took that to the train station rather than a taxi. On to Bologna.