Tuscany, Cote d'Azur, Florence and Venice....the first part of our next trip.

4:33 PM AirplaneFoodCritic 0 Comments


I am in the middle of planning a trip that I will be going on next month so I thought I would share some of the photos I have found on the internet of the places I will be going.

Day 1:
First off, we land in Nice, France in the afternoon. I'm sure by the time we get to our hotel we will just have time to walk the 5 minutes to the beach, have a swim then go off looking for a drink.
We will have to have a dip in the azure blue water that gives the Cote d'Azur it's name
We will find a place to have a nice drink before dinner



That first evening we will stroll along this promenade back to the hotel and get a good night's rest
Day 2:
We will get up and walk the promenade to the Old Town where the Marche Aux Fleurs is. This will be a Monday for us so we will be there for when they have an antique market along with the usual food and flower one. We'll pick up some food for the trip here most likely. 
This market has been going on for over a century.
We will hop in a car and head to our next hotel. We may pop into the country of Monaco and it's famous Monte Carlo Casino. Although, neither of us gamble, it may be fun to see all the rich as hell people. 
The casino of the rich and famous.
Then we will drive up to Saint Paul de Vence where we are staying for the second night. This is a quiet little well-preserved medieval town with adorable ramparts that surround the whole city. 
St Paul de Vence.
There are a couple wineries in the area I would love to visit otherwise we will walk the little town that is mostly filled with art galleries then go back to the hotel and go for a swim in the pool that is situated on a hill with spectacular views. 
Hotel pool.
Day 3:
We will grab our fruits and cheeses that we bought in Nice to hit the road. We will have a big drive to the Cinque Terre. We are staying in the northern most town of Monterosso. We'll arrive in the mid to late afternoon so I want to immediately jump into the Mediterranean Sea to wash off the long drive. 
The beach at Monterosso al Mare, the northernmost terre in the 5 Terre. 
We will probably walk the town a little and find a place for an aperitivo and then dinner.  Then it's time to rest back at the hotel again.
A little street in Monterosso.
Day 4:
I hope to get up and have a nice dip in the ocean before beginning the hike of the Sentiero Azzurro, or the Blue Trail. Depending on how my health is, I hope to see all 5 of the villages in the Cinque Terre. We will hike from Monterosso to Vernazza.
The view you get of Vernazza if you make the hike on the Sentiero Azzurro. 
Again, health depending, we will continue on to Corniglia. If I am unable to make any of these hikes we can just take the train that connects all the towns for about $1.50. 
The views of Corniglia from above. This is the only town in the 5T that is not ON the water but it still has a train station!
From Corniglia I expect to take a train to the southernmost town of Riomaggiore. We may want to take another dip in the water at this point. We can walk the town looking for a nice place to eat lunch.
Riomaggiore, the southernmost town in the Cinque Terre.
After a visit to the town, we will take the "Love Street" to the next town over, Manarola. This is an easy, 15 minute walk. 
Love Street
Love Street leads to Manarola
We will have seen all the towns of the Cinque Terre at this point so I hope to take a boat ride back up north to the village we are staying in. 

Day 5:
We get up and have a good drive again. We head first to the town of Pisa to visit the famous leaning tower. I believe you can go up the tower so that is what I will do. I remember doing it as a child and loved the crooked feeling you get going round and round a leaning building.
The famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.

After Pisa we will drive on to Florence. Our hotel is right near a lot of great tourist sites but the first thing I want to do is get a gelato. After, we'll take our gelatos to the Boboli Gardens.
A view of the city of Florence behind a fountain in the Boboli Gardens.
After that treat and a rest, we will had over to the cafe where the Negroni was invented. The Negroni is one of my favorite drinks of all time so this is exciting for me.
Campari is the base for this gin drink and is deeeelishus!
From the cafe we will walk through the Piazza della Signoria and to the Ponte Vecchio where you are supposed to get the best sunset photos. 
Ponte Vecchio at night. Beautiful.
We will find a place to eat dinner on our way home.

Day 6:
Up, eat breakfast and head right to the Galleria dell'Academia and look at Michelangelo's David. That is the only thing we need to see there and there are better places to visit in our only full day in Florence so we will head immediately to the Duomo after David.
You gotta see David when in Florence.
We have only a 6 minute walk to the Santa Maria del Fiore where there is loads to see. One must see the Cathedral, the Dome, the Bell Tower, the Bapistry with the golden doors, and the Crypt. There is a museum as well but it will be closed when we will be there...boo.
Bell Tower

The dome

The golden doors of the Bapistry

Cathedral di Santa Maria del Fiore
Next we will have lunch at a pannini place where you pick out your own meats and cheeses after getting to taste everything they have. With full bellies we will make our way to the Uffizi Gallery where we will see super famous things by Botticelli, Caravaggio, Michalangelo, da Vinci and more. 
Caravaggio's Young Bacchus

Botticelli's Birth of Venus

da Vinci's Annunciation
I sure hope we will have the energy and time to make it to the Museo Galileo so we can see Galileo's actual astronomy instruments. What a treat that will be, specially for us as amature astronomists ourselves. 

Apparently, you can view Galileo's finger here.
After the Galileo Museum we will have our aperitivo. Then we will walk through the Palazzo Vecchio for more sunset photos. If we have any energy at all, we can climb the tower.
The tower at the Palazzo Vecchio.
After that tour, we'll eat at a nice vegetarian restaurant and go home for some sleep.

Day 7:
Another longish drive to Venice. Well, not to Venice, but to the parking structures near Venice. Then we will take a Vaporetto ride through the city to our hotel. 
A vaporetto ride through Venice is how you get to your hotel.
This is about half way through the trip and all I have planned so far. Once I have more planned I will post more photos of what we have planned. 

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