Florence, Pisa, Positano

Hello everyone!

It’s hard to believe that this trip to Europe was almost half a year ago already. It’s been a treat to reminisce on all of the fantastic memories that were made while putting together this post. As I believe I’ve mentioned before, Italy is an extra special place for me because I studied in Rome for a semester of college and fell head over heels in love with not only the city, but the rest of the country as well. Being back in Italy felt oddly comforting and familiar.

After leaving Venice, Ryan and I took the train to Florence for a couple nights. On the first day we enjoyed a leisurely afternoon of walking around the old piazzas and gazing up at the Duomo. At night, we ended up meeting up at a brewery with friends from Hawaii who were coincidentally honeymooning in Europe and had an absolutely fantastic time drinking beer and wine and chatting until the wee hours of morning. Ryan and I were also thrilled to find a Mexican restaurant that was actually open only two blocks from our Airbnb around 3 a.m.

The next day we stupidly bought train tickets to Pisa to see the tower. While I don’t regret this voyage, I also don’t recommend it. Personally I think I judged Pisa a bit too harshly because it was a super chilly, super dreary day, but I also think that the leaning tower is not worth the time it takes to get there. Then again, to each their own.

We were ecstatic to go out to dinner upon arrival back to Florence, especially because we had accidentally taken the long route back from Pisa, which nearly doubled the time it took to get back. We went to a restaurant recommended by our Hawaii friends and we agreed that it was one of our top two favorite overall meals in Italy, as well as our favorite overall pasta dish. The restaurant was called Giovanni and everything from the salad to the bread to the wine was totally amazing. The show stealer by far was the truffle pasta. I’m a sucker for truffles in general but this pasta was just unreal. My mouth is seriously watering just writing this.

The following morning we awoke quite early and set out to the train station to travel to Positano. Anyone who has ever been to Positano probably knows just how much of a nightmare it can be to get there. Since it’s so isolated, there really is no direct route. From Naples, you can either take the metro to Sorrento and then take a bus from Sorrento to Positano or you can take an extremely expensive taxi. Some people even go by boat. In the interest of saving money to spend on more important things (like wine) we opted for option A. We crammed ourselves on board the unbelievably crowded metro, luggage and all, and wobbled back and forth for probably 50 stops. No joke. Once we finally arrived in Sorrento, I asked the clerk at the tabacchi shop for 2 tickets to Positano (in Italian and with great pride as it was one of the only questions I could remember how to ask) and then joined the throngs of people waiting at the bus stop.

Of course, we just missed the cut off for seats so again we wobbled around as the bus hit sharp curves along the Italian coast. Ryan looked like he wanted to punch someone (probably me since I forced him to go to Positano in the first place) but I asked him to let me know once we arrived if it was worth it. When we finally checked into our Bed & Breakfast and gazed out at our unbelievably gorgeous view, Ryan agreed that it was 100% worth every minute. Next time though, I’ll probably just splurge on a damn cab.

Positano is one of those small towns that lives for summer and totally caters to all of the foreigners who visit. The main attraction is the beach so we guiltlessly indulged in some quality beach time. The water was cold by the time we arrived in late October but the sun shone and we swam anyways. We ate pizza and drank prosecco on the beach, chatted up a random assortment of tourists from various countries and continents, and just overall enjoyed the fuck out of every single moment in that tiny slice of paradise.

Next stop: Rome!