City Love or Rustic Greens?
- Coach Leo
- May 2, 2017
- 5 min read
Unsure if you would want to visit Rome first or the country side of Tuscany?
Why not do both!
During an 8 day trip, you are able to view the amazing areas within Rome, stop by Florence, and enjoy some wine tasting in Tuscany. I'll explain how it can be done.
When planning my trip to Italy, my boyfriend and I knew that there were two main things that we had to experience: Historical Buildings within Rome & the Vineyards within Tuscany. We kept the list as simple as possible. No set tours, set itinerary or strict schedule. Our goal was to escape the day-to-day routine of having to follow a certain plan and live in the moment.
First 3 days - Roma!
My boyfriend and I arrived Sunday morning to Rome and would be staying there thru Tuesday (Checking out Weds Morning). Day 1 was a "walk around and explore" kind of day. We wanted to soak in the city, it's culture, food, and luxuries. That night we came across the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain, followed by a walk down a dark alley where we ate some street pizza. Overall, amazing walk to do at night (less crowded). Day 2 is when we woke up early to go to the Colosseum. Before we fetched a taxi, we stopped to get some expresso & pastry just like most locals at a local coffee shop. I could not get enough of their coffee (cappuccino was buenisimo)!
No tickets were purchased ahead of time - Which was a risk on our part! As we soaked in the outer beauty of the historical building, we were approached by a tour guide that was looking to add more people to his upcoming group tour. We ended up getting the guided tour for a pretty affordable prize. It helped with shortening the wait time and it provided us with a tour to Ancient Rome (which we probably would of missed had we not done the tour) and a chance to learn a bit further on the historical events.
Day 3 was a day at the Vatican! We enjoyed the tour guide from the Colosseum, that we went through the same company for the Tour of the Vatican Museum and Basilica. We arrived and the line was around the corner for what seems to be indefinite! With the tour guide, we cut the line and had audio while walking through the museum. The images seemed unreal and sculptures appeared immaculate! It was very compact and at one point very overwhelming, until you reached St Peter's Basilica - words cannot describe the beauty you see at all angles and the feeling of joy. Simply Speechless.
The first three days in Rome were a success - we had accomplished so much with very little planning. Food options were endless, and historical buildings/landmarks were everywhere.
Next 3 days - Tuscany!
Day 4 - Being natural early birds, we got our bags ready and headed down to get our car rental (with a side of coffee & pastry). The ride up to Tuscany was beautiful! Very low on traffic and a short drive to Florence from Rome (GPS will estimate 3 hours, but we made it close to 2 1/2). After visiting florence for a few hours, we headed to the place we would be staying for the next three days. The place we stayed at was in Casole d'Elsa at Antico Borgo Ripostena. It was a beautiful apartment on 5 acres of private land! This place provided us with a feeling of serenity and relaxation. A complete different change of pace to what we experience in the city (Both in Rome & even in Phoenix, Arizona). The place offered a family dinner where we would received three traditional tuscan dishes amongst other guests - We couldn't pass on the offer! It was warm, welcoming, and great to sit amongst guests from different areas of the world.
Day 5 - After a good nights rest, we spent the following day visiting some of the local vineyards and stopped for a Wine Tour. Prior to that, we stopped at Florence to enjoy some great food at Il Latini. Our goal was to further enjoy the scenery and experience some of the smaller towns. We stopped at a small local restaurant for dinner as and called it an early night.
Day 6 - Friday already! We decided to go up to San Gimignano and enjoyed some great gelato & food. After that, we drove further into Volterra to enjoy some more history and artifacts! Each town had a different feeling to them but the rustic food and architecture was memorable. We closed the night with another family dinner and enjoyed the soothing night under the bright stars. The country side is very humbling and mother nature embraces you in every way - Your senses seem to be intensified and in tune with the surroundings.
Day 7 - Time to head back! We woke up before dawn and drove back to the Roma. When we arrived to Rome, we checked in to another apartment (AirBNB) and there were a few recommendations that our host had recommended. We visited Trastevere to visit a couple of their restaurants and enjoyed the neighborhood. After relaxing from our ride back, we headed out to Dinner close to Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi. Beautiful walk at night, with several of families, couples and friends enjoying some quality time with one another.
Day 8 - Sunday we wanted to spend like most of the locals and went to Porta Portese. It is one of their largest flee markets and a great experience! You see some of the local artistry and trinket items to bring back to your family and friends. We were there for the majority of the day and still didn't get the chance to see everything! Being that this was our last night, we did a bit more of shopping followed by another delicious dinner. Rome offered a wide range of food selections and every restaurant had their own twist to the traditional roman dishes.
Several of places seen, faces met, and unforgettable memories. 8 perfect days that allowed us the opportunity to see into a new culture and left with no regrets. We stayed out of the club scene and ensured that we were not packing in our days with too much. Our goal was to BE and live in the moment, and truly embrace the experience.
Both Rome and Tuscany offer you history, tradition, culture, warm welcomes, and amor. If you are unsure if you should do one city or the other, take a risk and venture to do both!
With Love,
Coach Leo
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