Spontaneous Detour to Tuscany, Italy
After two full weeks in Morocco (and feeling sick for the majority of that time), we decided to spend the last week of our time abroad elsewhere. Morocco is so close to Europe, so I just started looking up cheap flights to literally anywhere! I played with the idea of going somewhere new (Amsterdam? Greece? Switzerland?) but after cross checking the flight prices and weather forecasts, we ultimately decided to return to a very special place for us... Italy!
When we booked our trip to Morocco, we bought a round trip ticket to/from Barcelona and then another round trip on a smaller airline from Barcelona to Marrakesh. It was much cheaper than a roundtrip straight to Morocco. So when I was researching where to add-on to our last week of the trip, I knew we had to get back to Barcelona in time for our flight back to California. I found a reasonable flight to Florence and another reasonable flight to Barcelona the night before our flight home, so we got two mini-trips in one spontaneous detour: 5 nights in Florence, 1 night in Barcelona!
If you hadn't already read about our time in Morocco, the summarized version is that unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it all that much... I got sick, I was on antibiotics, the food is what makes you sick, so I didn't want to eat the food... And experiencing the local food is one of my absolute favorite parts of traveling! Also, the culture in Morocco is very conservative (and blatantly, misogynistic) so I felt uncomfortable out on my own, or alone on the beach when Shaun surfs. Usually I'm soaking up the sun, reading a book or listening to a podcast and enjoying the beach when we travel to surf contests together. In Morocco, I only felt comfortable to wear a swimsuit at the private hotel pool (or comfortable to even show my knees and shoulders, in fact). I'm glad we went and experienced a culture so, so different but three weeks was far too long for me!So off to Italy we went. One year prior, we had gotten engaged in Capri, Italy so Italy has now (and always will) hold a special place in our hearts.
** A note about Covid: This trip was in early February 2020. Coronavirus was definitely on the news at that point and a known pandemic, but honestly I thought it was contained to China or at least Asia. It truly barely crossed my mind as we were traveling between Morocco and Europe. However, my mom was more conscious of how fast it was spreading internationally at that point and asked us to wear masks. I would have worn a mask if we saw them available or for sale – but we didn't see any at all. In the airports at that time, only the TSA agents wore masks (for example, in the security lines) but the staff on the airplanes were not. It's now crazy to look back at Italy's timeline with Covid-19: The first person in Italian tested positive on February 20 (we flew home on February 7). The nationwide lockdown was put in place March 9. It's incredible to think how much travel has changed since then, especially international travel...
We landed at Florence airport pretty late in the evening and after picking up our rental car, it was probably around 9PM. We booked a super cute Airbnb (for under $50/night!!) about 20-25 minutes out of the main city. Since we had a car, we wanted free street parking and opted for a little suburb village called Montelupo (see above). It was super tiny and super cute. That first night, we were worried the little town was so sleepy that there would be nothing open for dinner by the time we got checked in (also because it was February and winter can be dead in tiny European towns), but our host pointed us in the right direction and we found an adorable restaurant and ate the most delicious pasta and red wine that night (see below). The meal was extra appreciated after two weeks in Morocco– and was exactly what we came to Italy for!
The next morning, we hopped in the rental car and drove south to Siena. Since this was a last minute trip, I hadn't researched much to do, so were really playing it by ear (unlike me) and just wandering around. I had heard of Siena and knew it was a historic town, so I thought that was a good starting point.
We miraculously found free parking (or did we miraculously not get a ticket?), and walked towards what we assumed would be town center and we stumbled across a HUGE street market! Flowers, clothes, shoes, farmers market, everything! One of the very first stalls was selling winter coats and jackets, and since we had just unexpectedly traveled from 80°F weather in Northern Africa, I had packed unprepared for winter in Italy. I found a super cute pink furry coat and layered in on immediately. Plus, it only cost like 8€!
After perusing the market, we continued to explore Siena on foot. We found the main town square, which was fairly empty and quiet given it was February. We stopped for pizza at a popular restaurant with an outdoor heated tent seating, and later had an afternoon coffee. Most shops were closed but a handful of gift shops and souvenir stores were open.
On our way back from Siena to Florence, we chose to take the windy roads through the vineyards and hills to experience true Tuscan wine country. The vines were mostly dead and the tasting rooms were mostly closed, but it was still lovely and beautiful!
Another day, we road tripped to nearby Pisa (45 minute drive) to see the infamous Leaning Tower of Pisa. We were both quite shocked at how much it is truly leaning! I thought it would be a bit of an optical illusion, or would only really show in certain angles but no– it was shockingly leaning!
We also ventured farther west to the coastal town of Viareggio, where we strolled the main street and had a wonderful seafood lunch. We thought it'd be fun to see the coast, but the beaches were all cornered off for the winter and inaccessible.
Our favorite part of the trip was, of course, Florence. The city is beautiful. The main square, or piazza, with the famous and photogenic church called The Duomo was our favorite sight of the trip. In fact, we sat at a cafe right in front to enjoy the view for an hour or so.
Parking in the main city of Florence was not as easy as Siena, but we found an underground parking garage and had to pay the price. I think it was around 5€ per hour. Oh well! Right above our parking garage was an enormous indoor market, the Mercato Centrale. The first floor is all souvenir stalls and food/wine gifts (olive oil, sweets, truffles, cheese). The second floor is a food hall with dozens of counters to order anything your heart desires– pizza, pasta, or even sushi. Our hearts desired a variety of pintxos and tapas (see above!).
Directly outside the Mercato Centrale, the streets were lined with vendors selling leather goods, belts, purses, sweatshirts, backpacks, watches, everything. (We really lucked out with where we parked!). I was eyeing the leather purses and began lightly haggling with a few vendors on purses to get a comparison on styles and prices. Each vendor claimed they were selling at incredibly low prices since it was winter, saying it was 40% off regular peak season tourist prices. I finally found one stall that sold the two styles I was interested in and made the splurge! Shaun even got a cashmere scarf for only 10€!
Our last minute decision to spend our final week abroad in Italy was exactly what we needed. The pizza and pasta settled my cravings and we got to see a new region of Italy! We've been to the Amalfi Coast and Sicily (2019) and now Tuscany (2020). We actually made a pact to try and return to Italy every single year from now on. Hopefully covid will let us return sometime in 2021!!
