I have always been interested in Ferragamo shoes, especially the block heel version. They are a pricey designer shoe, and if you’re like me, you may not always want to spend the money on something like that. When I saw these pumps from Cole Haan, I just knew these were the perfect option. I am all for quality vs. quantity and these shoes fit the bill AND are inexpensive too. They are SUCH a great investment in your shoe closet. I wear these to work quite often and they never get old. They are comfortable and waterproof too, can you believe it!? I have gotten SO many compliments on them and I know you will too! They come in black leather and nude leather in full and half sizes and run true to size. Get out and get yourself a pair of these pumps! They are feminine and stylish, just like YOU ❤

Tara Tip* They often go on sale for up to 30% off. Do not pay full price unless you must have these right away (which I would totally understand by the way!)

Cole Hann | Tali Modern Waterproof Bow Pump | $170.00

Shop below!

https://www.colehaan.com/tali-modern-bow-pump-45mm-black-waterproof-leather/W11962.html?dwvar_W11962_color=Black%20Waterproof%20Leather&dwvar_W11962_width=#cgid=womens_shoes_pumps&sz=100&start=1&hitcount=50&loadmore=1

 

 

Isn’t it stunning? That’s where we had lunch (and made fresh pasta) and let me tell you, it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life! Amazing! If you are even considering doing a cooking class in Italy, I would stop considering right now and just book it. It could not have been a better experience and I learned a lot in the process too. Did I mention the food?? It was outstanding as well.

 

This vegetarian dish was the one of the top 5 things I have ever eaten in my life, and I have had a lot of delicious food. The chef made it just for us with all of the fresh produce and herbs from the Tuscan garden.

What the cooking class includes | Brief overview of the day:

To Begin

Meet at the S.M. Novella Train Station and check in with your tour

Walk to the buses as a group | The private bus will take you about 45 min to get to the Tuscan Farmhouse.

Look around the garden and pick a bunch of fresh veggies and herb. This happens ONLY on Sundays. Other days you will head right to the market in Florence first.

Tour the farmhouse and get settled in

Prepping | Appetizers

Start making a fresh pesto followed by fresh bruschetta. Eat with fresh bread and enjoy some delish vino. *Very helpful tips during this portion and throughout the entire day!

Start making an authentic bolognese in the world class kitchen. Start making rustic baked potatoes and a main meat dish. We made a herb pork shoulder roast I believe.

More wine time! Chef will demonstrate how to make homemade pasta and a variety of different pasta shapes you can make.

Pasta Making

Head outside and start making your own pasta. This was so fun! We each made our own amount of homemade pasta!

Relax and enjoy some wine while the chef prepares the main dishes for you.

Dinner Portion

Sit down for an early dinner and eat, drink, eat, drink! You will enjoy all of the incredible foods you prepped together-it’s all so delicious.

Things to remember…this is a group event of about 12 people or so. Hours are 8:45am to about 4:00pm. The bus will drive you and drop you back off in Florence. You will receive a certificate and apron too!  You will learn a lot about Tuscan cooking and get to eat some incredible foods! Cost-about 115€ per person. You will NOT leave hungry.

When booking, look for:

Cooking Class and Lunch at a Tuscan Farmhouse with Local Market Tour from Florence

If you want to know anything else about this experience, let me know. I hope you book this tour! You definitely will not regret it 🙂

Florence is such a gorgeous and well maintained city! The streets and buildings are so beautiful! What’s even better is that you can relax in just about any area and simply enjoy life. There are live musicians around the city, which are truly incredible too. The whole feel of Florence and the ambiance it exudes is so romantic. Florence is for real guys.

We traveled by train to Florence. I 100% recommend taking the train if you’re traveling throughout Italy. It is an inexpensive and comfortable way to get around and see new places. If you have any questions about traveling by train, please let me know and I’ll do my best to answer :).

We stayed at Hotel Mercure Firenze Centro. The hotel is a 10 minute walk from the Santa Maria Novella train station, even closer if you are a fast walker. It is such a GREAT location so that was a huge plus for us. Next time, I would probably want to stay a few more blocks away, but the price is great and location is perfect.

Walk, walk, and walk! This city is very walkable, so you should walk around as much as you can. After we checked in and got ready, that’s exactly what we did.

We stopped for a quick take-out pizza and some wine. I was really hoping to eat at Gusta Pizza, but they were on vacation which was such a bummer! I’ve heard GREAT things about them, so you should definitely give them a try! Luckily, we found a cute pizza place near the Santo Spirito Church where we could order some take-out pizza and wine. While we waited for our order, they gave us a glass of prosecco. Talk about customer service! 🙂

We took our pizza and wine and headed to Ponte Vecchio to relax and enjoy the sunset. Ponte Vecchio is the perfect place to listen to live music and relax. There isn’t a lot of seating, but people just sit on the steps that are there. It was such a lovely sunset that night, and it was just nice to relax and do some people watching, while listening to  music. Don’t miss out on this area!

We ended our first night with gelato (of course!) and the Duomo. The only gelato you need to try in Florence is called, La Carraia. People recommended another place to us too, but we just didn’t like it nearly as much! After gelato, we walked to see the Duomo and sat at a cafe right in front of it. We enjoyed a little limoncello and biscuits, while staring at the glory of this building. I recommend seeing the Duomo at night and during the day.  The Duomo and the Florence in general, literally glows at nighttime. It’s all so breathtaking!

Our second day was quite busy with climbing the bell tower, lunch at All’ Antico Vinaio, drinks on Ponte Vecchio, walking to the Piazza Michelangelo for sunset, gelato fix, and grabbing a late night dinner. It was jammed packed, and I got to see a lot more of the city, which was amazing. Whatever you do, don’t miss sunset at the Piazzale Michelangelo. It is worth the hike up there. We walked the whole way, but you could of course get a taxi to and from. I really wanted to make the most out of my time in Europe, so walking around as much as possible was totally necessary for me!

Hanging out at the Piazzale Michelangelo square was truly one of my favorite parts about Florence. It is such a breathtaking area and panoramic view of the city. Visiting the Piazzale Michelangelo is a MUST when you’re visiting Florence. Bring some wine and just chill. I couldn’t resist not posting below all these shots of sunset and a short clip. I truly believe Florence has the most beautiful sunsets 🙂

Our last day in Florence was spent at a Tuscan Farmhouse for an Italian Cooking Class. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life! See my post on Italian Cooking Class in Tuscany for more info! If you are even considering taking a class, just book now!

Buona Notte, Florence!

Tara Tips*

To Stay

Hotel Mercure Firenze Centro | VERY close to the S. M. Novella train station and a reasonable price. We enjoyed our stay because it was super convenient for us! Less than a 10 minute walk from the train station and Duomo.

To Do

Climb the Bell Tower | To get the best picture of the Duomo and city! It’s also just neat to do it. There are A LOT of stairs so be prepared!! 🙂 Bring water. *Purchase tickets in advance if you want to tour inside of the Duomo. Bell Tower Tickets and Basilica usually don’t sell out, but you might want to purchase ahead of time too. We bought those tickets the day of with no problem. Where to purchase tickets is a little tricky. Make sure you go to the building and DO NOT buy tickets from anyone on the streets

Piazzale Michelangelo | Visit for sunset, panoramic views of the city, and live music. It is magnificent! Bring a bottle of vino with you and sit on the steps!

Italian Cooking Class in Tuscany with Walkabout Tours | Such an experience! Let me know if you need more info on it.

Ponte Vecchio | Do some people watching, listen to music, and just enjoy life. How can you not when you are in Florence?

Gelato at La Carraia | The best one in Florence, hands down. My favorite flavors are the dark chocolate and coffee! SO good.

Shop, shop, and shop! | There’s such great shopping all over Florence.

To Eat

For lunch you MUST check out All’ Antico Vinaio. It is a pretty famous sandwich shop and there WILL be a line out the door and into the street. Especially if you are a meat lover, this is for YOU. It’s kind of sad but we did not find the most amazing places to eat while we were here overall! Gusta Pizza was closed, which is where I really wanted to go! If you have the chance, grab some pizza from here. I’ve heard its delicious! We grabbed pizza from a local shop and brought it over to Ponte Vecchio while watching the sunset. It was busy and I would recommend sitting down and eating it at the restaurant :).  We also had dinner at another random spot that I can not remember, but it was all homemade pastas and really good!

 

Florence sunsets will forever have my heart! Enjoy your stay!

 

 

 

 

If you read my Cinque Terre Part 1 post, you would already know that the second day in Cinque Terre, Italy we decided to buy an all day train pass and see all of the villages in 1 day. If you didn’t, now you know the plan! 🙂 Getting the all day train pass is definitely the way to go. I really didn’t know how we were going to do this all in 1 day, but somehow we managed and had the most amazing time. Even though our time was short, we got to experience the culture of each town and the things that make them each so unique. We decided to go to the town of Manarola, closest to Riomaggiore (where we were staying) first, followed by Corniglia, then all the way down to Monterosso, and lastly Vernazza and back home. We didn’t make any real plans during this travel day. The only plan was to explore the other 4 coastal villages of Cinque Terre! We also definitely knew we wanted to try to get some beach time in at Monterosso so that’s why we decided to go there before the sun was gone.

First stop, Manarola, Cinque Terre, Italy. Isn’t it so colorful and full of life!? Manarola is the most similar looking to Riomaggiore I would say, but different in many ways. See that cliff in the picture below?? Everyone was climbing all over the rocks, sunbathing on rocks, jumping off a rocks, etc. It was pretty neat! We did a lot of good shopping here too. Tara Tip* A lot of the stores only accept cash so make sure you have some on hand. Don’t worry though because there are ATM machines readily available for you to use. I think that Riomaggiore and Manarola had the best shopping experience. Such cute, authentic Italian shops filled with goodies to bring back home or use right away on your trip! We walked around the town for a little bit and grabbed some focaccia (would you have thought of anything else after my last post?) and baked goods. We really didn’t know what to expect with the other towns so we didn’t stay too long here. We gave ourselves about 2 hours and then headed back on the train to our next stop, Corniglia. See ya Manarola!

 

Buonjourno, Corniglia!

Okay, so…I was not very excited about this stop. AT FIRST. It ended up being my favorite one! You reeeeeeally have to work for this one folks. Those stairs were INTENSE and what felt like never-ending too. Also, it was hot, hot, hot. Singing…hot, hot, hot. I digress, anyways, once we arrived at the top, I was still telling my friend, Samantha, this better be worth it lol. I was totally half joking, half not. Then we got into the main area and I immediately felt so much joy from this village. There was a fresh lemonade ice shop and it was the most refreshing drink of my life. If only I could have one of those drinks on the regs, I would be one happy camper!

We spent a lot of time walking around every inch and corner of this village, finding all different twists and turns. When we finally made it to the very end, there was a cozy bar overlooking the entire sea, which was breathtakingly beautiful! There was also a large lookout area with telescopes to use and a great picture spot. The bar was fully seated and there were only a couple spots, so we decided to turn around and explore a little more until we found a good spot to relax at for awhile.

We took a bunch of more pics and then settled in on this hidden gem of a place called, La Scuna. It is on the side of the main street and down a bunch of stairs. From the street, it looks like you wouldn’t be able to see the water, but so not true! Once you get down there, there is a good amount of seating, and quite a lovely view.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time spent at this cute, picturesque bar in Corniglia <3. It was definitely one of the highlights from the day! You must go here and don’t forget to get the pesto and stracchino cheese focaccia sandwich! 🙂 THE BEST.

 

Third Stop, Monterosso!

What do you think of these sunset views below?? I was so happy to catch the sunset before we took off to our last stop for the day, Vernazza.

 

Last stop, Vernazza!

Was pleasantly surprised with yet another AMAZING town. They are all just so incredible to see and experience, I can’t say it enough. You NEED to come visit Cinque Terre, it’s not even a want. Just visit, and then thank me later 🙂

Europe, this is one of the reasons why I love you right here. When we arrived back in Riomaggiore there was a DJ playing in the streets and everyone was out enjoying life together. People of all ages were dancing in the street and having the best time, including ME! We stayed for awhile and then walked back to our Airbnb to get some rest for tomorrow travels. Off to Florence in the morning!

Goodnight Riomaggiore!

Tara Tips*

To Do

Cinque Terre all day train pass | (16€) | Buy the train pass to all of the villages and visit all 5 towns. Even if you are short on time, it is SO worth it! Trust me!

Monarola | Has great shopping, a huge rock cliff to jump off of, and amazing swimming! They also have delicious food and an amazing restaurant overlooking the water. Make reservations!

Corniglia | Have drinks and apps at La Scuna. Order the pesto and stracchino cheese focaccia sandwich. It is DELISH! Reminder: There are LOTS of steps to the top of the town so be prepared 🙂

Monterosso | Has great beaches and a beachy town vibe. This is the place to go to the beach for awhile (if not the day), rent an umbrella, etc.

Vernazza | Great place for dinner by the water. Check in for special events with local fish and wine tastings. They often have them during the week around 6:00pm.

Riomaggiore |  Where we stayed! ❤ Colorful houses and amazing food. Have drinks and dinner at Bar Vini, overlooking the water. See my Part 1 post for more info on this little gem! If you stay here, you might get to have a dance party in the streets! Such an experience! I truly will never forget this place ❤

 

Visiting all of the 5 towns  is a memory I will never forget! I hope you plan your trip soon 🙂 Happy planning!