May 2019 // Italy 
FLORENCE: we flew from sunny Barcelona to rainy Florence. Even with the rain, I liked Florence better. The city is so enchanting! And the food is phenomenal. We spent a lot of time shopping. There are lots of great finds in Florence!

See + Do
Ponte Vecchio: built in 1345, this is the only bridge that the Germans did not destroy in WWII. Butchers and other vendors initially occupied the shops on the sides of the bridge, but now it's mostly jewelry vendors. Great for window shopping.
Gem: this was our favorite little jewelry shop! We bought necklaces, bracelets and earrings here. It was near Ponte Vecchio but seemed to have better prices.
Roberta Firenze: leather goods are everywhere you look in Italy. We saw some items that we wanted in Roberta's window before she opened so we went back that afternoon to purchase. She knew exactly what she was doing! She measured our belts and trimmed them to fit perfectly.
Piazzale Michelangelo: we stumbled upon this panoramic view of Florence. I can't remember where we were going, but we started walking up steps and inclines then found ourselves gazing over the entire city. Perfect for photo ops!
Giardino delle Rose: Brett recommended that we grab cheese and wine and sit in the garden. I second his recommendation! We found a little shop that had individual wine bottles and cheese. The butcher told us the wine would be awful, but we thought it seemed easier than trying to buy a bottle, wine opener and cups. The Italian version of awful wine and the American version are far different. It was really good! And the cheese was especially yummy. We sat up there for over an hour enjoying the views and people watching.
The Duomo: we did not tour the inside, but the outside is stunning! I heard good things about the tour though.

Eat 
Trattoria Marione: this came as a recommendation from Sam's friends. I echo their recommendation! The pasta was great, but our favorite part was the cheese platter. It only had four small slices of cheese and came with a spicy jam and honey. Combining the two was so, so tasty! The perfect blend of spicy and sweet. The intimate space felt very traditional and cozy.
GustaPanino: the absolute best cheese gnocchi! No place compared. Also, their cheese board was impressive! My favorite memory from the entire trip happened here. KJ kept dropping her napkin. The last time she reached down to pick it up, she and her chair fell sideways in slow motion to the ground. She was okay, but I was not. I laughed hysterically. Tears were streaming down my face. Also, our waiter looked just like Eminem. I mean just like him! He had a lot of good quotes, but one of our favorites was when he gave us our limoncello, he told us if we had five of those, we would be acting like chickens. Add his accent, and it was really funny.
Mangia Pizza: the most delicious pizza and such a quaint little place! We sat at the bar and watched them make our pizza and bake it in the wood fire oven. The process was truly impressive.

Stay 
Il Duomo a due minuti a piedi [Airbnb]: I just realized that the name of this apartment translates to "the Duomo is 2 minutes away on foot". They should have also included that it takes 2 minutes to walk up the steepest stairs you have ever seen to reach the apartment. Ha! But really, there were so many steps to get to this cozy place. It is conveniently located though and the inside was cute. The bed was in an upstairs loft, which was fun.

Transportation
Plane [Barcelona to Florence]
Taxi [Florence Airport to Airbnb]
Train [Florence to Naples]: this train was decent. Plenty of seats. The Naples station is Napoli Centrale.