A Gottwalt Family Vacation

La Giostra

Lion's Fountain

Ciao a tutti!!! I'm sorry I haven't blogged in so long but I have been very busy with my family. It has been quite an adventurous 10 days to say the very least. My mom, dad, and Anne arrived on Sunday, March 17th just in time for St. Patrick's Day. When they arrived, I first took them to one of my favorite panini shops, Antico Noe. We hung out for a bit and I showed them my apartment, but then they all wanted to take a nap. We went to mass that night at Santa Croce and then went to an Irish pub called Lion's fountain for a few beers before we had dinner at Baldovino. It was a great first day/night and I was so happy to have my family with me in Florence and it was fun that my sister could stay with me at my apartment. Monday was our first day out in Florence and of course, it rained. But we still managed to do a lot of stuff. Anne and I went on a run first, then met my parents and walked up to a church across the river near the Piazzale Michelangelo called San Miniato. It is quite a hike with so many stairs but the view is so worth it! Then after that, we walked back across to the other side where I took them across the Ponte Vecchio to look at all the shops. Then we went to lunch at Frattelini which is one of my favorite places as well. The rain sort of made it tough to do a lot outside but we still made the most of the day! That night, we ate at La Giostra, one of the many really nice restaurants in Florence, and its right near my apartment.

Lion's Fountain

Tuesday morning we left for Cinque Terra. And after a rather hectic and stressful train experience, we made it to Monterosso al Mare, one of the 5 towns of Cinque Terra. Tuesday it was actually so beautiful and sunny. We walked around the town, enjoyed some drinks while looking into the Ligurian sea, and it was a gorgeous first day. We ate dinner at a local place where I had delicious sea bass and we all shared mussels. So, the first day was great. Then Wednesday came. It poured all day Wednesday which was supposed to be our day of hiking. Unfortunately, because of the rain, they shut down a lot of the hiking trails that connect all 5 towns. But we were determined to do our hiking. But instead of walking to each town, we would take the trains to the towns and then hike at each one. It was cold and wet but we still tried to enjoy how beautiful it was! Our hotel was in Monterosso and the other four towns are called: Vernazza, Manorola, Corniglia, and Riomaggiore. We made it to every one!

Riomaggiore

Monterosso al Mare

Riomaggiore

Dad at a Post Office in Corniglia

Monerola

That night we ate at Belvedere, another great seafood restaurant where I had a fish soup and mom got delicious pesto. The next day, Thursday, we left. That night there had been a landslide so the trail to the train station was closed. So instead, our hotel got us a boat to take us to the train station. So we did get to enjoy the nice weather from a boat for a brief moment!

Anne enjoying the boat ride:)

When we arrived back in Florence, it was a beautiful day! We were hungry so I took the fam to another one of my favorite panini shops called Pino's. After that, we climbed the duomo, which I have now done 3 times in my life! It gets a little less stressful everytime. We took pictures at the top and enjoyed the beautiful sights of Florence. After that, we shopped for a bit, and then that night I really wanted to take them to the Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sunset. So, we got a bottle of wine and made our way up the steps across the river. The piazzale Michelangelo is pretty much a big area of leveled stairs that overlooks the whole city of Florence. On this night, there was a guy singing and playing guitar so we had a little concert while we enjoyed our wine. After the sunset, we went and had dinner at one of my favorite Trattorias called Trattoria Anita. It's a really authentic and cute restaurant with all traditional tuscan recipes. After that, I took them back across the river for gelato at Santa Trinita which has the best banana gelato ever.

Mom and I at the top of the Duomo!

Dad and I at the top!

View from Piazzale Michelangelo

The whole fam:)

 Friday was my favorite day of the whole trip. We did our vespa tour through Tuscany! Mom and Dad rode on one vespa, while Anne and I drove on another one. I think you can guess who drove each one....:) We had the funniest tour guides named Steve and Jacopo and they were hysterical and so much fun. We got to see where Machiavelli lived after he was exiled by the Medici family. Then we got to stop at a bar to have some cappuccinos and espressos and we had some of the best views of the Chianti vineyards. We ended the day at one of the vineyards where we got to learn about the wine production as well as olive oil and got a traditional tuscan lunch and got to taste many wines. It was such a great day filled with many laughs and the weather was great! No rain! That night, we went to dinner at Il Latini which was supposed to be my birthday dinner but Anne started to feel sick so she stayed at the hotel while we went to dinner. This restaurant probably wouldn't have been good for her anyways. It had no menus and they just offer you what they have that day, such a cool dining experience! We started with an antipasto platter of prosciutto, sausage, chicken liver pate, polenta with mushroom ragu, and a barley salad. Then for the primi piatti, we got one serving of spinach and ricotta ravioli with tomato sauce to share amongst the three of us. Then for the secondi, mom and I split roast chicken, while Dad got sausage and white beans. For dessert, mom and I got torte della nonna which is an almond cream cake and dad got a chocolate tart. The meal was so good and I loved the element of surprise we got since we didn't have a menu to look at!

Anne and I getting ready!

Anne and me

Lookin' good Anne

Chianti Vineyard

On Saturday, Anne was supposed to leave to come home that morning but was too sick that night so she had to change her flight to leave on Monday which was a bummer but it was nice to have her for a few more days. On Saturday, Mom and Dad were exhausted from their night up with Anne being sick so my mom really wanted a sit down lunch and didn't really want Italian. So where did I take her? The diner of course! I could not believe I took my mom and dad to such an American tourist place but it was what my mom wanted. She got her omelette and american coffee and was happy. Then, we met up with Anne where we then walked to the Accademia where we had reservations to go see the David. The Accademia was actually a lot smaller than I expected and the main reason to go there is really the David, there isn't much else. They are really strict about pictures but I managed to sneak a selfy in...you can see David's head in it.

Hey David

Saturday night Colleen was already back from her spring break in the French Riviera with her family so she joined us for dinner at Gusta pizza, one of my favorite pizza places across the river. Think of punch pizza only better.

Perfect Meal at Gusta

Then Sunday morning was Palm Sunday. I met them at the duomo for mass which was so beautiful and so cool to experience. After mass, we headed over to the Uffizi to see some art. And it was supposed to rain today so we wanted to be inside. The Uffizi was awesome and my mom had the great idea to have us download Rick Steve's podcast on our iphones so that we could put in headphones and listen to it as we walked through the museum. It helped Anne and I focus a lot, even though we did get the giggles a few times and got some dirty looks, haha. After the Uffizi we did some more shopping and I took the family to Casini, one of the nicest leather shops in Florence where I had bought a wallet a month ago. The salesladies remembered me because the last time I came in there, they made me try on at least 3000 euros worth of leather. This time, Anne was the one being overloaded with leather. She did end up splurging and buying the coolest leather jacket. It's blue and looks so great on her, and she deserved it after the trip she'd had so far with being sick and everything. Here is a pic of her trying on another jacket....

 Then that night, Mikey and Dana got back from the spring break trips as well so we all went out to dinner at Osteria Cinghiale Bianco. We had a fabulous meal and afterwards we went to Gelateria De Neri, one of my favorites as well. And that was Anne's last night:( I was so happy she got to stay for a few more days even if she was sick. I'm glad she is home now and starting to feel better (we think she must have had the flu or something because none of us got sick!)

Monday was back to school for me and mom and dad took a day trip to Venice where it rained the whole time:( I felt bad for them but you can't control the weather in Europe! It rains alot. Anyways, I got to meet my parents for dinner that night one more time before they left for Rome Tuesday morning. I am looking forward to meeting them in Rome tomorrow for Easter weekend! I am taking the train to Rome tomorrow and will be able to spend some time with my best friend Alex as well. Can't believe how fast time is flying by! And April will be busier than ever with trips to Barcelona, Amalfi Coast, Paris (for my birthday) and finally Munich!! Stay tuned for more exciting updates:) Happy Easter everyone!!

xoxo
Alli