All roads lead to Rome...and Florence

TWe couldn't pass by a second chance at Italian pizza, pasta, and gelato. Italia a second time is as wonderful as the first :)

We started in Rome, staying with Angiola again. She has an awesome bed and breakfast! We hit the classic sights again as well as discovered some new treasures.

Hanging out by Castel St Angelo listening to street music and watching the sun go down

We also stumbled upon some rare finds. A food lovers dream. 

Eataly.

Fresh produce, meats, cheese, pasta, anything! There are also restaurants, pastry stands...the possibilities were endless. 

We bought some pasta to bring home! One is chili garlic and the other is curry infused...mmmmmm 

Gnocchi with Parmesan crema

Only the best dessert in all the world. Pistachio almond white chocolate heaven. Didn't catch the name in Italian...

We also found a big outdoor market that was more of a farmers market with some cheap local eats.  I highly recommend it!

The food we liked here was a meatball sandwich...although the "meatballs" were much better I think that anything you'd find at Subway. No offense Subway fans. Italians also know the value of good bread. 

We added in a nice historical sight by visiting the non-Catholic cemetery in Rome. Home if Keats' grave

From Rome we stopped at Orvieto, an Umbrian hill town. Gorgeous. 

Took the funicular up to the top!

And what a view!

The streets were timeless. The town also had caves underneath and the one we explored had a "presepe" inside, or a nativity. Common in all Italian Catholic churches during christmas time.

We spent the day exploring this adorable town and then moved on to Florence! 

No seats so we were banned to the hallway. Ha!

In Florence we stayed with the Evertsens! An awesome American family that we stayed with last time. 

We just wanted to explore Florence more, take in more Tuscan goodness.

Ponte Vecchio

At our favorite indoor market, Mercato Centrale. 

$330,000 truffle... 

And our new foodie find in Firenze:

Trattoria Mario!

The one and only! Apparently you definitely want a reservation here...it was slammed. But somehow Harmon and I got a seat! We also shared a table with two Italian ladies, but that's common at Mario's. Squeeze as many people in as possible! It's a small space too, but the food is traditional and delicious! 

I got ravioli and Harmon got a steak that might have still been moo-ing. It's Florentine style... And yet so delicious! 

We also spent New Years with the Evertsens. We were able to watch the fireworks from a park on a hill overlooking Florence. Fireworks were lit off from the piazzas in the city, not to mention the surrounding area. Everywhere we looked there were fireworks. We even got to send away floating lanterns! Mine and Harmon's didn't make it past the dog park. Harmon hopes this isn't indicative of 2016 for us...

The goof. Life's too short to stop being silly.