We had quite on experience making our way to Barcelona from nice. Our train never showed up, we got on the next one an hour later but all of our future trains would be missed. In Marseille we were transferred to another train but not given seats so every time someone got on, who had the seat we were in, we had to move. Not the most fun but we made the best of it. 

When we arrived at our next stop we were late and missed the connecting train. Then they wanted to put us on a train at 7pm, but Stephen had already cancelled ours and bought tickets for a 5pm train. We finally made it to Barcelona 4 hours later than expected. After our day comfort food was in order and luckily we found Burritos Sant Pere. It was very chipotle like, delicious and just what we needed.

The next day we started with a walk through town to the Roman Towers and the Barcelona History Museum. The upstairs of the museum had some interesting exhibits on the modern history of Barcelona which we walked through. The reason we were there though was under the museum. They have uncovered huge area of Roman streets and buildings under the museum. This was not our first view of ruins during the trip but it was the largest. It is amazing how much information is found under layers of dirt.

We had lunch at an amazing tapas bar, Fa Patxoca, which might be our favorite restaurant of the trip. Country music, fabulous food, great waitstaff, sangria, and a special bonus shot of a chocolate Irish cream liquor made in house. One of our desserts was cottage cheese with honey. We eat a lot of honey and the kids realized just how much they missed it at that moment. The plate was licked clean!

We bought groceries, since we were unable to with our late arrival the day before, then made our way back to rest before the evening. As evening approached we headed to Plaça de Catalunya for a night Barcelona Bus Tour. Barcelona is a great city in the day and even better lit up at night.  

On our last day in Barcelona we made our way to Parc Guell for a tour. This park was meant to be a private community with some amazing amenities. Our tour guide led us through all the highlights of the park and gave us great detailed history of the structures and buildings. One of our favorite features was the wild flock of Quaker parrots. Even though they are not native they are thriving and fairly friendly. It was incredibly hot and we were glad we had booked a morning tour. By one we were headed out to find lunch. Since we enjoyed our tapas and sangria the day before we decided to try it again but this time at Tapas Les Courts. We enjoyed our second day of tapas and sangria maybe not quite as much as as the day before but we would still recommend it to anyone in the area.  

We spent less then 24 hours in Nice as a stopover on our way to Barcelona. We walked the old town, ate crepes at Galinetta Nice, had sushi at Le Kobé, bought pastries and tried ice cream at Boulangerie D’Amore, shopped a bit, enjoyed the beach views, and brought a pizza home from Reapolitan. It was a super quick view into the area and we all wished we had another day to sit on the beach. Even though the beach was all stones it still looked very inviting and everywhere we ate was amazing!

Our last stop in Italy was two day in a beach town called Ventimiglia. It is a small town, a little run down but with big plans. It was perfect for two days of eating delicious food and sitting in the Mediterranean. Corbin’s finally got the whole fish meal he has been asking for, he was so excited to eat the fish eye first. Our room had an ocean view and a bit of a view of Morocco. Being so close to France we even had a view of fireworks for Bastille Day.

We ate twice at Amadora near our hotel it was fabulous! Then we had dinner at Da Mimmo which was just as amazing! B enjoyed stone stacking on daddy. C played in the waves for hours. Everyone swam in the blue sea and napped in the sun. It was a wonderful place to relax.

We took a small walk to the edge of town where they have unearthed ancient ruined from 3-6 BC. Looking at 2,024 (ish) year old stone and tile work was beyond words. To think someone did all that work so long ago and it is still functional. Makes you wonder why everything today is built to throw away.

Heading off in the morning to another city is always full of questions. Did we see enough in the current city, what did we miss, will we ever be back, what will the next city be like, do we know where we are going, what will we see and do?

Our next city was no different we boarded a train to Florence or as Italy calls it Firenze. our room was close to the train station and Piazza del Duomo We arrived before check in with hungry bellies, naturally we stoped for Chinese at Restaurant Peking. Even though the Italian cuisine is amazing sometimes you need a wheat break.

Our apartment had a large rooftop patio which we enjoyed as much as we could. Breakfast on the patio, drinks on the patio, resting in the sun on the patio, petting the neighbors rooftop cats, of course on the patio.

Below our apartment was a Limonoro store. It you find one of these go in immediately. They have samples of chocolate, candies, cookies, savory truffle sauces, salts, and condiments, and some amazing flavored liquors. Everything was delicious! We hit up the one in Venice and the one here multiple times.

Our first night in Florence consisted of roaming the area, stoping in some shops, admiring the Duomo cathedral, and eating gelato. we even caught a street puppet show.

On our first full day we had a walking tour in the morning and a food tour in the afternoon. We don’t do them everywhere but tours of a city are a great was to get your bearings and find some good local places to go.

Our walking tour took us on a journey through the life of the Medici family. Their rise to greatness in the city is amazing. In just three generations they went from farmer landlords to popes and queens. We need to take some notes from them.

Our food tour that evening was fabulous. We tried food at Forno Bruschi, Trattoria Antilleso, Osteria Nuvoli, and RivaReno Gelato. So much food by the end our stomachs were full and our legs exhausted.

We took a walk out to Point Vecchino. Bridge and Piazza Michelangelo. This is where the original David once stood overlooking Florence. There is not a bronze copy but the views are still amazing. We all loved the water features and the views before heading back into town for lunch. Our lunch stop was a recommendation from the tour. A food cart with sandwiches and fried items. We had fried mozzarella, a Lampredotto sandwich, and a Trippa alla fiorentina sandwich. Yes, those are both traditional Florentine sandwiches made from cow intestines and they were amazing!!!

After some rest time in our apartment we headed out to explore the baptistery St. John and the Doumo Museum. Plus to climb the 400+stairs to the top of Giotto’s Bell Tower.

The museum consisted of relics from the church’s past. A full replica of the church before the remodel when it became a Cathedral. It was an interesting look into the past. A bit more history or story information would have made it even better.

The baptistery is beautiful even though they were working on the center all that was exposed was amazing. we did not get a chance to walk through the church. It closed earlier than we expected but we were satisfied with all we did see.

Our last adventure of the day was to climb Giotto’s Bell Tower. B and I climbed a couple of towers last summer and were excited to add Florence to our list. Like most towers there were some resting spots along the way to the top and each view got better and better as we reached the bells and then the walkway above the city. We enjoyed looking back at the David where we had been in the morning enjoying the opposite city view.

We left the beautiful Alps and made our way by train to Venice or as the Italian call it Venezia. We watched the mountains turn into fields and Austria become Italy. We took the water bus and enjoyed the views as we made our way to our apartment.

We had our first Italian meal at Rosticcerie Gilson a recommendation from our host. The kid both ordered the squid ink pasta, the sauce was black and delicious! So much so that the next pasta meal we had C ordered it again. We wondered through roads and allies and found many amazing treasures. As we wondered we found Venice is filled with glass shops, gelato, pizza, and pasta. Oh and bridges lots and lots of bridges to connect the hundreds of islands that create Venice.

Our home was next to a fish market so when we got up the next morning our first sights were fish. So much fish. It was very cool to wonder through the stalls and see all the fresh food, flowers, and even some souvenirs. Squid ink rice? Yes please!

We made our way to Piazza San Marco by water bus. It is a super easy way to travel although it is a bit slower than other public transportation we have been on. We got great views of the main canal and how the city works. We enjoyed seeing the garbage bots, package delivery boats, food and beer delivery boats, and all the others. There are no cars in the city so everything arrives by boat and is taken out by boat.

C is obsessed with all the pigeons in every city. When the opportunity came to hold some food and attract some birds he jumped at it. A well spent euro.

Just like in Switzerland we could not go to Venice without a gondola ride. these gondolas are a bit different though. Our gondolier took us through some back canals to show us a few beautiful buildings, famous sights, and Marco Polo’s house.