We're so happy our friends Torri and Drew decided on a destination wedding in Florence (Torri was a KD with Kate). Not only did we fall in love with the city when we visited in May, but it was also closer to our current location than if we had to travel from the States. Win win! We took the train to Milan and then transferred for the last leg to Florence, which was pretty seamless. We just slept and read a lot. The weather in Florence was still "summery" in late September and it was wonderful. We checked in to the beautiful Villa la Vedetta overlooking the city and enjoyed a refreshing drink on the huge patio while we waited for our room. It was great, the entire wedding party was staying at the Villa so we had the place to ourselves.
Since we had visited Florence so recently it was nice to just meander around for a change, pop into various shops, eat lots of gelato and not worry about "seeing" the top sights. And of course we started our first day with a carafe of white wine, delicious pasta and plenty of bread with olive oil. Eating and drinking were two main themes from the weekend, and two things we do quite well!
Thursday night, Drew's parents hosted a welcome dinner at a cute restaurant down the hill from the Villa. We had several tables outside to accommodate the group (roughly 40 people) and were able to enjoy the warm evening air and dine al fresco. The meal was served family style and it was both delicious and plentiful! We were served all types of local meats, cheeses, pasta, risotto, fried pasta (aka donuts), Tuscan beef, fruit and red wine that flowed continuously! Let's just say no one went home hungry or thirsty! Yum.
On Friday Kate spent the day with the girls, getting manis/pedis, being girly and preparing for the bride's big night. Meanwhile, Matt learned to play cribbage and hung out with the boys. Apparently they also drank a fair amount of sweet tea vodka and lemonade, which Matt really enjoyed! Perhaps a new favorite drink?
It was really fun to get gussied up for the big event and the wedding itself was stunning. Amazing location, beautiful view, lovely ceremony and gorgeous couple. It was really perfect and we had such a fabulous time! After the ceremony we enjoyed appetizers and drinks by the pool. Fun fun fun.
Dinner followed, which was tasty, leisurely and a nice time to catch up with people we hadn't seen in years (or were meeting for the first time)! There was also DJ so dancing was next and yes, we danced (Kate a bit more than Matt). Needed to burn off some of those calories!
The next day everyone parted ways after brunch (some went to Rome, others to Tuscany and others to Venice). We switched hotels and stayed in the city. Matt learned it was "culture day" so many museums were free! We visited the Pitti Palace and adjacent Boboli Gardens as well as the Palazzo Davanzati, which we happened to walk by and looked cool (and it was)!
For dinner, we ended up going back to a place we found in May and really enjoyed (il Santo Benavatore). We made reservations again and had another amazing meal. Love this place! Fresh pasta and meats, delicious pea soup, extensive wine menu and all at a reasonable price! It's a keeper for sure. We enjoyed stellar weather the entire weekend so when we awoke to rain on Sunday we weren't fussed because were were leaving early. It was definitely a memorable weekend and we're thrilled for Torri and Drew!
Oh, and there was a big bike race over the weekend too (Mondiali di Ciclismo) with a lot of big name riders. Very cool, and the city was very supportive and decked out with "bicycle" stuff!
No comments:
Post a Comment