Under the Tuscan Sun

Tuscany for the weekend was beautiful. Our trip started in Pisa, which is a really quaint city. Obviously the big draw is the Leaning Tower, which is in Piazza dei Miracoli with the less-famous but equally cool Pisa Cathedral and Pisa Baptistry. The tower makes for fun pictures and something to check off your bucket list, but other than that there's not a ton to do in the town. It's still a really cute town to grab lunch and gelato in though. Walking down the streets is so peaceful because there are hardly any cars and the rest of the city isn't packed with tourists like Piazza dei Miracoli is.

Piazza dei Miracoli has not only the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but also an equally impressive cathedral and baptistry.

The streets of Pisa are really quiet, which is a change of pace from Roman drivers who don't seem to have any traffic rules.

Florence was our next stop. I was not prepared for how jaw-dropping the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore would be. Because it's the city's main landmark, I'd seen plenty of pictures of the Duomo on top of it beforehand, but I hadn't realized how intricate the entire building was. It was equally cool to see from Piazzale Michelangelo, which was 100% worth climbing 441 stairs for an incredible view of the city. Especially because it helped burn off the gelato and two lunches we ended up eating. Even though we'd had a sit-down lunch, we wanted to stop at All'Antico Vinaio, which brags Florence's best sandwiches. General consensus from my friends was that it was a bit overrated and Santi Brothers near our campus in Rome is better, but the sausage, sheep's cheese, truffle oil and eggplant panini I got was well worth waiting the line that ran out the door. La Carraia also had probably the best gelato I've had in Italy.

The Duomo is the most recognizable part of the cathedral and Florence as a whole, but the entire building is incredible.

Visiting Piazzale Michelangelo for a breathtaking view was probably the coolest part of Florence.

Florence's best panini? Yum.

Florence's best gelato? Double yum.

Spending the next day iin Trequanda was a more relaxed Italian experience. After learning to make pasta (as in the noodles themselves, not boiling water) and going on a tour of the vineyard, we sat down for a wine tasting. Until then, I didn't know much about how to judge wine other than "yum, this tastes good," so it was definitely an informative session, and I'll be using that information in the future. The view of the Tuscan landscape was also beautiful, especially seeing the sun streaming through the clouds.

Even on a somewhat cloudy day, the rolling hills of the Tuscan landscape are beautiful.

Learning about wine makes drinking it all the more enjoyable.