Pitti Gola e Cantina - Dinner and Wine Tasting

Wednesday  night we had dinner and a wine tasting at Pitti Gola e Cantina.  One of the owners, Zeno, spent several hours with us describing the food and wine.  There was an amazing 7 course meal that included a great tagliatelle with duck as the main course and plenty of wine.

Here is the link to Tripadvisor's many reviews of Pitti Gola e Cantina (ranking #1)

www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g187895-d896746-r91026573-Pitti_Gola_e_Cantina-Florence_Tuscany.html

Some pictures from our walks through Florence Dec. 29th

Walking across one of the bridges over the Arno, I took this photo of the view....It was just beautiful.

Florence is a great city....lots of amazing museums, churches, terrific walks, fabulous food...yada, yada.  But, the cost of entry to all the museums and churches does add up.   Maybe it is because we are so spoiled in Washington DC that all of the National Museums are free...but there are some places that you feel do not warrant the entry price.

The Leonardo DaVinci Museum is one of these places....a slight rip off.  Lots of wood models of what DaVinci drew in his notebooks....somewhat hands on...but, not really worth the cost of entry.   After we went into the Galileo Museum and loved it...this was a major disappointment!   

But as you walk through the city, you see wonderful sights like this...

We decided to walk up to the top of the Duomo this morning, especially since Chris arrived yesterday and he could be included in this moment of tourism!   and yes, there is a fee to climb to the top of the Duomo, but it is so worth it.    463 steps and winding tunnels and you eventually reach the top and outside walkway.

On the way up to the top you come to an interior walkway, where you are very upcose and personal with the frescoed ceiling of the Duomo.   

Nora and Chris at the top of the Duomo.

Nora, Kevin  and Kate....a bonding mment

lots more pictures to post...

We Had Company

Nora and her friend Leigha from UVA.  Leigha and her family stopped by for dinner this week. We had a great time and found out both families like subarus and must clean the house before their maid service comes......

After a night out.

Pictures Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Dinner Christmas Eve

Street to Our Apartment

Buon Natale!

Buon Natale!    The kids have arrived....and as you can guess, Kevin's luggage was lost by the airlines....they promise it within a few days??!?!?!   We are enjoying walking through the city and eating at the various trattorias.  

Nora and I during one of the non-rainy moments in Florence!

 Here is a picture of one of our showers....looks somewhat like a spaceship...but, it works!   And a picture of one of the sculptures in the Piazza della Signoria. 

We found Gusta Pizza....the top rated pizzeria in Florence.  There is a place under the table glass to leave your number with a note for friends.   So, Nora left a note for her friend Amanda who gave us a list of recommendations for places to eat in Florence.    And a lovely picture of Nora and Ed near the Santo Spirito church.

More pictures to follow!

Enjoy your holidays.   We miss all of you!

Arrived in Italy

We are settling in in Florence,  Weather has been rainy.  Kevin is still awaiting his luggage.

And a Place to Drink Wine

Checked with Zeno at Pitta Gola e Cantina and they will be open when we are there for meals and wine tasting.

Pitti Gola e Cantina   

A recent Review on the wine bar:

We visited a wine bar in Florence for this. It was only for 6 people so we had a very personalized tasting. Zeno, one of the owners was our host and he is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about what he does. We learned a lot and sampled several good wines and cheeses. Zeno loves what he does so he actually gave us a lot more wine to taste than the tour states. Further, the great thing was that he didn't try pushing us to buy his wines. He really enjoys wine and that is why he does the tastings. It was refreshing that we could sit there and enjoy wo having the host advertising his products at the same time. Further, the wines were all of very good quality and calibur. For those living in the US, the ship the wines you purchase to your home which makes it much easier than carrying them around in your luggage. I cannot say enough about this experience, its a must for wine lovers or those who want to really experience the Tuscan region.

Click Here for Link

Reviewed by: Risha N, United States of America, July 2010

First a Place to Stay

So we searched on the web and looked at apartments. We found a lot of nice apartments and settled on one listed on VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner) ( http://www.vrbo.com/ ) , suggested to us by a friend. The Web and sights like TripAdvisor had great listings.


Found an apartment near the Ponte Vecchio

Christmas Italy 2010

Sounded like a good idea to spend christmas in Italy with the kids. 

A different Christmas than 2008 in Bangladesh....