On our second day in Florence we took a trip to Pisa in the morning to climb the leaning tower. It was a super quick trip, we basically got off the train, walked to the tower (with a quick stop to take pictures of a pretty church I had read about), climbed the tower, took the usual holding up pictures and then walked back to the train. Then we continued our climbing day and went up the bell tower of the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore. Needless to say our legs were DEAD by the end of the day. Walking up and down about 800 steps (both Pisa and the tower were about 400) is no picnic!

Tee: Vince (The Outnet), Jeans: M.I.H. Jeans 'The TOMBOY' (Net-a-Porter), Sandals: Sam Edelman c/o ThredUp, Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Erika'

I'm not in Paris, but it felt appropriate to wear my Paris map print dress by Carven while in Florence! Since we were going to be visiting churches I had to make sure my knees and shoulders were covered, hence the cardigan even though it was warm enough to go without. This was one of the busiest days of our trip, I think it clocked in as 10 miles walked on our devices. Insanity!

Dress: Carven Paris Map Print (Yoox), Sandals: Ancient Greek Sandals 'Athanasia' (Moda Operandi),  Sweater:Max Studio, Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Erika'

Like I said yesterday, we only had 6 hours to explore Venice. We took a little detour on our way to Florence where we stayed for a few nights. Because of this we had to prioritize what we wanted to see. Below is what we did and where we ate along the way!

What To Do

Scuola Grande di San Rocco

We didn't go inside but this church is beautiful, I definitely recommend at least a walk-by. If you go inside, look for Tintoretto’s ‘Crucifixion.’ While we were there a man was playing Stairway to Heaven on some stairs. I found that rather amusing.

St. Mark’s Square

St. Mark's Square was the most touristy place we went. It includes the Basilica di San Marco, Doge's Palace, Torre dell’Orologio clock tower and the Campanile tower. We went into the Basilica and walked around the square a bit. The Basilica is free to enter but most of the other things to visit in this area have some kind of fee. A lot of people go up the Campanile tower but we decided to go up a different one instead for a better view and to avoid lines (more below.)

San Giorgio Maggiore Island

This island is a quick boat ride from St Mark's Square and is well worth it for the lack of tourists. We went up the church's bell tower with no lines (and an elevator) for an AMAZING panoramic view of Venice. This was one of my favorite parts of the day. We also had some amazing cloud action, it looked like it was going to rain but lucky for us it stayed dry.

Take a Water Taxi

Most tourists pay an arm and a leg for a gondola ride. We passed on that and just took a water taxi to help us get to St. Mark's Square (and then San Giorgio.) You still get the views from the water and it's far less expensive. We paid 7 euros for 90 minutes of riding.

Other Spots

A few other spots we stopped by: Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista, Chiesa dei Gesuiti, Church of Madonna dell'Orto

Where To Eat

Lunch at Enoteca Rio Marin

We just happened upon this restaurant while we were walking from church to church and were starving. It turned out to be a great choice, my spaghetti with meat sauce was delicious! And of course I got a few drops of sauce on the white part of my sweater. Never when I wear colors. (I had a similar experience in Rome with a light shirt, haha)

Gelato at Gelateria Ca' d'Oro

This gelato was amazingggg. Once again I got chocolate and strawberry. I stuck to that combo pretty much everywhere because I knew I would like it.

Dinner at La Lista

I went the American route here and got the Diablo Pizza with pepperoni. But it was SUBLIME! By far the best pizza I had on our trip. The crust was perfection.

Venice is beautiful. I know you can see in photos how picturesque it is, but that is nothing in comparison to seeing it with your own eyes. I wish we had some more time here, but the 6 hours we had were enough to get the feel, walk around the non-touristy areas and go to some of the usual tourist spots.

Striped Sweater: Club Monaco (Clinton Crossing), Cargo Pants: G.H. Bass (Clinton Crossing), Sandals: Sam Edelman c/o ThredUp, Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Erika'

My friends and I were in Milan for just about 24 hours. We arrived a little after 10 and left on a train at 9:55 the next morning. Lucky for us, our airbnb was in a great location so we were able to get everywhere we needed to go by walking.

What To Do

Leonardo da Vinci's 'Last Supper'

You can't go to Milan and not see this incredible work of art. Don't forget to look at the painting on the other side as well! Unfortunately when we were planning our trip we forgot that most places are closed on Mondays so we almost didn't get to see it! You'll want to book this as far in advance as you can so you can buy directly from the museum and avoid up-charges for tours who buy up tickets and resell them. Sadly we had to do the latter, with Tickitaly, but I really enjoyed our guide and, in all honesty, seeing the painting would have been worth double what I paid.

Luckily I was checking tour sites a week before out trip and saw that there were exactly 3 spots left at an 8:15am group tour. We adjusted our schedule a tiny bit to accommodate the 45 minutes required to see the painting. We had to get to the church early, the tour guide talked for about 15 minutes and then we had 15 minutes to view the painting.

Milan Cathedral

One of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. We almost didn't get to go inside because as we were in line to buy tickets they closed the church for an hour because President Obama was visiting (so funny!) So we walked around to some other places and checked back later in the afternoon and we were able to squeeze it in before the cathedral closed for the day.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

If you want to do some designer shopping, look no further than the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Even if you don't shop it is worth it to walk through for the gorgeous ceiling and architecture.

Other Spots

We also took the time to walk by some other churches and monuments. Here's a quick list: Teatro alla Scala theater, Piazza della Scala to see a statue of da Vinci, Sacrario dei Caduti Milanesi.

Where To Eat

We only at two meals in Milan but both are worth mentioning. And we started off our trip on the right track with gelato twice in one day.

Lunch at De Santis Paninis

Panini's aren't really my jam (I'm not much of a condiments/cheese fan) but both of my friends really loved them! The bread and ham on mine were delicious, though. ;)

Gelato at il Massimo del Gelato

I tried the jamaica chocolate and pistachio gelato here. I wasn't a huge fan of the pistachio (just weird to be eating them as ice cream I guess!) but one friend loved it. So, if you like pistachios, you should give it a try and see if you found it as weird as I did. (I need to eat some regular ones, stat!)

Dinner at Hosteria della Musica

At this restaurant we had some DELICIOUS bruschetta followed by pizza for two of us and this delicious gnocchi for our other friend. I wish I had ordered it for myself, but at least I had a taste! We ate outside but apparently they do live music inside the restaurant.

Gelato at Amorino Gelato

This was one of my favorite gelatos of the trip because they put the it in the shape of a flower and top with a macaron also filled with gelato. I got chocolate and strawberry, mmm!