Italy- Part 1 Tuscany (Pisa, Verona, Volterra and San Gimignano)

Yeah! Time for another travel post! Besides Rand and my trip across the pond to see family, I was getting cabin fever and ready to travel again! We planned a week long trip to Italy to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary. We also enjoyed the thought of trading a Thanksgiving day turkey for some amazing Italian food. ;)

I found some great plane tickets through Ryanair out of Frankfurt Hahn to Pisa. I knew the weather wasn't going to be the greatest but wanted to explore the coast and spend time in Cinque Terra. We were also interested in spending a couple days in Tuscany and just relax... and I came across an adorable villa on AirBnB that I just had to see! 

After arriving in Pisa, we went to go pick up our car rental. I booked through Ryanair (usually I go through our insurance company to get the best deal) and will never do that again. They had all these hidden fees and was just annoyed with the company BUT the car was great and we got a great price on using a car seat for Rand. We put all our luggage in the car but left it in the lot to run over and get a throw pic in front of the leaning tower. We jumped on a bus from the Pisa Aiport to the train station to get on another bus to the "Torre" stop to get our pic. We later figured out we could of just stayed on the original bus ride to get there instead of switching buses at the train station. The Red Line and bus #21 both go to the Pisa Airport, Pisa Train Station and the "Torre" stop to see the leaning tower. Also, remember to validate your bus ticket when getting on the bus.

We headed back to the car and drove to our villa in Tuscany. I found this adorable villa on AirBnB which was about 30 minutes away from Pisa and just shy of an hour away from Florence. The owner, Chiara was super sweet and welcoming. Her husband owns a vineyard and is a winemaker. They have two children and living on the property are 3 dogs, 2 pigs, and an adorable pony. We had such great stay there. We were there for 2 full days before heading back to Pisa to catch a train to Cinque Terra. 

The first day we headed to Florence by train. We went out of Pontedera and the ride was under an hour.  We went to Florence back in 2013 when I was pregnant with Rand. I just had to do a throw-back pic of my baby belly and now with a 2.5 year old. 

 We didn't have any big plans for Florence except to shop... which I have to admit I was kind of disappointed with. I was on the hunt for a new wallet but ended up not getting one, BUT I did get a gorgeous silver bracelet from my hubs at the Ponte Vecchio. We wandered around the Piazza della Signoria, Piazza del Duomo and Palazzo Vecchio till around 5 which is when we headed back to the train station.

The next day we headed off to two smaller cities, Volterra and San Gimignano. The drive throughout Tuscany was just stunning. We took our time and made frequent stops to enjoy the views. Also, keep an eye out for small vineyards to buy bottles of wine or olive oil. You can spot many wine tasting spots all over Tuscany. 

Volterra is a charming medieval town in central Tuscany, It may sound familiar to some because it was home to the Volturi's in the Twilight series. It was a darling little city surrounded by big stone walls on the top of a hill. Volterra is known for its alabaster and the city has a few good shops filled with some beautiful alabaster artwork.

I can not recommend highly enough Il Pozzo Degli Etruschi Di Caciagli Paolo for a meal. The staff were very welcoming and the food was absolutely delicious. I especially enjoyed the wild boar stewed in chocolate sauce with pine nuts. 

Next, we headed 40 minutes northeast to San Gimignano. Known as the "city of beautiful towers", 72 towers once stood looking down over Tuscany's Elsa Valley. Now only 14 towers remain in this medieval city. This is much more of a tourist spot than Volterra with gift shops at every corner.

The San Gimignano Duomo, or Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta, is a gorgeous church where the walls are completely covered with paintings. One wall is dedicated to the Old Testament and the other wall dedicated to the life of Jesus. 

Part 2 of our Italy trip in Cinque Terre is here

Garmisch & Grainau

This is one of Rob's and my favorite place in Germany. We love nature and the stunning Alps. You can see our previous trips here & here.
When Rob's sister, Abby came to visit, she mentioned she wanted to see the Alps. I found this amazing cabin on Air B&B in Grainau. It was a 2 bedroom/1 bath cabin with a huge living area and kitchen. We had no trouble finding our cabin but were shocked with how much snow was around.


After a good nights rest, we headed out to Eibsee Lake to check out Zugspitze. This has been on our "Bucket List" but every time we have gone to the Garmisch area, it was crummy weather and you do not want to pay the hefty price to go to Zugspitze and only see clouds. Zugspitze is over 3,000 metres (9,842 feet) high.

 You have two options to get to Zugspitze. We opted to take the cable car up from Eibsee Lake and take the Gletscherbahn and cog train down. We could have take the train from Grainau since it was right next to our cabin, but we had no idea till after the fact. 

on our way up the cable car

The view from Zugspitze was breathtaking! It was so beautiful and fantastic...you are above the clouds...wonderfully majestic!

 We took a break from the wind and stepped inside to grab a coffee and snack. Just enjoying a latte macchiato at 9,717 feet above sea level :)

Rand taking a catnap 

waiting for the cog train

Auf Wiedersehen, Zugspitze!

Before heading back to the car, we took a little 

walk around Eibsee Lake.

A lot of the sites were closed because of the snow, but the Partnach Gorge was still open so we headed that way next. Rob and I have been there before but it was quite the experience going when it was frozen.