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

Isle of Skye, Scotland

We flew in late Wednesday night to Edinburgh. After collecting our bags and picking up our rental, we headed straight to our hotel for the night at Travelodge Edinburgh Airport. It was a nice and clean hotel with friendly staff. It also had a great breakfast buffet in the morning. After a good nights rest and a yummy Scottish breakfast, we headed out to Isle of Skye. Our first stop on our drive was Fort Williams for lunch but we stopped at many places on the drive to take some pictures. Out of Edinburgh, we followed the M9 towards Stirling and then the A84 and A82 to Fort William. We grabbed some lunch where we tried some haggis (which was actually not that bad). Afterwards, we swung by the tourist office and were able to book a ferry ticket from Mallaig to Armadale. After a beautiful (and short) ferry ride to Isle of Skye, we headed on the A851, A87 to our rental cabin in Portree. 

  Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park/ Glen Ogel

Glencoe Valley

Our lunch in Fort William

  Glenfinnan Viaduct (Harry Potter Bridge)

We parked behind the tourist area and paid a small fee. At first walked across a small field to a fence to look out at the bridge. We then turned back and went up the hill behind the tourist building. We followed the path for a bit up to the foot of the viaduct where there was a crowd of people waiting to see a train. A train goes over the bridge 4 times a day. Rand was getting pretty antsy so we headed back down and missed seeing the old steam train by seconds. 

 Rand LOVED seeing all the cows and sheep from the roadside

 Here is our adorable rental my Mom found in Portree

Our first full day in Isle of Skye, we headed on the A855 loop to A87 around that part of Isle of Skye. The route is absolutely breathtaking and honestly, you do not need to plan out an itinerary. Just follow that route and you will see signs for sites. Our first stop was Old Man of Storr. We left our rental around 9 and were one of the first few to get to the site. When we left a couple hours later, it was crazy packed and parking was crazy.

Kilt Rock

 The Quiraing

That day we stopped and had lunch at The Sheiling in Idrigill, Uig.  I know some people might be put off my the older, run down looking place but the food was absolutely delicious. You will not be disappointed.  

The next morning we headed out to Dunvegan Castle. 

On our way out through town to head to Fairy Pools, we stopped for lunch at Lochside Crafts. Lunch was very good and we also enjoyed the view of the Loch.

During my research on Scotland, I heard so much abut the Fairy Pools and we were not disappointed. I only regret not having the whole day to just explore around that area. It was just stunning. The Fairy Pools have a pretty decent sized parking lot and sometimes have a food truck serving lunch, snacks and drinks. After our hike, we rewarded ourselves with coffee and ice cream. 

One of the first challenges on the hike was stepping on this small beam over the small river. It has been raining non-stop for days so the water level was higher than normal and was moving pretty fast.

Another fun obstacle during our hike

That evening the guys went golfing at Isle of Skye Golf Club

so after the skies cleared, we went for a little walk around our neighborhood.

That night, Rob and I had the opportunity to go out on a date :) We got reservations at Restuarant at The Rosedale and headed to Portree for our romantic dinner out.

The next morning we headed out of Isle of Skye to Lochness and Perth but not before stopping by the Eilean Donan Castle.

P.S. A random but awesome sign we saw all around Isle of Skye