ITALY & PARIS 2018
We finally made it happen.
The last two years, we’ve had the great fortune of traveling a bunch for the weddings of our dear friends. As you’ve likely seen along the way, these weddings have taken us to Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Mexico City, and beyond. It was so great getting to make trips out of these special events, but it also pushed back our dream of traveling to Italy and Paris.
Well, the weddings finally slowed down this year, so we jumped at the opportunity to book our tickets and began planning our trip!
We started in Rome where we spent 4 days. From there, we moved to Florence for 4 days (where we took day-trips to Venice and Milan), and spent the final 4 days in Paris. Obviously, we would’ve loved more time out there, but this plan ended up working really well for us. So we’re breaking down our trip city by city to share with you: WHAT WE SAW, WHAT WE ATE, and WHAT WE WORE.
ROME
What a city. It was surreal finally seeing, in person, buildings and places we’ve always seen in history books and movies. Rome is a major city with old-world charm, and we fell in love with both its narrow alleys and major plazas.
The view of Piazza Navona at sunset
What We Saw:
The Colosseum
Though this word is grossly overused, the Colosseum was truly epic. We spent about two hours here walking through this mammoth as we listened to our Rick Steves audioguide app. We absolutely hate guided group tours, so we HIGHLY recommend this app. It allows you to wander about any landmark at your own pace, while still learning a ton about what you’re seeing. One thing we would highly suggest for a trip like this: purchase your tickets online, before you take off. We had all of our tickets booked ahead of time and it saved us hours of waiting in long lines.
Even the approach to the Colosseum was momentous. The building revealed itself from the distance, but as we got closer, the buzz in the air turned into an energy of anticipation that you could see and feel— crowds of people looking for the correct line, vendors trying to sell last-minute selfie sticks, and all of us marveling at this iconic structure.
The Pantheon
A truly special place. No pictures can ever do this space justice, because it’s a feeling you get in this perfectly-planned building. The optical illusion of the dome and its oculus are simple, yet powerful. We also loved the sacredness of the space. Folks are required to remove their hats, and every 20 minutes or so, a “SILENCE” reminder plays over a speaker, which is a nice way to create a peaceful moment among such a large crowd.
The Vatican
We both grew up in the Catholic church, so getting to visit the pinnacle of Catholicism was a real treat. The Vatican Museum was absolutely beautiful, and getting to see the Sistine Chapel… WOW.
(DISCLAIMER: Photos were not allowed in the Sistine Chapel, so you’ll have to take our word for how breathtaking it was.)
Trevi Fountain
We didn’t get to Trevi until our last day in Rome, and it was a great spot/area to close out our time in this city. And yes, we were sure to toss a coin into the fountain.
What We Ate:
Pasta & Gelato
When we arrived on our first day, we rested our jet lagged bodies a bit, hit Piazza Navona at sunset, and ended up having a really nice dinner at one of the restaurants lining the square. But to be honest, we didn’t have the best luck with food in Rome. We had some good pasta dishes, but we also had several lackluster meals. That said, we ate a lot of great gelato (Flor and Giolitti were outstanding) and drank plenty of good wine. Hard to complain about that.
What We Wore:
It doesn’t get much more tourist-y than Rome, so we dressed fairly casually throughout our time here. Jean jackets, sweatshirts, and bomber jackets were par for the course. However, the Roman natives looked sharp in what we would call #CommuterChic. Crewneck sweaters and Barbour field jackets for the gents and cuffed pants and hosiery for the ladies.
FLORENCE
This city instantly became a favorite of ours. We arrived late in the evening, and even after hauling our bags through the narrow cobblestone streets (there wasn’t a taxi in sight!), we were grinning ear-to-ear at the vibe of the city. Florence absolutely checks the box for “charming Italian town” while still providing high-end shopping and incredible food.
What We Saw:
Florence Cathedral (aka Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore)
877. That’s how many steps up we climbed to reach the cupola of the Cathedral (463 steps) and the top of the Bell Tower (414 steps). It was exhausting, but totally worth it. A lot of sources we read ahead of time claimed the bell tower climb was superior because you can see the Cathedral dome, but we would disagree. The area atop the cupola is taller, unobstructed (there is a cage at the Bell Tower view), and more spacious.
Either way, if you are physically able, we would highly recommend this!
Uffizi Gallery
This is a must-stop in Florence. You can easily spend hours in this large, beautiful museum checking out tons of great works of art, but none drew a bigger crowd than the Birth of Venus painting.
Academia Gallery
This museum is much smaller than the Uffizi Gallery, and is home to what everyone is there for: Michelangelo’s David. The statue is truly a sight to see. We’ve all seen photos and drawings of it, but the size and immaculate craft of David made it one of the biggest highlights of the entire trip.
What We Ate:
As we mentioned earlier, we didn’t have great luck with food in Rome, but that was completely turned around in Florence. Just about every meal we had was outstanding. Here are a few of our favorites:
Il Tartufo
Ever since our friends, Martín and Paola returned from Florence last year and told us about this place, we’ve been dying to try it— and it did not disappoint. Located upstairs in the Mercato Centrale, this place specializes in truffles, as its name suggests. We ordered the pasta and risotto dishes with black truffle and they were both delectable.
Buca Lapi
It was quite a treat getting to dine at the oldest restaurant in Florence, and we were even fortunate enough to get a prime table without a reservation.
Il Latini
This was probably the most fun we had at dinner the whole trip. A bottle of wine, an obnoxiously loud (but funny) table behind us, and a charming waiter made for a great night. Best part: we just had a few hundred feet to drunkenly stagger back to our hotel after dinner.
What We Wore:
Though the vibe was still casual, we found ourselves being a little more creative with our dress, while still being able to walk around (a lot) and do things like climb those aforementioned 877 steps.
VENICE
Just a couple weeks removed from the major flooding that hit in October, we weren’t sure we’d even be able to visit this bucket list destination. But thankfully, we were informed that it was safe (and less crowded than usual), so we booked our train tickets and made the day trip.
Venice is just one of those cities that completely lives up to the beautiful images in photos and movies. The colorful plaster buildings, the traditional gondolas, the romantic bridges... It was a dream.
You can certainly cover a lot of ground in Venice in a day trip like ours, but it would have been nice to be able to spend a little more time here (perhaps an overnight trip, leaving in the morning).
As one of our friends recently told us, “the city is like a movie set”. We couldn’t agree more.
What We Saw:
While there are numerous specific sights worth touring in Venice (St. Mark’s Basilica, Doge’s Palace, etc.), we really wanted to spend our time outside roaming, by foot and boat, among the buildings and canals. We did make it a point to see those highlights from the outside, but opted to save their formal tours for the next time we visit.
The only formal tour we did here was a gondola ride. We paid €100 for a 45 minute ride, and it was worth every penny!
What We Wore:
Though it was sunny, it was still chilly in Venice, so we bundled up (light sweater, big coat for HIM | heavy sweater, leather jacket for HER).
MILAN
Naturally, we couldn’t plan this trip without stopping by the fashion capital of Italy. Milan felt much different than the other Italian cities we visited. The areas we saw felt much more like a modern metropolis than old-world Italy. While this city wasn’t our favorite tourist destination, we could totally see ourselves living here.
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
What We Saw:
Duomo di Milano
Also referred to as “the Duomo”, Milan’s is much different than the Cathedral in Florence. This was the first significant work of Gothic architecture we saw until we got to Paris, but more importantly, we didn’t have to climb 400+ steps to reach the top.
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
This is the oldest active shopping mall in the world, but you wouldn’t know it by how beautifully it’s been maintained. Nothing but luxury shops and fancy restaurants line this gorgeous mall, and it’s a sight to see day and night.
What We Wore:
Our backdrops (The Duomo and Galleria) were lavish and ornate, so we deliberately kept our dress minimal and chic as possible in this fashion mecca.
PARIS
Ahhh, the city of lights. As excited as we were to visit Italy (and we were EXCITED), a small part of us was just eager to get to the proverbial dessert. Paris is one of the great cities in the world, and it certainly looked the part during our time there.
The “big” moments were incredible and the “moments in between” felt just as special.
What We Saw:
The Louvre
Up to that point, we had seen many great pieces of art in several great museums— but the Louvre was another level. We spent hours in the world’s largest museum admiring the Venus de Milo, the Coronation of Napoleon, and of course, the Mona Lisa.
Eiffel Tower
It was just as magical as we expected.
Centre Pompidou
This was one of the few modern buildings on our list that was a must-see. Seeing this skeletal masterpiece at dusk was even better, as we got to admire it in natural daylight and illuminated at night.
The Palace at Versailles
*Sighs* (Write-up taken from @eddiefortuna Instagram Stories)
Too often, we post photos (especially vacation photos) to portray a "perfect" time, but let's be honest: No trip is without its bumps in the road.
We pre-ordered tickets to Versailles and were anticipating a lovely time wandering the premises with our audio guide educating us along the way. We were prepared for long train ride out there, but not for the longest line either of us had ever waited in, or the freezing cold that turned into rain, then snow (a €5 umbrella we bought from a vendor at the gate was an absolute life-saver)
And I’m not even going to pretend like we were laughing about it the whole time. I was cursing, and Angelee was shivering with aching knees.
So after about an hour of back-and-forth with each other in line, we decided to call it.
No Versailles.
We would instead walk back to the train station and take the hour-long ride back to Paris.
We were so bummed to miss Versailles, but immediately felt relief when we decided to call it. Two more hours in line plus a cold, wet visit in Versailles would've killed what ended up being a really nice day back in Paris.
What We Ate:
Ladurée
Going into this trip, we knew we had to stop by Ladurée for macarons and perhaps a pastry. What we didn’t expect was that we would have one of our best meals in Paris at this staple.
Macéo
Not gonna lie, there was definitely some self-imposed pressure to eat at “fancy” or “world-renowned” restaurant while in Paris. We tried for a couple reservations, only to run into technical and logistical issues.
Finally, on our last night in Paris, we searched on Google for other quality options, only to find Macéo: a newly added restaurant on the Michelin list, located a block away from our hotel.
What we got was a classic French offering in a cozy setting that capped off our trip perfectly.
What We Wore:
It was cold in Paris. Really cold. Therefore, most of our outfits were selected to simply keep us warm. But this did offer us the opportunity to don our big coats, our scarves, and our gloves throughout our visit— not a luxury we often get back in Dallas.
Final Thoughts
We feel so fortunate to have been able to finally take a trip like this. It’s so easy to get caught up with life and everything that consumes our time, money, and energy. So if you have a bucket-list trip that’s been on your heart for a long time, DO IT. We promise you won’t regret it.
And if you have any questions about any of the details from our trip, e-mail us or comment below! We’re happy to chat!
Au Revoir!
EDDIE + ANGELEE