Italy (Florence, Venice, Rome)

Florence, Venice, or Rome...which city in Italy is more your speed?

*Allora!* We spent two wonderful weeks in Italy. We legit lived out our Master of None fantasy! We ate way too much pasta and visited way too many gelato spots. It was all worth it. Two weeks is a lot to cover so we figured we'd answer some questions to keep this nice, informative, and simple! Feel free to ask us anything we missed in the comments section.

Allora - Italian filler word, similar to "okay", "hmm", etc. It was our fave thing to say randomly at any time for no reason. We heard it on Master of None and pretty much ran with it lmfao :)

1. What were the three favorite restaurants / meals that stood out during your trip to Italy?
Keya: Omg, the title of this post should really be "How to gain 10lbs in 14 days." We ate soon much in Italy. Florence had the best food in my opinion. Osteria Santo Spirito is a MUST. Whew I ate my food and Kris' yummy pasta which was basically mac n cheese. I am a super picky eater, Venice and Rome didn't win me over as much as this restaurant in Florence!
Kris: The lobster shrimp alfredo pasta in Venice from Ai Chianti (thanks for the rec Randall), the truffle pasta in Florence from Osteria Santo Spirito and the Pizza in Venice (same restaurant as alfredo pasta).

2. What was your favorite activity that you did in each city?
Keya: Biking to get gelato (everyday) in Florence was my favorite. I also met up with an old coworker who now lives in Florence! The gondole ride in Venice was very memorable because I didn't get motion sickness and was able to enjoy the entire ride (amen,amen). Lastly, the cooking class in Rome was super fun. We learned out to make pasta noodles from scratch! 
​Kris: Florence - bike riding to get gelato 3x a day 
Venice - attend my best friend’s wedding 
Rome - the pasta cooking class or the bar crawl

3. What's the biggest difference between each city?
Keya: Florence had the easiest transportation. We used this app called "Mobike", where you scan the bike code and go! You can also leave the bike anywhere in the city. Venice is not for folks who don't like to walk. The city is all water and bridges. Very beautiful but a ton of stairs lol! Rome is def a bigger city and more developed.
​Kris: Florence was definitely a bike kind of city, where Venice there are literally no such things as cars there, and bikes would be impossible as well, Rome is more of the typical big major city town.

4. Which city had the best night life? 
Keya: Rome! Kris went to a bar crawl lol We tried going out in Venice at infamous Harry's Bar (if you know you knoww), but it was super super boujie, overpriced, and older crowd. Still a great experience though since that's where the first bellini was made in 1948! 
​Kris: Rome for sure. Florence a close second. Venice was a snoozer

5. Best city for transportation?
Keya: Florence *see #3* but for those who don't like biking, Rome has uber/cabs/buses/metro!
​Kris: I’d say Rome if you’re down for metro or uber. Florence if you don’t mind a bike ride, or Venice if you don’t mind walking.

6. Describe each city using one word?
Keya: Florence - Food: All I did was eat gelato and pasta
Venice - BEAUTIFUL: The city is gorgeous & it has such a cool feel. There isn't much to do so this is the perfect vacay if you're looking to just chill
Rome - Historical: It controlled most of Europe, and a great deal of European culture and customs date back to roman times so that's that on that.
​Kris: Florence - sunset 
Venice - water 
Rome - historical

7. Tips for staying sane during a family vacation?
Keya: whewwww. Kris' family met us in Venice for the wedding and we had so much fun! It's important to remember that everyone has different personalities and at the end of the day we are all on vacation! A huge tip would be to TAKE INITIATIVE AND MAKE A SCHEDULE. There were a few times where if we had better communication/schedule we would have all been on the same page. Also, wine.
​Kris: Drink a lot of wine

8. Favorite memory in each city?
Keya: Florence - This is more of my funniest* memory, on our last night I wanted to see the sunset at Pizzalle Michelangelo. We lost track of time and ended up biking there... which was the worst thing ever bc its a HUGE HILL. Halfway up, I was super over it but this was my idea so I had to pretend I wasn't tired. Protip: Take the bus up the hill.
Venice - Kris' mom was determined to go to the club but no one wanted to go. I ended up going with her and we danced all night! The club had flashing green lights so basically we were in Usher's "Yeah" music video.
Rome - You can't visit Rome without seeing the Trevi fountain! On our last day Kris and I snuck away to the fountain to throw our coins in! Tradition has it if you throw a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder you have ensured a comeback trip to Rome! *video below*
​Kris: Florence - taking these ladies water at dinner after we thought they left to find out they just went outside for a smoke break and came back to an empty liter of water and wondering what happened to it Venice - Ordering fish at a restaurant and not realizing it’d be served with the head and eyes still intact 
Rome - beating my older brother at beer pong, and it wasn’t even close

9. Most unique city? 
Keya: Hmm.. they all had something very special! If I had to pick one, I would say Venice? The city is all water, with no roads and arguably the most picturesque city in Italy. 
​Kris: I’d say Venice because of how you have to walk eveywhere or take a water taxi for transportation, i guess i should have done more research because i was not expecting Venice to be like that

10. Favorite gelato flavor?
Keya: NUTELLA!!!!!!!!!!! or Bacio.
​Kris: Hazelnut or mixed berry