Sunday morning we said goodbye to the last of our remaining friends in Levanto before taking the train to Florence. Since Alex hadn’t been to Italy before, I indulged him with the standard tourist move: a stopover for lunch in Pisa to see the famous Leaning Tower.

We were definitely the only people taking this shot…

Since there really isn’t much to see in Pisa (at least compared to many more preferable spots in Italy), we grabbed a late lunch and headed to Florence. Our first realization was that the temperature had climbed to nearly 100 degrees; we were in desperate need of a rest in the cool AC of our hotel room. Feeling a little more refreshed after getting settled, we headed to the nearby Mercado Centrale for a casual dinner. Florence’s central market recently underwent a makeover and the second level has been turned into modern food court with restaurant and drink stalls. Having been a bit spoiled by the Mercado Ribeira in Lisbon, we weren’t overly impressed with the available options but the bakery Il Pane e la Pasticceria had some of the best thick crust pepperoni pizza we’ve found. After dinner we went to bed early and prepared for a sweltering day of city sightseeing on Monday.

I started the day with a run through the streets of Florence and reaffirmed that starting the day before all the other tourists is the best way to see a city. After meeting back up with Alex at the hotel, we set off for the Duomo and spent a few hours walking around downtown Florence.

The detail on the outside of the Florence Cathedral is incredible.

The Centro di Solidarietà, looking back on the Duomo.

Since we were already sweating under the blinding sun and the line to climb the bell tower crawled all around the plaza, we decided to return on Tuesday with the hopes of fewer people and better light.

We made our way toward the Arno River and took refuge from the heat in La Buchetta, a small family-owned restaurant that was just opening for the day. What a find! We had the most indulgent meat and cheese platter while watching the local group next to us order nearly 5 pounds of prime T-Bone steak. After a very filling lunch, we walked back to our hotel for an afternoon siesta and a break from the heat (after a few days walking around central Italy we understand the tradition much more!).

This view of the river was only a block from the restaurant.

The Ponte Vecchio, probably Florence's most famous bridge.

Sufficiently rested, we walked around the narrow cobblestone streets and made our way across Ponte Vecchio to Oltrarno and up the hill to San Miniato. Since this trip – oddly enough – marks my fourth visit to the city, I wanted a new location for sunset gazing so we chose this spot over the standard Piazza Michelangelo (another great place if you are ever in Florence). We were drenched in sweat as we reached the top of the hill but the views were definitely worth the effort – and we were lucky to be some of the only people there!

After sunset, we slowly made our way down the hill and back into Florence for dinner. I had spotted the modern and airy Konnubio on my morning run and, after confirming with TripAdvisor that its quality matched the décor, we decided to try it out. Definitely a more modern take on traditional Italian food, but we loved each entrée that we tried – specifically the octopus soup and the incredible chicken and sausage pasta. Highly recommended if you are in search of something other than margarita pizza or spaghetti (not that we don’t love both of these!).

Tuesday morning we made our way across the river again to meet up with our Tuscany biking tour for a day of cycling through the countryside. We were both a little surprised that our guide was a middle-aged American originally from California (we both thought: "Is he really an authentic guide for our tour?") but having done a handful of these tours before we were excited to explore on bikes and learn more about the area.

For a few reasons, this particular tour was probably one of our least favorite; below are a few helpful hints if you ever consider a bike tour!

1. Make sure you have an experienced guide. As mentioned above, our guide was not a local. Having only lived in Florence for six months, Jonathan just didn’t have much in-depth knowledge about Tuscany, or Italy in general for that matter. We felt like we were being given a Wikipedia-level tour by someone as informed as a volunteer college tour guide.

2. Double-check the terrain and itinerary. Described as an “easy, flat” bike ride through the countryside, our journey was actually full of steep hills and required a decent amount of physical exertion. Additionally, we really only had one “stop” of any value – lunch – which meant we didn’t have time to rest in between.

3. Don’t always trust the positive reviews. We thought we were going to be having several stops: lunch at a family villa, a wine tasting, an olive oil tasting and stops to take pictures and eat gelato. In reality, we just had some wine and olive oil served alongside our lunch – no explanation or tasting – and never stopped for pictures except once in the small town that housed the gelato shop.

4. Consider cost and context. For about half the price, Alex and I did a vineyard bike tour with my parents in Marlborough, New Zealand and were able to stop at six different wineries – each of which had tastings and knowledgeable staff members.

While we didn’t get quite as much out of our tour as we had hoped, Alex and I still enjoyed taking in the scenic views (and burning off a few calories!).

Not a bad place to stop for a gelato, and picture!

One of the many vineyards we rode by. (Though the group didn't stop here to snap a picture...Alex took it upon himself to stop for a minute, then pedal hard to catch up!)

Had to get a picture with the beautiful bougainvillea at the end of our ride.

Once back in Florence, we both desperately needed to shower so we headed back to the hotel and got cleaned up for our last night in the city. First, we headed back to the Duomo and were thrilled that there wasn’t a line to climb to the top of the bell tower. After a day spent cycling for nearly 18 miles, the 414-step ascent was a little tough on our legs, but the views at the top were definitely worth it.

Alex took this great shot on one of the lower levels that doesn't have wire coverings on these "portals."

We spent some time at the top taking in the panoramic vista of Florence (and catching our breath!) and then headed down to a nearby bar to cool off with a couple of negronis. For dinner we heeded the advice given to us by multiple friends and headed to Acqua al 2 for their famous blueberry steak; since the place is so well known, Alex actually popped over there right before they opened to ensure we got a table! The uniquely flavored steaks were delicious (though maybe a little sauce-y compared to NYC norms) and we both loved the truffle tortellini, which was so rich we were happy to share!

After dinner, we walked home slowly to take in the quaint pedestrian-friendly streets of Florence one last time. Tomorrow we take the quick train ride to Rome and I get to decide which sights I want to repeat with Alex (Colosseum) and which ones I do not (Vatican).

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