After falling in love with Florence, Sean and I headed north toward the Alps to the Lake Como region… and boy, was it magnificent! I will still attest that Florence was my favorite part of the trip, but to Sean, Lake Como was the ultimate dream vacation destination. Aside from the truly stunning and enormous lake, this region boasts jaw-dropping views of mountains and the most darling, charming small Italian towns. If you are an outdoorsy person, Lake Como is definitely the region you must visit while traveling in Italy!
Sigh… take me back to Italy! Even time I write these trip recaps and travel guides, I can’t help but feel wistful for hot summer nights sipping delicious Italian wine and eating giant bowls of pasta. Without a doubt, Florence was my absolute favorite stop during our trip to Italy this summer. There was just something so magical and romantic about the terra cotta roof tiles, the crumbling facades, and the rich, beautiful history. Florence was my third stop during my 2.5 week trip, after Pisa and Lunigiana in Tuscany, and the first city Sean and I got to experience together.
I hope you enjoyed last’s Travel Guide for Pisa cuz today is all about where I visited in Tuscany and everything I learned while participating in Annette Joseph’s styling workshop! While participating in the workshop, Annette showed us beautiful areas of Tuscany that were just too beautiful to keep to myself. I wouldn’t call this exactly a comprehensive guide to that region because there is just so much more to explore… but this is a great starting point, especially if you’re considering taking one of her workshops next year!
It’s finally time for my long-awaited travel guides for Italy!
In the coming weeks, I’m planning to share a travel guide to each city we visited during the trip, so be sure to stay tuned for each one. So many readers have asked on social media for me to do trip recaps because either you’re planning a trip to Italy or have already been yourself. Admittedly, it took me way longer to sift through all of my trip notes, photos, and videos to put these travel guides together, but I’m so excited to finally be able to share my trip experience with you! I started my trip to Italy in Pisa and spent 1 day there exploring because the flights were soooo much cheaper if I flew in a day early. It was definitely worthwhile because arriving a day early helped me cope with the jetlag and also start off the trip with some delicious meals and exploration.
Every time I travel back to the east coast, especially Philadelphia, I’m always blown away by how many of you are from there… I had no idea! (For the record, I absolutely love when you guys DM me on Instagram with tips on your hometowns… keep ’em coming!) I only lived there for 2 years, and admittedly, they weren’t the happiest years of my life because of some personal stuff I was sorting through. That being said, my best friend lives there which gives me reason to visit from time to time and I’ve actually developed a bit of a soft spot in my heart for one neighborhood in particular, Fishtown.
I lived just outside of Fishtown for a bit in Kensington, but those areas have really blended together over the past few years. While I was there last week, I was astounded by all the new super-cute boutiques and restaurants that have popped up while I was there and wanted to share with you my finds. If you’re planning a trip to Philly or just live there and want to find something new in your city, hopefully this travel guide overview will help!
Here’s the thing about travel that we all know, yet often forget: it’s life changing. By that I mean that the simple act of traveling alters your perspective on so many things. Lifestyle… priorities… even the acceptability of eating cheese and cured meats for dinner instead of a planned-to-the-T meal. My trip to Italy brought inspiration in a two-fold fashion: creatively thanks to the workshop and personally thanks to a week and a half of exploring. I had a whole other blog post scheduled for today, but pulled it because writing this post felt more urgent and necessary. So let’s start with my creative takeaways…
