Everything I Wore in Italy - Part One

Hi, hello!

I’m back (two days in a row!) with the second installment of Everything I Wore. I’m sharing all of my outfits from our recent trip to Paris and Italy! (Did you miss days one to three in Paris? Click here.)

In today’s post, we’re finally in Italy!

Let’s get to it!

Day Four - Florence

After taking an evening flight from Paris, we woke up on Day Four in Florence! Italy! Ooh la la!! It was my first time and I was very excited.

(If you saw yesterday’s post, you might be thinking, ‘Uhhhhhhh, is that another polka dot dress?’. I went a little hard with the polka dots on this trip. This isn’t the last polka dot item you’ll see me wear!)

On this day, my crappy ankle really started being crappy. I loved this dress, but I struggled with shoes. My wonky ankle would swell to giant widths everyday, and none of the shoes I’d brought could contain it. And, because it would get so large, my feet had been rubbed raw in several spots where the swelling had collided with my sneakers.

Giant ankle aside, we got an early start to the day, lucked out with smaller crowds, and checked off all of the big-ticket tourist sights in one day! Not only that, but I tried my first Italian gelato, pizza and pasta!

My highlights of the day were the Botticelli paintings in the Uffizi Galleries, the sheer height of the David, and, of course, the pasta!

Day Five - Florence, Pisa, & Riomaggiore

I hadn’t planned a specific outfit for this day, so I threw on a clean blouse and wore a dress as a skirt, and was pretty pleased with the end result! The outfit didn’t break any fashion rules, but I did enjoy its swishy-ness.

On this day, we began our great Italian road trip! We spent our morning in Florence, grabbed a quick lunch, and then picked up our rental car! First stop, Cinque Terre! We took a pitstop to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, before checking in at our hotel in La Spezia. After a short train ride, we wandered along the coast and had dinner in Riomaggiore, the southern-most town of the Cinque Terre.

Day Six - Cinque Terre

You guys, that’s my husband. I’d be annoyed by how photogenic he is if I wasn’t married to him.

My outfit on Day Six was purposefully basic. I’d read that the Cinque Terre required a lot of walking, so wearing a skirt was a no-go.

I did not feel fashionable or fabulous on this day. I really struggled with my ankle, and the shampoo I’d brought was making my hair look limp and drab. It was hotter than I bargained for, and I only brought one pair of pants.

BUT! Fashion-whining aside, I ate basil-flavored gelato, and it was AMAZING. I’ve thought about it nearly daily ever since!

We trained back to La Spezia for dinner, with a quick detour to the uber-glamorous Foot Locker. (It seems that Foot Locker is quite popular in Italy. We saw several of them and they were always packed with customers!) My swollen ankle was out of control and walking had become painful. I swapped my cute Keds for a heftier, stretchier, pair of Adidas.

We ate dinner at local pizza place, and then showered, packed our bags, and set our alarm for 5:15 am. (!!!!)

Day Seven - Monza

On Day Seven, our early alarm went off, and my husband leapt out of bed. By 6:00, we were back in our rental car and back on the road! It was the day Christian had been waiting for, planned on, read about extensively.

We were driving to Monza for the Formula One race.

I didn’t plan a cute outfit because… it was a race. I thought I’d look pretty stupid in a cute dress and sandals. Instead, I put my jeans back on (next time I’ll bring more than one pair…) and a t-shirt. It poured rain for most of the morning (POURED), so I piled on every outer-layer I had. It looked pretty weird, but it hey! It was so much better than being cold!

Charles Le Clerc won the race, and all of the Ferrarri-loving Italians went bananas!

After the race, we had dinner at a little pizzeria in a small town bordering Monza. There were no other tourists (we got a lot of confused looks), no one spoke English, and it was one of my favorite meals of the whole trip!

Day Eight - Tuscany

Our roadtrip continued! We left Monza by 7:00 am and were back on the road!

I’d initially planned to wear this outfit with my smaller, white Keds but I didn’t hate it with my new ankle-friendly Adidas. (And yes, more polka dots!) It wasn’t inspired by anything specific, and wasn’t purposefully rule-breaking (thought it does break the rule Black is Always Best!).

We spent the day driving through Tuscany. It’s just as beautiful as it's rumored to be. Now, I understand why Diane Lane bought that ramshackle villa in Under the Tuscan Sun. I even asked Christian if we should do that, too, and just never leave.

We didn’t buy a villa. Instead, we had the the very best lunch inside an old castle town, and spent the night on a farm.

Here I am, less photogenic (but the wine was good!)

Tomorrow, I’ll return with Everything I Wore in Italy - Part Two!

Have you visited any of these Italian places? Which are your favorites? If I attempt to recreate that basil gelato from Cinque Terre, want to try it? :)

See you tomorrow!