Our Italian Adventure, 2 Lost Bags, Gatwick Airport Nightmare, GF Pasta and More with My Husband Brooks
Picture this: Brooks and I are settling into Business Class on our flight to Italy, and guess who’s sitting nearby? *Russell Brand!* Yep, it happened, and the story just gets crazier from there.
We’re spilling all the fun (and a few stressful) details from our two-week adventure in Italy. From lost bags and Gatwick nightmares to Vespa rides through Rome and endless gluten-free pizza and gelato, it was a whirlwind. Want to know how we kept it together and still had a blast?
Curious about our top travel hacks that saved the trip? (Hint: AirTags are a game-changer!)
This blog is just going to give you the highlights, if you want ALL the details (like the celebrity we met on the flight over….and the crazy $189 British pound cab ride to catch a connecting flight), then you will definitely want to catch the video recap HERE.
Our trip is kind of 2 parts. The first part was with an amazing group of people through YBL, or Your Best Life Now https://yblnow.com/. We had about 36 people total including the video crew documenting the trip.
That said…we flew from Phoenix to London, London to Rome…where we stayed for 4 nights.
We stayed at the Palazzo Ripetta, and it is a BEAUTIFUL hotel in a great location that is walking distance to many great sights.
There was a rooftop dinner, a vespa tour of rome, an incredible Michelin Star dining experience, and even a PRIVATE tour of the Vatican. We learned to make pasta from scratch, we mashed grapes with our feet, and we got to REALLY experience Italy.
For all the details, watch the video here…
The next stop with the group was down to the amazing seaside town of Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast.
We stayed at a cliffside hotel whose name escapes me. The views from the cliffs were amazing, and it was an easy walk into town.
After the hustle and bustle of Rome, we had a bit more relaxation in Sorrento. Time to walk around the city and just explore.
The highlight of this part of the trip was the Path of the Gods hike along the Amalfi Coast. This hike is only about 4 miles long…but you want to stop every 100 yards and take pictures because the views are breathtaking!
There is one thing you would NEVER expect to see on a hike like this….but you’ll have to watch the video to see what it is.
After 3 nights in Sorrento, the amazing YBL part of the trip was over. Some people headed to the airport, some people stayed an extra day, some went to other part of Italy and Europe…like what we did.
We took a car back to Napoli, hopped the train back to Rome, where we had a rental car waiting…and off to experience Tuscany!
This is the part of the trip that my husband Brooks planned, and like his Portugal trip planning….he did not disappoint!
We drove for a few hours to a place in pretty much the middle of nowhere called Fonteverde. https://www.fonteverdespa.com/en/ It was in the rolling hills of Tuscany, and my husband was enjoying the twisty roads a bit too much on our way there…lol
Due to the timing and travel, we only stayed here one night. Fonteverde is a beautiful thermal spa resort in the rolling hills of Tuscany. It is a few hundred meters outside a small quaint town with two restaurants, a coffee shop, a few stores, and some nice churches.
Such a peaceful place. In a perfect world, could have stayed here 2-3 nights and explored a bit more of the rural area. The hotel, spa, and natural hot springs pools were amazing.
The next day we continued north where we stayed at Villa La Massa, an exquisite property on 25 acres that was built in the 13th century as an enchanting country home for an aristocratic Florentine family. https://www.villalamassa.com/
In 1948 it was converted to a luxury hotel, and has been that way since.
The location was perfect as it was only 15 minutes from Florence, yet seemed like it was a lifetime away. Driving through the wrought iron gates was like driving through a time machine.
It let you know you were safe, and you were ‘home’. The service at Villa La Massa was impeccable. The people were accommodating and friendly, in only a way that a special boutique hotel could deliver.
Everyone took pride in their job and were super polite and helpful.
OMG, the beds here were AMAZING! The mattresses were soooo comfortable, and the sheets were made of …. (you’ll have to catch the video to hear about the material of these incredible sheets).
Villa La Massa has a Mercedes van that does dropoffs and pickups to Florence throughout the day. We ended up doing this at some point in each of the 3 days we were there.
If you didn’t know, Florence is KNOWN for it’s leather. We learned a lot about it, including making one or two 😉 nice leather goods purchases.
Florence was an amazing city. Great walking, shopping, sightseeing….and gelato! lol
One thing you MUST do when you are there, is go see the Statue Of David. It is worth paying extra to use one of the tour company’s where you skip the line and go at a set time. Once it reaches a set capacity, they only let people in, as people exit.
The average wait time is about 2-3 hours, or you can pay a bit more, and do one of the guided tours, and our wait was about 5 minutes or so. Just had to wait for 12 people to leave, so our group of 12 could go in.
Either way…TOTALLY worth seeing!
After 3 nights of Florence, we drove back to Rome where we returned the rental car. Then we took a scenic taxi cab ride to the airport, where we stayed at the Hilton that is literally at the terminal.
That way all we had to do in the morning was wake up, and walk to the terminal to check bags and fly home. It was a super easy and painless to stay there. No need for early morning taxi rides or trains.
Made for a very easy trip back to the USA.
So all in all…another GREAT trip!
Huge ‘grazie’ to Jessie, Phoebe, Chuck, Dean, and the rest of the YBL team for curating an epic trip with epic human beings.
…and my husband for planning the second half of the trip.
Definitely watch the video for the FULL scoop, as it has a LOT more info than this blog post.
Have you been to Italy? Did you enjoy it? Where should we go next? Drop a comment and let me know!
Until next time….
– Natalie Jill
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