UnDiplomatic Wife

ITALY

FLORENCE Ascencion Weekend 2026

I’ve told DiploBaby about how much I love Florentine art, artisans & food since he was young so I really wanted to take him there so he can experience it for himself especially since he loves art and handmade products and is a foodie just like TD. So our 5 Day Itinerary.

DAY 1 Travel from Switzerland to Florence, Italy

We lost the 1st & 5th Day because TD wanted to save money so we took the long way instead of a direct flight. We saved around 130 euros/person.

  • Left the houst at 1:30pm
  • Arrived in Geneva Airport at around 1:45pm
  • Boarded the flight from Geneva at 2:40 pm
  • Arrived in Zurich for a stop over at 4pm
  • Departed Zurich at 6:45pm
  • Arrived in Bologna at 7:30pm
  • Of course the Marconi Express from Bologna airport to the Main train station services was interrupted (very typical in Italy!) so for the same ticket price we had to take a longer bus alternative (though they didn’t even check our tickets coz )
  • We had to run to the Green bus & thankfully made it at 8:10pm! It was so packed that they didn’t even check if people had tickets.
  • We arrive at Bologna train station at 8:35pm and buy Italo High Speed first class train tickets to Florence.
  • 8:45pm We quickly buy food from Rossa Pomodoro so we can eat dinner on the way
  • 8:49pm We have to run down 4 floors to catch our train.
  • The platform is extremely long and we run all the way to the other side looking for carriage 2.
  • 9:08pm While waiting we eat our dinner standing on the platform
  • 9:16pm the carriage numbers are finally announced and we have to run to the opposite side of the long platform
  • 9:28pm we are finally on the First Class carriage 2 (it’s only +10 euros per person which is cheap compared to Switzerland)
  • 10pm we arrive in the Florence Central Train Station
  • 10:08pm we ride the craziest, happiest Taxi in the world with Auntie Caterina – which might be worth everything we just went through so we can have this once in a lifetime experience!
  • 10:18pm arrive in Numa Hotel our wonderful home for the next 4 days!

That’s almost 10 hours!!! I would have just paid to get a direct flight from Zurich to Florence and not be so stressed/tired! There is no direct flight from Geneva unfortunately.

If we had taken the direct flight from Zurich to Florence we would have been able to make it for our dinner reservations in Florence and it would have taken under 7 hours and way less stress. Sometimes it’s just worth spending the 400 euros more.

DAY 2

BABYMOON APRIL 2015

Our first time to Italy was in the TUSCAN region for our Babymoon in April 2015. We went to FLORENCE, TUSCANY & PISA. Together with location-specific specific posts below, I also did a post on BABYMOON TRAVEL TIPS.

GOOD TO KNOW: TUSCANY TRAVEL TIPS

FLORENCE

TUSCANY

  • TUSCANY TRAVEL DIARIES: Borgo Santo Pietro – the most luxurious hotel we ever stayed in. It’s always on some best list so the price of their cheapest package is almost 4x how much I paid in spring 2015! At that time I thought 800 Euros for 2nights was already such a massive splurge. It was also where I was introduced to Santa Maria della Novella products because at that time all the toiletries and spa products were from the oldest pharmacy in the world.

PISA

SUMMER 2022

On our way to Locarno which is in the Italian-speaking side of Switzerland, we decided to go to Turin, Chiavari in Genoa & go to the Serravalle outlet, which is American-sized. Below you will see where we went

TURIN

CHIAVARI, GENOA

  • Grand Hotel Torre Fara Hotel in the former FIAT factory. A must if you love Italian designer furniture. The building has a race track on top of it. Unforgettable.
  • Torre Fara lounge & Bistrot
  • Cucina Casalinga Ristorante Felice.it
  • Duo Restaurant

SERRAVALLE

  • Designer Outlet Serravalle Absolutely massive. Good if you like luxury brands.
  • Golf Colline Del Gavi we stayed in this affordable but quaint hotel nearby

DRIVING BACK TO SWITZERLAND

  • La Bottega I Tre Ponti Vini Sfusi d’alba (Re Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Italy)
  • NEBBIOLO D’ALBA Piedmont wine

Autumn Break 2024: 4 DAYS in VENICE

We planned a short 4-day trip to Venice to see it before global warming & the rising sea levels take it away. I normally shy from super touristic places, but I am braving this one for the sake of DiploBaby so he can experience such a unique place.

TO SEE ALL THE LOCATIONS OF THIS TRIP, SAVE THIS ON GOOGLE MAPS

5 Things to Bring to Venice

  1. Motion sickness meds – bring if you suffer from motion sickness because of the bumpy rides and moving platforms
  2. Use waterproof shoes like Gore-tex – even if it doesn’t rain, there will be puddles. Check the weather before you go. If it will rain pack rain boots.
  3. Clothes that won’t becomes see-through if you get wet. There are surprise waves while you walk because of the boats passing by. I wore dark pants instead of my usual all white attire.
  4. Bring comfortable stretchy pants that can accommodate the bellies full of good food. I don’t recommend skirts for jumping into boats
  5. Euros in cash. The water-taxi’s, traghettos, gondola’s & many other establishments don’t take cards. We should have brought a minimum of 240euros for the 2 way private water taxi transfer.

We took EasyJet from Aeroport Geneve to the VENICE MARKCO POLO AIRPORT, then a PRIVATE WATER TAXI to our hotel in Murano which we arranged with our hotel. As we bumpily approached Murano we were greeted by the FARO DE MURANO an actual working lighthouse!

NIGHT 1: MURANO, VENICE

Murano is a small island on top of big Venice. I like to say it’s Venice-lite. Has all the beauty and lifestyle of Venice minus the crazy tourist crowds. Best decision ever to stay in Murano & just do a day trip to Venice. Coming back to Murano was always a huge sigh of relief.

  • HOTEL NH COLLECTION VENEZIA MURANO a former glass factory fabulously converted to a hotel. New so everything was so nice! It’s o much better to stay to
  • OSTERIA AL DUOMO this historical location saved us because there are only 3 restaurants open for dinner at that time and our hotel restaurant had 2 big groups so they recommended the next door pizzeria and boy were we happy.

DAY 2: Morning in MURANO

DAY 2: VENICE for the Afternoon

DAY 2: Evening in MURANO

On the way back to Murano, we passed by the cemetery island of San Michele which looks like a beautiful restful place with some famous people buried there.

DAY 3: Full Day in MURANO

  • VETRERIA DUCALE Better to watch a glass-blowing demonstration elsewhere
  • LA PERLA AI BISATEI local fare & local prices but it’s hard to get a table even if we reserved.
  • MURANO GELATERIA ARTIGIANALE I wish we had gone back to try the tiramisu & ice cream sandwich!
  • MURANO MUSEUM OF GLASS A must when in Murano!
  • Dinner again at OSTERIA AL DUOMO DiploBaby would have had us eating here every night. That’s how much he loved it here.

DAY 4: Last Day in MURANO

TO SEE ALL THE LOCATIONS OF THIS TRIP, SAVE THIS ON GOOGLE MAPS.
Open when in Venice to see which places are near you.

Autumn Break 2024: 4 DAYS in NAPLES

Ever since I found out Naples was the birthplace of pizza, I have always dreamed of going there to taste the pizzas. I have always been obsessed by Pompeii since I was young, and I couldn’t wait to visit the city that was frozen in time by Mt. Vesuvius. I hope you enjoy this guide. Although we were technically there for 5 days it is only 4 days in reality because we arrived in the evening on the first day. So we do not count that as a day.

NIGHT 1: NAPLES Arrival

We arrived in the evening in Naples so all we did was check in the hotel & eat dinner at the hotel restaurant.

  • PALAZZO CARACCIOLO NAPOLI – MGALLERY Best value for money that we could find. Even the flight crew of different airlines stay there. Click on the review to see what you get for 300/night. There are better hotels but they are too expensive for us already. My complaint is that the room in the pics are deceptive because you can’t get a JUNIOR KING SUITE DUPLEX that’s big, spacious and in one floor like the pics if you have child with you. But many couples are amazed at how big their suite is. Strange.
  • PALAZZO CARACCIOLO RISTORAZIONE It’s marked closed on Google Maps so I can’t leave a review there. For dinner I had high hopes, but only one out of 3 dishes were good. The pizza was soggy and lacked flavor, while the macaroni was dry and didn’t taste freshly made. The only thing that saved the meal was the gelato. It was heavenly. We never ate there again because there is so much good food to be had in Napoli and at a cheaper price.

DAY 1: NAPLES

  • For breakfast, instead of paying 20 per head at the hotel, TD would walk over to PASTICCERIA CAPRICCIO di CAPPARELLI R. The best Napoli treats for only an average of 10euros for 3 people (we could barely finish coz the servings were gigantic) and then we would have the free coffee in our hotel room.
  • PALAZZO PETRUCCI PIZZERIA was in the 50 Top Pizza Italia #24th and 56th in the world for 2024.
  • CHRISTMAS ALLEY
  • GIUSEPPE AND MARCO FERRIGNO one of the most famous & historical shops in the Christmas Alley at almost 200 years old
  • COMPLESSO MONUMENTALE SAN LORENZO MAGGIORE Catholic church we went into to do our prayers and make our wishes
  • GIROLAMINI CHURCH MUSEUM We went to pray but were disappointed that it’s no longer a church. Instead it’s a museum that you need to pay to go inside. It looks amazing from the outside.
  • Taking the metro to – dirty and paid toilets that are also super dirty, you need to go many many meters down to take the subway
  • GALLERIA UMBERTO I This is the Naples version of the more famous Milanese Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II It is gorgeous but sadly not well maintained. When it rained the roof was leaking. You can see pics of people using their umbrellas while eating in McDonalds.
  • McDONALDS GALLERIA UMBERTO I
  • NAPOLI SOTTERRANEA GUIDED AUTHORIZED TOUR I feel like this guided tour is a must to appreciate the terroir & tenacity of the Napoli people. A highlight of our trip but not for the faint of heart.
  • LA CASA DI TOURIST NAPLES EXPERIENCE a great place to get souvenirs of one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life. Also the artworks raise funds to clear more of the tunnels that were filled with trash so a worth while fund raising activity.
  • SSC NAPOLI STORE a must for football lovers like my husband and son. We got my son a jersey which is usually his keepsake from he cities we travel to
  • E. MARINELLA NAPOLI Maurizio, Tommy (a fellow Pinoy!) and the rest of the staff were sooo lovely! Highly recommended for men with discerning taste!
  • LA RIVIERA DI PARTHENOPE the best calamari of our lives – and we’ve had a LOT! Highly recommended for seafood lovers.

DAY 2: CASERTA

  • Again we had breakfast again at Pasticceria Capriccio di Capparelli R., trying different baked goods this time.
  • TRAIN STATION TO GO TO POMPEI there was a strike so it was crazy crowded. We decided to take a cab so we didn’t have to wait to leave for Pompei.
  • CAB APP we wasted 40 mins of our time waiting for a cab that was supposed to be 5 mins away. But the new one we got was a nice SUV and the driver X spoke very good English so we were able to talk to him. It was 100 from the hotel to Pompeii.
  • COUPONA a great place to taste food of Pompeii before Mt. Vesuvius erupted. They also have costumes you can use if you would like to take pictures. It’s walking distance to the entrance of Pompeii.
  • GRANDE POMPEII Ever since I was young I have been fascinated with Pompeii. I have watched documentaries about it. To see it in person is a dream come true. And it was so worth it paying NAME for a private tour because we could go at our own pace, ask questions and tailor the experience. We were there from 2:30-6pm and it’s less crowded than in the morning.
  • We already had train tickets back to Naples, so we took the train back. But guess what??? After one stop, the train didn’t move and we didn’t know what was happening for 20mins. Then the conductor went around telling us that the train will proceed in 40 mins. Thankfully we had the number of the cab driver. In 20mins he picked us up and that was 80euros but at least we were not being exposed to so much cigarette smoke. Everyone was stress-smoking outside the train.
  • We asked to be dropped off at SALVO SAN GIORGIO A CREMANO for dinner.

DAY 4: POMPEII

DAY 5: Departure from NAPLES

2025 SUMMER IN ROME

We had an opportunity to take up a friends and family discount from MSC Cruise lines with a lovely friend of ours and we wanted to take the chance to have an experience of a lifetime…something we may not necesarily afford without the discount. We needed to embark from Rome so we also took the opportunity to go to Rome for the first time.

It’s important to reduce stress not to arrive on the day of embarkation so we arrived in Rome for 2 nights stay at

  • BLOOM HOTEL ROMA Great stylish/IG-worthy hotel with a spacious rooms space & a fantastic view of the St. Peter’s Cathedral from the spacious balcony. Unbeatable location for those visiting the Vatican. The breakfast is okay, but the game room is so fun for families.

It’s in a residential area (not too touristic) and near the Vatican – 15min walk! Unfortunately on our only full day I could not go because I had a bipolar episode, which tend to happen during my period (hormones!) and when I’m exhausted (just came from Africa 3 days before!). What I like about the area is that there are convenient places nearby:

  • CARREFOUR MARKET is small but good enough to buy snacks and drinks for the hotel like sparkling water & a new favorite FUZE TEA peach & rose! If you like flat, all tap water is drinkable in Rome.
  • RISTORANTE DAI MIEI for fabulous pastas and seafood pair with amazing wine. So good we ate there twice! Francesco gave us amazing recos! Highly recommended!
  • PIZZA RICCA Arguably THE BEST PIZZA & 2nd BEST FRIED DOUGH of our lives in a tiny takeaway place with a counter with seats on the sidewalk. Ate there 2x in 2 days. That CRUST is SOOOOO GOOOD!!!

If you want to check how far these places are from you, so it’s convenient… you can check MY ROME LIST which I will be updating as the trip continues, when we get back from the cruise.

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