June 8, 2026

My wife and I just got back from Italy and I need to tell you about this trip.

From the moment we landed to our last day in Florence, this journey was packed with unforgettable moments, beautiful sights, and a few hilarious mishaps along the way.

In this article, I’ll share where we went, what we did, where we ate, and all the little details that made this trip unforgettable.

Flight Story

We got to the airport early feeling excited for this trip and slept at Hellosky.travel which is such a clever concept and I wish it was more prevalent in the states. 

Hellosky.travel is an airport lounge service where you can rest between flights. The only problem? We slept two hours longer than we paid for because we set an alarm wrong and the housekeeper woke us up. Whoops!

On our flight, I thought to myself: “this is easy peasy”. I went with exit row seats thanks to my wife who plays the status game that I have no interest whatsoever in. But most importantly. we saw a real housewife of NJ boarding our flight.

Day One

We hit the ground running on our first day in Rome. 

Piazza Navona was our first stop, then the Trevi Fountain, and finally the Pantheon. 

Quick note: I thought the Pantheon was the Parthenon because I’m an uncultured swine. 

My wife (who is very cultured and not swine) got to show me many of her favorite places. She’s been here a few times before so she knew exactly where to go. We stopped for granita at one of her favorite spots. I had it in lemon form and absolutely loved it! I highly recommend it!

It was a great first day. I couldn’t have had it any other way. 

Below are some of my favorite pictures.

The Vatican

The next day we did Vatican city, the Vatican museum, Sistine chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. 

We got to walk through a special door that’s only open for jubilees which was pretty cool. Inside the museum and basilica were absolutely stunning. 

Probably wasn’t supposed to take photos of the Sistine Chapel but I did cause others were. The best part though? I lost my sunglasses, but thankfully security and they had them in lost and found. Now they are my holy sunglasses.

Rome Adventures

We started Day 3 wandering around the ancient ruins near the Colosseum. 

My parents surprised us by gifting us a Vespa tour which was incredible. Riding through Rome on a Vespa made me realize something: Rome has so much reverence for history. I don’t think this exists in the same form in the USA. 

During the tour we saw amazing views of the city, visited the Pantheon again from a different angle, and spotted some really cool street art. 

The Vespa experience was definitely a highlight of the trip.

Montepulciano

On day 4, we headed to Montepulciano. 

We decided to drive instead of taking the train because we wanted the freedom to stop wherever we wanted. We stopped in Fabro to use a public toilet and the view from there was absolutely incredible.

When we arrived at our hotel in Montepulciano, they did something genius. Sitting guests down for check in is a 10x move and more hotels should do it. Feels so lux. They served us welcome drinks and fresh melon during check in. 

Our room had views of the countryside that pictures simply do not do justice. After dinner that evening, we sat by the fire pit looking at the illuminated buildings nearby. Pure magic.

Around this time, my response to anyone asking me to do anything became:

Also, achievement unlocked: I put on pants I wore a few days ago and they are tighter.

Truffle Hunting

On this trip, we did a truffle hunt which was a ton of fun.  I learned that French do truffle hunts with pigs but pigs are too smart and will eat the truffles compared to dogs which will give truffles in exchange for treats.

After truffle hunting, we hit the spa on premise then went to a winery that has literally been making wine since 1008. Later we caught a phenomenal golden hour from Montepulciano and had a nice Florentine steak dinner to cap off the day.

Florence Finale

For the last few days on this trip, we spent it in Florence with my in laws doing an Uffizi tour, eating more gelato, and visiting the duomo. 

On our last final day, I discovered that Italy has this practice of charging for water instead of tap which is an abomination and should not ever make its way to America. 

This is an innovation I appreciate though: the caps stay connected to the water bottles so you don’t lose them.