Had a nice slow morning, then got up and walked along Luxembourg Gardins to get coffee from Araku Coffee. It snowed overnight, so the grounds were dusted and white. They were totally undisturbed because the gardins were closed due to some security threat. Post coffee, we got Japanese sandwiches from Yabaï.
Woke up, wandered around! We walked by City Hall which was still decked out with Christmas decorations: pine trees, hot chocolate stands, and a double decker carousel! We hit up a few shops (RSVP, Acne Studios). The Picasso Museum was cool, the building itself is GORGEOUS.
After we came back to the hotel, got drinks at Le Hibou, then a lobster roll and avocado grilled cheese from Homer Lobster.
We woke up to a very, very quiet city. Despite of the security threats, Paris went hard. Most things were closed, but we managed to get a good cup of coffee from Bonjour Jacob before wandering along the Seine towards the Eiffle Tower. The lines for the Musée D’Orsay and Le Grand Palais were way too long, so after walking around we got another coffee from Parallel Coffee. Sufficiently warmed, we took a quick river tour on the Seine, then got dinner at L’Avant Comptoir de la Mer.
Once we landed, we got to our hotel without any issue, right across the street from L’Avant Comptoir! We dropped our bags, took a shower, then walked out to get a coffee from Café d’Auteur. Their menu setup was pretty cool: A grid of drinks and different beans they’d brew each with. I got a cortado with beans from Equador? while Katie had a flat white with beans from Yemem. Both were good.
Freshly caffeinated, we strolled around, passing by the Notre Dame. We got back to the hotel and started getting ready for dinner. Frenchie once again did not disappoint with a five course and wine pairing. We got another glass of wine across the street after, then rung in the new year from the hotel room–The jetlag plan worked great, but it was still late!
Used the Timeshifter app to plan out a sleep/wake/light plan to hopefully combat jetlag. Smooth process getting packed and out of the house.
Got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Once on the flight, I took a nap, woke up when they served dinner, then slept basically the rest of the flight.
Got up at 4:30am, flew to Zurich on Ethiopian. Killed a bunch of time at the airport in Zurich, then few to SFO.
We got up and out, grabbing coffee again at BEN cafe, which sits in the courtyard in front of some dude’s house. After that, we wandered around a bit, eventually getting pizza at Il Pizzar…., on the recommendation of Thomas.
Everything was great, with the spicy salami pizza being the best! We grabbed one last gelato at RivaReno (I had Crema buontalenti, which I found out after my first taste is that classic gelato flavor, honey, lemon, and orange). After that, we meandered back to the Airbnb, packed up, and said our goodbyes to Ivee and Chris. They headed out to the Uffizi Muesum and we headed to the train station.
The train ride was mostly uneventful, but we got off a stop or two early, ending up in the outskirts of Milan rather than the city center. It took us a little bit to navigate the differences between the commuter rail, subway, etc. but eventually we got it sorted.
We got dinner at Il Società Milano
Even though what I had for a main was tiny and clearly not intended to be one, with all the other food it was perfect. We skipped dessert and got a car to the hotel, then got to bed as quickly as we could
Woke up, got coffee, then spent the day wandering around. We got coffee at Rivarno, then grabbed sandwiches from Retrobottega. Katie grabbed drinks from the market, and we took it all back to the Airbnb. After lunch, we walked over the Ponte Vecchio. Got coffee, canoli, and other sweets, then sat out for a bit. We then wandered up past the Duomo. We then went to the Central Market, hit up the Lego store, then back to the Airbnb for a nap.
After we woke up from an incredible nap, we headed to a cooking class, taught by Thomas…, where we made a few different pasta dishes
The class ended up going almost four hours and was a great time. On our way back, we stopped at RivaReno for gelato.
We woke up around 6, packed up and checked out, then taxi’d over to the Airbnb. We dropped our bags, and walked over to get coffee from BEN Caffe on our way to the Vespa scooter tour meetup.
Scooting around was of course super fun, and had some incredible views. We had a really simple, tasty lunch at a farm, then headed back. Katie and I took a nap. Several hours later, we woke up and rallied, grabbing dinner at Club culinario toscano da Osvaldo. We had:
We woke up and got breakfast at the hotel. We sat out on a table that overlooked the entire city. After breakfast, we got massages, then relaxed until it was time to tour the Duomo. It was cool seeing the ~thousand years of history of this one place, repeatedly expanded, rebuilt.
Post museums, we got coffee, some gelato, and then met up with Chris and Ivee. We grabbed dinner at a steak house, and then went to bed.