Trip Report, short version
 

This is a trip report of my stay in Italy during May 2016.


I felt at home while in Florence. Florence turns out to be by far the most walkable city I have ever been to! My most favorite part of it was the ability to walk/run by the Arno river! The food scene was very competitive too! I had my first (and probably last) experience of eating at a 3* michelin rated restaurant. It seemed like the higher the stars get the smaller the portions become and the cuter the servers get :-)


Siena was beautiful as well. Most of all I enjoyed exploring the city with a professional photographer! In the chianti area, I had my first wine tasting ever! It was infact the first time ever I had red wine in my life! I enjoyed it and tolerated it very well...With a private driver I also visited the other country sides such as San gimignano, montelcino, and pienza!


While in Italy, I did not have a single bite of Pizza or pasta but instead I had gelato every day and sometimes twice a day!!!

Sounds like you had a good time. Thanks for reporting!

Lee Ann

Glad you had a good time August, thanks for the report. How did you enjoy your stay at the Westin?
How about giving us your shopping report? ;)

And yes, gotta love those cute servers!!

Did you hire the professional photographer? Can you share their information?

Thanks.

Absolutely would love to share. Its great that you have paid attention to the details and understand more than anyone else the circumstances.

Westin: I loved, loved, loved that Westin. For example I was not able to get into the Enoteca Pinchiorri myself because they said they were full. The Concierge got me in right away. Also, they were knowledgeable and would respond to all my emails in detail. The breakfast was fantastic! Everybody was polite and I have already placed a nice retport on tripadvisor for them.

Shopping Report: I did see all the major shopping areas. Max Mara in siena would give 10% discount to people at Grand continental. Also I got all the taxes back so it ended up cheaper than USA. There is a store Rinascente in Republica square in Florence which if you sign up as a member gives you 10% discount a well. I bought a small carry on from there.

Professional photographer: Yes, I did hire one through viator and the pictures have turned out fantastic! Everybody loves them. I feel unsafe sharing them here but if anyone is interested to see them and get more info about the photographer they can email me at [email protected]