Where to Eat: Turin and Florence, Italy - Athens and Santorini, Greece

Bryan and I are not what you would consider foodies. Sure, we love a good meal as much as the next person, but we also believe we can find a good meal without breaking the bank. And in Italy and Greece, it's hard to find a BAD meal. That being said, we wanted to eat well on this trip, but going to the best rated places was not our intention.

Before we even left, we did what everyone would and should do - asked our friends for recommendations. I had a list and a Google Maps layout of so many suggestions. Our thought was, if we happened to be near one of those places, we'd eat there, but we weren't going to go out of our way many stops.

There were so many great places we ate at - I'm just going to run through the summaries and our recommendations below. Keep in mind, these aren't all of our stops. We made several quick visits to cafes for breakfast, quick pizza joints for a slice, etc. These are the places we sat and experienced and enjoyed the ambiance and hope that you do also.

Turin:

Check out the burrata in the background!

Bottega Baretti. Known for their pizza and happened to be two blocks from our hotel. We liked this place so much we went back a second night (and also, a lot of places were closed since it was a Sunday). Get anything with burrata, you won't be disappointed. I dipped my crust into it, it was so good. And we dream of going back there the first chance we get.

100 Montaditos. Translates to 100 Sandwiches. A chain restaurant you can find even in the States, but the sandwiches were true to the region. I only include this one in the post because it was a great stop when a lot of places were closed for Sunday church. Super inexpensive but very tasty!

Del Cambio Pharmacy. We came here for apertivo so can't make a recommendation on food. But it is a great stop in the middle of the square, perfect for people watching.

Florence:

Gnocchi

Osteria Santo Spirito. Known for their gnocchi which we got as an appetizer. We even overheard some exchange students saying they had waited all semester to come and try the gnocchi. Make a reservation because it fills up fast - and ask for a seat on the patio. They will provide blankets.

Acqual Al'2. Known for their blueberry steak. I didn't want to get steak because we're in Italy, why not get pasta everywhere you go?! However, this day I hadn't been feeling well and really needed some protein, so went for the steak. It didn't disappoint. Even Bryan was jealous he didn't try it. Make a reservation here also, because it gets slammed. Even with a reservation we had to wait about 20 minutes.

Blueberry steak

Mercato Centrale. An open air market, similar to the food halls that are popping up in Denver. The first floor is a traditional market where you can buy whatever food you need. The second level is a food court with all sorts of delicacies - Italian, Chinese, you name it. This is near the train station, so a great stop before you leave town, or if you need a place to grab some food before heading out on a tour.

Golden View Firenze. This place I found on Instagram, their pictures will make you dream of going to Florence. From their dining room, you have a great view of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, and if you are eating dinner, you can sit on the open air patio staring at the bridge. They have brunch, lunch, dinner and everything in between. We went for an apertivo and did a flight of wine tastings. 

Il Vivandiere - Cantina Vinicola. This was the place that wasn't meant to be. Returning from Cinque Terre, we spoke with our tour guide, Sarah, who lives in the Santa Croce neighborhood (where we were staying). We asked for recommendations on a good place to eat that wasn't super fancy or wouldn't require a reservation and this was her recommendation. She said she goes to it all the time and the owners know her by name - they serve smaller plates. Well, we tried to find it, but just couldn't. There wasn't a name on the outside so we got lost and were tired and hungry. Looking back we realized we HAD found it, but the place looked fancier than we expected, so we figured it couldn't be it. I add this to the list, because a local recommended it as one of her faves. Go check it out for us!


All'Antico Vinaio. Last but certainly not least. Everyone knows of this sandwich joint in Florence. We were staying close to it, so made a pit stop right when we got into town. Be prepared to wait in line, but the line moves fast. But then make sure you're ready to order! The sandwiches are enormous, cheap and delicious. I think it's a rite of passage that you have to stop here at least once!

Santorini:

Ammoudi Fish Tavern(Oia). Right on the water, seriously. Their menu is expensive and prices change with the season, but you can't get seafood any fresher than this. They catch their seafood every day and the options are all over the place! We made a reservation ahead of time, which cost 20 euros, but that could then be applied to our final bill. Depending on the time of year and day you plan to go, a reservation probably isn't needed, but we figured better safe than sorry.

Pitogyros (Oia). Think Greek fast food. After all day on the boat, we wanted some more grub before heading to bed. This came recommended to us by friends, and our bus driver. They have a walk up window you can order at and they call your name when the food is ready. A large selection of meats to include in your gyro also. And don't let the fact that it's 'fast food' deter you - it is delicious. It also helped that we took it to our private hotel patio and enjoyed the view while eating. :)

Athens:

Monsieur Barbu. I found this restaurant on a list of top new joints in Koukaki (the neighborhood we stayed in). We got to them right when they opened and had a great lunch on the patio. This was our last meal in Athens so we topped it off with our last liter of Rose of the trip.

Yum!

Kalyvas. When getting a ride to our AirBnB, our driver told us he lives in the neighborhood we were staying in (Koukaki), so we asked him for a recommendation on where to eat. He recommended this spot as a family owned, fast casual restaurant, but one of his faves. It happened to be across the street from our house, so we tried it at. This place is not to be missed. The food was amazing and the price was unreal. Seriously, we thought they forgot to include something. We ordered stuffed peppers for an appetizer (stuffed with feta and tomatoes) and gyros. Both orders were bigger than our heads. Add in the half liter of rose (which was also delicious) and our tab was only 13 euros. Unbelievable! And one of the many menu items we've tried to recreate.

Happy eating!

Where to Stay - Italy and Greece

Lodging can certainly make or break a trip in terms of budget. And while we knew we couldn't afford top of the line everywhere we went (budget-savvy travelers!), we also didn't want to stay somewhere that was unsafe or unsanitary.

When it came to booking lodging for Italy and Greece, the planner in me started looking immediately after we had our flights booked. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to get a better feel of what it would cost in case we needed to budget more money, and next, I figured if we found a good deal, we should snag it before it was gone!

Our front door - Room 110

First up was Santorini, for no other reason except we knew we would splurge here. I had been eyeing a hotel for quite some time, but when it came to actually booking it, the price for one night was our budget for three, so back to the drawing board! I knew in Santorini that I wanted to stay in the neighborhood of Oia, and try to stay in a cave hotel. With our small budget, this gave us limited options, but we found a great place in the Residence Suites. Residence Suites has several sister locations in Santorini, and ours was the most affordable option. As you read from our previous post, though, it was an excellent option because the private patio and view we had of the caldera was worth every penny. This hotel does not have a pool, but does have a hot tub and a cold water tub (their version of the pool). They also do not have a restaurant, but we didn't mind, it gave us a reason to go exploring. 

Sunrise from our patio

Be prepared with Residence Suites, there is no formal front desk, you have to check in at the bus stop. This did not bother us, but I read several complaints online prior, mainly because people weren't aware. As long as you know, then no worries. If you stay at this hotel and book online with them directly, you can also get a complimentary shuttle from the airport. To get our room, ask for room 110 - you won't regret it!

Would we stay here again? Absolutely! But to mix things up we would probably try somewhere new. This was our take on it: By staying in Oia, we could explore in the morning without the crazy crowds and enjoy it. Plus, we had easy access to Ammoudi Bay, beautiful sunsets, the domes, etc. Now that we've been, we would probably stay in a neighborhood like Imergovli where we can enjoy sunsets from our hotel room, and ATV over to Oia. As long as you prepare yourself for crowds, you can't go wrong!

In Athens, we just felt like AirBnb was the way to go. When looking online, I found the cutest place that had a private rooftop patio (yes, please!), called island in the sky. When I showed it to Bryan, he fell in love and started looking at the neighborhood, Koukaki. Turns out, AirBnb named this neighborhood as one of the top five in the world! Well, this just sold us on it and the price was great! What was interesting about this place is that it was the only room on the 6th floor, which is why we had a private rooftop patio. We would take the elevator up five floors, and walk up one (small) flight of stairs to the top. The apartment as a whole was fairly small, but again, we're not there to stay in the room! Our hosts were also incredibly accommodating and were quick to answer any questions we had! Such a peaceful way to end our trip! Would we stay in Koukaki again? Maybe. While the neighborhood was adorable and had incredible food, we weren't exactly close to anything in Athens. Not that it takes long to walk, but sometimes it's nice to just pop out to where you need to go!

One last thing to note about Greece lodging - you can't flush the toilet paper! This one threw us off big time. The plumbing is not great, so everywhere we stayed, you had to put the toilet paper in the trash can, not the toilet. I forgot a few times myself, but did my best. Not something you're used to in America!

To search for lodging in Italy, we started with Rome. We went back and forth on what and where to stay here since we knew it would be a very short stay. After some time, we decided to spend a tad more money than we normally would and get a hotel since it would be our first stop after a long day of travelling. The hotel was called Hotel Raffaello. We read through our Frommer's book and the various neighborhoods and landed on Monti. This neighborhood in Rome is a trendy spot in the city, with a lot of great restaurants and night clubs and it just sounded fun to us. It also helped that it was only about a ten minute walk from both the Colosseum (which was our only tour in Rome) and the train station. The hotel offered a car service for a fee, which we happily reserved. They also had a lot of great amenities we could use - including having a bottle of prosecco waiting for us when we arrived. The hotel even had breakfast (for a small cost) which was a great way to start our day! Would we stay here again? Absolutely! And we would definitely go back to that neighborhood!

Breakfast nook at the hotel

Florence was the next city we booked and we knew we wanted something fun since we would be there three nights. We went to AirBnb again and found this great place called, 'Your Happy Home in Florence'. The pictures caught my eye right away, and then because of the price it kept popping up on our radar. It wasn't until, again, we read about the various neighborhoods and realized this one is in Santa Croce. This spot is east of Florence city center and not 'close' to your typical hot spots, but that's exactly why we liked it. Everything in Florence is walkable and the home was off the beaten path, so just perfect for us! We had plenty of space to spread out, only walked up two flights of stairs and the hosts gave us a welcome bottle of wine upon arrival! And quite a few of the places we wanted to visit ended up being in Santa Croce, so you can't beat that! The only downside for us was that several of our tours met at the train or bus station, which is on the opposite end of town. Not exactly convenient, but again, if you know this going into it (which we did) then just enjoy the walk along the way! Would we stay here again? Oh yeah!

The entrance to the hotel

Last up was Turin. This one was a bit tricky because none of our friends had ever been before, and there wasn't much to read about online in terms of neighborhoods. So we did it the old fashioned way. I looked at both AirBnb and online for hotels to find places we liked that were in our budget. After that, I looked at the neighborhoods they were in and if it was close to the train station and picked it from there. We ended up staying at a boutique hotel called Apart Hotel Torino. So boutique that if we didn't get there by 6pm, we couldn't check in. Also, we knew that it was going to be hard to find based on reviews, but we still had trouble. It was only about a 10 minute walk from the train station (yay), but the door looks like a garage door, which you then walk through a courtyard looking thing before going up two flights of stairs for check in. Wow! A little much. But again, this place was beautiful. It was in the neighborhood called San Salvario was we learned is also the trendy new spot to be in! Incredible restaurants within walking distance and so much more. Would we stay here again? Absolutely!

Street view in Turin

With the exception of Florence, every single one of our homes (in Italy and Greece) had its own private balcony or rooftop which was such an extra bonus. And each was in such a fun and trendy neighborhood - we just got lucky with that one - but so fun to experience!

Gotta keep the power on!

Lessons learned in Italy? Our two hotels and their lights are powered by the hotel keys. You cannot have AC or electricity without the key being plugged into the wall. When we landed in Rome and couldn't figure this out, we were tired and cranky. By the time we realized what was happening, we just laughed because it was so absurd! Another lesson, more advice, determine what you want in your lodging location. Are you looking for something away from tourists? Do you want easy access to all of the main sites? Amenities including food, car service, etc? While planning on a budget, it's hard to find all of these so figure out which is most important to help narrow down your final destination!

ATV Ridin' Through Santorini

Sunrise from our room

Our next day in Santorini was a free day, to go where the wind blew us. At the recommendation of the hotel staff, we started it by waking up at 5:30 in the morning to eat breakfast and watch the sunrise from our hotel patio. To have that kind of luxury of just stepping outside your door for breakfast, was something we had to take a moment and just let sink in. So beautiful.

Cruising on our ride

After the sunrise, we got a couple more hours of sleep and then went to town where we had reserved an ATV for the day. We thought this would be such a great way to drive around and see the island - and the weather was beautiful for it! Leading up to the trip, I kept checking the weather and was disappointed when it said it would be in the 60s......well, my naivete definitely getting me on that one. 60s in Santorini is what you want! Now I know why you see so much white clothing in Greece, because it is hot and humid! But a sunny day and just what we had hoped for.



From Oia, we drove south for about 30 minutes aiming for the Black Beach. Before getting there, we hit the neighborhood of Vothonas and stopped at the Wine Museum, where we wanted to do a tasting. What we didn't realize with this stop, was all of the wine history that came with it. The museum is actually a cave underground and for 10 euros, you get to go through the museum and four wine tastings. It didn't feel as if the museum was negotiable since that's where you start, and they don't give you wine until you're done.

The museum tour was pretty neat - you learned all about the history of Santorini wine and how it's different from other wine regions. For example, grape vines in Santorini get rolled up on the hill so the grapes can be protected from the wind. While the tour was a different experience, I would have to sum it up by saying it was also a creepy one. The mannequins that were used were a bit odd looking and to be honest, if I were on this tour as a kid, I probably would have been scared! After the tour, we turned in our audio guides in exchange for our wine. Besides white wine, Vinsanto is a wine that you will see quite a bit throughout Greece, a dessert wine. Gotta say guys, all of the wine at this stop was not our cup of tea, especially the Vinsanto. Nevertheless, it was a unique place to check out!

From the Wine Museum, we finished our journey to the Black Beach. Here we found a great restaurant on the beach to enjoy some lunch and the views of the water. The Black Beach got it's name because of the color of the sand. The sand was turned black due to the volcanic rock. After lunch we took a very quick walk on the beach. Very quick, because the sand was HOT! Between the weather and the color of the sand, it heats up quickly. We strolled along the beach a bit more, bought some souvenirs and then headed back to the ATV.

Our next stop was Santo Wines - a must see on your list! The biggest winery on the island, and the most incredible views. This place has a beautiful patio that keeps going and going and going, with no spot having a bad view of the island. At Santo, you can order a wine tasting for either 6, 10 or 16 glasses. We went with the 10, which was big enough to share between the two of us. And then of course, we bought a couple of bottles to bring home. At Santo, come for the wine, stay for the views.

By this point, we were slowly making our way back north and stopped in the town of Fira, the capital of Santorini. Here we needed to pick up our ferry tickets for the next day, but we also wandered the streets. Fira has the most nightlife and activity - in part because of it's central location, but also because the cruise ships dock here. While walking the streets, we saw a spot where you can get a fish pedicure, yup you read that right, so we had to try it. We washed our feet off, then slowly dropped them into a tank with these tiny fish. I'm not even sure the name of them, but they slowly eat at your feet for 15 minutes. Sounds gross, I know, but it was actually really neat. It sort of felt like a small vibration on your foot and they felt very nice and smooth afterward!

From here, we were slowly making our way back to Oia, but we had time for one more winery stop. We saw a sign driving out earlier for a place called, Domaine Sigalas so figured it was worth a stop. You had to be looking for it, because it's a bit off the beaten road so could be hard to find. But once you arrive, there is a beautiful patio and lots of great wine and snack options.

After our glass of wine, we decided to start heading back toward our hotel so we could drop off the ATV and get ready for dinner. We had made reservations in Ammoudi Bay, one of the most famous stops in Santorini, on the northernmost tip of the island. From our hotel, we walked by the Byzantine Castle from yesterday, and then began the journey down the very

steep hill to the bay. Be careful when walking on this, I was in flats, as was another woman and she still slipped and fell! This trail is so pretty because it winds back and forth giving you a beautiful view of Oia and the Bay.......however, you have to keep an eye out for all of the donkey poo. This is one of the trails that is infamous for donkeys providing rides for tourists (we never did it), and at the end of the trail there is a LOT of poo to dodge. Still a cool journey to take, as long as you're aware of that. :)

Our dinner table

We enjoyed our dinner at Ammoudi Tavern, right on the water. Literally, my chair could have fallen in. And following dinner we still had time to see the gorgeous sunset. We chose to walk around the edge of the bay to the road. From here, we could slowly walk up the road and get a 100% unobstructed view of the sunset. Just stunning. Here's our tip for next time: The ATV companies don't care how long you keep the vehicle (lesson learned), so drive the ATV around to this road, bring yourself some wine and even some food, and just sit and enjoy it. Plus, then you have a ride back to your hotel.

After our walk back to the hotel, soaking in the beauty of the city, we were sad to say we were going to have to leave. We still had some time left in the evening, so we grabbed a bottle of prosecco and hit our hotel hot tub. Gotta say, that's a pretty incredible way to end our trip to heaven on earth......

Heaven on Earth.....Santorini

Our next stop on our trip was to Santorini, Greece. You know, that picture you always see of the white caves and blue domes? Yup. That was next. I've always wanted to go to this island and made sure it was a stop on this trip. It took us an entire day to travel from Florence to Santorini, but by the time we arrived, we could get a good night's sleep and start the day early!

Our bungalow

I know I said I was going to do a whole blog post on lodging, and I will, but this hotel, the Residence Suites, deserves an extra shout out. We had our own private patio with stunning views of the caldera (volcano), and we were told that everyone loves our room so much, even folks in the honeymoon suite ask to switch to it! We called it our little bungalow. I'm not sure how we got so lucky, but we'll take it!

The view from our hotel room

We were staying directly in the neighborhood with the blue domes, Oia (pronounced Eee-uh). While there are streets you can drive on here, most of the village is pedestrian streets only, as is a lot of Santorini in general with their small walkways. You see a lot of hotel staff carrying bags for their guests, which is what ours did to show us how to find it. Along the walk he gave us a bit more history about the island. Santorini is the southernmost island of the Cyclades islands, and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera.....the entire area we were in used to be one large island, but when a volcano erupted, 60% of it was destroyed, leaving what you see today. As I mentioned above, our hotel room had a stunning view of it. The hotel staff reminded us that the volcano is still active, so if we happened to see smoke coming from it, just get drunk because we weren't getting off the island alive. Ha! 

Byzantine Castle

This village gets really busy at the end of the day because of the famed sunsets in Santorini. So what worked to our favor was to explore in the morning when the crowds were light, and then leave in the afternoon. After having breakfast, we made our way to the furthest edge of the village near the Byzantine Castle. It's a beautiful lookout post that is now mostly ruins, and apparently is THE place to be for the sunset. But truthfully, any view is a good one. The other interesting thing about this stop is it apparently makes everyone an Instagram model. Yup, every person we ran into was posing. Did we get pictures? Of course, but we weren't posing trying to make it perfect. This windy-haired picture is the proof. :)

Just after 1pm, we were due to meet at the post office for our tour pickup. Our friends had told us about a sunset cruise being the favorite thing they did in Greece, so naturally, we had to book it also. The tour came with a pickup and dropoff (thank goodness, because it was on the complete opposite end of the island), and an afternoon and evening of Santorini white wine and freshly made Greek food.

Since we did have a pickup, and we were on the opposite end of the island, that meant we had about 45 minutes in the car with our driver, named George. We took this time to ask him for some Greek language tips. We wanted to be able to properly thank people for their assistance so asked how to say thank you.

Thank you = efcharisto (pronounced eff-har-ees-tow) add po-li for 'very much'

You're welcome = Parakalo (pronounced para-cuh-low)

We were pretty proud of ourselves to walk onto the boat and immediately thank the staff. They were also shocked that we were attempting their language. :)

We boarded the catamaran sailboat with about 16 other people in total, not counting the crew. Our lead guide, Nicolas, gave us a few safety instructions and we were off, immediately with some delicious wine in hand. There are three famous beaches on the island of Santorini - Red, White and Black beach - all named for the color of their sand or rock formations. The first site we went past was the Red Beach - made famous because of the volcanic rock from the caldera. Next up was the White Beach.....named for the beautiful limestone rock surrounding the sand. You can see specks on green throughout the limestone, which is oxidated copper. This beach is recommended as a great place to hang during the day because it was one of the more private beaches on the island.

Following the beaches, we had some time to move along the island and as we did, Nicolas gave us some more history about Santorini. We weren't expecting this as part of the tour, but it was such a great addition to learn more about where we were staying. As I mentioned earlier, the Santorini volcano is still active and the name of it is called Nea Kameni, which is where many tourists boat out to. Nea Kameni and Mount Vesuvius are connected underwater. Nicolas told us that when Vesuvius erupts, Santorini residents can have a sigh of relief because they are in the clear for some time.

Following our lesson on the volcano, we were able to take the boat right up to it and swim in the water if we wanted. It was a little cold for me, so I stayed on the boat, but Bryan jumped in and swam to the hot springs - formed by the volcanic water. He joked that it was more of a warm spring, because the temperature didn't change much, but it was more about the experience than anything. It was also a bit difficult to swim back.....with the heavy salt in the water, the return swim was a bit more difficult for everyone on board.

After the hot springs, we all got to enjoy a delicious meal, made on the spot by our crew. Grilled chicken, pasta, greek salad and tzatziki sauce.......so yummy! And there was so much to go around - we loved it! Following dinner, the crew moved our boat to the final stop, where we would watch the sunset. If you think this couldn't get any better, we were in for a treat. While motoring to our spot - we saw three dolphins swimming next to our boat. It was incredible. We didn't have our camera near us to get a picture, but what a sight to see.

Finally we were ready for the main event, the beautiful sunset. It was fairly cloudy that day, but being from Colorado, we knew that could result in an even more beautiful sunset. We sat on the back of the boat, watched the sun dip behind the clouds, and then peek back at before going down completely. It was simply breathtaking. This was definitely a tour we had been looking forward to for some time, and it did not disappoint. If you ever make the trip to Santorini, this cruise needs to be on your list. You won't regret it.