When I was planning out the final leg of our Europe trip, there was no doubt that my mom and I wanted to stay at the Piazza Pitti Palace in Florence again.  We made a last-minute hotel change last year and it was one of the best surprises of the trip.  Not only does the hotel have amazing rooms, but the staff is friendly, and it’s in a quiet location that’s still just a short walk from the main tourist attractions.  (And this isn’t a sponsored post.) The room we stayed in last year (you can see it HERE)was going to be tough to beat, but this room was just as beautiful. The most striking thing about the room is the huge antique original oil paintings on three of the walls.  It was like staying in a museum, but this was our room.  Nothing was roped off. Look at the

On our last full day in Barga, we went to tour and have lunch at a classic Tuscan vineyard and visited the small hilltop town of Montecarlo.  We went to the same vineyard last year and I was eagerly looking forward to the delicious lunch and the beautiful scenery.  Just walking up to the vineyard is a treat.  The gravel path is covered by a canopy of trees and dappled with shade and a smattering of sunbeams. The tables are beautifully set under open-air structures.  It’s a dream setting and it was a perfect day to visit this venue.  It was warm and sunny, but not too hot. Fattoria Il Poggio, the vineyard revisited, was the perfect balance between being high-end and having a comfortable family feel. Since I already toured the vineyard last year, I decided to sit on a bench in the shade to write in my journal