I can’t believe I’m here with my 3rd and final recap of our recent Italian vacation… I’m not ready for it to be over! In case you missed the first 2 recaps, here they are: Italy Recap Part 1: Rome Italy Recap Part 2: Pienza Our last leg of the trip was spent on the sandy beaches in Castiglione Della Pescaia, which was about 2 hours north west of Pienza. The ride on Friday morning was actually quite nice as we entered into the more beach-y areas of Italy.

We stayed at The Roccamare, which was ok, but not great. We all agreed that it was a just a bit dated- from the bedding to the lobby decorations and formal dinners, it could use some re-vamping. The bathrooms were super nice, though- maybe they are in the process of renovations? We did love the balconies that all the rooms had- we spent lots of time relaxing out there! Once we got into our rooms, we basically changed and headed out to the beach. After days of non-stop touristy stuff and not-so-great weather, a gorgeous, sunny beach day was just what we needed! I mean, is there really anything better than ice cold Prosecco on the beaches of Italy?! I think not. After a few hours on the beach, RM and I went to check out the pool. It wasn’t as nice as the pool at the Inn in Pienza, but it was still nice! For dinner, we ended up walking to La Griglia Italia, which was a cute restaurant that was at the entrance of the Roccamare. RM and I stumbled upon it on our way to go buy waters and fell in love with the atmosphere and friendly wait staff. To eat- you guessed it- we had pizza! I’m almost embarrassed about the amount of pizza we ate… or am I…. 😉 On Saturday, after a quick run and breakfast, we all headed into the city center, which was about 5km’s from the hotel. I loved the atmosphere and beach-town feeling! The streets were lined with adorable cafe’s and shops and it seemed as though no one was ever rushing like you see Americans doing. RM and I walked up to the very top of the city center, which was quite a climb! But, the views were worth it- so beautiful. We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging at the beach before getting dolled up for our date night. We hadn’t had a real, “get dressed up” date night the whole trip so I was really looking forward to this night! We started by having drinks at a random bar that was seemingly the Saturday night joint for local Italians. I think we may have been the only Americans there- thankfully RM can speak Italian so we didn’t stick out too much 😉 I had a glass of Prosecco and he had a beer while we snacked on their complementary apps and listened to the band play. It was perfect. Per a recommendation from the hotel, we had dinner outside at Ristorante Il 13. We shared a terrific bottle of vino, a salad, an incredible pasta dish and fish dish. It wasn’t as much food as it seems since the portions were not terribly big- it was actually the perfect amount of food that left us room to get a gelato after 😉 All in all, such a fun date night with my handsome Italian! Sunday morning was spent sleeping in a little, followed by a bike ride back into the city center. I had some shopping to do and RM said if I didn’t work out he would bike ride with me. Sold! We puttered around with his family before grabbing sandwiches and heading back to spend the afternoon at the resort. I’ll tell ya, I could really get used to afternoon naps on the beach, being lulled to sleep by nearby chatter and waves! Once early evening came around, we all headed back for showers and vino-on-the-patio time. We had brought a few bottles of wine from our winery visit and needed to finish them before flying home. twist my arm, will ya?! No one felt like getting in the car and dealing with parking issues to go to dinner, so we ended up going back to La Griglia. The whole gang (minus Emily, who was really sick and not able to join us) saddled up to a picnic table and shared some of our favorite Italian eats: pizza, caprese salad, prosciutto, fish and pasta. It was glorious. It was definitely a bittersweet dinner. While I was excited to get back to my normal day to day activities, I was sad to leave such a fantastic country and awesome vacation. Lucky for me, I really don’t think it will be our last trip over there 😉 Thanks for reading along as I recapped my vacation! I hope all of you get to experience Italy some day!