AgOutsideAustin said:

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How are the crowds? Headed to Tuscany next March.

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Depnds on where you are and when. My first day in Milan (a Thursday with nice weather), the crowds were insane. In Cinque Terre, day trippers are what drive the crowds. Early in the morning (before 10) and in the evening (after 6), it's not bad. But the group tours, cruise boat or otherwise, are easy to spot.

Lots of groups in Siena today, but not bad.

Have you checked to see if there are any public holidays during your stay? If there is, then the crowds will probably be like summer time.

Just Fathers Day/ St. Joseph's day on March 19. Staying in Pienza then moving up to Florence.

Yep, nice pics, we will be day tripping from Pienza as our base.

I would definitely recommend San Gimignano and Volterra as must sees in that region.

If you do San Gimignano, try to do lunch and a tasting here: https://colombaiosantachiara.it/en/

Some of the best wine I've ever had! All of my clients have loved it as well.

Plan to get to San Gimignano and Siena when we move to Florence for three days after leaving Pienza.

Sorry not meaning to derail the thread, need more food pics !

Cacio e Pepe and some Carbonara. 1st was in Positano and 2nd in Rome

Damn, I love Italy.

Went to the original All'Antico Vinaio for lunch in Florence. I think I could eat the Al Paradiso every other day and be happy. Dinner was my first disappointment of the trip, and it was my fault for being to experimental. I'm planning to have Steak Florentine tomorrow, so I decided to go,to the food hall at the central market tonight. It would be a great place to take a group who can't decide what to eat as they have lots of variety (even BBQ). I opted for pizza, and rather that a simple Margherita, I decided to try what was labeled as a Calabresian pizza. Although it looked great, and the crust was good the toppings were very bland except for some small bits of nduja, which had some real kick, but only in the handful of bites that included it.

For lunch today, I did pizza, again, this time a 4 formaggi with prosciutto crudo added at Gustapizza (in the Oltrarno district near the Pitti Palace). Tonight, I met some friends (fellow Aggies) for dinner at Il Baroccio Antico Osteria where we had two pasta dishes (paprdelle with wild boar ragu and gnocchi with a cheese sauce) followed by steak Florentine. Very good.

Went up to the Sanctuary of San Luca, located on a hill southwest of time. I took a taxi up, but walked back.





Saw Bologna's iconic soccer stadium on the way




On the way back, I stopped for lunch at a fresh pasta take out shop that I had seen on the YouTube channel Vincenzo's Plate. Got some lasagna, and went across the street to a bar with outdoor tables to order a drink to accompany my meal. It was tue Bolognese lasagna, made with green pasta (which uses a little spinach in the process, giving it the green color).



Having worked off a lot of calories (or so I told myself), I had a midafternoon snack, consisting of a mortadella sandwich from a place in the Quadrilattero called Murtadella. This was almost identical to the sandwich I had at All'Antico Vinaio, the only real difference being the bread. I'd give a slight edge to the schiaciatta bread at AAV, but this was close.



Tonight, I went to 051 (Zerocinquanteuno) located on Via Pescherie Vecchie (Old Fish Market Street) in the Quadrilattero and had some tagliatelle.

Lunch today was the Sfoglia Rina pasta kitchen. This place is sort of the upscale version of the pasta shop where I had lunch the day before. I suppose I should have had the lasagna in order to make a straight comparison, but I opted for variety (of a sort) and had gramigna alla salsiccia (little green pasta tubes with sausage) instead. Very yummy, as was the desert, a bigne meringato con crema chantilly al limone (what they would call in New Orleans a beignet, with lemon cream filling topped by whipped cream).





Light supper tonight. Tomorrow, I make my way back to the Milan Malpensa airport with a stop for several hours along the way in Modena.

My final Italian meal was at Emilia Bistro in Modena. Had some local cured meat and these little fried bread things that were tasty, followed by tortellini in cream sauce with a little drizzle of basalmic vinegar.

After lunch, I toured the Romanesque cathedral and the Enzo Ferrari museum before getting back in the train and heading for the Sheraton at the Milan airport.

It's been an enjoyable trip, and if anyone wants to keep the Italian food and/or travel discussion going, feel free.