Regrets & Recommendations: Paris and Florence Travel Stories

Have you ever wondered what happens when travel dreams meet reality? Meagan and Jacquelyn introduce their podcast "Turbulence Expected," sharing travel stories from their four and half month European journey where they worked remotely while experiencing the highs and lows of life abroad. Welcome to "Turbulence Expected," where we unpack our travel trauma for your entertainment!

Moments (or is it better said missteps) included:

• Travel mishap in Paris when their phone batteries died after seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night
• Navigating through dark Parisian streets without phones and being packed into a crowded metro
• Finding a meaningful connection at Luxembourg Garden, where Jacquelyn's great-great-grandparents likely spent time
• Learning to appreciate Paris's cafe culture and slower-paced lifestyle
• Experiencing a luggage nightmare when their suitcases got stuck in an elevator in Florence
• Discovering the incredible food scene in Florence, from authentic sandwiches to properly-made gelato
• Tips for identifying tourist trap gelato versus authentic Italian gelato

Whether you're planning your own European adventure or just living vicariously through others, this episode offers both practical travel wisdom and the reassurance that even when things go sideways, they make the best stories. So grab your comfiest chair, your favorite drink, and unpack this turbulent journey with us!

Recommendations mentioned in podcast episode:

• Garden in Paris: Jardin du Luxembourg
• Gelato in Florence / Paris: Grom (Flavors mentioned: Chocolate, stracciatella, crema di grom) and Edoardo il Gelato Biologico (outside of the Duomo)
• Sandwich Shop in Florence: All’Antico Vinaio (Ham, stracciatella, fresh tomato, basil, and HONEY - Also pistachio creme)
• Tiramisu and Shakerato in Florence: Caffe Gilli

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onlifeandtravel

Meagan's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meagan_inafuku

Jacquelyn's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacqgirling

Transcript

Introduction to Turbulence Expected

Meagan 0:00

Hi everyone, I'm Meagan and

Jacquelyn 0:01

I'm Jacquelyn

Meagan 0:02

And welcome to our podcast. Turbulence Expected.

Jacquelyn 0:05

Yes, this is our very first episode. We're really excited. This is something we have wanted to do for a while and here we are

Meagan 0:11

Yeah, we're finally, we're finally doing it. It's where we unpack our trauma for your entertainment,

Jacquelyn 0:17

Yes

Meagan 0:17

So welcome aboard

Jacquelyn 0:18

Absolutely

Meagan 0:18

It's going to be a long long flight.

Jacquelyn 0:21

It's going to Turbulence Expected. We wanted to come up with this concept of the idea of kind of sitting on the couch with talking with friends, talking about what shit has happened and making each other feel better because, you get to hear some crazy stories along the way. Turbulence expected, right, okay, I'll stop with that

Meagan 0:39

Yeah so go, change into your comfy pants, grab a snack, get on your favorite comfiest chair and unpack with us.

Jacquelyn 0:47

Yes, yeah, exactly. So, basically, this is going to be a little bit of therapy with a side of laughter. We're here to make you feel better about your life, because sometimes our life has sucked

Meagan 0:58

It has. You'll see, we'll see.

Jacquelyn 1:00

We have some crazy stories. Just to tee it off a little bit, we both were digital nomads. We traveled and worked at the same time work remote for about what? Was it three or four years, and so we have a few stories in between that, just a few, only a few.

Jacquelyn 1:18

Yeah, just a few

Meagan 1:19

Give or take

Jacquelyn 1:20

And we have a lot of different things we've experienced, incredible things, crazy things, things that will make you feel better about your day and your week if it's been a hard one. So this episode we're going to start off with two bad travel moments and two amazing travel moments. So, yeah, anything else before we start off on our stories that you want to add.

Meagan 1:47

Hold on tight

Jacquelyn 1:48

Turbulence expected

Meagan 1:50

Turbulence is expected

Jacquelyn 1:52

I'm getting real familiar with that name real fast so we'll start off with our two bad travel moments and we have a lot more of these coming. So we were kind of skimming through our stories and trying to think like wait, what's some good ones to start with and we will start off. Let's start off with the Eiffel Tower story. So to give you a little bit of understanding around what all we did, so in 2023, we went to Europe for four and a half months and it was incredible. We started off in Paris

Meagan 2:20

And then we went to then we went to London, we took a train over to London and then from London we went to Florence.

Jacquelyn 2:30

hen,

Meagan 2:30

No. Where did we go?

Jacquelyn 2:32

We went to Nice. We went to the French Riviera.

Meagan 2:34

Oh that place. We went to the French Riviera.

Meagan 2:36

Yes, we went to Paris for a month. We went to London for five weeks just a little over a month and then we went to French Riviera for another month, and then we went to Italy, where we went to Florence, and then we hopped over to Sorrento, capri and all those really beautiful spots

Jacquelyn 2:54

Kind of like Amalfi Coast area, kind of thing.

Meagan 2:56

Yeah, we spent time on the Amalfi Coast, so we're going to start today off with telling you two good, two bad, and they're going to be from one's from Paris and one's going to be from Florence.

Bad Travel Moment: Eiffel Tower Night and Packed Metro

Jacquelyn 3:07

Yeah, so for both. So we'll start off with the Paris ones. So first one, we'll start off bad. Bad's more fun, right, bad's more fun to retell, so we'll go with that first.

Meagan 3:18

Is it though?

Meagan 3:20

No it is

Jacquelyn 3:21

So the bad ones. So we go to the Eiffel Tower. We decide spontaneously, because what else is travel if you're not spontaneous, right? So we decide to spontaneously go see the Eiffel Tower sparkle, and something to note is that basically, if you go in the summer, you only get the chance to see pretty much it sparkle one time, maybe two, because sunsets happen around 10 or 11 pm.

Meagan 3:48

Which is also the best part about going in the summer because you've got so much daylight to burn all day

Jacquelyn 3:54

So much and which it's, honestly, it really is incredible, like when you travel there in the summer it's hot

Meagan 3:59

Well especially for us because we were working and traveling, so we were also working in the evenings a lot, yeah, for we were trying to do central standard time while being on European time. Yeah, so that 10 pm 11 pm sunset really made a difference and we'd spend the entire day going all around seeing the sights, enjoying, sitting at cafes, and then the evening, you, you know, Jacq's on a call, yes and talking to people about their finances.

Jacquelyn 4:27

Yes, oh, I guess we should probably tell people what we do, probably be pretty smart. So what we do other than talk to you right now and travel a lot. So I work remotely and I am a financial planner

Meagan 4:38

And I work remotely and I do marketing for private jet sales.

Meagan 4:42

No, we do not fly in private jets when we travel.

Jacquelyn 4:46

Very, very economy.

Meagan 4:48

It's very economy.

Meagan 4:50

With the occasional.

Jacquelyn 4:52

Extra leg, room

Meagan 4:52

Extra leg room.

Jacquelyn 4:53

Yeah, sometimes.

Jacquelyn 4:54

I honestly not every time.

Meagan 4:55

No, not really.

Meagan 4:56

Depends who we're traveling with. If we travel with tall people and they make us do it, yeah, but otherwise no.

Jacquelyn 5:01

But yes, where were we, where were? No, but yes, where were we, where were? Oh, yes, so that's that's what we do for work. We both work fully remote and that's where we're able to travel, and we obviously work on American time. I guess we should probably say that we're both from Houston, texas I guess these are little tidbits of info intertwined into stories, but we're both from Houston and so, yeah, we were on central standard time. So basically, the time difference was about 3 pm is 8 am here at the time and so

Meagan 5:27

You did that really fast

Jacquelyn 5:28

I just remembered. That's where I didn't calculate. I remember

Meagan 5:32

I was like, wow

Jacquelyn 5:34

I'm in finance, I can do that

Meagan 5:35

She knows numbers guys.

Jacquelyn 5:37

No, I actually just remembered. I actually could be wrong, but from what I remember, it was 3 pm there. It was 8 am, so we would. Yeah, we were working late, but with the sunlight it was so amazing

Meagan 5:47

Mornings were great.

Meagan 5:48

No one would bother us.

Meagan 5:49

We're just out, yeah, doing all the things

Jacquelyn 5:52

That was the best, yeah, just being able to you know, basically you kind of feel like work-wise, you're just like up really early but like you're yeah, you're in Europe gallivanting around having the best time, and

Meagan 6:03

I almost used the word gallivanting but then I got nervous.

Jacquelyn 6:06

Don't get nervous, just say anything. Anything goes here. Turbulence expected.

Jacquelyn 6:10

I'm going to stop now

Meagan 6:12

Gallivanting with turbulence.

Jacquelyn 6:14

But yeah, so anyways, back to the story. Essentially, we decided to unexpectedly unplanned go see the Eiffel Tower. So, with all of that information that you just got in mind, it was about 10 or 11 pm, but that was when sunset was

Meagan 6:31

Well and it set the stage right you're out all day, you're using your phone all day and your battery is probably going to be low around 10 pm and this was our first leg of the trip. We learned quickly that buying little battery packs for your phone really smart move.

Jacquelyn 6:48

still have those European battery packs.

Jacquelyn 6:50

They are the realest.

Meagan 6:51

But we didn't do that until we got to London

Jacquelyn 6:54

We did not

Meagan 6:54

And this is the first month of the trip, so we didn't do that yet. So it's 10 pm. We Uber over to where we need to be. No wait, we took the metro,

Jacquelyn 7:02

We took the bus

Meagan 7:10

I think I was at 15 percent

Jacquelyn 7:21

So we are you know we're sitting there saving every bit of battery. So I actually turned off my phone because I was like, okay, I can save. Like I think at that point that I turned off my phone, it was maybe like 10% turned off my phone because I was like we should at least have one phone we can just film, Cause you know, of course you're you're sitting there, it's the first time you're watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle, so you want to take pictures and videos and like have memories of it, which we did, and it was great. Looking back don't know if it was worth it in mind with the story. So all of that happens and I turned back on my phone at some point, realized from turning it off it was down to 6%. You know that when that happens, sometimes, like you turn off your phone and you think it's going to save it and then you turn it back on it's almost like it used more power to turn it off and on you're like what happened?

Jacquelyn 8:12

Like how did that just happen? So that happened, of course.

Jacquelyn 8:14

This time we realized that we are about to be fucked and phoneless.

Meagan 8:15

Fucked and phoneless.

Meagan 8:16

So Jacq's really, you know, she, yeah, she looked up directions

Jacquelyn 8:19

Very map like I can. I can really like if you give me a map I can really understand it, know where I'm going. I can really like if you give me a map I can really understand it, know where I'm going. I can kind of like my head and brain works like a map so I've got it. But if I don't, then like I could be screwed directionally.

Meagan 8:33

But she memorized it. So she looked it up before she powered her phone off. She looked up what we would need to do to get back to the subway.

Meagan 8:49

So she looked looked up, knew exactly how to get to the train. Yep and um, had it all mapped out.

Jacquelyn 8:51

I actually remember the route.

Jacquelyn 8:52

Right now in my head, I'm like not even

Meagan 8:52

I believe you because, I didn't have faith in you. But after that I was like, if, if she says it.

Jacquelyn 8:58

I. I will tell you, my faith in myself was very low at the time. I was like how am I the sole reason that we're going to get home

Meagan 9:07

But the problem with it is is like first of all, it sparkled, it was beautiful, it was stunning, everything you want it to be. It was right there in front of us. Magical, yeah, until it stopped sparkling and everything got dark.

Jacquelyn 9:22

Yeah.

Meagan 9:22

So, but wait, so the way that she mapped us, you know, she had in her head a certain way she doesn't know the streets of paris. Nope, she doesn't know one bit. So we're walking through, and we're walking through a very, very dim, lit, dark. It's just trees, really just trees, and like a little alley type situation, and there's like a few people scattered here and there, but like very, just, not very many people, yeah. And then there are these guys going through, you know on

Jacquelyn 9:52

Our phones are dead at this point Should should update update on that you?

Meagan 9:55

They're through electric with electric scooters, kind of harassing these girls next to us like trying to talk to them and we're like cool we're next.

Jacquelyn 10:01

We noticed that they had like a shopping bag and they were kind of like eyeing that a little bit. Yeah, I think that they were after maybe that kind of thing, but they were like kept kind of slowing down on the electric scooters and like they were, like it was you could just tell it was it was shady

Meagan 10:15

So we're like watching them to make sure they're okay, we're like okay, like we're trying to keep up with what the guys are doing. So but we also see this couple near us and I was like, hey, let's walk really close to that couple so that we're in a group of four. Now we probably scared them, but we just stayed real close.

Jacquelyn 10:30

But at that point we were just like hey, we're with our friends,

Meagan 10:33

We were, we were with our friends.

Meagan 10:35

We are hauling ass, though, after we get to a certain point, cause we're like, okay, we're just going to go really fast, get where we need to be. Yeah, the guys eventually left, thank goodness, but it was a little bit scary, yeah, to be honest, because you hear a lot about getting robbed and, yeah, you know, we weren't sure on this. Really dim lit, yes, semi-park, semi, don't even know. Yeah, um so, but yeah, Jacq will finish off.

Jacquelyn 10:58

So so we get to the, so we find it, we find the subway station. We made it phoneless. I still, at this point I still have not gotten us home, though, because I've still got to get us on the subway Hope I get us the right direction, which you know. Obviously we're here, so everything was fine, but I've got to get us on the right direction and also get us off at the right stop, which, thankfully. I memorized all that, so I'm grateful. My memory did not fail me in this instance, but we get down. So something we also did not calculate was that if so many people can only see the Eiffel Tower at one time, because they don't do it after midnight it was the 11 pm showing, or 10, I think it was 11, or maybe 10, 15, either way, it's around 10 or then most people who came to the city to see the Eiffel Tower, they're all going to be going to their destinations at the same time.

Jacquelyn 11:51

We did not calculate this

Meagan 11:52

Well, and that's the thing is we're at this area and we're like, oh my gosh, it's not busy at all we turn a corner after walking maybe like 10 minutes and it is packed.

Jacquelyn 12:06

The subway, or metro, I guess, would be the correct way to say it, but the metro was so packed Like we had to wait a couple trains,

Meagan 12:11

Just to even get down from the stairs to where the train is.

Jacquelyn 12:14

And every single train. I'm talking, sardines, I'm talking.

Meagan 12:19

This was like an Uber night, but because our phones didn't work, we didn't have that option.

Jacquelyn 12:22

We didn't have that option and we could have taken a taxi. But it just seemed it just, you know you're. It's a different language

Meagan 12:30

I didn't have our address memorized if I couldn't even pronounce our street? To be honest, actually yeah, if we had, I'd be like I don't know,

Jacquelyn 12:36

I remember I told Meagan and I was like

Meagan 12:38

Take me to the 11th arrondissement

Jacquelyn 12:39

I can get it, I can get us off at the stop, but, but your photographic memory is going to need to get us home. So as soon as we got off the stop.

Meagan 12:45

o, if I was driving, maybe, but I couldn't tell them where to go.

Jacquelyn 12:48

As soon as we got off at the stop, I was like, okay, I don't know how to get home. Now she was like I got us and we got home, but there's a little bit more story in between. So we get on super packed okay, like we're talking. If you've ever been to a big city and you've ridden a subway, you'll know what this is like. Like rush hour, insane, so packed, like you're. Basically Megan was nearly sitting on a guy.

Meagan 13:10

Yeah, oh my gosh, yes.

Meagan 13:11

Nearly so also preface it had no AC. So some trains have AC and some don't. Yeah, this one did not. Yes, and it was hot, sweaty, very, very Parisian.

Jacquelyn 13:24

So many Parisian smells.

Meagan 13:26

So many smells everywhere. But it wasn't the kind you think when you think of Paris. It was the BO, the smoke, the sweat all that.

Jacquelyn 13:37

I've said for a long time since going to Paris that if Paris was a candle it would be a baguette, cigarette, smoke and BO.

Jacquelyn 13:41

Yeah, that would be the Paris candle

Meagan 13:43

Unless you go out in the morning. Go out in the morning, go out in the morning.

Jacquelyn 13:45

True

Meagan 13:46

You smell the baguettes and the pastries.

Jacquelyn 13:47

No one's. No one's gotten their BO going yet. Yeah.

Meagan 13:50

No. So we get on um, immediately crammed Like I'm not even, I don't even know where Jack went at this point. And then I see her and I'm like, oh, there she is. She's not that far, but she's far enough to where, like, we're all just rushing on, everybody's pushing each other. I am actually completely backed into this man. I look behind him, yeah.

Jacquelyn 14:09

She's basically sitting on him.

Meagan 14:10

Oh yeah, he and I got real close.

Jacquelyn 14:13

Really close, real close so.

Meagan 14:14

I look at him and I'm like I'm so sorry and he's like he's put his hands up like it's okay. It's okay. I feel like a little like I along, like I'm sorry, sir, because my I am and he is and we are.

Jacquelyn 14:25

Yeah, that's what happened right there, just just

Meagan 14:28

But I was fine with it because he was fine with it and honestly, I felt I felt a lot safer there than other parts of the train.

Jacquelyn 14:34

It was what it was, but I had a different experience with a man. So so we're already sardines at the next stop, or the next stop after that.

Meagan 14:43

Well, a couple stops. People weren't getting on at all, so it opened like four times that people would look in.

Meagan 14:49

It's kind of like, yeah, if you haven't ever ridden the subway or a train or a metro, yeah if you're getting on an elevator and the elevator stops, like, say, it's checkout time at a hotel, everybody's on and you're like, oh, I'll take the next one, and then you just kind of keep waiting till it's not full. Imagine that this is how the subway was. It would stop, people would see it and they'd say, nah, I'm going to wait for the next. Yeah, except for one guy.

Jacquelyn 15:12

This really big guy.

Meagan 15:15

Really big guy

Jacquelyn 15:16

Really really big. We have zero space in the car and in the train car and he decides to turn around and back in. We're talking booty in on me.

Jacquelyn 15:32

I was right by the door

Meagan 15:33

And I can see everybody's face and

Jacquelyn 15:36

He's like basically pushing me into the other

Meagan 15:39

Everybody gasped. Yeah, they were like, like.

Jacquelyn 15:41

People were literally like like I looked behind me and people were like giving me eyes they're like I'm so sorry are you okay?

Meagan 15:47

Like the family, do you remember the family?

Jacquelyn 15:49

Yes, I do

Meagan 15:50

There was a family. They were definitely tourists the sweetest family with like four kids. Yes, and everyone. They were like mom and dad

Jacquelyn 15:57

They were like trying to like move, but there was nowhere to go.

Jacquelyn 15:59

We're all just like looking each other like packed in and

Meagan 16:02

He's just inching more and more

Jacquelyn 16:05

And he gets on and the door closes, with him and me like literally being squished.

Meagan 16:10

It was like Jacq couldn't even inhale to take a real breath.

Jacquelyn 16:12

It was so bad. So we, we figure out. I think a few stops down because I think we had like what the family was trying to make room for you.

Meagan 16:20

Yes, they were like come over here, and then you're like I can't even get, like I can't even get There's so many people

Jacquelyn 16:25

And then, finally, we would decide to get remember. We ended up standing in between the girls who were sitting down and they were like, oh yeah, like rolling their eyes I'm like, can you not just save me?

Meagan 16:34

We walk all I know. I was thinking that we walk all the way in the back, we we stand right there and the girls were so disgusted

Jacquelyn 16:41

But like they were just sitting in chairs and we were just standing I felt in between, like their their aisle, I guess, is what you call it.

Meagan 16:49

everybody else is doing that I felt like a high school girl getting so judged like the insecurity I found I was like oh my god, what am I wearing? What do I look like?

Meagan 16:56

I feel so insecure right no like these girls were eyeballing

Jacquelyn 16:58

You could tell they were talking about us was the whole works just because we wanted a little bit of room

Meagan 17:03

Just a little room

Jacquelyn 17:04

But we made it home and everything was fine.

Jacquelyn 17:07

Um, but that is definitely one of like the top. Like I remember that moment too. Like I was just like wait, we are phoneless in a city. Like this was nearly in the beginning of the whole europe trip. Like phoneless in a city where we didn't know where we were going, didn't really know the language so hot, just it was late, it was like 11 pm and

Meagan 17:27

Note, we're also anxious girlies so like when I get hot, I just feel extra physically anxious.

Jacquelyn 17:33

Yes, there was no ac in the subway car. There was, like it was, just it was anxiety inducing not having a phone draining and I remember that we just got back and we were like we're not doing that again. We have. If we don't have a phone or we're on low charge, we're going home, then yeah. So we learned our lesson

Meagan 17:49

At least at 10 pm.

Jacquelyn 17:50

Yeah, at least at 10 pm. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, but hey it was beautiful.

Meagan 17:54

So this is where we stop and say advertisement. Make sure you get battery packs if you're traveling to Europe or anywhere where you're going to be out all day Disney World, disneyland, anywhere where you know your phone could die and you might need it. Definitely buy a battery pack.

Jacquelyn 18:10

efinitely would be a time where we should get some kind of sponsorship from a battery pack.

Meagan 18:15

I'm so scarred from this I don't even go to the beach without bringing my battery pack.

Jacquelyn 18:19

No, I totally agree.

Meagan 18:20

I'm rarely on my phone there.

Jacquelyn 18:25

It created one of those full-on trauma moments where you're like, okay, I'm never leaving without a battery pack and so we don't. So that's good.

Meagan 18:32

Also, we were one of the last stops, so people kept getting off, getting off, getting off, and it was just us eventually and like a couple people and I was like also cool

Jacquelyn 18:41

And mind you the entire time we're doing this I'm like I really hope I have this right and I knew I did because I could see the stop but at the same time I'm like I really hope I have this right.

Meagan 18:51

I'll never forget the smell of that train.

Jacquelyn 18:58

Oh my gosh, it was. It was hot and heavy for me.

Meagan 18:59

It was heavy for me

Jacquelyn 19:00

Heavy on me

Meagan 19:00

Backed into the guy. Yeah, it was real hot and heavy on that train. It was definitely heavy for you, though, okay okay, moving on.

Jacquelyn 19:07

So should we move on to Paris good moment or do you want to move on to?

Meagan 19:11

Yeah, I think yeah we got to balance it

Jacquelyn 19:13

Okay. So let's let's talk about one of the top good Paris moments. There are so, so many, and um, we could go on, we will. We'll do more episodes where you'll hear more about our amazing moments and recommendations.

Meagan 19:24

We also want to do some tips and tricks

Paris Good Moment: Luxembourg Garden Connection

Jacquelyn 19:26

Yeah, yeah, yeah, and how to get through, and yeah, I think that's that's something we definitely want to do on this is, um, any places that we've talked about, we'd love to give you top recommendations and and spots and, and you know, tricks and things that we learned, cause I mean, you learn a lot when you stay somewhere for a month. You, you learn so much about the city. So, um, we'll definitely have other episodes about that. Okay, so top one on the best top moments Um, so, garden de Luxembourg is a garden in Paris that is honestly so beautiful.

Jacquelyn 19:58

Yeah it's magical, it is, it's just it feels. You feel that historic Paris feeling and it's been there, you know, so many years and so long that you just feel that history and a really cool thing. This is a really cool like side story, also part of the moment, that just made it so amazing. Luxembourg in general. We had there a few times, um, if you go to Paris, it's a frequent spot.

Jacquelyn 20:20

Go to garden de luxembourg. There's a lot of great stuff around it too. It's in the middle of the city, so, um, just some real that that's just. It's a top spot, but it's also a spot.

Meagan 20:30

It's nice because it's in the city, but you feel like you get a reprieve from being in the city. So you just step. You know one minute you're getting gelato right outside of the park and then you just step into the park with your gelato and you're in a whole different world.

Jacquelyn 20:42

And it's pretty amazing, there's water. Yeah, water, it's very lush.

Meagan 20:46

It's very green, beautiful flowers everywhere.

Jacquelyn 20:49

But yeah, it's just absolutely amazing. But a cool side fact is that my great great grandfather went to. He went to university for pharmacy, for to be a pharmacist. It was later in the 1800s and he went to this pharmacy university and so I wanted to go see it. Just, you know, I wasn't sure if it was still a thing. I found it actually still an existing university and they wouldn't let me tour it or anything. They were just kind of like it was you had to come in if you had a reason to be there or student. But I got to see the outside of it and the really cool thing about that is we had already been going to the Luxembourg Garden many times already and I found out that it was about maybe like a 10-minute walk away, which was really— it was a different entrance of the park.

Meagan 21:34

Yeah, so it was basically connected to the park.

Jacquelyn 21:36

It really was. It was so close, so it was really cool, because actually that's where my grandparents, my great-great-grandparents met, is in Paris, and that's where they got married.

Meagan 21:47

And so I just know it's where her family tree started?

Jacquelyn 21:49

Yes, it is. I just know that they went to that garden because it was existing at that time. Just know that they went to that garden because it was existing. At that time it was already a thing, and so that was a really, really cool moment to sit there in the garden and read and imagine that I had family that had been there many, many years before. Just to think that they had a great-granddaughter that came many years later and had that.

Meagan 22:13

I mean, their first date could have been.

Jacquelyn 22:14

Yeah, it could have been there.

Jacquelyn 22:16

It's so close and I know he went there

Meagan 22:18

If he was a smart man, he would have taken her there. It's very beautiful.

Jacquelyn 22:21

I just know he went there. I, I felt him there. It's so creepy to say, but at the same time

Meagan 22:27

It's It's I don't even know him and I felt that historic moment of like just history and and thinking of how much life was lived in these spots before we were walking on them. And that was pretty cool. I was glad to experience that because it made me feel more connected to the gardens and the area and the history there. And like you basically had a place there, basically your great, great, great, great, great grandfather.

Jacquelyn 22:54

but yeah. So that was one of the top moments for me in Paris and top moments in general. Just having that connection to Paris, which is it just was, is such an incredible moment, so that was top for me and you loved.

Paris Reflections: Cafe Culture Benefits

Meagan 23:08

Yeah, that was for me too, that that park was definitely a highlight, for sure. It was just really magical to be able to be in Paris, anything in Paris, if you take the moments in right and you just kind of set I mean, we had to set our phones down the one night but if you take a moment to just put your phones away, which is such an oxymoron to our bad story, by telling you to get a battery charger, but really, if you set all that down and you just take the moments in.

Meagan 23:39

If you really listen to Paris, it's some of the most beautiful sounds. Yeah if you really see Paris, it's more than just the Eiffel Tower and the baguettes. It's some of the most amazing people, very trendy people. Man, parisians know how to dress. They dress so well

Jacquelyn 23:57

And they really know the art of like just existing and you know learning how to just sit there and enjoy life and you feel it.

Meagan 24:06

Cafe culture cafe culture was one of my favorite things, just sitting there, not feeling like they were rushing me out. In fact, I learned a lot from them by just sitting there and and kind of going at their pace. At first it was was a little hard, especially when it was hot and I was like just give me some damn ice. They don't want to that. That really is true, if you ask for ice they're very snooty and then they give you like one or two pieces of ice and they're small pieces of ice. But no, it was amazing, cause you just sit there and you go. Okay, I'm going to start going at their speed. I mean, we're here for a month. If I'm not going to immerse myself in their culture, why am I here?

Jacquelyn 24:40

Yeah, it's so true

Meagan 24:41

And so we started to do that and that was some of my favorite parts. The cafe culture was really great. I always tell Jacq that I had kind of an abusive relationship with Parisians because I love them so much and the stereotypes really are true, but we met a lot of amazing people there too that did embrace us and they were very welcoming.

Jacquelyn 24:58

And also people who

Meagan 24:59

But we stayed in a very local arrondissement.

Jacquelyn 25:01

We stayed in the 11th arrondissement.

Meagan 25:02

We kind of put ourselves in that situation to be around more locals than just you know, balanced local tourism kind of situation. So we knew what was coming, but I don't know, they were so snooty and I kind of loved it.

Jacquelyn 25:15

I know it's it's part of the vibe right like it's as an American like you go there and like, if you don't get that, then what? What are you getting?

Meagan 25:22

But the sounds were amazing, the sights were great. Yeah, the smells before 10 am were pretty good. Yep, yes, before 10AM. But yeah, it was great that was.

Jacquelyn 25:33

That was some of our best and worst paris moments. We have so many, but we'll stop there.

Meagan 25:37

This is just a tiny sliver of what's to come when it comes to Paris.

Jacquelyn 25:41

So many more stories I can think of.

Meagan 25:44

But now we should jump into Florence.

Jacquelyn 25:45

Yes, Florence. We'll start off with the bad one again because, like I said, sometimes it's more fun go more fun, so some of our worst um travel moments, um, in general, where was italy's transportation? That's one thing.

Meagan 26:06

Oh yeah, that's where we're gonna give you some really good. We'll give you tips on how to handle their transportation

Jacquelyn 26:10

Because it can be a doozy.

Jacquelyn 26:13

I still can't say, like I feel, like I'm still like it confuses me, but you make it through. I mean honestly, like it's just part of the culture and you learn to understand it and everything but

Meagan 26:25

You adapt eventually and figure it out.

Jacquelyn 26:28

But we, so we get off, we take the. So we took the train from Nice to Florence. That's how we got from. We actually bought Eurorail passes, which we can talk more on about benefits, how much we paid and what that was like and how what that experience was like. But but we got Eurorail passes and so we took the train from Nice to Florence and that was pretty good experience. I think that one was actually pretty good.

Meagan 26:55

It was a very cold train.

Meagan 26:56

I remember that, yeah,

Jacquelyn 26:56

It was

Meagan 26:57

Some was a very cold train. I remember that, yeah, it was Some of them. You felt really hot the whole time but that was really nice.

Jacquelyn 27:01

ut get off of the train and we see there's a really long taxi line and we decide that probably more me. I think I decided this more than y'all did.

Meagan 27:11

I'm pretty much like that too, though.

Jacquelyn 27:13

Yeah. I'm like much like that too, though yeah, but I'm like let's just walk. It was actually two or three blocks away. Mind you, we have big luggage, we have four and a half months.

Jacquelyn 27:23

Yeah, we each have a big suitcase and like a little one in a backpack, so I mean, you know we're carrying, you know, pretty heavy. Like we said, turbulence expected this was definitely turbulent, and so we decide to take the luggage down the streets to the airbnb. It's Italy, so it's very cobblestony. I'll never, forget how hard it is to pull luggage over cobblestone looking back. I wish I had just done the taxi line and went, you know, less than a mile down the road but you know, you learn what you learn

Meagan 27:58

It's hot at this point too. So we're pulling it, we're sweating. The whole picture is you know, very narrow sidewalk spots once you finally get to one, and then there's people walking everywhere and we've got like two bags each in a backpack and it's just real tiring at this point because it's been a long day

Jacquelyn 28:14

And, unfortunately, in this moment, I actually mapped us to the wrong spot, but then it was only a block away.

Jacquelyn 28:21

Yeah, so that wasn't too bad. It was just like literally one more block down to the left, but that sucked. So all of this happens. We're very tired. We get to the building, um, and this is when our next bad moment happens.

Meagan 28:38

Yeah, that wasn't the bad moment, the cobblestone road

Jacquelyn 28:40

Yeah, that was just like turbulent.

Meagan 28:42

So we get to the airbnb and we get inside and there's this elevator which, by the way, I am very afraid of elevators. That's like kind of um irrational yet semi-rational fear that I have. I just I don't love them yeah and european elevators are next level for me.

Jacquelyn 29:03

They're small

Meagan 29:04

They're tiny, they're very small so

Jacquelyn 29:06

Honestly, this elevator at the airbnb, I didn't want to take it.

Meagan 29:09

Yeah, it was it was a small elevator, it was enough for like one person standing sideways, it was it was claustrophobic yeah, it was very claustrophobic and then maybe like a bag or two. Um, so we're like let's have someone go upstairs and then let's send all the luggage up so we could get more on there on the elevator

Jacquelyn 29:30

Because it's five, six flights of six flights.

Meagan 29:33

We're like, we'll send it up and then I'll stay down here. You go up and, um, we'll just do it that way. Yeah, so we send it up, I'm waiting and waiting, I'm waiting. And once you realize you're waiting and waiting and waiting, you're like why am I still waiting?

Jacquelyn 29:50

So and we had a wonderful airbnb host at this airbnb. He was actually there with us. He was so nice and so we realized that our luggage is stuck. We tell him and he's like very much, like, oh, never come into this problem, like kind of thing, and he's like troubleshooting and

Meagan 30:10

At one point he said we need to call the mafia and he laughed.

Meagan 30:14

But he was saying that it was a sunday. Everything closes down on sundays in italy. It's just like family day. It's really probably how it should be yeah, it's just a thing.

Jacquelyn 30:23

It either closes or it's closed early, one of the two

Meagan 30:25

But he said, even if we were to call the fire department, he's like I don't know that they'd come right away yeah

Jacquelyn 30:30

Because we asked him what would happen if one of us was in there

Meagan 30:32

He's like I don't know.

Jacquelyn 30:33

We'd basically figure it out, but there was no guarantee, which freaked us out

Meagan 30:38

And I was like so glad we didn't go on the elevator, yeah, but we think us not going on the elevator also might have been the problem because someone had to push it from inside and then close the latch. It's like one of those elevators where it has like you have to open a couple doors, you close it and then you got to push it from inside. Well, we pushed it from the outside, then closed a couple doors yeah, I think that's where we went wrong.

Jacquelyn 30:58

I think so too.

Meagan 30:59

Or he said there was a weight limit and we put too much luggage on?

Jacquelyn 31:02

I don't think so. I think also he was like didn't he say too like maybe the luggage moved around and there's a sensor? That basically won't open or something anyways.

Meagan 31:11

But our luggage is stuck and we don't know where which floor it's stuck. Somewhere he says you know you really can't. It's sunday so not much we can do about it. But I have my contacts on there, my glasses. I wear one a day, so I was like I kind of need my contacts.

Jacquelyn 31:26

Yeah and we couldn't go to a pharmacy to get her contacts contact lens like solution yeah, all, everything was closed. Yeah, everything was closed. So there was no like. In the moment I was like it's chill, it's like fine, I can go one night without my bag and then I thought about even toothbrush, things like that. I was like I'll just not brush my teeth tonight, like it's one night, no big deal, but then I thought about everything that was in there and I was just

Meagan 31:49

What if it opens at night and we're just sleeping and someone else is, you know, in there and they find all this luggage. Then what? What? Like our laptops yeah, my laptop. Cell phone chargers oh, I had mine in the suitcase.

Jacquelyn 32:03

Other side note I never, ever let my laptop leave my body, but that's also because I have like a very like confidential kind of job.

Meagan 32:11

Which is financial planning.

Jacquelyn 32:12

Yeah, so like I take it very seriously, so I didn't. Thankfully I had yeah, in our luggage so we're like we're just trying not to have again anxiety girlies over here. We're trying not to have like a little bit of a panic attack and have anxiety because

Meagan 32:30

I did

Jacquelyn 32:30

Because like I want to be, I want to be the

Meagan 32:32

You did well

Jacquelyn 32:34

I felt very anxious. I want to be the chill girl that's like no worries that my luggage is out there, it'll all work out.

Jacquelyn 32:40

Yada, yada

Meagan 32:40

My fight or flight in that moment

Jacquelyn 32:43

So hot when I also also remember we had just kind of gone down the cobblestone.

Jacquelyn 32:48

We were just hot, sweaty and everything

Meagan 32:50

We were on a train with tons of people. We got off of one train to get onto another train to go onto another train station. I mean, it was like the travel day that you would expect when you're traveling from one place.

Jacquelyn 33:01

I will tell you something that you can't underestimate is a travel day on trains and in europe, with carrying your luggage and doing figuring out all the things, never knowing where you're going, never know the language like.

Jacquelyn 33:12

Never underestimate a travel day it is exhausting

Meagan 33:15

And you have to eat in between that, yeah, and you have to figure out, navigate where you're going with all your bags and then when you get on the train you know you hear these stories all the time like people steal things, you get pickpocketed, so you're like constantly a little on edge, so your fight or flight is up most of the day.

Jacquelyn 33:29

o is.

Meagan 33:29

Like when you're going different places, you're like, oh gosh, got to keep my luggage, but I also need to like pay for this thing, so I got to turn my back for a minute. Yeah, it wasn't that scary to things do happen. So you want to be really smart and vigilant. So, you know when we're putting our suitcases in the back of the train, but we're in the middle of the train that kind of.

Meagan 33:49

That's kind of tough because we couldn't put it it's not like you can put it right above your head or right in front of you because you're sitting with other people. So you have to keep your luggage where you can't always see it, and so you know, you're just a little up all day, like up all day, like, yeah, you're like, am I gonna make it there? Yeah, exactly with my stuff? Yeah, and so at this point we had a long day of that. Then we had the elevator, not knowing what's gonna happen. He's like, okay, let me. He said I'm gonna go to this coffee shop right here. I'm gonna make a call, I'm gonna see if I can get the maintenance guy to come over here.

Meagan 34:16

It's Sunday. I don't know what to tell you guys. I might not be able to, but he was just. He was such a good guy, he was so nice, he was very genuine. We knew he was really trying his hardest. Yeah, at the end of the day, if he couldn't, he couldn't, but we were just hopeful that he could. Well, within an hour he brings the guy over there and the guy's messing with some breakers, doing some things, and then it opens.

Jacquelyn 34:35

Yeah

Meagan 34:35

Thank God

Jacquelyn 34:36

Yep so I mean, I honestly I'm just so thankful it opened in the end.

Meagan 34:42

Um, but one of us cried after yeah, we did because it was just like I think it might have been you I think, because I already had my panic attack before that, so also like I got it out already.

Jacquelyn 34:52

It's not really like the biggest deal to me, or I wouldn't have planned a travel day, but it was my birthday too, and so I was like that's right I was like oh, I just like wanted it to feel like more exciting and like we would just go out to dinner and it would be fine, and like no, but it was like everything was a deal so and

Meagan 35:06

This was three and a half months in yeah, this is our last month, so we're even though you're doing all these things and seeing all these beautiful places, you're away from home.

Meagan 35:15

You're away from any normalcy that you're used to you're. You're away from your people, like you're not. You're not seeing your friends and family every day. You're, yeah, you seeing beautiful sights and you're making new friends along the way, but it's not the same.

Meagan 35:29

And so, three and a half months, into it it was real tiring

Jacquelyn 35:32

I mean it tests you in a lot of ways and each time you change cities, it's probably about the time you got comfortable in a city and for us we went to France and then London was obviously easy for language reasons. Then we went back, you know, we went to France and then London was obviously like, easy for like language reasons. Um, then we went back to France again, which still the French language barrier, but then it was like France and French Riviera and that was a whole different kind of structure for transportation and and like vibe and people. And then you go and you change language and you go to Italy. So I mean, like you're just every time you get comfy, you know changing it up, which also stretches you in amazing ways and makes you learn more about yourself, but at the same time, like it, you know turbulence expected.

Meagan 36:14

Turbulence expected but we got us some grit.

Meagan 36:17

We got grit now

Jacquelyn 36:18

We do have grit.

Meagan 36:19

So, but that was tough, that was a tough one. It was a really hard day because we were excited, yeah, but we also traveled on a Sunday when we didn't expect everything to be closed, so we were like, wouldn't do that again. I probably would say, if you're going to travel to somewhere in Italy, I wouldn't do a Sunday if you're looking to travel later.

Jacquelyn 36:37

But of course we were trying to maximize work days, so we're

Meagan 36:40

We had to do the weekend.

Jacquelyn 36:45

We were doing the weekend because we were trying to, you know, take advantage of the fact that, hey, if we're traveling on a weekend day, you're not taking time off or you're not, you're not worrying about service while you're on the train, which is very, very spotty. It works sometimes, sometimes it doesn't. I mean, it just really depends.

Florence Good Moment: Food Paradise

Meagan 36:58

So, but the thing about Florence, though I will say, after this happened, after one, one night sleep, yeah, everything changed.

Jacquelyn 37:06

I tell you that one night sleep after travel days, you were revived,

Meagan 37:10

Specifically Florence.

Jacquelyn 37:11

Yeah.

Meagan 37:11

Waking up in Florence is one of the best things you'll ever do.

Jacquelyn 37:14

So Florence is really cool because I I don't know why I don't. Yes, I didn't look it up enough. I didn't have like really like necessarily high expectations for it. I didn't really know much about it. I didn't really like, you know, look up Instagram, look up Google, I didn't Google much or do much of anything.

Jacquelyn 37:32

So when I went there

Meagan 37:32

Because you know it's small. Yeah, you walk around the whole town.

Jacquelyn 37:36

It's just it is. It's so walkable, so fun. It surprised me and it just was one of my top favorite cities I've ever been to like it was the perfect mashup of like Italy, old Italy meets modern new world and, like you, just feel like it's just like this perfect mashup of what you want Italy to be it

Meagan 37:56

Was it, it, yeah, then we appreciated the cobblestones, we were rolling the suitcases on because we were like this is so historic and so we actually should apologize to those cobblestones for.

Meagan 38:06

But it was just so beautiful waking up and having a coffee, having a little espresso, hearing all the sounds. Now, italy smelled good, italy smelled real good. Italy smelled like coffee, cigarettes and just pastries and pastas being made and you could smell the different meats and it was just it's incredible, it was,

Jacquelyn 38:30

It's what you'd expect

Meagan 38:32

But yeah, waking up, having a coffee, walking down.

Meagan 38:34

So we're gonna talk about our our positives now so yeah best parts of Florence, which was pretty much everything everything in Florence other than that night

Jacquelyn 38:41

But our some of our best food. I we were talking about Florence trying to like honestly. Honestly, all of Florence was incredible. Just walking around by foot you can get everywhere. I definitely would recommend, if you go to Florence like, stay somewhere relatively near in the areas, because walking around and getting and not having to take transportation and just getting to walk out your door and be somewhere in the city in the main area, it's so amazing.

Meagan 39:04

Our area was great because we just it was our backyard was the main part

Jacquelyn 39:08

It was perfect

Jacquelyn 39:09

Duomo was like, and we were right by the train station too, as I we mentioned earlier a couple walks away, which was also convenient for getting in and out of Florence.

Jacquelyn 39:17

Um, but yeah, best food

Meagan 39:19

So yeah, every time we go on a trip, uh, Jacq's sister, SuZanne, she always asks us what are your best bites? And I love that question because we're all foodies, yeah, so for sure that's a very important question. I take it very serious, so I don't take it lightly, but we're going to tell you some of our best bites right now in Florence, which is really hard to pick, because I would say out of all the places we went Florence.

Meagan 39:47

I had some of my best bites, but but, yeah, Jacq will start, what's one of your best bites?

Jacquelyn 39:49

So anyone who knows me knows I am an ice cream girly. Like I could that's probably one of my absolute top favorite foods. Not probably, it is one of my top favorite foods. The gelato does not lie when people are like talking about gelato if you've never been, or if you have been like if you've never been, you got to have the best. Just have as much gelato as you can. If you have been, you probably know what I'm talking about. But my favorite actually is somewhere that's actually in Paris and in Italy and

Meagan 40:18

Also in the UK

Jacquelyn 40:19

Yeah, it's also in the UK, so it's actually a lot, but it is so good. I know it also like it's called Grom and it's incredible if you're in Paris and Italy or just look up with you, go to Europe if Grom is around. It's so good. My favorite is chocolate and stracciatella and they have creme de grom, which is so good because it's like this I don't, I can't even explain they have like biscuit cookies.

Meagan 40:40

I bet that's like a year, that's probably a UK take on it

Jacquelyn 40:44

Maybe yeah, but anyways it.

Jacquelyn 40:45

Yeah, but anyways it is so good.

Meagan 40:47

You rarely can get bad gelato in Italy.

Jacquelyn 40:49

Yeah, you really can't

Meagan 40:49

When they say that they mean it, and here's a tip okay, so when you're looking for good gelato, you know you see those little tourist traps, what they call them tourist trap gelatos. It's where they're piled super high up and they just look so inviting like you see all the colors and all the different toppings and you're like, oh my god, I want that.

Meagan 41:09

That's a trap, that's not the good gelato, and there are quite a few of those

Jacquelyn 41:11

Yeah apparently what they do with that is that they actually fluff up the gelato to make it tall and inviting for people to want to get it. But what it does is it adds more air, which like saves them money, and also it makes it it definitely like lowers the quality of the gelato. So the best gelato to look for is the one in the tin can like

Meagan 41:30

It's like a stainless steel

Jacquelyn 41:32

You can't see it

Meagan 41:33

You just can't see it if it says gelato and you're looking for the gelato.

Meagan 41:37

If you need binoculars to see the gelato, then that's the gelato

Jacquelyn 41:40

Or or gelato that's not super fluffed up. Yeah, there's, there's also good.

Meagan 41:44

We went to another place that's was like a very reputable local place. It had been there for years from a family that has just been making gelato for forever and they know how to make gelato, yeah, and also the pistachio you don't want it to be ou? Was it too green? It's got to be more of a deep color.

Jacquelyn 42:00

t's has like what an actual pistachio would. So if it's like bright green, they probably lime green pistachio. Yeah, they probably dyed it and it's not as authentic.

Meagan 42:08

Yeah, it's like in the stainless steel circular type container and then they take the lid off and it's just. That's when you know

Jacquelyn 42:15

Also in the description of this we'll put all of these recommendations as well, just so you can have those, in case you want to like come back to any of the recommendations that we said. But yeah, so I would say gelato for me, hands down, I mean all of italy. We'll talk even more in other episodes about other things in italy that we experienced, because there's so many more other things, but for florence, I mean just

Meagan 42:37

We gotta talk about the sandwiches

Jacquelyn 42:38

Oh the sandwiches that too the sandwiches, oh sandwiches the sandwiches, so good there's this place called Antico Vinaio um, it's actually in New York too, but that we actually went there recently and it wasn't the same experience. It was good, but it you're when you're in Italy, you gotta just go.

Meagan 42:54

It was different in New York. I didn't like it in New York

Jacquelyn 42:56

I didn't either

Meagan 42:56

But oh man in Italy we got, so they make this fresh bread every day that is just like it's yeah focaccia it's, it's like salty with all this olive oil, like you can, it's like buttery without any butter at all, because that olive oil.

Meagan 43:10

They make their olive oil so authentic, yeah, with. They don't process it, no, it's just so good, yeah, and so they make the bread. But it's really cool. You're standing in line and they've got like several different ones and there's all these long lines on this one street and they'll tell you which line to go in and you're, you're, waiting and you just keep seeing these guys rolling through with these pile like mile high piled breads, just like walking through and it's all the same bread. You get one choice of bread, yeah you don't need more than one choice.

Meagan 43:37

This is the bread you want, and so they're just walking through with it. It's hot, it's good and they've got all these toppings. That's where we learned about our love for stracciatella

Jacquelyn 43:46

Oh my gosh, it's so good, and who knows if we're saying it right.

Meagan 43:49

Yeah, I say stracciatella.

Jacquelyn 43:51

We are not the pronunciation queens.

Meagan 43:53

I learned my Italian from Giada De Laurentiis.

Meagan 43:55

Okay, so whatever, but it's so good and they spread it all on the sandwich, it's just so good

Jacquelyn 44:05

Okay, I still have my order, so I'm gonna say my order and this is not your order, though right, or did you like this? Did you like what I got?

Meagan 44:11

I just kept trying different things

Jacquelyn 44:12

Yeah, she, I'm definitely like that person who will find like one order and I will.

Meagan 44:17

Just she's tried and go back.

Jacquelyn 44:19

So my order was they have a different name for it, but it's basically their ham. If you ever go there, it's like they have a different name for it, but it's basically their ham. If you ever go there, it's like they have a specific name but ham, stracciatella, fresh tomato, basil and honey. Oh my gosh, just get it. It adds a sweet little kick with all the salty bread and the creamy stracciatella with the basil and the tomato.

Jacquelyn 44:40

Oh my gosh, I want it right now.

Meagan 44:42

The prosciutto is so soft and salty.

Jacquelyn 44:44

Yeah, you had the prosciutto many times.

Meagan 44:46

Yeah, I think I got like a pistachio cream

Jacquelyn 44:48

Oh the pistachio cream. Oh my gosh, you have to go.

Meagan 44:51

I want one right now.

Jacquelyn 44:52

I hope someone listening is about to go Florence

Meagan 45:01

Do you want to fly to Italy right now to go have a sandwich? Another best bite for me was pear balsamic ravioli. I'm like even a ravioli fan.

Jacquelyn 45:05

Yeah.

Meagan 45:05

But it was like pear ravioli. Gotta try it. Gotta see what it's about.

Meagan 45:08

And it was so good.

Jacquelyn 45:10

It was from a place called I think I'm pronouncing it wrong, I don't remember it Ciro and Sons, or I don't know.

Jacquelyn 45:18

I just looked up how to pronounce it, but I forgot, honestly, kiro and Sons, but either way you spell it, c-i-r-o and Sons and it was actually a total random find that I we kind of went to based off of, like looking online. It looked nice and the vibe was great. They had this adorable little outdoor patio seating area that and they have quite a bit of it too it was easy to get into and the pear ravioli with balsamic

Meagan 45:40

It was so good

Jacquelyn 45:40

Oh my it's

Meagan 45:41

I'd go back for that.

Jacquelyn 45:42

I would too. It's not something, it was an unexpected bite. We didn't go into it like researching it or knowing it, we just saw it.

Meagan 45:49

We were like I really never heard of that. Gotta try it.

Jacquelyn 45:51

And it was, it was absolutely incredible.

Meagan 45:54

Also shakerato. I had the best tiramisu ever, yes, at Cafe Gilli, Cafe Gilli

Jacquelyn 46:01

Again don't know if we are pronouncing it right

Meagan 46:01

We'll shakeratos, yes, and tiramisu I mean shakeratos you just put espresso, you shake I don't know if it's because I was in italy or what the hell, but it was so good, so hot day had a shakerato had tiramisu.

Meagan 46:14

Yeah, did that a couple times. Definitely, I went. We frequented there many times. That was a good one. We even met a guy there that he was a local guy, that he had a little shop, and we talked to him for like 30 minutes.

Jacquelyn 46:25

He owned like a jewelry store or something he like goes there all the time.

Meagan 46:29

He like knew of a store in Houston. We told him we were from Houston. He had a store, a vendor here and he actually supplied things for them. Anyway, it was just real cool, we met him. He gave us recommendations for our next endeavor, to Capri.

Meagan 46:49

He had a lot of good spots to tell us to go to and it was just really it was so fun.

Jacquelyn 46:51

Yeah, that Cafe Gilli I feel like that's not how it's pronounced, but we'll go with that.

Meagan 46:53

It's like a SNL character

Jacquelyn 46:53

I know, I know, I just keep thinking

Meagan 46:55

Is that her name?

Jacquelyn 46:55

Yeah, it is

Meagan 46:56

Kristen Wiig

Jacquelyn 46:56

I think it is

Meagan 46:57

Like Gilli

Jacquelyn 46:58

I yeah, it definitely

Meagan 47:00

Will never think of Cafe Gilli the same again

Jacquelyn 47:03

But so Cafe Gilli there they have all these pastries and it's, it's beautiful too, and they have a great outdoor seating.

Jacquelyn 47:11

I mean, Europe is like the supreme place to sit outside

Meagan 47:15

Like an old cafe, like the kind where you're, like shit went down here yes late night stuff happened

Jacquelyn 47:22

And it's just so beautiful

Meagan 47:24

Like I needed a cigar to sit there.

Meagan 47:26

I was like where are the cigars.

Meagan 47:28

I need a pipe right now

Jacquelyn 47:29

It had cigar vibes for sure, but it's just, it was lovely and so good. And there's even more food, good food.

Meagan 47:36

We have to stop there or else we'll be here all yeah, for the next 24 hours,

Jacquelyn 47:40

I think we have to stop there.

Meagan 47:42

You can't go wrong in Florence really, it would be really hard to do. Yeah, but I'd love to meet someone who went wrong with food in Florence.

Jacquelyn 47:49

I, I would too, because honestly, every bite was good it was so good. Maybe we just made the right moves, but I really think that Florence is just supreme for food.

Meagan 47:57

I definitely want to go back

Jacquelyn 47:59

But yeah so thank y'all so much for listening to us today. We are so excited to do this first episode. It's something we've been wanting to do for a long time and we really are. You know, the vibe here is real talk with a dash of humor and travel, and we just really want to feel like it's therapy with a side of laughter.

Meagan 48:19

We want you to laugh while we cry.

Jacquelyn 48:20

Yeah, about our stories.

Jacquelyn 48:23

We just want to sit on our virtual couch with you and make you feel better about things that have happened to you and know that you're not the only one, and we can't wait to talk more and have more recommendations and just become, become friends.

Meagan 48:37

Yeah, we're looking forward to it.

Jacquelyn 48:39

So thanks for tuning in today and, as you know, turbulence expected

Meagan 48:43

Turbulence expected until the next one

Jacquelyn 48:45

Yeah, until the next day

Meagan 48:46

Stay turbulent

Jacquelyn 48:47

Bye guys