After the wedding comes the honeymoon right? Let me start off by saying the start of this honeymoon did not go according to plan, lol! As a matter of fact let me offer this piece of advice. If you're going to go on a honeymoon immediately after your wedding take a day or two or so after the wedding and then go on your honeymoon. 😂

When I tell y'all we missed the first leg of our trip, believe me. We were both so exhausted. We ended up staying at our wedding venue for another day or so and slept the entire time. I just couldn't muster up the strength to travel. I just wanted to rest and Natasha was the champion of that idea. 😄

We were supposed to be in the Almafi coast immediately following the wedding. The plan was to go south and then make our way back north since we were flying out of Florence. That's the way I planned the trip. Still tired from the wedding we both decided to nix Almafi because, hey we were already two days behind, we wouldn't be getting our money back for the hotel or travel and lastly with Almafi being the longest journey of our trip the remaining two days we had remaining just really wasn't worth the journey in my opinion. So off to the second leg we went.

Como Di Lago known as Lake Como. I first visited lake como three and a half years prior and fell in love. It's literally a post card. We stayed at this little B&B right on the lake which had amazing reviews and views. Located in the quiet town of Vassena Almolo5 is a hidden gem. It is set up like a boutique hotel small and intimate. I'll forewarn you there is no elevator. Natasha made me promise to only carry one huge luggage from now on if we know we're going to be hoping from place to place, lol. I said I'll try. 😄

At the hotel, there is one restaurant. Be sure to dine in. Everything was delicious.

Close to Vassena where the hotel is located are surrounding towns. You definitely want to check out Bellagio. If you don't plan on renting a car you'll need to call a cab. Our hostess Victoria, at the B&B was very helpful with setting this up for us. It's about a 15 to 20min ride and it'll run you about $30. In Bellagio there are shops and restaurants, it's also where you'd catch the ferry to visit surrounding towns. Another key thing to know is, every day between noon and 4pm shops and restaurants close for riposo Italy's midday siesta. Most bars never close so there's always drinks. So, we drink until dinner, 7pm restaurants open back up. Plan accordingly. 🥂

Definitely check out Restaurant Carillon if you decide to dine in Bellagio. The best tuna tartare I've ever had. Everything was delicious. Make a reservation if you can. We were lucky enough to get a table because we had stopped by during riposo, so when we returned the hostess remembered us and gave us a table.

Saying goodbye to Vassena we took the ferry to our next destination Menaggio where we stayed at the Grand Hotel Menaggio. Also located on the lake it's literally steps from the ferry dock. Grand Hotel Menaggio is rated as a 5 star hotel but if I'm being totally honest, it's not. I mean the views are 5 star views but the rooms and bathrooms are just not, in my most humble opinion. It's still a really a nice hotel it's just not at the level of a 5 star I'm used to. So that's that about the hotel.

I did love one thing about the hotel, which in hindsight the only tie it probably has to the hotel was its proximity, lol. There was a little food shack which was open 24/7. I really appreciated that especially the night we missed dinner at the restaurant in our hotel. Natasha and I had eaten there for lunch one day. I was craving a buger and to my surprise it was on the menu, so good lol.

In Menaggio I set up a private boat tour of the lake. There are a few to choose from. I used Como Boat Tours. Be sure to make a reservation in advance these spots fill up quickly. We did the one hour tour, I requested the classic boat. The luxury of the private tour ran us $450.

There are different kinds of boats at different price points you can choose from. There are also group tours which are much cheaper.

If you stay at Grand Hotel Menaggio there is a private boat dock right off the hotel where your chauffeur can pick you up at.

Over the train ride with my 50 thousand luggages by this point was Natasha lol, so we chartered a car to drive us to Milan. It's about a 2.5hr drive from Menaggio and it'll run you about $180.

In Milan we used our points to stay at the Hilton where Natasha is a diamond member. Normally I prefer to have my accommodations embody the country I'm in but at this point I just saw it as a substitution for the money we lost out on from not making our Almafi trip. 😄

After Milan, we left for Florence the last leg and where our journey began. We were there for only a night as we had a 6am flight back to the States. For our last night I placed us right in the square. We stayed at B&B La Terrazza Sul Duomo which is steps from the duomo. It's a really old hotel and I especially loved the old elevator system. They were in the process of renovating when we were there so there was scaffolding blocking our view of the duomo from our room. I really hope they kkeep the old elevator, there's a certain elegance about it.

Ok, so like I said we were in the heart of Florence, surrounded by restaurants, shopping and of course history and beauty. We had dinner at IL Grande Nuti, superb by the way. Also, right across the street was the cutest gelato shop we stopped at for desert before strolling into the night. I don't know what it is about Florence, Italy in general, it just comes alive at night.

I hope this mini guide is helpful!

If you happen to go to any of the places mentioned here let ya girl know what you think!

Till next time. Later readers. 😊