We woke up the day after the wedding, it had been a late night with a serious amount of drinking…we missed breakfast (sob!) and I was determined to find somewhere amazing for lunch.
Dragging ourselves out of bed and making ourselves some what presentable, we headed out into town in search of some really good food. Well that’s not exactly hard in a gastronomic city like Florence.
A few bloggers including Jess from The Travelista had told me about L’Osteria di Giovanni and I became determined to hunt it out. I hate to be disappointed by a meal so if I can go on a recommendation, I always will.
And as we stepped inside, we definitely weren’t disappointed…a bustling restaurant with rustic decor and full of energetic Italian voices was what we found. 
Some delicious, salty fried dough – which I suspect may have contained the odd calorie or two – was put on our table and feeling starving and with sore heads from the night before, it was just what we needed.
Just like at Cantina Antinori, we over ordered… a thick, hearty Tuscan soup was Mr S’s hangover cure whilst goat’s cheese salad with aubergine was my light choice. 
Again we ordered pasta to share – my absolute favourite seafood pasta with a light sauce – and again even a half portion was huge. I regretted ordering a main course. But fortunately some of my friends came to join us at this point and helped me out with my pasta. 
My eyes are much bigger than my stomach as I’d ordered a whole sea bass for main course…
We shared some delicious deep fried artichokes – so crunchy and salty on the outside and silky smooth on the inside. 
And a good hearty steak and potatoes for Mr S. 
After an epic Italian feast, we definitely needed to walk it off and Mr S and I stuck with my old school friends, Sarah and Danni, and headed back across the bridge. 
Seriously Florence is such a beauty. 
Meeting up with some more friend’s including Jess, who I’ve know since I five, we continued walking around the streets of Florence. That’s the wonderful thing about this city, it’s so beautiful and full history that it’s just fun to meander aimlessly stopping to peer into shops, have a coffee or enjoy the gorgeous architecture. 
One of the girls suggested heading for the Piazzale Michaelangelo, which Mr S and I hadn’t seen last time we were here. We all agreed and made the shortish walk along the river and up the ramps…
Though the view is utterly wonderful the piazza itself is pretty much a car park, but my friends and I have a sixth sense for finding cocktails, and noticed what looked like a bar at the back of the piazza.
Hooray it was a bar! Aperol Spiritz time!
And a delicious rossini with fresh strawberries. Making plans to meet up for dinner later, we said goodbye to my friends and went and met some more friends of ours for a drink.
Giving us a chance to the beautiful Ponte Vecchio at night.
We took another recommendation for dinner, the beautifully rustic and charming, Osteria della Pastella. 
We dug into the food; sharing antipasti platters…
Delicious octopus carpaccio…
Salmon…
The most perfectly made spaghetti vongole…plus more that I didn’t get photos of. 
Finishing off with a sweet apple…
Actual chocolate pasta! I think that’s what dreams are made of!
And I got my Italian tiramisu fix…
Before heading off into the city of Florence to find another bar…only to be hungover again the next day…
