At the start of the year I was extremely excited to be invited to a family wedding in Florence. At the end of August I travelled out with my mum, dad,  two sisters and my brother on our first ever trip to Italy and our first ever flight with Ryanair.

The Flight – Our flight with Ryanair was an experience I wasn’t particularly looking forward to, I have been fed so many horror stories over the years I was expecting the worst. To be honest it was ok, the plane seemed to be really tiny onboard I was glad to sit down, we did have quite a bit of leg room and didn’t feel like we were sitting on top of each other – which is a bonus!

One thing I would say though is for some bizarre reason Ryanair think its a good idea for people with mobility and walking difficulties to be helped onto the plane last which really just makes it hard for the person who has the disability. When we boarded the plane there was a long queue of people waiting to store their luggage and sit down which meant I had to wait standing for quite a long time and then you have to struggle passed other travellers to get to your sit. I dont think they have thought this through very well and I’m not sure what their reason is for doing it this way when other airlines allow you to board first?!?

Pisa – Entry into Pisa airport was quite relaxed although they don’t seem to have a civilised queuing system for taxis. We stayed at the Hotel Bologna in Pisa which provided an airport pick-up service for 5 Euros per person which was great we rang them up and they met us within 10 minutes. Its definitely worth pre-booking airport transfers.

The hotel was lovely, the staff were really helpful and the rooms were comfortable and clean. We only stayed for one night with breakfast included and nothing could be faulted. I would definitely recommend this hotel as a good place to stay in Pisa. We were just across the bridge from the square with bars, restaurants and lots of ice cream places (Italy has them everywhere). I was a bit disappointed in the fact that a lot of the places were run down and some of the buildings looked like they needed to be demolished they were a bit worse for wear. Price wise Pisa was relatively cheap with regards to food and drink.

Leaning Tower of Pisa – The following day before getting the train to Florence we wanted to go visit the leaning tower of Pisa, it was about a 15 minute walk from our hotel and the weather was lovely so it was quite a nice walk. Apart from the uneven pavements I felt like I was on a power plate, the pavements are not great in Italy for wheelchairs.

The Leaning Tower was amazing, when you think back to when it was built and the architecture – just wow!! We did the whole tourist thing with photographs. You can also pay to go up into the tower, however I would definitely recommend pre-booking this as the queues were huge.

Pisa to Florence – The experience of catching the train from Pisa to Florence is one that will never be forgotten lol We purchased our tickets and with about 4 minutes to spare headed to the train we all got separated and me and my sister were like loons looking for the lift up to the platform when we found it we thought the train and everyone else had left without us and then realised we were on the wrong platform somehow we had managed to run past about 4 lifts (I swear they were not there lol) when we found the right lift and my dad we discovered we had missed our train the other half of the group were on and I had everyone’s tickets. My dad said he watched their shocked faces as the train started to move knowing we hadn’t got on yet!!

We jumped on the next train which left minutes later and rang the others who said they were getting off the next stop to meet us. However, we had 3 stops and didn’t see them we were starting to convince ourselves we were on the wrong train. The others decided they were going to just get on the next available train going to Florence when an announcement was made and it turned out we were arriving at the station they were at. I’ve never laughed so much we didn’t have a clue what was going on. I’m convinced the train driver was having a good laugh watching our antics on the CCTV cameras as we jumped up at each stop trying to work out where we were.

Word to the wise don’t dilly dally with the trains in Italy or it will be likely you will miss your train or stop, or end up on the wrong one lol Luckily we all made it to Florence without any further problems and I’m not sure if the journey seemed to be over quite quickly because it wasn’t too long or because we were laughing so much we didn’t notice.

Florence – We stayed in the Quadra Key apartments in Florence and although they were lovely, they were just a little bit out of the way about a 10 minute taxi ride into central Florence. The buildings and the atmosphere in central Florence were amazing, we were expecting everything to be a bit overpriced and although it was more expensive than Pisa we didn’t find it too bad. We were advised on our first night to go to Piazza Della Republica. We had a lovely meal out overlooking the church in the square and it was quite reasonable 25 Euros per person. Later we went for a wonder around Florence and realised we were a little walk away from Piazza Della Republica which looked like it was the place to be!

We did get a little lost walking around the streets we found ourselves back in the same spot a few times. Getting a taxi in Florence is a bit strange we didn’t realise that you have to go and wait at a taxi rank you can’t seem to flag them down on the streets like we do at home – when you do get one make sure you buckle up it can be a bit of a white knuckle ride!!

Wedding – The day of the wedding we were all to meet near Santa Croce to get a bus to the secret wedding venue – this was one of the scariest rides ever! A 30 seater coach driving up a mountain on very narrow lanes with on-coming traffic and 180 degree turns. My sister advised me she was getting drunk for the journey back down which we were assuming would be even scarier in the dark lol!

The wedding venue was absolutely gorgeous an old converted castle or church with amazing views of the Tuscan countryside – Villa Vorna! The wedding itself was amazing from start to finish the bride looked fab, lots of food and drink and music to keep everyone boogieing until our dreaded coach ride back down the mountain. Just a lovely day everyone had such an amazing time!

Time to go home – The next day was a bit anticlimactic, we were going home. Feeling a bit worse for wear we packed our bags and prepared for our train ride back to Pisa armed with my hangover cure (McDonalds). We did arrange for help on and off the trains in Florence this time to avoid any mishaps lol I would definitely recommend doing this and the assistance can be booked in advance.

On arrival in Pisa we arranged for our suitcases to be stored and then went for a drink before our flight home. There seems to be 2 sides to Pisa before you cross the bridge everything seems a lot more modern and clean with even pavements lol The shops on this side seem to be a bit more designer and possible pay more in the bars and restaurants so I suppose its just down to personal preference.

Our flight home was uneventful and seemed to be over in a flash, we arrived on time into Liverpool airport to the sounds of the Ryanair trumpets lol

All in all a great mini break to Italy, has definitely given me the bug to go back and see more of this country, although not the greatest place for getting around in a wheelchair and I suppose some places will be worse/better than others. But top of my list to see now is Rome and Venice.