Voice Notes

Day 11

Welcome to Time Zone Talk, the only show where we announce the time zone everywhere, but that's all. It’s Friday, we’re tired, and we may or may not have spent an unhinged amount of time watching Lost (season three, don’t spoil it).

The highlight of the evening? A gourmet dining experience featuring… yummy worms! No, no, not worms. Yummy worms... you'll get it when you hear it. 

In other news, we learned the hard way that if a restaurant has a guy outside aggressively luring you in, it’s a tourist trap. Consider yourself warned. We also confirmed that yes, wearing the same sweatshirt for five days in a row is totally fine as long as you change your pants occasionally. 

Our grand adventure of the day? A no-GPS wandering walk where we got lost on purpose… only to be thwarted by an urgent bathroom break. Turns out, public restrooms are mythical creatures in this part of the world. If you find one, treasure it.

That’s somewhat of a wrap on today’s chaotic recap! HUGS! 

Day 10

It's Day 10 over here! Do you miss us yet? Probably not because if you're listening to us jabber on and on through these voice notes, then you may be more sick of us now than ever.

I guess if you think in fractions (like my math-loving mother) then you could think we are 1/9 into the adventure, and you'd be right... but I was never much good at fractions (or math in general), so on we go! 

We took an impromptu boat ride, met some pals (a.k.a. spoke to other people), disturbed the peace (I'm talking about you, Squeaky Shoes), and walked along the glory that is Venice and ate more record winning food. Step count: 14,500, not bad considering we started with 500 steps at 3:00pm. 

Today, we finally realized why our dinners have been so empty: Italians don’t eat before 8 PM (duhhh). Tonight’s meal featured the “best lasagna ever,” followed by our every-other-day gelato tradition. Also, Taylor graciously gives the bidet another shot… 

Tomorrow, we’re aiming for an earlier start at a coffee shop. But for now, it’s Survivor time. 

Goodnight, good morning, and good afternoon! (That should cover all of our bases...)

Day 9

This episode is bound to be disappointing to listen to... it's a chaotic, effort to chat and cook - but coming to you straight from Venice!

We noticed dinner prices being a little bit higher, so naturally we passed a market and thought, "could we too cook a beautiful Italian meal... with absolutely no training or knowledge on how to do so?" Sorry in advance...

A few things we learned today! 

    1.    Fresh pasta is elite—stay calm and cook it for much less time than you've ever cooked pasta before.

    2.    Trains in Italy are fast— like so fast and so fun.

    3.    Bidets remain a mystery—but there may be an update on that tomorrow.

TALK BETTER TOMORROW!

Day 8

Today’s adventure?

We walked to the tower, only for Perri to realize the tickets were in her purse… which she didn't have with her. Cue Taylor running back in khakis to save the day.

It was museum day! Pisa is a dizzying spiral of sideways fun, with a little spice of intrusive thoughts that this thing might fall over because how long can a leaning tower lean?

The rest of the museums were super cool and full of stuff that Taylor knows about so you can hear him talk about it. As for me... they were again, super cool, and a bit eerie, but hey, history’s weird.

We vacated a field for a lunch picnic and enjoyed boba again at our favorite wifi spot to get our work done. Geez, does it feel like I'm just giving you a laundry list of what happened? More in the episode, I guess! 

Day 6 & 7 (oops)

It was bound to happen sometime... but we celebrate that it doesn't happen every time. Enjoy 2 days squished into one voice note! Think of it as twice the fun in half the amount of time (for you)...

After a thrilling misadventure with an Italian toll road (with no turn arounds guiding us to a generous detour toward Rome), we escaped to the Tuscan countryside. Rolling hills, vineyards, ancient stone houses—chef’s kiss.

We then stopped for lunch at what we thought was a random food truck, only to discover it was owned by a world-famous butcher. Naturally, we had life-changing burger + meatloaf while staring at the Tuscan hills. Another chef's kiss. 

_____

 

Next stop: Pisa (not pizza, but close). We arrived, did some work, and then, like true explorers, sought out the city’s greatest wonder: a Subway sandwich shop. After seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa, of course. 

 

After picking up on the pattern that we were the quickest visitors in every restaurant (isn't that like Americans?), but we were determined to do Italy “correctly.” So, we googled it. Fully committed, we decided we would go as slow as we could - appetizers, first course, second course, dessert. Two hours later, we waddled home debating if it was the best and most fun meal we had ever had.

...On to figuring out what the heck to do next. And loving it, of course. 

Day 5

Another day soaking up Florence and noticing things like its unexpected McDonald’s menu, where the chicken nuggets meal comes with mini donuts (because that feels like the right thing to do). 

 

Today we enjoyed butchering our coffee order and then enjoying it in one of the town squares while we mapped out our first Saturday of cross referenced "top 10 things to see in Florence," which included Michelangelo’s “David” and the best view of the city. 

 

Enjoy this episode also known as our “Saturday street session,” where we took you to the streets instead of snuggling with you in bed (wow, what a strange thing to say, and also -- can you imagine a friend-bed big enough to fit all 5 of our listeners?)

Chat more tomorrow!

Day 4

Another day, another round of morning chores before taking over a “local” cinema-turned-study-spot like true digital nomads...ugh fine just call us tourists. Then, we confirmed plans for the Pruitt family’s European grand tour (which is exciting enough to make us pee our pants). Metaphorically of course... 

 

It was a hungry lunch time, so we said, "one of everything!" which turned out to be a sandwich, slice of pizza and calzone which we split but not without the judgement of our two table neighbors. Speaking of delicious, dinner hit with fettuccine Alfredo, loaded with enough dairy to test our limits, but our bodies feel, like, really good?

Post dinner, we set out for a casual nighttime stroll—aka a 15,000-step journey to places we didn't know we wanted to go. We attempted (and failed) to break into a secret garden, realized it was inside a museum, and ultimately got lost in the labyrinth that is Florence.

 

And now, the big question: do we go full tourist and see all of Italy, or do we just pick a spot and cozy in?

Italy tips from us? Gelato is meant for every day... every other day if you're into hardcore discipline. Ciao!

Day 3

It’s Day 3, and spirits are high—especially Perri’s, who has somehow eaten so much actual dairy without pooping her pants and throwing up. America, take notes.

 

The day needed to lay low, sponsored by The Quils (DayQuil & NyQuil) which thankfully fueled a 10.5-hour sleep session for the a lingering cold Taylor is beating.

But by afternoon, we rallied for a walking tour… which turned out to be more of an art history deep dive than a general Florence overview. We learned stuff like Renaissance architecture is all about inner awakening and a super cool guy literally invented background painting right where we were standing. Who knew that paintings once avoided backgrounds because it's not a natural human thing to know how to paint in perspective? I'm not kidding. 

 

Florence feels ancient but totally self-assured, like it knows exactly who it is. And it can strut and flex all it wants because, well, it's Florence for goodness' sake. Also, we’re now convinced the world needs a Spotify for self-guided history tours. Stay tuned for our inevitable app launch on that... 

Chat to you tomorrow!