The Joy in the Journey: Sisterhood, Travel, and Florence’s Magic

Emi La
Sep 21, 2025
5 min read

Updated: Jan 18

There are many ways to celebrate a milestone:

Going on a cruise (not my vibe)
Skydiving (we're not there yet)
Fine dining with loved ones (please don't wait for milestones to do that. That should be just what you do)

A very special woman in my life was celebrating her EPIC birthday and she decided a quick tour in Florence was her speed. (Quick, because in America, time off is a luxury item!) We packed accordingly: excitement, anticipation, and an unreasonable number of outfits for a single week, and flew toward Italy with the particular joy that only sisterhood and celebration can generate.

I loved this trip because it revealed a side of myself that I could only meet while traveling in a group. And though it was filled with the kind of moments that still cause me to spontaneously burst out laughing at 1 AM, not every memory was filled with joy.

Let's begin: get settled, eat, walk, and shop!

A sisterhood of seven black women smiling with luggage at their arrival in Florence, Italy. Bright day, casual attire, a mix of suitcase colors, and relaxed mood. — Exhausted but so happy we're finally together after months of planning :)

Tall, Plaza Duomo in Florence, Italy, ornate with intricate geometric patterns, viewed from below against a partly cloudy sky. White, red, and green tones dominate. — Piazza del Duomo

A night to remember

Six black women in elegant dresses pose together, smiling in front of a large wooden door in Italy. Mood is joyful and setting is a stone building. — All the shades of beauty - The birthday girl is in the white dress and we were necklace twinning :)

I'm wearing a blue dress by Express. Shoes by Bebe. Necklace by Aris, @jewelrybyaris.

Two black women smiling. One wears a blue dress and the other wears an emerald green dress. Both women have luscious curly hair and red lipstick. Background shows plants and a brick wall. Evening setting. — A closeup of the necklace by Aris, @jewelrybyaris. Also, "Hi Sue!"

I'm not sure how we ended up at a club after dinner. The birthday girl is one who shamelessly and CONTINUOUSLY promises epic partying with a side of "painting the town red" only to CONSISTENTLY return back home by 10 PM. But, somehow, we always fall for her over-promising. As they say, HOPE IS LOUD. So, that night, after a lovely dinner with a very attentive host, we headed out to a club.

The vide was chill. The music? Mostly American, which always throws me because I travel to go leave America, not remix it. Of course, the first thing we do before getting drinks is take pictures while we're still fresh. (One of us is an avid social media documenter). At one point we asked this lovely, sexy chocolate man (pictured left below) to take a picture OF us but instead, he asked his friend to take a picture of us WITH him in it. Bold. Italian-adjacent confidence. We laughed and obliged.

A sisterhood of smiling black women pose in a dimly lit bar with leafy ceiling decor and blue lighting. — The boldness of Mr. Chocolate! Loved it :)

The next few days we spent visiting various places and snapping pictures.

"Door to Heaven". Orange dress by Zara. Black purse by Aldo.

Sunset over a cityscape in Florence, Italy, with bridges, silhouetted buildings, and a colorful sky in shades of orange and pink, creating a serene mood. — Residents and tourists alike watching the sunset and clapping when the sun disappeared over the horizon.

And then, there was the sunset.

Sunsets have always undone me. There’s something soul-stirring about watching the sky bleed into a breathtaking gradient of purples, oranges, and pinks. It’s not just beautiful. It’s intimate. Like the universe is wrapping me in a fiery embrace, whispering warmth into my soul. And to witness a crowd of strangers pause, silent, just to drink in that same sky... it felt sacred. As if, for one brief moment, we were all connected in awe.

I remember the night I took the picture above. A lot of the tourists there seemed to be from other European countries. I guessed that because I like to play this game of “where are they from?" by listening to different accents. I rarely ask the speakers to confirm my guess. At times, I can’t guess the exact language but the region. Close enough! --- Slightly off-topic, the first time I heard Portuguese and Croatian, my ears DID NOT COMPREHEND WHAT WAS HAPPENING! They sounded like an awkwardly remixed Quebec French. Quebecois, don’t come for me :)

Back to that sweet, fleeting moment. Sunsets are magic.

Where energy clashed, stillness spoke: listening for joy in the journey

Traveling with a group of women, even women you admire, can feel like simmering in a pressure cooker. Not all energies align with mine. When things get too loud, too aggressive, too flamboyant, my instinct is to retreat inward. To shrink. To preserve my softness.

This trip asked something different of me. It offered more than scenic views. It offered an opportunity for growth. Uncomfortable growth.

I noticed how I respond to overbearing personalities and asked myself a harder question: How do I stay open to joy without abandoning myself? I hadn't spent thousands of dollars, crossed an ocean, left my home to be undone by anyone else's thunder.

So I chose stillness.

Some space from the group helped. Some quiet did wonders. I reminded myself that my light is not meant to compete. It simply is. Rooted in softness, radiant in restraint, I reclaimed peace; and with it, my power.

Chef Fiori visibly falling in love with a group of black women

Then, there was Chef Fiori.

We had a dinner reservation at a local restaurant, and the moment we walked in, the restaurant manager seemed instantly alert. Two notes: A- we did not know Chef Fiori. B- with no prior communication, we all packed floral dresses and wore it that night. GREAT MINDS PACK ALIKE! The manager took one look at us, turned on his heel, and went straight to the kitchen to fetch the chef. Moments later, Chef Fiori emerged.

Clearly delighted by the unexpected bouquet of guests! At the end of dinner, we were treated to bottomless limoncellos, desserts, and an invitation to visit his kitchen (where we took the picture below) and his other restaurants :).

A sisterhood of black women in floral dresses smile in front of a bar stocked with bottles. Bright setting, convivial atmosphere. — The restaurant Manager wearing the white shirt. Chef Fiori is the tallest gentleman in the far right.

He took so many selfies with us LOL

I should also mention that the restaurant manager graciously offered to drive us back to our villa, and we kindly accepted. But as we wound our way down the serpentine roads, it quickly became clear he had an ulterior motive: he wanted to stop and proudly show us off to all his friends along the way. And oh, was he proud of himself!

Ah, the Italians! We had a great laugh.

It was one of those serendipitous, joy-filled moments of being seen abroad, not just for our beauty, but for our collective energy, style, and spirit. And yes, the rumors are true: Italians do have a thing for black women.

Woman in floral dress smiling, holding a cocktail in an outdoor setting. Soft lighting, blurred background with a relaxed, joyful mood. — Wearing a dress by Akira, @shopakira. Earrings by Bebe.

Smiling black woman in a floral Akira dress adjusts her hair at a table. Bright indoor setting with blurred background, creating a cheerful mood in Florence, Italy. — I didn't finish fluffing my hair

Last stop: Amalfi Coast

We wrapped up the trip with a boat tour, more food, more laughter, and more vacation photos in Amalfi Coast.

Those are the moments that fuel me. That pour directly into my creativity, into my writing, into my fashion rental business, Fly à la MODE. These stories remind me that growth from my travels don't always arrive through introspection alone. Sometimes it arrives through laughter, stillness, sisterhood, and a glass of bubbly held just right.

The joy in the journey was not about Florence.

It was about learning how to stay myself, together.