"Besides!!" I wrote in a much-exclamation-punctuated message to my best friend, ‘Peter and I would have been celebrating our nine-year anniversary (!), but we’re celebrating 22 years (!!!) of friendship and I think that marks a special occasion too!"

It was meant to be an anniversary trip for me and my husband but, two days before our romantic getaway, our beloved dog got sick, and one of us had to stay home. There was a brief, heady moment for my husband when he thought he might just be the one having long naps and a lot of pizza in the sunshine by himself. Then we realised that, since I was the one writing about it in a newspaper, I would probably have to go. So, I invited my best mate for the most romantic holiday of my life.

The last time Levia and I went on holiday was almost two decades ago. We went to Barcelona, stayed in a mixed dorm room next to the Sagrada Familia and stopped for a sangria on every corner culminating with an extremely fun night in a basement bar on La Rambla with two impossibly good-looking Argentinians.

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Two marriages and three kids later, we're slightly different. Older, maybe wiser, a little bit more interested in elasticated waistbands, SPF 50 and big hats to protect our skin than when we were running about in Adidas and miniskirts. But we’re still giggling like we’ve done ’spoons sambuca shots as we pick up our avo smoothies at Joe & The Juice before our flight.

It was my first Florence trip and, as expected, it was beautiful but what I hadn't expected was, even in the blistering heat, how easy it would be to navigate the city. The journey from the airport is a simple, air-conditioned tram into the centre. Our accommodation, Hotel Villa Fiesole, is perfectly situated. In 20 minutes, on a regular bus - we never waited longer than five minutes - we were down in the buzz of the city centre, drinking Aperol Spritz and wondering at the magnificent beauty of the Duomo. A 10-minute ride in the opposite direction leads you to the calm charm of Fiesole, including a beautiful amphitheatre, The Roman Theatre, built between the late first century BC and early AD, which still regularly hosts performances.

Hotel Villa Fiesole itself is the perfect example of old Italian grandeur of sumptuous velvets and perfect cotton sheets. Though small there is a panoramic terrace with a veritable orchestra of cicadas ringing in your ears and a pool where you can lie on a striped beach towel, drinking ice-cold negronis and, if you're us, make up stories of intrigue about the other glamorous guests.

On our first night, we headed into town, reaching Ponte Vecchio Bridge just in time for the rose-gold sunset, and enjoyed a bottle of Prosecco and some excellent burrata salad in the courtyard at the excellent, affordable and much recommended Gusto Pizza. Though we did slightly regret the shot glass of homemade limoncello.

We walked back to the bus stop through the city, past Chanel, Gucci and Florence flagship, Salvador Ferragamo. On the way home we failed to find a famous Florence "wine window" but consoled ourselves with gelato at Gelateria La Carraia - the white chocolate and miso so good it deserved a Michelin star. But stars of all kinds were for our second night. One of the main reasons I had chosen to visit Hotel Villa Fiesole and even Florence was because they recently had the coup of attracting Chef Antonello Sardi.

Sardi, a self-taught chef specialising in Tuscan cuisine and recipient of prestigious awards, including a two-time Michelin star and a Michelin Green Star for sustainable cuisine took over as executive chef at Villa Fiesole in February 2024. And on our second night, we were to have what I had coined "The Sardi Experience".

A work of art from Antonello SardiA work of art from Antonello Sardi (Image: Kerry Hudson)

We were seated on the candlelit terrace of Serrae Villa Fiesole Restaurant. On our place settings there is a gold wax-sealed letter from Sardi urging us to "Enjoy this experience of the senses guided by authentic imagination and rational creativity". And enjoy it we absolutely did. The seven-course tasting menu is a work of aesthetic art presented with just the right amount of theatre, yes, but crucially, it also tastes incredible. Perhaps it’s not surprising that, since Sardi’s speciality is Tuscan cuisine, it is the humbler dishes that are the most memorable: a potato dish infused with vanilla, featuring a potato powder and crispy fried shards, a snail risotto and a carpaccio of white turnip, friggitelli and spinach that could yet turn me vegetarian.

At the end of the meal, Sardi himself came out to greet us and we shook his hands and acted like we were teens meeting Take That. After he left, my Levia turned to me: "He is so good-looking. I think he's an industry plant and there's actually a secret Italian nonna cooking all that food in the kitchen." It was true, he was part supermodel, part culinary genius, but the truth is that the food is all, undeniably, Sardi, clearly created with love of local produce and respect for the region's gastronomic legacy. You can truly taste it in every single bite.

After our meal, we walked up the hill and enjoyed one final limoncello spritz on a rooftop under the stars. Just like any pair who’ve been in a relationship for decades do, we spoke about our kids, our scrapes and triumphs, our bad exes, our good exes, and all the moments that made us us.

At midnight we walked down the hill, hand in hand. It wasn't the romantic weekend I planned. Though I think that 20 years of love and friendship and raising our kids together was worth celebrating. Why wouldn't we put as much thought and effort and romance into the platonic relationships that have seen us through decades of our lives? Here’s to our 23rd anniversary.

Kerry Hudson is an award-winning, bestselling novelist and memoirist and a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers. You can find her on Instagram and on Threads @ThatKerryHudson