Great food, beautiful men, and Catholicism. That's Italy in my eyes. As with Spain I decided that I wanted to really explore the nooks and crannies of Italy so I spent a whole month there and loved every minute of it, well most minutes anyway.
I started in Milan and wasn't terribly impressed with the city. Its just a big city with nothing going for it except for fashion and the painting of 'The Last Supper'. The thing that I enjoyed the most about Milan was my discovery of the Italian pre-dinner aperitif. I had sat down on a busy street for a glass of wine and to rest my feet when to my pleasant surprise they brought out a whole bunch of snacks. Nice! Definitely took advantage of that over the course of my stay.
From Milan I traveled up to Venice and was blown away by this city. It is so different than anything I have ever seen. It is a giant maze of tiny little streets, dead ends, bridges, all incredibly peaceful because the quiet is not interrupted by cars. While I was there we got quite a bit of rain which made for an interesting couple of days. I woke up one morning at about 6am to a siren. Turns out that this means the city has flooded. The basement of the hostel was under water so I had to wait a couple of hours for the water to go down. As soon as I was able, I went out to find the city had transformed into a maze of elevated walkways. Everybody was going about their business, but instead of walking on the normal streets they would step up onto these walkways to get from point A to point B. The big Piazza San Marcos was beautiful because it was completely underwater and created some beautiful reflections of the Duomo. In Venice I discovered my new favorite drink, a Spritz. It is basically a white wine martini, good find.
From Venice I went south, stopping in Parma for some good food and lots of cheese. The best way to explore Parma is definitely by bike. I rented a bike and was able to quickly get out of the city and explore the countryside quite a bit. Of course you have to reward yourself with a giant plate of raviolis loaded with parmesan!
Next on to Cinque Terre. For anyone that has never been to Cinque Terre, put it on your list of To Dos. Absolutely stunning. There are these 5 tiny tiny towns perched on the edges of cliffs, amongst miles of terraced vineyards and lemon trees. There is phenomenal hiking through the hills, the problem is that it is so steep that the hikes are like spending 5 hours on the Stairmaster. At one point along one of the hikes I ran into this guy working in his lemon orchard. He offered me some water, lemonade...limoncello? Why yes. So I sat and had a nice chat with this farmer and drank limoncello made from the lemon trees right in front of me. He was very disappointed that Arnold Swarzeneggar is not the giant he appears to be on TV...sorry to disappoint.
From Cinque Terre I went to Florence which was beautiful. Florence was the city for randomly running into old friends. It seemed like everywhere I turned I ran into someone I knew. It really was a spectacle and made me realize just how many people I've met which was really cool. The most random run in of all was Amanda, an old friend from CalPoly. Amanda and I decided to head to Siena together and explore Tuscany. Tuscany is absolutely beautiful and yes, has some phenomenal wine. Our last afternoon in Siena we sat down to an afternoon of wine tasting of local wines.
I then headed further south and stayed at a farmhouse in Perugia which was a cool experience. I woke up to roosters and had omelettes with the freshest eggs I've ever eaten. At the Christmas Market in town was a selection of local salamis, melt in your mouth fresh mozarella, and nice mulled wine from the local vineyards. Ah thats the life. One night the owner of the hostel was going to meet some friends at a Mexican restaurant so a couple other backpackers and I tagged along. Let me tell you, the Italian take on Mexican food is quite hilarious. First of all the bowl of chips sitting on the table was tiny, literally 5 or 6 chips and the salsa was more like marinara than salsa. The tacos were just hard shells with ground beef, no vegetables or cheese. The enchilada was just the afore mentioned taco with salsa on top. The burrito was more like a quesadilla than a burrito. It was really funny but they LOVED it. Mexican dinner was followed by going clubbing at a club in the middle of nowhere, literally we parked in the middle of a field. It was quite an experience.
After Perugia I headed even further south and landed in Naples. The afternoon that I showed up I got lost...in Naples...as the sun was going down. I had found my hostel but no one was there to let me in so I had to go on a search for another hostel which was why I got lost. After two hours of walking with my pack on, up hills both ways, I decided to retrace my steps and ended up at the original hostel and finally got in. The owner of the hostel sat me down for an overview of Naples, trying to convince me that it is the most beautiful city in Italy, and not as dangerous as everyone says it is. He then proceeded to circle areas on the map where I should not go-mafia areas. Turns out one of those areas is where I had been lost not two hours before. Oops. I didn't expect to like Naples but it turned out to be my favorite city in Italy. It is so much more real than the other touristy cities like Rome and Florence. It is in your face, dirty, grimy, business in the street, fast paced, Italian Italy. I feel like the city wasn't putting on a front for the tourists and you got to see right to the soul of the people. It was really cool. And yes, the pizza was melt in your mouth delicious.
From Naples I went to Pompei which was fascinating, then down to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast which was a more glamourized, price inflated version of Cinque Terre. It was stunning but seemed like it was really catering to the rich who wanted to rent a villa for the week. It was also raining and cold so that may have altered my perception of Amalfi :)
Then off to Rome. The history in Rome is unbelievable. I had been there before and everything was just as amazing the second time around. I spent Christmas in Rome, went to Midnight Mass at St Peters and witnessed the attack on the Pope, then spent a nice cozy Christmas feasting and drinking in the hostel. Pretty nice little Christmas I'd say!
I started in Milan and wasn't terribly impressed with the city. Its just a big city with nothing going for it except for fashion and the painting of 'The Last Supper'. The thing that I enjoyed the most about Milan was my discovery of the Italian pre-dinner aperitif. I had sat down on a busy street for a glass of wine and to rest my feet when to my pleasant surprise they brought out a whole bunch of snacks. Nice! Definitely took advantage of that over the course of my stay.
From Milan I traveled up to Venice and was blown away by this city. It is so different than anything I have ever seen. It is a giant maze of tiny little streets, dead ends, bridges, all incredibly peaceful because the quiet is not interrupted by cars. While I was there we got quite a bit of rain which made for an interesting couple of days. I woke up one morning at about 6am to a siren. Turns out that this means the city has flooded. The basement of the hostel was under water so I had to wait a couple of hours for the water to go down. As soon as I was able, I went out to find the city had transformed into a maze of elevated walkways. Everybody was going about their business, but instead of walking on the normal streets they would step up onto these walkways to get from point A to point B. The big Piazza San Marcos was beautiful because it was completely underwater and created some beautiful reflections of the Duomo. In Venice I discovered my new favorite drink, a Spritz. It is basically a white wine martini, good find.
From Venice I went south, stopping in Parma for some good food and lots of cheese. The best way to explore Parma is definitely by bike. I rented a bike and was able to quickly get out of the city and explore the countryside quite a bit. Of course you have to reward yourself with a giant plate of raviolis loaded with parmesan!
Next on to Cinque Terre. For anyone that has never been to Cinque Terre, put it on your list of To Dos. Absolutely stunning. There are these 5 tiny tiny towns perched on the edges of cliffs, amongst miles of terraced vineyards and lemon trees. There is phenomenal hiking through the hills, the problem is that it is so steep that the hikes are like spending 5 hours on the Stairmaster. At one point along one of the hikes I ran into this guy working in his lemon orchard. He offered me some water, lemonade...limoncello? Why yes. So I sat and had a nice chat with this farmer and drank limoncello made from the lemon trees right in front of me. He was very disappointed that Arnold Swarzeneggar is not the giant he appears to be on TV...sorry to disappoint.
From Cinque Terre I went to Florence which was beautiful. Florence was the city for randomly running into old friends. It seemed like everywhere I turned I ran into someone I knew. It really was a spectacle and made me realize just how many people I've met which was really cool. The most random run in of all was Amanda, an old friend from CalPoly. Amanda and I decided to head to Siena together and explore Tuscany. Tuscany is absolutely beautiful and yes, has some phenomenal wine. Our last afternoon in Siena we sat down to an afternoon of wine tasting of local wines.
I then headed further south and stayed at a farmhouse in Perugia which was a cool experience. I woke up to roosters and had omelettes with the freshest eggs I've ever eaten. At the Christmas Market in town was a selection of local salamis, melt in your mouth fresh mozarella, and nice mulled wine from the local vineyards. Ah thats the life. One night the owner of the hostel was going to meet some friends at a Mexican restaurant so a couple other backpackers and I tagged along. Let me tell you, the Italian take on Mexican food is quite hilarious. First of all the bowl of chips sitting on the table was tiny, literally 5 or 6 chips and the salsa was more like marinara than salsa. The tacos were just hard shells with ground beef, no vegetables or cheese. The enchilada was just the afore mentioned taco with salsa on top. The burrito was more like a quesadilla than a burrito. It was really funny but they LOVED it. Mexican dinner was followed by going clubbing at a club in the middle of nowhere, literally we parked in the middle of a field. It was quite an experience.
After Perugia I headed even further south and landed in Naples. The afternoon that I showed up I got lost...in Naples...as the sun was going down. I had found my hostel but no one was there to let me in so I had to go on a search for another hostel which was why I got lost. After two hours of walking with my pack on, up hills both ways, I decided to retrace my steps and ended up at the original hostel and finally got in. The owner of the hostel sat me down for an overview of Naples, trying to convince me that it is the most beautiful city in Italy, and not as dangerous as everyone says it is. He then proceeded to circle areas on the map where I should not go-mafia areas. Turns out one of those areas is where I had been lost not two hours before. Oops. I didn't expect to like Naples but it turned out to be my favorite city in Italy. It is so much more real than the other touristy cities like Rome and Florence. It is in your face, dirty, grimy, business in the street, fast paced, Italian Italy. I feel like the city wasn't putting on a front for the tourists and you got to see right to the soul of the people. It was really cool. And yes, the pizza was melt in your mouth delicious.
From Naples I went to Pompei which was fascinating, then down to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast which was a more glamourized, price inflated version of Cinque Terre. It was stunning but seemed like it was really catering to the rich who wanted to rent a villa for the week. It was also raining and cold so that may have altered my perception of Amalfi :)
Then off to Rome. The history in Rome is unbelievable. I had been there before and everything was just as amazing the second time around. I spent Christmas in Rome, went to Midnight Mass at St Peters and witnessed the attack on the Pope, then spent a nice cozy Christmas feasting and drinking in the hostel. Pretty nice little Christmas I'd say!
Night time in Venice. Beautiful.
Fruit and vegetable stand in Venice.
Mail delivery on a cart. And a cute mailman :) It was really interesting to watch them maneuver these carts through the tiny streets and over the stairs on the hundreds of bridges.
People walking on the elevated walkways, plus reflective picture of the Duomo in Venice.
Lovers lane in Cinque Terre. Lovers write their initials on a padlock and "lock" their relationship when they close it on the railing.
Cinque Terre was stunning.
One of the five "terres" perched on a cliff.
This is part of the path on the hike. It is very narrow with a wall to the right and dropoff to the left (I forgot to flip it vertical, turn your head to the left)
Crew in Cinque Terre. Relaxing after the hike with home made bruschetta and lots of wine!
Merry go round bar. Yes, Amanda and I had a drink there!
Florence at sunset.
Tuscan hills, view from San Gimignano
Wine tasting with Amanda in Siena
Dancing crew in Perugia.
Beautiful Assisi
Pompei ruins with the looming Vesuvius in the background.
Ancient porno. I found this painting on the wall of a brothel in Pompei.
Nativity market in Naples. They take their Nativity scenes seriously there.
Neopolitan pizza at the restaurant where Pizza was born!
Streets of Naples
Nativity in Amalfi. It is very realistic with the colorful brick-like buildings balancing on the edge of the cliff.
View from the top of St. Peters Basilica in Rome.
The crowd at St Peters Square for Midnight Mass, all with umbrellas open of course.
Jen - what an amazing trip. I so love reading about your adventures. Miss you back in the US. Good luck in Africa! xoxo Betz
ReplyDeleteBAH! reading this makes me yearn for more of italy! i'm jealous of all the other adventures you got into. Have fun and good luck in Africa! cant wait for some more awesome recaps.
ReplyDeletexoxo Amanda