Italy

May 24 2018

How to see the Pope and Pompeii all in one day!

Day six was a fantastic day! We got up super early to meet in the lobby by 0700. We had a scheduled entrance at the Vatican City for 0800 to beat the crowds, but believe me…it was still crowded. We met up with Linda again, our guide from yesterday.

Vatican City

Fun fact: There are, at present, two popes residing within the Vatican walls: Pope Francis, the current pope, and Pope Benedict XVI, his predecessor. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see either. 🙁

We made our way out to a terrace (there is a Nasone fountain just like in Rome . . . holy water?! I had to try it! ). We then passed through the museum and stepped briefly into Cortile della Pigna (Courtyard of the Pinecone). In the courtyard, Linda told us about the history behind the artwork in the Sistine Chapel because you are not allowed to talk loudly or take pictures inside the Chapel.

We made our way through the rest of the museum and finally entered into the Sistine Chapel. It is most famous for the frescos that decorate the walls and ceilings including The Last Judgement which was painted by Michelangelo. Because we were part of a tour group, we were able to exit the Sistine Chapel through a shortcut and enter St. Peter’s Basilica by skipping the line. We exited along the same route the pope takes when entering and exiting the chapel! The inside of the Basilica was incredibly beautiful and was partially built from the stone recycled from the Coliseum.

St. Peter’s Basilica

Inside, we admired Michelangelo’s Pieta and the incredible design of the church. After exiting St. Peter’s, we made our way to one of the gift shops and the post office. If you’re interested, you can send a postcard with the Vatican postmark on it. You can also have gifts bought within the walls blessed, sometimes by the pope himself, depending on the day (not this day apparently).

Our tour ended around 1130, and we had free time for the rest of the day. Amanda and I had decided when we were planning the trip that if we had enough free time while in Rome we wanted to go to Pompeii. Against the advice from our tour director, we decided this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. We even managed to convince one of our new friends to come with us (she’s a brave soul. She had only known us for six days).

We made our way out to the exit from Vatican City and hailed a taxi to take us to the Roma Termini train station. I initially thought he was driving slowly to get more money out of us, but then we almost died as he ran a red light to pass a slow-moving truck.

How to get to Pompeii

We made our way into the train station, bought our tickets, and waited for the next train. We ended up purchasing tickets on a Frecce train, by Italo, which has trains designed by Ferrari. They go 300km/hr (about 180 mi/hr). It only took us an hour and 37 minutes to make it to Naples. While researching for the trip, I read over and over that you MUST validate train tickets before getting on; however, we were unable to find any of the green validation stations ANYWHERE. There are large fees that must be paid on the spot in cash if you don’t have validated tickets. We knew they existed since we had already used them to get to Venice and back. Because of this, we panicked the whole ride waiting for the conductor to come around. She didn’t even blink when we showed her our tickets (thanks for the heart attack). It turns out they were e-validated when we bought them.

Once we made it to Naples, we hopped off the train. While we were pulling into the station, there was a train that we thought was too old and rusty to run. Amanda said, “Holy! Look at that train over there. I’m glad we’re not on that one!” As we exited, we purchased return trip tickets to Rome since we didn’t want to miss the last train and made our way downstairs to the Circumvesuviana trains (more like a metro, definitely not Ferrari). I found this really great site that helped navigate our way, but there are really great signs as well. We picked up round trip tickets for around 5 euros and ran downstairs to find the train had been delayed and was getting ready to leave. Imagine our surprise when we realized it was the exact, rusty train from before! **facepalm** This train was more run down and a little more sketchy, but surprisingly not anymore sketchy than the NYC subway. It was not nearly as nice as the other trains we had previously encountered in Europe, however.

We had planned on there being about 35 minutes between Naples and Pompeii Scavi. A lot of the signs were covered in graffiti and were difficult to read, so we had our eyes peeled. Imagine our surprise when we hopped off the train at a squeaky clean new station that wasn’t on the map and discovered it wasn’t our stop. The next train got delayed and wouldn’t arrive for 45 minutes, so we spent the time soaking up the sun, taking in Mt. Vesuvius, and chatting until the next train arrived. After the delay, we hopped back on the train and took it to the next stop, finally arriving outside the Pompeii archeological site.

Pompeii

Pompeii, once a thriving Roman city, was buried under meters of ash after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. The city is still under excavation. Plaster casts have been created from voids found within the ash and pumice during excavation which held human and animal remains. These casts show details of what the people were doing in their last moments. They recently (less than a week after we were there!!) found another set of remains. The man managed to escape Pompeii but was then crushed by a massive stone as he ran away.

Below are a bunch of videos I found on Youtube which are a full walking tour of the ruins of Pompeii. Be prepared, there’s a lot to see!

We walked around Pompeii for about three hours and headed back to the train as the sun was beginning to set. On the way back to Naples, a group of young boys got on the train and were swinging from the luggage racks and metal bars. At the next stop, one of them mooned the passengers who had just gotten off. Before we even made it to the next stop, one of the conductors came out of nowhere: he hunted them down, scolded them, and then kicked them off the train!

We ended up taking a slower train back to Rome, which took about two hours. We arrived around 2240 and waited for the bus. They were conveniently set up right outside the station and this time we even managed to hit the button at the right stop!

We walked back to the hotel, packed our bags for the millionth time, and headed to bed. We had to be in the lobby, checked out, and ready to go at 0545 for our flight to Athens!

May 23 2018

Touring Rome

Day five started like any other Wednesday. We got up early. We toured the Coliseum. Wait…

The Roman Coliseum

To be able to enter the Coliseum before all the crowds, we had to leave our hotel around 0800. The weather threatened rain but remained dry. The dark clouds made for some really cool pictures though! We skipped the line (woo!) with our tour guide, Linda, who was outstanding and headed inside. We ascended the grand staircase and were able to find an empty spot on the railing so we could overlook the massive amphitheater while hearing about its history.

A few facts:

Gladiators were considered slaves but had the potential to win their freedom if they could survive long enough. Gladiators tended to be short and centrally obese to withstand blows from the trident. They were expensive to house and train, so it was beneficial to keep them alive.
There was more happening in the arena than human to human combat. Large animals were brought from all over the world and were used in fights as well. They fought against other animals and humans, as well.
There is a thought that the Coliseum was once flooded and used for naval battles; however, archeologists have recently decided this was a myth.
Only 3,000 people are allowed inside the Coliseum at once
The Coliseum was damaged by weather and natural disasters. During the 18th Century, much of the stone used to build the Coliseum was recycled by the Romans and used to create other building projects throughout Rome, including St. Peter’s Basilica. Read more about our trip to Vatican City here. During the 18th Century, various popes tried to save the arena, calling it a sacred religious site. However, restoration efforts didn’t begin until the 1990s.

Excavation site of the gladiator school

The Forum and Palatine Hill

After soaking up the intense atmosphere of the Coliseum, we made our way through the Arch of Titus over to the Forum and the Palatine Hill. The Forum was the area in Ancient Rome where much of politics and socialization happened. It is now an area filled with ruins of shrines, temples, and triumphant arches. You can also find The House of the Vestal Virgins and the Temples of Caesar, and Vespasian and Titus on the Forum grounds. Overlooking the Forum is the Palatine Hill, the home of the aristocrats and emperors of ancient Rome and the site of the Palace of Domitian, the last member of the Flavian Dynasty.

Here is a cool walking tour video of the Forum:

Following the Coliseum and Forum tour, we had two options; a pasta-making class in Campo di Fiori or free time. Amanda and I decided to skip the pasta making class. If you’re interested in signing up for this class you can do so here. Instead, we took the free time as an opportunity to chill out at the hotel and get a nap in, since we were starting to look like zombies.

This is the balcony where Mussolini used to make his speeches. The building is now the National Museum of Palazzo Venezia.

Public Transportation

We decided to forgo the taxi and make a second go at the Roman public bus system. You can read about our first and third times in these posts. We, again, waited about an hour at the bus stop and were just about to give up (some of the other buses went by like five times!) when the bus FINALLY showed up. Apparently, the 63 bus goes to all of the major tourist attractions and takes forever to make its route. Travel tip** The buses don’t announce their stops or stop unless somebody pushes the stop buttons to alert the driver. Thanks to offline google maps (again, lifesaver) we were able to follow the bus on the map until we got near our hotel. We got off at the wrong stop but were at least within walking distance. Has anybody else had any interesting experiences with the bus system?

We spent the afternoon figuring out plans for our free time the next day (should we try to make it to Pompeii?), napping, and getting ready for another opportunity we had that evening to attend a Roman Opera.

The Roman Opera

The Roman opera aria was held at Tanagra Caffe Concerto and included the show, dinner (salad, risotto, two types of pasta, meat and potatoes, and tiramisu…holy), and wine. It was much less “stuffy” than larger-scale opera. It included a comedy aspect, as the singers interacted with the crowd and some of the more well-known opera songs. We broke up into groups and hopped into taxis to get to the show. Our group was last, and the driver had no idea where to go. We drove around the neighborhood several times while he kept repeating, “I don’t know.” He also wouldn’t let us use his phone to call Jason, finally, after stopping in the middle of the street, we spotted Jason, and we were able to make it to the show, 15 minutes late. The show was great, and one of the members of our group got called up on the stage to be a part of the last act.

We taxied back to the hotel and spent the night drinking wine. We also had to drink the leftover limoncello because we couldn’t take it with us since didn’t have any extra room in our suitcases. Considering how early we had to get up, we drank until way too late! Oh well . . . when in Rome, eh?

Big day tomorrow!

May 22 2018

From Florence to Rome via Orvieto

Day 4: Orvieto/Rome

On day four, we checked out of our hotel in Florence and hopped on a bus for the 3.5 hour trip to Rome with a pit stop in Orvieto for food and to stretch our legs. Check out and departure was at 0900.

This bus ride out of Florence was a little less exciting since we didn’t hit anything (read about hitting a parked car here). We were on the road for about two hours before we were able to begin seeing Orvieto in the distance. Orvieto is a small city that sits on top of a butte formed by a volcano centuries ago. It is most well-known for Duomo di Orvieto, a cathedral that dates back to 1290. The temple was ordered to be built by the pope, to commemorate the Miracle of Bolsena, to house the bloody altar cloth.

Orvieto

To get to the top of the butte, we took a small tram from the bottom and then hopped on a bus which took us to Piazza del Duomo. After snapping pictures of the cathedral, we took a brief tour and stopped for lunch at Cantina Foresi, right off the square. **If you’re going to eat near touristy things this is the place to do it.! We enjoyed local cured meats and cheeses paired with crisp, white local Orvieto Classico wine. The city also has an awesome tour of the underground caves, which we missed because the English tour didn’t start until way after we left. In retrospect, we should have just gone on the German tour! Check out this blog post from Our Escape Clause for more great things to do in Orvieto.

Rome

After departing, we continued the 1.5 hours bus trip to Rome and checked into our hotel, Hotel Albani Roma, which was…colorful. Our bathroom was bright yellow! The rooms were split up into triples again.. We took about 1.5 hours to settle in and then set off on the city bus for another free, informal, speedy, walking tour lead by our Director, Jason.

Our first stop was the Trevi Fountain. It was incredibly crowded, but we managed to elbow our way to the edge of the fountain for a few quick pics. We then made our way to the Pantheon. On the way there Jason told us it was getting ready to close and we should rush inside so when we walked into the square and saw the open door… we all started running. After pictures at the Pantheon, we made our way to Piazza Navona. Unlike, the majority of squares, which are…drumroll…square!, Piazza Navona was built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian and remains oval in the shape of the stadium. Our next stop was Jason’s favorite gelateria, in Rome, Quinto gelateria, where he bought gelato for all of us. We then made our way to Campo di Fiori, and finally to, Trastevere, where we ate dinner. If you’re looking to enjoy Rome’s nightlife, this is where you should be!

**Cool fun fact about Rome. There are 2500 drinking fountains, called Nasone, scattered all over the city for free, cold, drinking water. Alas! The leftover water is collected and recycled for plants and pets.

For dinner we stopped, really we were stopped, at a restaurant named Hosteria Del Moro Da Tony. We had planned on eating there anyway; however, when we stopped to look at the menu, they shuffled us inside with promises of a free bottle of champagne. We were not actually given a full bottle, but they did provide all eight of us a glass of champagne. We were mostly confused because they didn’t offer us wine or Prosecco instead. At dinner, I ordered Cacio e Pepe, a Roman pasta dish which literally translates to cheese and pepper. It was on my bucket list of things to do on the trip. It was delicious but heavy, and I don’t think I’ll order it again.

After eating, we spent the evening exploring Rome after dark. We walked around taking pictures of Circo Massimo (Circus Maximus), a Roman chariot racing stadium and entertainment venue, the Coliseum, and the Trevi Fountain.

To get back to the hotel, we planned to take the last bus back to the hotel at midnight. We arrived at the bus stop around 2350 and waited for about 35 minutes, in the rain, for the bus to pick us up. While waiting, a taxi stopped. We reluctantly decided to take the taxi home. We dragged our feet hoping the bus would show up, tried haggling with the driver for a lower price (it ended up costing five euros each…40 euros!), and eventually hopped in because we weren’t sure the bus was actually going to show up. First attempt at the Roman bus system…huge fail. You can read about our second attempt here. Once we were inside, the driver asked if we had called to schedule the pickup and even gave us a reservation name. When we told him that wasn’t us, he just shrugged and drove off anyway. So… we also stole a taxi from someone else. #killingitinRome

We got back to the hotel around 0100 and headed to bed to prep for an early start at the Coliseum in the morning. Another 20K step day…complete.

May 22 2018

The best of Cinque Terre in a day

On day three, I discovered chocolate-filled croissants. They are AMAZING. That is all for this post!

Cinque Terre

Just kidding! On day three, we had options. Our options were: to enjoy a free day or sign up for a planned excursion to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a string of five, centuries-old seaside fishing villages along the Ligurian Sea and is best known for its colorful houses along steep hillside terraces. We visited three of the five lands: Manarola, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare.

Manarola

We set out from the hotel on a bus on the way to La Spezia, where we hopped on the train to the first stop, Manarola. Here we were able to hike up the cliff to snap beautiful pictures of the beautifully colored hillside houses. After pictures, a few of us even went swimming. The water was freezing and challenging to spend much time in. However, there was a large rock to jump off, which had a rope to help climb up.

Vernazza

Our second stop was Vernazza. There is a remote beach that can be reached through a cave entrance from the main street. Unfortunately, the cave was closed due to flooding. Instead, we spent our time eating gelato from Gelateria Stalin which came highly recommended by our tour director (I had lemon, honey, and mango. The real kind this time…unlike our first night in Florence.) and exploring the Doria Castle and Belforte Tower on top of the hill. After climbing the steps, we paid a small, 50 euro fee, and climbed to the top for some beautiful views.

Monterosso al Mare

Our last stop was Monterosso al Mare. We had decided to wait to eat lunch at this stop since we had the most amount of time here. However, by the time we got here, we were all hangry and exhausted. The train dropped us off near the beach, and we made the short walk through the tunnel to the town to find some food. After wandering around, we finally found Ristorante Belvedere, a place that had enough seats for all of us. We ate linguine with pesto and seafood (separate dishes, of course!), served family-style with wine. After eating, we regained some of the energy and spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. Fortunately, we were able to find a seat underneath one of the buildings for some shade (I was sweating sunscreen at this point). I had brought the wine I bought from La Tancia; which we drank it, very classily, from plastic cups, on the beach. We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming before we had to run back to the train station to catch the train.

There was a chance of rain all day and, fortunately, it waited until we were on the train to begin. However, it began down pouring on our walk back to the bus, which made for a cold, soggy ride back.

Making the best of our last night in Florence

We returned to the hotel, showered, and walked across the street for another late night, European dinner. We ate pizza at Pulcinella Pizzaiolo Di Rosario, which Jason informed us, has one of the best pizzas in Florence, and was quite literally the best pizza I’ve ever had. Lastly, another repack of the backpack before heading to bed with dreams of Rome in my head. Heh!

May 20 2018

From Florence to Venice and back in 24 hours

Venice

Due to the sweet, sweet combination of jet lag, daylight, cold air, boats on the canal, and excitement, we woke up around 0600. The original apartment we booked was under construction so our host had us stay in another apartment overlooking the Grand Canal.

Here’s a virtual tour of the Grand Canal from Venezia Autentica:

Before we left for the trip, Amanda and I discussed how we were going to pack, and instead of luggage, we both brought 60L backpacks in order to avoid dragging roller bags. Thus, we began the day with our first of many repacks. ( I use this bag from WANDRD). Our host allowed us to leave our luggage at the apartment during the day and we wanted to be able to just grab them on our way back to the train. I recommend clearing this with your hotel/Airbnb before in order to avoid extra charges. We ate protein bars for breakfast, slathered on the sunscreen, and set off to roam the streets of Venice before our first tour of the trip.

It is very easy to get lost in Venice because it’s made up of 121 islands weaved with a combination of bridges, winding, narrow streets, and dead ends. While beautiful, the water is filthy and the smell leaves a lot to be desired. We made our way to St. Mark’s Square stopping at the Rialto Bridge and at several other squares in between. Thanks to offline google maps and the Grand Canal, we were able to make it to the square by 0820. We had booked a tour of the Doge’s Palace through Avventure Bellissime for 0900 and needed to check in early.

Jetlag was on our side because when we arrived at the square it was practically empty. There were a few people roaming about near the square, but nothing compared to the shoulder to shoulder people we witnessed after exiting the Palace about two and a half hours later.

Doge’s Palace

The Doge’s Palace was built as the home of the Doge or Duke of Venice but has been a museum since 1923. Although it was built as the home of the Doge, the palace also housed administrative offices and the political institutions of Venice. It is connected to the prison by the Bridge of Sighs. This tour allowed us to walk across the Bridge of Sighs in the same was the prisoners would have on their way to jail. It is said that the bridge got its name from the sighs of prisoners as they caught their last glimpses of Venice on the walk from sentencing at the Palace to their cells.

The view from inside the Bridge of Sighs

After the Doge’s Palace, we set off on a walking tour of Venice. This included the inside of Basilica San Marco (luckily it was not closed due to flooding), several of the famous squares of Venice all the way up to Cannaregio (near our Airbnb), and ended at the Rialto Bridge. Luckily, we had stopped earlier because the area was so crowded.

We raced back to our Airbnb, grabbed our bags, a snack and some water, and made the mile trek back to the train station. It was only 1430 and we had already walked about 16, 000 steps. We were able to catch the 1435 train and made it back to Florence by 1630. Please note: we have yet to eat any Italian food. *facepalm* It is hard to eat when you’re on the move.

Meeting the EF group

After arriving in Florence, and again using offline maps (this is a lifesaver…use this if you ever travel anywhere) we made our way to our first hotel, Hotel Palazzo Ricasoli. Another mile. Check. Amanda and I checked into our hotel, met the first member of our group (the rooms were booked in triples), showered and waited until orientation at 1800. The shower was made of glass doors surrounding a small dip in the floor, which I managed to flood. European fail number unknown.

After orientation we walked as a group to our welcome mixer. What started out as a “10-15 minute walk” turned into much longer and actually brought us right back to the neighborhood near the train station where we had just walked from. The mixer included wine and appetizers and was a chance to meet the other 28 members of the travel group.

Florence

After the mixer, our tour director offered to give us an informal tour so that we could orient ourselves to the area. We walked to the Duomo at the Cathedral di Santa Maria del Fiore and the Ponte Vecchio. We then stopped to get our first taste of “real” Italian gelato . . . well, the joke’s on us because we were drawn in by the towering piles of colorful gelato which are pumped up with gas and are a huge tourist trap. It was still delicious. Tip** Go to the places with small tins that fit down into the freezer. We walked back to our hotel and settled in for the night. 28,000+ steps later…we were beat. However, I think I got about three hours of sleep.

Day 1: Venice/Florence Due to the sweet, sweet combination of jet lag, daylight, cold air, boats on the canal, and excitement, we woke up around 0600. The original apartment we booked was being worked on so we ended up staying in a place overlooking the Grand Canal. (See pictures below) We both brought 60L backpacks instead of luggage, in order to avoid dragging a roller bag, so we began the first of many repacks. We were able to leave our luggage at the apartment during the day and wanted to be able to just grab them on our way back to the train. We ate protein bars for breakfast, slathered on the sunscreen, and set off to roam the streets of Venice before our first tour of the trip. It is very easy to get lost in Venice. It’s made up of 121 islands weaved with a combination of bridges, winding, narrow streets, and dead ends. While beautiful, the water is filthy and smells terrible. We made our way to St. Mark’s Square stopping at the Rialto Bridge and at several other squares in between. Thanks to offline google maps and the Grand Canal, we were able to make it to the square by 0820. We had booked a tour of the Doge’s Palace for 0900 and needed to check in early. This turned out to be amazing because when we arrived at the square it was practically empty. There were a few people roaming about, but nothing compared to the shoulder to shoulder people we witnessed after exiting the Palace about two and half hours later. Our tour included not only the palace, but also a walk across the famous Bridge of Sighs. It’s said that the bridge got its name from the sighs of prisoners as they caught their last glimpses of Venice on the walk from sentencing at the Palace to their cells. After the Doge’s Palace we set off on a walking tour of Venice. This included St. Mark’s Basilica (luckily it was not closed due to flooding) and several of the famous squares of Venice all the way up to Cannaregio (near our Airbnb), and ended at the Rialto Bridge. Luckily, we had stopped earlier because the area was so crowded. We raced back to our Airbnb, grabbed our bags, a snack and some water, and made the mile trek back to the train station. It was only 1430 and we had already walked about 16, 000 steps. We were able to catch the 1435 train and made it back to Florence by 1630. Please note, we have yet to eat any Italian food. *face palm* After arriving in Florence, and again using offline maps (this is a lifesaver…use this if you ever travel anywhere) we made our way to our first hotel, Hotel Palazzo Ricasoli. Another mile. Check. We checked in, met the first member of our group (the rooms were booked in triples), showered and waited until orientation at 1800. The shower was made of glass doors surrounding a small dip in the floor, which I managed to flood. Europe fail number unknown. After orientation we walked as a group to our welcome mixer. What started out as a “10-15 minute walk” turned into much longer and actually brought us right back to the neighborhood near the train station where we had just walked from. The mixer included wine and appetizers and was a chance to meet the other 28 members of the travel group. After the mixer, our tour director offered to give us an informal tour to orient us to the area. We walked to the Duomo at the Cathedral di Santa Maria del Fiore and the Ponte Vecchio. Stopping to get our first taste of “real” Italian gelato. Well, joke’s on us because we were drawn in by the towering piles of colorful gelato which are pumped up with gas and a huge tourist trap. It was still delicious. We walked back to our hotel and settled in for the night. 28,000+ steps later…we were beat. However, I think I got about three hours of sleep.

May 18 2018

Italy and the Greek Islands with EF Ultimate Break

A little background

My friend Amanda, from PA school, and I had not seen each other since graduating in 2014. We had talked on several occasions about taking a trip, but nothing ever really worked out since we both had crazy schedules. Low and behold, four years later, we figured out! We had difficulty deciding between several places but eventually settled on Italy and Greece in May of 2018. After attempting to plan the whole trip ourselves, and realizing we did not have enough time, we end up deciding to travel with a group of strangers. We chose EF Ultimate Break which is designed for people between the ages of 18-29. They also encourage solo travelers! Being 28 years old made us basically the grandparents of the group. Hahah!

Image result for ef ultimate break italy and greek islands — Our EF itinerary

EF scheduled everything. Hotels, flights, transfers, ferries, guided tours of all the big tourist sites, you name it but still left us plenty of free time. We also met some really cool people! We opted to travel a day early to add a trip to Venice; however, we had to book our own transportation and hotel. Airbnb was the cheapest option. And we got to add the train to our many other modes of transportation!

And we’re off!

My trip started at 1630 on May 16 when I made my way to LA. Yes, I’m aware that this doesn’t make any sense, but we had plans to go to Disney Land at the end of the trip. I arrived in LA around 2030 and helped Amanda pack her things. We exchanged a small amount of euros in the morning and headed to the airport for a 1510 flight the Frankfurt, Germany on Lufthansa. The flight was 10 hours long and I slept for about 8.5 of those (with breaks for meals). The flight attendants thought I was German, as they would only address me in German and then would speak to Amanda in English.

Weirdly enough, you go through customs once you enter the European Union and again when you leave, so no stamps from either of the places we actually went. As we only had an hour and 10-minute layover, it wasn’t a huge surprise we missed our connection when we left over an hour late. We were given 10 euro vouchers for food and booked standby on the next flight out. Luckily, we managed to make it on that flight. This put our arrival in Florence about three hours later than expected. I panicked briefly when we managed to end up outside the airport without going through customs (this is when I realized the whole concept about the EU). Surprisingly, not the last time I thought we were going to get arrested on this trip (read about #2 here).

A brief stop in Florence

We were able to find a city bus to bring us into the city and closer to the train station. This saved us from paying for a cab. After some confusion, (the bus dropped us off at a bus station and not the train station as we expected) we managed to book tickets on the next train to Venice. Travel tip** The ATAF Volainbus travels between the Florence airport and the SITA bus station every half hour. It costs about 6 euros for a one-way trip and takes about 20 minutes. When you exit the airport you can see the bus stop to the right. The Santa Maria Novella railway station is just around the corner to the left of the bus station.

Venice

As expected in travel…things don’t always run on time. The train was late arriving and we were, again, delayed. Forty-five minutes later we finally left for the two-hour journey to Venice. I had been updating the host of our Airbnb all day letting him know about delays. He decided at this point that we were inconveniencing him (since we were now 5 hours late) and required that we pay an extra 30 euro late check-in fee. Since hotels were much more expensive we decided we really had no choice, but to pay it. We were able to negotiate a little and didn’t have to pay the city tax that was required to stay there.

A mile-long walk to the house, settling in, showers, and re-configuring our plans put us in bed around 0130. We missed out on a Vaporetto trip to Burano to see all the beautiful colored houses and a gondola ride, but all in all, not a terrible start.

Below are some of the pictures that drew me to Burano. If you have the time, make your way out to the island to experience the beautiful colors. If you’re not wanting to brave the Vaporetto ride and make your way to the other islands by yourself, you can also book tours of Burano and Murano. Dark Rome has a tour that comes highly recommended.

I always like to go off the beaten bath whenever I travel. I found this great blog post from Indiana Jo while planning for our short visit to Venice. She gives great tips for exploring different areas and escaping the crowds; while still planning for the must-do gondola ride! Okay, fine. I still like touristy things, too.

May 21 2018

Touring Tuscany

Florence walking tour

Day two started around 0930. We met in the lobby and walked as a group back to the Duomo for a guided walking tour of Florence. We saw differences in architecture during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, walked across the Ponte Vecchio during daylight hours when all the shops were open, and eventually took an old secret passage to the Uffizi Gallery, and ended up at Piazza della Signoria where we saw a replica of Michelangelo’s David (Fake David). On the tour, we saw street artists called “Madonnari” (Here is a brief history of street art from Kurt Wenner), a building with slides inside, and walked by, Il Porcellino, a boar statue which can, apparently, be seen twice in the Harry Potter films.

Orsanmichele

What I learned about European eating culture

After the tour, we stopped for pizza at a restaurant just off the square. Normally, I would recommend not eating this close to the square due to the increase in prices near tourist sites, but we were really hungry and they had shaded outside tables. This is where we first experienced European eating culture. If you sit down at a table, most places charge a small fee “pane e coperto” which includes bread. Tap water isn’t an option, but you can get still or sparkling water for 2-3 euros per bottle. Secondly, getting in and out quickly is not an option. It takes a few hours for a sit-down meal. If you’re in a hurry to go is your best bet. Lastly, the tipping culture is different in Europe. Minimum wage is much higher and tipping usually consists of a few coins, to round up to the nearest dollar, or at max 5-10%. We all brought cash and just paid our portion. Also, I still haven’t quite figured out how Europeans stay hydrated? Everyone was drinking wine and we were often given only one liter of water for five people. Yes, we carried around refillable bottles, but there weren’t many places to fill them (except in Rome). Being dehydrated did save on bathroom costs…Anyway, the food was delicious.

Free time

After lunch, we had some free time on our hands. We walked around a little more and made an attempt at seeing the real statue of David at the Galleria dell Accademia di Firenze. The line to get into the museum was about two hours long. There was a shorter wait option which included a guided tour of the museum, however, the wait was still almost an hour and doubled the entrance fee from 20 to 40 euro. A similar situation was encountered when we tried to climb the stairs at the Duomo. Check out out this site for off the beaten path towers which offer some of the best views of Florence!

We decided to continue walking around and spent the afternoon trying our bartering skills at the street market and taking in the views from La Terrazza restaurant on the top of the Rinascente Firenze store. We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for a Tuscan winery tour.

Tuscan Winery Tour

We left the hotel around 5 PM and took a bus to a wine Tuscan winery called La Tancia which specializes in amazing Chianti wine. The tour was an opportunity set up by our tour director who had met the family through agritourism. They invited us into their home, gave us a tour of their bottling operation, fed us like we were part of the family and provided plenty of wine.

We ate bread with olive oil (made?.. squeezed?..is there a special word for making oil?… EXTRACTED! at the winery), bruschetta, cured meats, pate, and homemade pasta with pesto. The meal ended with Vin Santo, an Italian dessert wine, which tasted less like the Moscato and Riesling we’re used to in America, and more like kerosene…unless you paired it with biscotti. As we were leaving, we were able to purchase bottles of wine to go which I snagged for our visit to Cinque Terre.

On the way back to the hotel, the bus driver was trying to squeeze the bus down a narrow street in downtown Florence. He was unable to do so and ended up smashing the mirror off a parked car. Without saying a word, he stepped off the bus, put a business card on the window, got back on and drove off.

On return to hotel, we walked to an ATM (Travel tip** this is the best way to get cash when traveling. Airport currency exchanges charge exorbitant fees) to replenish our euro stash. I, also, did some light laundry in the bathroom sink. I always carry this travel clothesline and detergent with me. While my backpack allowed me to carry it in order to avoid dragging it over bumpy streets, it did not allow unlimited space for clothing and I was only able to pack about a week’s worth.

Limoncello on the rooftop

A group of us went up to the terrace on top of the hotel. We stayed up late sipping limoncello and telling ridiculous stories with new friends. I finished the day off with another not-so-great night of sleep.

Warning: potentially NSFW images below.

PS. We saw these magnets at all of the tourist shops. Hilarious.

Next up, Cinque Terre.