Two Weeks in Italy - Part One

Okay this is going to be a long one, and it's only part of the story. So go get a snack, a cup of coffee, and cozy in. Seriously, get a snack because I'm going to talk about food. A lot.

Some of you may be asking, why February? Why go anywhere that isn't wonderfully sunny, warm, and tropical in February? As I said before, this was the first time Josh was able to take time off since we've been here. There are places in Italy I have been wanting to see (Josh too) and have been thinking a lot about since I got here. This was the first chance we were going to have to take some time to actually go. I had looked into weather conditions in Italy in February, and was told in the northern parts it should be in the high 40s and in Rome it would be in the low 50s. Not hot, but not really cold either. With the exception of going to a hot climate in the dead of winter (which I find to be a wonderful break), I'm not really a hot weather sort of person. Yes, I like summers in Montana, but I'm not a heat person. I also am not a crowds person. For the most part crowds (especially anywhere in Europe) are hard to avoid, but if I can avoid them, I try to. I want to go to Italy, but the idea of going in the heat of summer when it was hot and the streets were packed with other tourists just did not appeal to me. In fact just thinking of that scenario makes me want to pull my hair out. So yes, February would definitely be an "off" time to go. It may be a bit cold, there may be some winter conditions, some attractions may be closed or have reduced hours... but I'd still rather go now than in the summer. I also made this decision before Italy was hit with the worst winter weather it has had in 30 years....

I did a lot of online research before I planned our trip - and actually a fair amount of what I used was reading other people's blogs. It gave me some ideas of places to go that I probably would not have thought of or considered before. I also got some great ideas from patients and co-workers. A hygienist who fills in at our office when we leave (so she's worked for me a lot in the past month) recommended a place for us to visit. Armed with all of my suggestions and my trusty Rick Steves travel book, I made an itinerary for our trip. The plan was this:
February 1st Day #1 - Fly into Milan
Feb 2nd Day #2 - Train to Cinque Terre (pronounced Chink-ah Tar-ah)
Feb 3rd Day #3 - Cinque Terre
Feb 4th Day #4 - Train to Pisa, then onto Florence
Feb 5th Day #5 - Florence
Feb 6th Day #6 - Siena
Feb 7th Day #7 - Siena
Feb 8th Day #8 - Rome
Feb 9th Day #9 - Rome
Feb 10th Day #10 - Rome
Feb 11th Day #11 - Verona
Feb 12th Day #12 - Venice
Feb 13th Day #13 - Verona and make our way back to Milan
Feb 14th Day #14 - Fly home out of Milan

Surprisingly, we actually stuck to our plan. Here is a very silly map so that you can at least see where we went, because I will be honest I wasn't quite sure where some of these places were before I started looking into it.

The night before we left we were running around doing last minute things to get ready for the trip. We had our cat sitter come over one last time to remind her of where everything was and to make sure she felt comfortable finding our house. We also packed. Josh surprised me with an early birthday present. He bought me a new pack (and a matching one for himself) for this trip... and for all of our future trips. It worked out really well. I was surprised by how much stuff I could fit into it, and it was lightweight even when I had it fully packed. And for the record, the flower came with the backpack. I love Josh, but it is not his style to pick that out or add it.

Day #1 

Our flight left early in the morning at 6:30, and although the airport we were departing out of isn't extremely busy, we wanted to make sure we gave ourselves plenty of time. We planned to leave our house at 3, which would put us at the airport around 4 am. Let me tell you, even though we were excited,  it was hard when that alarm went off at 2 am. I think we each got less than four hours of sleep. When we woke up we were surprised to see snow on the ground. We've had a mild winter without much snow. Whatever snow we have gotten hasn't stuck. When we woke up there was snow on the ground and it was much colder than it has been in a long time. It made me glad we had over-planned for our time in getting to the airport. The drive was fine, but I get paranoid about being on time for important things like flights. As it turns out we truly did over plan because when we got inside of the airport there was nobody there. None of the workers had shown up for work yet. As soon as security opened up we were through and waiting at our gate. 

One funny thing about Ryan Air is that it is a cheaper airline, and if you've ever flown a cheaper airline like Allegiance or Southwest, then you've experienced how they do some things differently. The differences are some of the ways in which they are able to offer cheaper prices. Anyway, Josh and I were huddled up with our fellow passengers in a small area, and then we were released to make our way to the plane like cattle. We walked outside for a couple of hundred yards across snowy/icy ground, and then climbed inside the plane. The plane had been parked outside all night long and it was extremely cold. We couldn't help but laugh thinking if this happened in the states people would be freaking out about having to walk outside and then get inside a plane that was seriously below comfort levels. 

Our flight was uneventful, and an hour later we landed in Bergamo, which is an airport about an hour outside of Milan. We bought bus tickets from the airport to Milan Central Train Station. The bus ride took about an hour. I thought it was a neat way to sit back and observe. There was about three inches of snow on the ground in the Milan area, and the roads weren't very clear. Josh commented that he was glad to not be driving. I had to agree. Once we were in the city of Milan, we hopped on the metro and went down to the cathedral. The Milan cathedral is unique in that it is made of pink marble. It is also a much different style from the cathedrals we have seen in Germany. It was interesting to see. Right next to the cathedral is the Galleria, which is a glass domed arcade. I am sure in the spring, summer, and fall it can be a great place to shop and people watch. However, it was miserably cold and wet outside, and the wind kept howling through the open doors. It made window shopping unappealing, and the cold didn't give us many people to watch... Although it was a neat building.

We went to find our hotel, and then took hot showers and settled in for a nap. We were chilled to the bone and exhausted from our early morning. After our nap we went back out and went to Sforza Castle. It made me smile simply because it is a castle that is now in the middle of a busy intersection of a large city. We wandered around the inner and outer walls over the castles (which houses many museums, none of which we were very interested in) and then strolled along the streets to make our way back to the cathedral. For our first dinner in Italy we went to a local pizzeria and had calzones. They were amazing... and huge. We each ordered a calzone, and the calzone took up half of a large plate. But no worries, we each polished ours off and then topped it off with red wine. It. Was. Amazing. Hands down the best calzone I have ever had in my life. But what did I expect? We were in Italy

Day #2

We woke up in the morning and made our way to the train station. Our next destination was Cinque Terre, which is a series of five towns along the coast. Cinque Terre is a destination I had never heard of until a few months ago. A girl I know wrote a blog post about going there, and she had some amazing pictures posted of it. I did more research on Cinque Terre and found that no one had anything bad to say about it. After being there, I can see why. We took the train from Milan to Genoa, then the train followed the coast through Cinque Terre to La Spezia, which is where we were staying. The train we took was not a direct train, and it added about an hour and a half to our trip, but I'm glad we went the way we did. It was the most beautiful train ride! The Italian coastline in that area is beautiful, even in winter. It was a bright sunny day, so we had crystal clear skies and sunshine reflecting off bright waters as we whizzed along. We arrived in La Spezia and wandered through the town to our hotel. There is a large pedestrian zone where narrow streets are lined with shops and restaurants. It made for some great sightseeing and people watching. After settling in and dropping off our bags, we went off on a hunt for dinner. This is where we first encountered our first trouble with Italian meal times. We usually eat dinner sometime between 5 and 6:30, depending on how hungry we are and when the cooking is done. In Italy most restaurants close around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and open back up for dinner around 7 or 8. In fact if a restaurant is open before 7 you should question how good of a place it is, because it may serve terrible, high priced food to tourists (which was excellent advice I got from my Rick Steves book). Although I read all of this beforehand, I had forgotten... and we were starving at 5. We wandered all around La Spezia trying to find a place to eat with no luck. Finally we found a doner shop. A doner is something you can find all over Europe, and there are a lot of doner shops around Germany. I describe a doner as being similar to a gyro - it is similar meat in a pita-type bread with a white sauce (not tzatziki sauce like a gyro, something else, not sure what it is) with onions, lettuce, and tomatoes. A doner isn't exactly traditional Italian food, but it was delicious. It was also a surprise because this particular shop used focaccia bread instead of pita bread. This area of Italy is known for focaccia bread, and it was an amazing addition to the doner. We were a little early for dinner by Italian standards, but we still found something great to eat.

Day #3

We went off to explore the five towns of Cinque Terre (which is what Cinque Terre means, five towns). You can reach the towns by car (which we didn't have), boat (too cold and not tourist season), train, or by hiking along paths with connect the towns. We bought a special pass to be able to hike between the towns. As it turns out due to the weather only one of the hiking trails was open. We started out in the fifth town, Monterosso, which was the farthest away from La Spezia where we were staying. Monterosso is considered the most touristy of the towns and is the one with sandy beaches. And yes, that is snow on the sand. It was another bitterly cold day, and there was a constant wind blowing off the ocean. However, it was easy to imagine what an amazing place this would be to visit in warmer weather. I didn't have to do much imagining at all with the beautiful sunshine we had. I just tried to ignore the cold.
We started to hike from Monterosso to the next town and then found out the trail was closed when the trail head was chained off. I was bummed out, but it made for some amazing pictures.

Since we weren't able to hike to the next town of Vernazza, we took the train. This past fall both Monterosso and Vernazza were hit with heavy rain and had flooding with mud slides. I couldn't see a whole lot of evidence of any damage in Monterosso except for some debris on the beach. However, the damage in Vernazza was aparent. A lot of the streets are in disarray. Many stores/homes were actually boarded up and looked abandoned. You could see a clear line where the water/mud had been. It was kind of sad to see the town in this state. It was still beautiful, despite the damage, so I can only wonder what it looked like prior to the flooding. There were work crews working to fix/re-build when we were there, so I hope the town can return to "normal" as soon as possible. The damage in Vernazza actually made our stop there quite short. We enjoyed the beautiful harbor it has, but then took the next train on as the hiking trail was closed.

The third town of Cinque Terre is Corniglia. There wasn't much written about Corniglia when I was researching... and I can see why. Of the towns it is the only one not directly on the water. From the train station you have to hike up a long street to the town. The town itself is charming, but it lacks some of the views and splendor of the other towns.

The fourth town, Manarola, offered us some beautiful sites again. The streets are narrow and very steep. It is easy to walk all through the town, but walking through the town is a bit of a hike in itself. However, you get some stunning views. It was late afternoon, and we were starving. We found a cafe that was open, probably the only thing in town that was open. We had the most amazing minestrone soup with focaccia bread on the side. My focaccia bread had sun dried tomatoes on it, while Josh's had onions. They were delicious, and it was a wonderful way to be warmed from the inside out. After lunch, we hiked from Manarola to the first (our last) town of Riomaggiore. I say hike, but it's really more of a pleasant stroll. The path between those towns is called Via Dell 'Amore, or the pathway of love. The path is pretty wide, and it is paved. Maps and tour books say the hike takes 20 minutes, but I think we did it in under 10, and we were taking our time. The hike, though cold with the wind, offered some breathtaking views of the ocean. 

The last town of Riomaggiore looks very similar, I think, to Manarola... but I don't care. It is still beautiful. There are colorful murals painted along different walls and buildings in the town.

 

Josh and I agreed Cinque Terre is beautiful, and it is a place we want to go back to. I especially look forward to going back at a time when it is warmer so I can enjoy the ocean and beaches, rather than just look at them. 

That evening Josh and I went to a brick oven pizza place. We had the most amazing pizza I have ever eaten in my life, and I have eaten my fair share of pizza. The crust is thin, and unlike most American pizzas the crust is not greasy. It is crispy and still has some flour on the underside of it. I ordered a pizza with mozzarella and pesto. Pesto is another local thing that this area is known for. It was, hands down, delicious pesto. I topped off my fantastic pizza with some red wine, and the evening was complete. 

Day #4 

In the morning we woke up and took the train to Pisa. Pisa is, as you could guess, where the Leaning Tower of Pisa is located. It is something I wanted to see - mainly to "check off the bucket list" - but I wanted to see it nonetheless. Anybody I talked to said yes, go see it, but don't spend a lot of time there. We planned to just to a "fly-by" of Pisa. It was a quick hour long train ride to Pisa, and it took us another half hour to walk from the train station to where the Leaning Tower is. It was a great way to see the town so I can say I actually went to Pisa, I didn't just hop off to see the Leaning Tower. The Leaning Tower is in an area called the Field of Miracles. There is a beautiful cathedral, baptistry, museum, and the Leaning Tower. We weren't sure if we were walking the right way... until we saw the Tower peaking out over the top of a building. It made for an easy landmark to follow. We walked into the Field of Miracles and circled around each building a few times. It is impressive to see three buildings of that stature clumped so closely together. 

I don't mean to sound calloused, or ungrateful... but I thought the Leaning Tower would be bigger. I feel like I have had that reaction a lot when seeing things in Europe. However, I'm glad I saw it. You can go up inside of the tower, but it costs 15 euro... and I guess I just didn't have the desire to climb up it that badly. I took plenty of pictures as it was. 

After wandering around the Field of Miracles we made our way back to the train station and hopped on a train for Florence. It was another quick hour long train ride into Florence. We walked from the train station in the direction of our hotel. All of the hotels I booked for us I tried to book close to the train station - as trains were our main form of transportation. Before we left I used Google map to get step by step walking directions from the train stations to our hotels. I'm glad I did this, but at times we got turned around and lost trying to find our hotel. However, in Florence we lucked out and found our hotel quickly, and had time to spare before we checked in. We walked down the block and had lunch at a local cafe. We had focaccia pizza, which as you could guess is pizza on focaccia bread. I ordered a veggie pizza, which had cheese, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, rosemary, and basil on it. It was heaven. They heated the piece up, and then drizzled olive oil over the top of it. Josh ordered a piece which had potatoes and cheese on it, and he ordered a slice of "pie" (for lack of a better word) which had loads of ham and cheese inside of it. I was stuffed, but I would have happily chowed down on more. I have come to the realization that anything on top of focaccia bread is magic. The cafe had a large barrel of red wine, and a plastic cup of red wine was only a euro. At first I chuckled at this, but it was actually some dang good red wine... despite being undescriptive red wine that was served in a clear solo cup.  On top of all this,our whole lunch was unbelievably cheap. 

After checking into our hotel and dropping off our bags, we went to the Uffizi Gallery, which is a museum full of works by Leonardo DaVinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Botticellis. I would by no means say I am an art person. However, I do enjoy seeing it, and I can appreciate the significance of viewing specific pieces or artists. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around Florence. There is a beautiful cathedral, and the buildings along the river are photo worthy. It is easy to imagine, though crazy to think that hundreds of years ago a lot of these same buildings and streets were in place... and to think of the famous people who had strolled up and down these streets.

We ended our first night in Florence with some amazing Italian food. I had tortellini rose, which is a fancy way of saying pink sauce (as my good friend Erin calls it). Pink sauce is a mixture of marinara (or some other tomato based sauce) and alfredo sauce. If you haven't had it before, try it. It is literally the best of both worlds. It goes without saying the tortellini was the freshest pasta I had ever had. I also had chicken which was cooked in a lemon rosemary sauce, and just thinking about that chicken makes my mouth water. Josh had ravioli with butter and fresh basil. He let me try some of his, and it was also amazing, fresh pasta. He also ordered caprese salad, which is mozzarella cheese and fresh tomatoes with olive oil drizzled over top and he was kind enough to share. This is one of my favorite things to make/order in the states, but having it fresh made in Italy is easily a thousand times better. Easily. In fact I'm not sure anything I make will ever compare. And our meal was, of course, topped off with copious amounts of red wine. Delicious wine.

Cheers! Part two to come...