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Day 16- Goodbye Italy!
Our flight was at 9:45am, requiring an early wake up call due to the methods of traveling required to the airport. We woke up and began getting ready around 4-5am and left our Airbnb by 5:40am. We got to our water taxi and joined the other travelers. Getting off near the bus stop, we hurriedly purchased a bus ticket just in time to get on as the last people on the airport bound bus.
Upon arrival, we waited for the Air France line to open to drop off Austin’s bag as checked luggage (HECK YEAH), hoping our goodies make it through the journey. 🤞 We did some more last minute souvenir shopping and we’re currently over the alps on our way to Paris… to be continued.
…Left Paris! Now we’re somewhere over, maybe Ireland? 9.5 hours to go. Austin has had two white wines :)
And landed!!!! A successful honeymoon. And maybe COVID.
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Day 15
Joe is quite the trooper!! Today Joe woke Austin up by saying “I think we’re doing this!” And Austin was thrilled! The Alps day put off two times was on!!
We got an early start and took a water taxi to a bus to the rental car business near the airport. Not understanding how to buy a bus ticket, and rushing, we may or may not have paid for the ride, but we made it. We got our Toyota Yaris and we were off.
Joe was still feeling a bit iffy and after not grabbing breakfast nor coffee, Austin was ready for a stop too. The McDonald’s detour added much time and led us to a train station without any signs of a McDonald’s. Ultimate disappointment. We found our way to a market and Joe got some plain bread crackers and peanut butter while Austin grabbed a Red Bull and Nutella cookies.
Unfortunately, the orange Joe had eaten earlier proved to be too much acid for his poor stomach to take, so we grew concerned with the pain in his stomach. Austin took over driving (illegally), and we looked out for a neon green cross sign indicating pharmacy. Fortunately we found one quickly, and a quick Google translation of “heartburn” led the pharmacist to giving Joe a gel to eat, which fixed his heartburn quickly.
We continued on our journey, taking in the beautiful sights of the Dolomites before arriving at Cortina d’Ampezzo. A beautiful mountain town that led Austin and Joe to thinking their next trip should focus on nature rather than city. After briefly wandering the streets, taking in the sights, doing some shopping and grabbing a coffee, we were off to Lake Garda.
The drive was beautiful and the Germanic/Austrian influence on the area was very apparent. We learned that after World War One, this area was given to Italy and overnight the inhabitants became Italian. The road signs and names were heavily German still though.
We arrived at Lake Garda and it was stunning. The drive down the hill gave a panoramic view of the north side of the lake. We stopped just outside of Riva del Garda and sat on a bench taking in the windy day, perfect for wind sailers.
We were tired by this point though and Austin, having eaten only cookies all day, was hangry. Misunderstanding Joe’s souvenir shop hopes, Austin began to get concerned they were not going to find what was wanted. We began to head home, stopping first at a kebab joint where we got a veggie pizza (even though Joe had stated he was done with pizza) and two kebab wraps. The painful wait was worth it though. When we were eating and walking home, we stumbled upon the perfect souvenir shop. Grabbing tons of limoncello and pasta, we felt much better.
Austin eased joes concerns about fitting the souvenirs in their luggage and we went to sleep, a successful last day in Italy!
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Day 14
Big day today! Car rental to the Italian Alps!
*Joe’s Stomach Gurgles *
That can’t be good…
After showering and attempting to power through, Joe knew something wasn’t right. He told Austin it may be dicey to risk going on the ferry that morning.
During the tour, the guide explained how Venice was not a private city. Conversations (and sounds) carried along the narrow alleys of the Venetian architecture.
If this was true, then the whole block became aware of Joe’s sickness as he heaved and purged repeatedly near the bathroom’s open window. He had experienced this before with a rainbow cake from New York. A victim of food poisoning, the days planned adventures had not come to a screeching halt.
Austin, the saint she is, laid in bed for the entire day with Joe, only leaving to get the occasional bite of food.
A day of recovery, and the hope that we may visit the alps of Italia on our final day…
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Day 13
This morning, Austin found a nearby cafe to partake in our morning espresso and cornetto. Everything looked so good, we couldn’t help ourselves. Austin got two pastries and Joe got a pastry as well as a (breakfast?) cannoli. The eyes of the patrons around seemed to continually gravitate in our direction at our sizable breakfast. The miniature chairs and tables likely further amplified our supple American girths. After breakfast (and after an additional coffee and orange juice), we left to begin our walking tour.
On the way to the walking tour, Austin’s confusion with the directions led Joe to realize that she was not actually initiating the “navigation” feature on her GPS, but instead just following the “Directions” image/line on the map. Naturally, Joe questioned this logic and it led to a spirited… dialogue… before the tour. (It should be noted this done to save battery as Joe declined to get Austin a new phone before the trip).
The tour itself, above average. Most interesting things are the cisterns located throughout Venice were used to prop up the city, filter fresh water, and divert freshwater to cats to keep them hydrated to catch rats (all historically of course). At the conclusion of the tour, a bird pooped and it ricocheted onto Austin’s new boot. While trying (with force) to wipe it off on the ground, she tore her new boot.
After the tour, we walked around the city and visited St. Marks square before grabbing a “lighter” bite for lunch.
A nap revived us and we were back out walking the streets again. Visiting the park before going to dinner at a restaurant Austin discovered. Here we enjoyed traditional Venetian dishes. Chiggiamorte (tapas) and risotto pesce. We finished dinner with an ice cream limoncello and complimentary limoncello shots (for digestion ;) ).
The dinner was fabulous… or so we thought…
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Day 12
Goodbye Cinque Terre! Today we started our long journey across the country to Venice. This included 3 trains and a water taxi. My oh my! We went from Riomaggiore to Pisa, Pisa to Florence, Florence to Venice and Piazza Roma to the Giardini water taxi stop. Along the way, we overheard a passenger telling the train she was an actress as was her husband (who was stuck downstairs and thus her four reserved seats were unnecessary). She stated she was in The Good Witch and her husband played her ex husband on the show. Austin looked her up and after the process of elimination, determined she was a Canadian actress of Nova Scotia.
We finally arrived at our water taxi stop in Venice but unfortunately, our Airbnb host was caught up with her other guests, so we hung out by Giardini Della Bienalle park.
We walked to our Airbnb and our host did not make us pay the tourist tax, woooo!!! And what a cool Airbnb it was! The building was right on the canal and even had a door connected to the canal, where water passed under. Boat parking, I guess. The building had a large lobby with a chandelier, and stairs that seemed to be made of marble. The room itself was nice with original looking features, a kitchen and washing machine/dryer (tricky to work).
We laid down in our new accommodations for a bit and then headed back out for a nice dinner accompanied by accordion music, though we had no tip for the musician.
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Day 11 (continued)
Carbed up and ready to go! The second and final hike continues to Corniglia. While also tough and hot, the worst was behind us. And upon arrival, we celebrated with a victorious gelateria!
Three towns down and now a train ride back to Riomaggiore! Although the plan was to take a dip in the water, the hike and heat beat us up and next thing we know we passed out in the hotel. Waking up before sunset, we showered up, hopped on the train and visited the last town, Manarola. Here we enjoyed another beautiful sunset and a traditional Italian meal. Mixed bruschetta (pesto, anchovies and traditional) and a ragu lasagna and seafood pasta.
We concluded the night by grabbing some gelateria back in Riomaggiore. While walking into the shop a lady yelled to Austin “Amazon?!” While pointing at her dress. The lady did in fact order the same dress Austin was wearing from Amazon. From there we spoke with the older couple, learning they were from Louisville. The husband actually had the same ring as Joe (also Amazon). With the gelato in Joe’s tummy we said goodnight and off to bed it was!
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Day 11
Rise and shine! Today we got up bright and early to hike across Cinque Terre. A morning espresso, 1.5 plums and half an orange later we were on our way!
We began by taking the train to Monterosso Al Mare, the town furthest north. Initially we viewed some of the landmarks (Neptune below), but not for long because we needed to get moving!
The trail led us to the town of Vernazza. An elevated trek combined with humidity made this first hike absolutely brutal (for Joe at least). One set of stairs left Joe hunched on his knees, nearly spewing dinner from the night before. After two hours of Dante’s inferno, the beauty of Vernazza was upon us 🤩
The town of Vernazza was stunning and the water was the most enticing. However, exhausted, and running on plums, Austin beelined for the first Focacciarria she found. It’s hard to say if this was the best meal of the trip because of the expertly crafted focaccia, or because the workout left us with no choice but to ravish anything in our sights. We found a fountain to refill our water bottles, and whole Joe refilled, a Husky approached to take a sip as well and locked Joe’s bottle. This did not stop him from using out though 😅
Carbed up and ready to go! The second and final hike continues to Corniglia. While also tough and hot, the worst was behind us. And upon arrival, we celebrated with a victorious gelateria!
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Day 10:
Today we got a much needed sleep in day. We were sad to leave Antoinetta’s place so we stayed truly soaked in every minute until the noon check out.
We met up again with Jovanny and Kayla, giving them some liquid IV, our bottle of champagne from our first hotel, and Joe’s emergency boxers purchased in Rome.
We made our way to the train station and headed to Pisa to see if we could straighten out that leaning tower. We took some silly pictures, ate some gelato, and got back on the train to Riomaggiore.
We are currently stuck on the tracks before La Spezia…. To be continued..
Continued! It was a brief stop. Anyway, we got off the train station in Riomaggiore and what a view it is! After taking in the beauty, we traveled under the station, through a tunnel, and up a humongous hill that is Riomaggiore, stopping along the way for some fried seafood, but we were unable to enter the hotel as it was locked. We called the number and a woman told us she would be there in ten minutes. We finally got checked in and climbed the spiral stairs to our home on the second floor that felt like the fifth!
We rushed down the hill to see the beautiful sunset and watch some daring cliff jumpers. We walked back to our hotel and Austin completed her homework assignments while Joe watched Sunday football. We went back out one last time for Joe’s pasta dinner and spent our first of two nights in beautiful Cinque Terre
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Day 9
Today we toured Florence with a free walking tour. We learned about the Medici Family’s prominence in Florence and viewed the sites of the city. During our tour, we stumbled upon Joe’s coworker Jovany and his wife Kayla (also in Italy for their honeymoon!)
After the tour we picked up sone previously dropped off laundry and attempted to lunch at a cheese wheel pasta restaurant. Unfortunately, turned down, we settled for more pizza at XXX.
Following lunch, we enjoyed a quick nap before going to a cooking class! When arriving at our class, our instructor was confused and thought it had been pushed back. We told her she could have more time to prepare and we grabbed Amy an Italian book during this time.
When we returned to the class, the instructor allowed us into the classroom to wait. We noticed she had a significant limp. When asked about the injury, she explained that she had just gotten into a car accident, but still wanted to teach! Throughout the class she was very sweet despite hobbling around everywhere.
In this class we interacted mainly with am English couple (Joe and Jane) in the area for Joe’s birthday. There was also a couple from Los Angeles that had eloped to Italy.
Prior to class, Joe washed his hands in the kitchen (instead of the bathroom), which apparently caught the attention of the instructor. Repeated jokes were made from the instructor (and Austin) about Joe washing his hands in the kitchen. Also while rolling out dough, Joe somehow made his roller messy with dried dough. At one point, Joe attempted to scrape off the dough with his finger nail, causing a piece to fly into a prepared container of lasagna. After meeting eyes with a shocked Canadian, Joe took a spoon and removed the discarded fingernail dough and poured the contents of the spoon onto the table. Shortly later, while preparing linguine, Austin informed the instructor that she had somehow gotten Ragu over her noodles. It was later realized that Joe had left the spoonful of fingernail ragu in Austin’s workspace (resulting in the prematurely coated linguine noodles). Another attention catching moment was when Austin attempted to cut the length of her noodles with her fingernail, causing Jane to double take and suggest another way (see video)…
Ultimately the pasta and lasagna was delicious and it was a great experience!
After class, we grabbed a couple birds and began our talk to Michelangelo Piazza to meet with Jovany and Kayla. After a windy, uphill and crowded journey, Jovany informed Joe that he has changed plans and they were no longer at the original meeting point. After regrouping, we met with Jovany and Kayla in the town square. We found a bar to enjoy some apperol spritzers and espresso martinis. We then found another specialty cocktail bar where we had some limoncello and fancy cocktails. The night was capped at Jovany’s hotel for a final drink.
Before heading back to the hotel, Joe’s never ending appetite was satisfied by some halal scwarma before a final episode of friends and sleep time!
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Day 8
Today we pulled another audible. We traded the scary and crowded city driving rental car in Florence for a much easier bus tour of Tuscany. Austin and Joe were both relieved to not have to hold back at the winery in order to be under Italy’s BAC, which is extremely low.
We started the day bright and early around 8:30am. We met our tour guide, Alessia, and got on our bus. We were headed on a tour of medieval villages and Siena, with a stop at a winery.
As we drove down to Siena, we stopped in Monteriggioni and walked around the medieval village. Beautiful!
We made it to Siena and had a tour with Elena. Elena was a no BS lady! Fellow tour members complained of not being able to hear her or not getting out on time and Elena basically said “that’s not my problem” and continued on. She led us around Siena, explaining how they do horse races in the main square two times a year, and showing us other places of interest. When we asked her at the end of the tour where to eat, she directly defied our other tour guides recommendations. Telling us to by no means eat in the main square and instead eat in another square where locals go.
Here we ate a Trattoria. Joe got the special of the day which was boar pasta and Austin got a garlic pasta. We drank some wine and had a wonderful meal.
We next were driven to a winery where we had a fun wine tasting with Andrea and sat next to a young woman from Connecticut who was connecting with everyone during her few months abroad in Florence. We were thinking of purchasing some wine to bring home, and talked to a man at the winery who stated he was from Santa Monica and the story of how he got here is slightly illegal. We were curious but did not pry.
After the winery, we stopped in one more medieval village, San Gimignano. We shopped a bit and then slept on our way back through Tuscany to Florence. Our tour guide had recommended a bistecca florentina from a place called Perseus. After a long scooter drive we arrived.
We were sat next to two people from New Jersey and we made a conscious effort not to talk to them until the end of the meal to avoid a group dinner situation, but they did make us feel good about our choice of eating at this establishment as they seemed to be foodies. At dinner, we were given a huge red wine bottle and told to drink what we wanted to and we’d be charged at the end based in what we drank… dangerous!
We had a wonderful meal, a very large T-bone steak type thing and some fried veggies.
Once we finished, we scootered home. Austin and Joe were not the happiest with one another as Austin cut across traffic leading Joe to cut in front of a car in front of a police officer. And later, Austin was navigating while also scootering (without a helmet mind you), and hit a bump causing her phone to fall and credit cards to spill on the sidewalk. The frustration was understandable.
We got inside the apartment and Austin was nauseous. After some laying down did not fix it, Austin announced she was going to throw up, and promptly started in the living room and ended in the bathroom, throwing up everywhere about 4 times. Joe sweetly cleaned it up and Austin felt SO MUCH BETTER. Apparently her talk about being able to handle raw meat was just that, talk. She cannot.
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Day 7
Last/partial day in the Eternal City :(
Grabbed an espresso and jumped on a Bird (electric scooter) to tour the Pantheon. Afterwards, enjoyed some yummy gelato and a sandwich from All’Antico Vinaio (a sandwich joint popularized on TikTok.
Farewell Rome! Another shoulder exhausting walk with our packs back to the train station. While boarding the train, an older (presumably American) couple slowly walked up the aisle. An Italian lady right behind the couple, then complained to Austin about how slow they were (In Italian). We ended up sitting next to the couple and listened to the wife complain about how she does everything and the husband barely helps. Although we could (arguably) relate, we were torn because the husband had so much trouble speaking (possibly from a previous stroke?) After the train ride were helped get their luggage down because clearly they were on the struggle bus.
A short walk later we found our way to our Airbnb in Florence. We were greeted by Antoinette, who was extremely friendly, welcoming and was really just trying to get out of our way so we could enjoy her home. A couple episodes of Friends and we were off again!
In downtown Fiorenzia, we went to the Galleria Del Academia to see the statue of David by Michelangelo. The presentation was incredible with David being found at the end of a massive hallway that contained partially completed works by Michelangelo.
For Dinner, we went to the Central Mercado (similar to a 4th Street Market or the Anaheim Packing District). Here Joe got a pizza and Austin got some kind of tomato meat goop (No bread or noodles).
We finished our night at home with a couple more episodes of Friends and some iced limoncello. Prego!
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Day 6
Viva la Popa! Today was an early morning to be in the papal audience with Mr. Francisco. We woke up early and scootered our way to a street outside the Vatican. We decided to grab an espresso, Americano, and pastries at a random cafe in the area while we scouted out where our tour was to begin. To our surprise, we ended up at the exact spot we needed to be to meet with our guide, Sandra!
Sandra was immediately awesome. A woman from Argentina, she took no bull from anyone. A tour group tried to cut in line and Sandra yelled at them for all of us to listen to over our headsets. Sandra explained how she has no patience for cutters and told us of a time two weeks ago when she yelled at a group of nuns trying to cut. She exclaimed “I’m going straight to hell!” But said to leave her a good review.
We waited in the long security line (Sandra told us to throw our bombs behind us) with many brides in their wedding dresses. Austin took a quick stop at a stand to get some rosaries for the Pope to bless.
Upon going through security, we got separated from our group which led to some anxiety as we were hearing Sandra over our headset and could tell our group was already sitting down and we hadn’t even gotten through security. As we walked in, we had no idea where our group was. Fortunately, Sandra was standing and we saw that they made their way to the front section. We reunited and found our seats. Sandra gave us some tips about the best spots to see the Pope in his journey around St. Peter’s square and she did not disappoint.
We listened to the Pope’s message and waited until we were pretty certain our things were blessed and we walked around the square a bit.
We had a few hours to kill before our tour of the Vatican museum so we stopped at a hip coffee shop to get our espresso and Americano. Joe grabbed a sandwich and we head to our tour.
We met our next tour guide, Maria, in the Vatican museum and she was wonderful. An art historian, she was theatrical and knowledgeable, making the art understandable to us. She gave us pointers for the Sistine chapel and other interesting tidbits.
Finally, we entered the Sistine chapel and took in all the beauty. We were surprised to not be rushed through and allowed to stay until we chose to leave. It was a great experience and we were impressed with what we saw. Good job, Michelangelo!
After the tour, we made our way to the hotel where we slept for a bit before going out around 8pm to check out the iconic sights of Rome. The Trevi Fountain and Spanish steps. Both pretty but both very crowded. We amused ourselves watching a police officer whistle and point at whoever she chose for breaking rules.
We exhaustedly made it back to our hotel room and slept our last night in Rome!
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Day 5
Today it was extremely important to wake up early and explore before our afternoon tour. Unfortunately, Joe realized he ran out of underwear so an audible needed to be called. At 7am we (Austin and a commando Joe) began searching for breakfast and the first clothing store we could find. Luckily Austin spotted a convenience store with a couple different sizes of men’s underwear that worked out. We proceeded to get breakfast at XXX.
From there, we went back to the hotel and gathered some dirty laundry. A new stop was added to the agenda, finding a local laundry mat to drop off our clothes. From there, it was Bird time. We rented the nearest Bird electric scooters and shot across the city to the biggest Centrale Mercado. Here we were bamboozled into buying various limoncellos, vinaigrettes and spreads after being given sample after sample. As time was running low, we crossed the Tiber River into the beautiful Trastevere. Here we enjoyed the restaurant Nanarella (with the exception of crispy artichoke). After rushing through this meal, we ordered a taxi back to the hotel. The driver was on the phone, speaking Italian and Austin opened up her translator on her phone. We observed the driver talking about people she thought were cute and maybe something about killing someone?! After getting to the hotel, we got another Bird and headed to the colosseum. Here we asked the guide to find us “Arena” tickets, but no luck. We used our regular tickets and dealt with the heat of the forum, palatine hill and finally, le colloseo. The night was punctuated with a six course meal at the Royal Art Cafe. Which was way too much food and full of confusion. Joe tried to order the two person appetizer (considered gaming the system) and Austin refused to stay on menu available to us and insisted on a salad. Although the food was average the view was fantastic.
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Day 4
First full day in Rome! Today was a double walking tour day 💪 💪
To start, we met with Luciano. He led us around Rome, helping us get our bearings. We saw beautiful buildings, the Parthenon, many Egyptian obelisks and he explained how we can drink from all the water fountains in Roma!
We had to leave the tour a few minutes early to make our next tour of the catacombs and crypts!! What a fun and spooky tour. We were not able to take many pictures but safe to say we will remember those sights for a long time. Joe was very spooked in the catacombs and thought my leg was a baby ghost when I brushed up against him! The crypts were very spooky as well. Bones and skulls decorated all the walls. There were mummy-ish Capuccian friars and some still had hair and skin hanging off of them. Bleh!!
We also saw a three story church and each story was from a different time, with the bottom story being verrrrrrrry old.
After these tours, we made it back to our hotel and ate at the restaurant across the street. A delicious meal of carbonara and tradition cheese and pepper spaghetti 😊
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Day 3
Travel Day! Woke up to our final chocolate croissant and plain pastry. The last ride to the train station consisted of more stories from Marco, only to find that his wife works in Human Resources?! And/or owns a restaurant?? While buying our tickets, an older lady held up the line, afraid she’d be charged $930 euros. We helped clarify though that it was nine AND thirty cents! Anyways while on the train a couple came on with their baby. They were from Connecticut/New York and they were extremely friendly to talk to. The lady told Austin to get the “Flow” app to prep her for baby making time! Eventually we got off the train to see Pompeii. Unfortunately the entrance storage lockers were full and couldn’t hold our bags. We walked an eternity to the other entrance. Pompeii was much larger than anticipated. A full on city preserved by the ash of Mount Vesuvia. While it was full of rich history, the hot Sun and poorly made Pompeii apps did not contribute to our desire to be there. After maybe an hour, we quickly searched for any preserved bodies we could find, then took off! Back on the train to Rome, we made stop number 2 in Napoli. Here, Austin took us to the origin of the margarita pizza/pizzeria made famous by the movie eat pray love. What she didn’t tell me was how dicey the city was and being constantly in fear of being mugged. At the pizzeria, Joe left Austin in line to figure out if they accepted credit as a form of payment. Joe approached a friendly couple and asked if they had paid with card. They didn’t, and they joked back about hoping cards were accepted. After returning to Austin in line… after a short while, Austin observed the crowd and said “I think that girl is an actress that just got married in Italy.” When Joe looked, he realized it was the same couple he had talked to about credit card payment! The actress was Joey King. After devouring some pizza (burnt flavor, but decent), we continued our path back to Rome!
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Day Two
This morning, we woke up around 8:05am, which was a later start than we had anticipated as we were to leave for Marina Grande in Sorrento at 8:30am with another group in Marco’s tiny Fiat. After quickly getting ready and racing to breakfast, we learned the other couple was going later and we were on our own. That is, under we met up with Kylie and Ryan who were looking for a ride. We drove with them to Marina Grande where we learned all about their lives in Niagara Falls, Canada.
We hopped on a ferry to Capri and arrived to a scene of chaos. Fortunately, our guide Fabrizio found us and had us joint another group or English and French tourists. A huge dark cloud with lightning began to approach and Marco said we better get on the big now as we might not be able to go later. We went on the boat around the island and learned some neat facts that we 40% understood. The most memorable part was the boat taking on the stormy seas though.
When we got back to the dock, we started our bus journey in Capri. The roads were tight and the bus driver skillfully navigated his way through incredibly narrow lanes with other busses coming his way. We got to Anacapri and Fabrizio told us we would have about an hour to walk around, grab food and explore. He also told us we were welcome to join the other group as their lunch was included. We somewhat obliviously walked up the stairs with them and realized we were dining with the all French group! Bon jour! We ordered some wine and pizza and had a good meal though.
Next, we took the train down the mountain and explored Capri. Fabrizio took us to beautiful gardens with a pretty view.
We enjoyed ourselves! Then Fabrizio let us know we would have a later ferry back than everyone else, but we could not change it with our company as that was the only ferry they had. Austin and Joe had some miscommunication about the plans next. This resulted in some frustration as Austin was killing time and Joe did not appreciate the wasted time and would have rather taken a different ferry home. After a few tears were shed, we made up and waited many many minutes for Marco to finally pick us up by the only sushi restaurant in Sorrento :)
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