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Italia

June - July 2023
A 21-day adventure by Jarrod Read more
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  • TravelerItalia
    Day 10

    Day of Surprises

    June 23, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Jack arrived last night, and a part from getting dinner, we basically didn't have time to do anything else. But after a shit nights sleep in his hostel, he got transferred to my hostel, and we went on to the main attractions around Rome.

    I had left some major attractions for when Jack arrived so that we had something to do. We started at the Collosseum, and after just a few minutes of aimless wandering wondering where the ticket booth was, one of jacks mates appeared out of nowhere in a crazy coincidence event. Although they hadn't seen each other in a year and had no idea either person was in Rome, they ran into each other on the other side of the world. It's made crazier to think Jack wasn't even supposed to arrive in rome until some days later. We had a quick catch-up with Zac and his girlfriend, Ruby, before figuring we had to leave and get our tickets to the collosseum. We waited in line for a little over an hour, but it was midday heat without any cover, and so it was a long hour, to say the least. Getting inside was definitely worth it, though. As a major bucket list item, I could barely believe I had finally made it to the collosseum. Even Jack was heavily impressed with the monument and was happy to read the information pieces that came with it. The views of the Roman Forum and the rest of Rome were incredible from the top levels. After going through both the upper and lower levels and spending plenty of time reading the history, it was time to head out. We were then in a predicament as to whether to head home or get through the Roman Forum. The Roman Forum was another major bucket list item for me as the history is even older than the collosseum and most other monuments around Rome. That being said, I do not think it was Jack's cup of tea, particularly. It would have been more beneficial to have had a tour or at least an audio guide to take with you as some of the written descriptions didn't paint much of a picture. I think this, plus the heat, put Jack off a little bit. Never the less I was still sure to take my time and see everything I wanted to see. The views from the Palantine Hill were incredible. It was an interesting combination of ancient structures in the foreground, with slightly less ancient collosul monuments in the background. It painted a great picture of how Rome really is.

    As we got toward the end of the forum, our plans to catch up with Zac were brought forward as he had stumbled across the World Street League skateboarding competition - another crazy coincidence. Especially because i had been saying to Jack that there are a ton of pro skaters in Rome, and i hope we run into them. When we looked through who would be competing, we decided that we would have to get a good spot, grab a few beers, and chill there for a while. Despite this, we only missed the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II, but we would get a chance to see this later. When we made our way to the skateboarding event, which overlooked the collosseum, we found a great spot where we could stand on the fence and look over and watch without buying a ticket. Tickets were supposed to cost 50 euros, but our spot was in the shade, had a great view, and had a cafe that sold reasonably priced beers just around the corner. The decision to not buy a ticket probably saved us hundreds of euros in the long run. Overall, I have hundreds of good photos from this day alone, so trying to pick 20 for this entry was once again nearly impossible. The highlight of today was getting a photo with Chris Joslin while buying the boys a bunch of beers. I bought one for him to as he had just finished his heat and looked like he needed one. We briefly discussed life in Aus and the US, and I figured it was time to let him recover. Even as I write this a week later, it hardly seems real.

    After this, the skating was just about done, and we headed to finish off our night in the pub. Unfortunately, Jack led us to a very shit pub very far away from anything, and so we didn't spend much time there before heading to Zac's for a quick drink before going home. This was the end of an incredible day, one of the best of the trip and maybe one of the best of my life. So many unforeseen things occurred that just made it incredible. Tomorrow, we were in for another big day of skating and sport, and so it was good we had a reasonably early night.    Read more

  • TravelerItalia
    Day 11

    Calcio Fiorentino

    June 24, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Yesterday was a big day of walking, day drinking, and sport - something likely to continue into today, and so the day started off slow. We decided we should go back and see the things from yesterday that we're missed as well as investigate the other areas around Rome. We decided the best way to do this was on Lime Scooters, and it was a revolutionary idea. I had spent endless hours walking previously, and although not an issue in Florence, in Rome, it was a much better way to get around and see everything. As such we went past the Collosseum again and saw all 360 degrees of it in a few minutes, then went and saw Monument to Victor Emmanuel II, as well as Trajans Column and the rest of the monuments in Piazza Venezia. Trajans Column was another bucket list item for me as I have heard many stories and podcasts about it, and so seeing it in person was an awesome experience for me.

    We knew today was going to be an equally big day for both site seeing and sport. Italy and Florence, in particular, is known for their history. But one small quirk that I did not expect to stumble across while travelling was the Calcio Fiorentino. This is a sport from the Middle Ages, the rules of which I do not fully understand, but based on the videos I had seen, I understood that it was essentially bare knuckle boxing with a ball. My tour guide had explained the sport to us during my tour in Florence but I had no idea the day was so soon when he had told us. To celebrate the Saints day for Saint John the baptist, the streets of Florence bustle with festivities and markets. It is something I would have loved to witness, but my minor changes of plans to my schedule meant I missed it (although I had no idea about the holiday until the tour). In fact, only when a violent video appeared on my phone did I make the connection that it must have been the traditional sport played in Florence that was described by my tour guide. When I saw what the event truly encapsulated, I had to check the day of it. It was the very next day, and that day had come. I told Jack we had to see it, and we spent the first part of our day investigating pubs where it may be played. We figured our best bet was to go to the same Scottish pub that had the origin and boasted itself as the best sports pub in Italy. Thanks are due to dad once again for finding this place in the first place, as I meant I got to see both sporting events. That being said, even when we arrived and mentioned the game, none of the workers had heard of it. Despite being huge in Florence, no one knew of it in Rome. None the less they assured us that if they could play it, they would, so after a lunch feed there, we made our way back to the second day of skating.

    This time, it was the Semi Finals, and so the skaters had stepped it up majorly. The girls started in the afternoon, and so we started watching them with a few beers once again and saw some unreal skating from teenagers that were destroying the female competition.

    Eventually, the rain hit. The first time we had basically seen a rain cloud the whole trip and, as such, it as timed perfectly to make our way to the pub to attempt to watch the Calcio Fiorentino. This sport did not disappoint, and Jack and I were quite drunk by this point. With most people trying to enjoy an afternoon beer, we essentially forced them to watch street fighting with us yelling in the background. The poor group of French people in front of us had no idea what was going on, but neither did we. We were just enjoying the moment. In the end, it was a blow out which took away from it a bit, but to say it wasn't heated would be a lie. Multiple fights had broken out before the ball was even on the pitch, and one of the veterans of the sport was sent off. To this day, I am unsure how you could get sent off in a sport that seems to have no rules, but that was his final game before retirement. So it was quite a sad event for him, but it must have riled up his team because they ended up destroying the other team. Santa Maria Novella was the team that won, which is the suburb I stayed in when in Florence, so I'm claiming them as my team. A win for them is a win for me. After that, we made our way back to the skating for the men's competition.

    To one up my photo with Chris Joslin, Jack and I got a photo with Nyjah Huston - the best skater of the last decade. This was just before he destroyed the competition during a great day of skating. With some more drinking, by the end of it we were pissed and ready to head home. It was just Jack and I now, so we weren't planning on going out or anything like that now. We were more keen for bed. But right as we left, we saw Shane O'Neil leaving the event, and after fangirling hard over him and asking for a photo, he said he would come back for one. But he never came back :(

    With a sad end to a great day, we headed home to go to bed.    Read more

  • TravelerItalia
    Day 12

    Salerno

    June 25, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Today was going to be nothing special. We had a long train ride to Salerno, and that was basically the whole day. I did some entries into my journal and rested after a few big days. The train ride was really cool, though, through the hills and along the coast.

    When we arrived at our hotel, our building manager didn't speak any English, which was our first serious encounter with this issue but we managed to have a reasonable conversation and get ourselves checked in (thanks to google Translate). After this, we headed along the coast toward the beach to go for our first swim in quite a long time. The beach was slightly dirty and quite rocky but we enjoyed the swim nonetheless. The water in the Mediterranean is so clear and had so many fish that it makes for such an interesting experience. After this, we got some seafood pasta and got ready for bed. We figured when in Sicily and along the coast, getting a proper seafood feed was necessary. We had that, went for a quick stroll along the main esplanade, and headed to bed.    Read more

  • TravelerItalia
    Day 13

    Amalfi Coast

    June 26, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Today was the big day, and the main reason we decided to stay in Salerno. Well, that as well as the fact that we had heard some bad things about Naples. But we wanted to spend some time along the Amalfi Coast and decided on Positano and Amalfi as the areas to do so. We went via ferry because we thought it would give the best views of the coastline while also being quick and relatively cheap. I think we made the right decision as we got to see all along the Amalfi Coast and marvel in the way they built cities on the edge of steep hills right next to the coast. Given the age of some of these cities, it makes you wonder whether it would have been worth it all. But after spending some time in the towns, it make sperfect sense why you'd want to live there. I would have loved to get more photos as we travelled along the coast but there was a swarm of people lining up for the photos off the side of the boat, and I was slack to deal with that, so we just soaked up the views from inside the boat.

    We started at Positano, and we simply jumped in the water, had a few drinks, and wandered around the small town. To avoid the stairs and blistering heat, we mostly stuck to the walks along the coastline. This was a really cool experience as we came across a few small beaches dotted along the coast before we eventually hit a dead end. We headed back for a drink and one final dip before heading back to the ferry. We did detour through some small shops, but we are both limited by bag space as well as money, so once again, we didn't buy anything.

    We then ferried towards Amalfi and had a pretty similar strategy to that of Positano. We went for a quick jump in the water and then began to wander around the town. We had heard of a really good rock jump in the town and so was looking all over for somewhere that matched the description. It was only on the way back that we went by a little jetty where a company was running a boat hiring stall. Despite them not speaking any English, we gestured until they knew what we were talking about. The rock right by the dock was a notorious rock jumping spot. He showed us videos of people doing the jump, and so Jack and I geared up to do it. After Jack went, a young worker must have gotten excited as we grabbed his boardies and joined us for his second jump. This kid was crazy. It was probably a 10-15m jump, and he was front flipping and doing crazy shit. It was then my turn, and although I was shitting myself, I didn't give myself time to overthink it. I scaled down the rocks and prepared for the jump, I had done my best not to look down until this point, and it was scary to see the height from that perspective. Nonetheless, I couldn't back out now and threw myself off. It felt like you would free-fall for ages, but the rush was awesome, and it ended up being the highlight of the day. After that, we figured it was time a well-earned drink. After a few spritz and some beers, we were ready to jump on the ferry back to Salerno. Once we got back, we grabbed a feed and headed for bed. The place we chose to eat wasn't particularly fancy, but we pizzas were awesome. After that, we then parked up in our beds and got ready for bed.    Read more

  • TravelerItalia
    Day 14

    Pompei

    June 27, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Pompei was the next reason for me wanting to stay in the area around Naples. I have always wanted to see the site but was blown away by the actual area it encompasses. We, however, made 3 pivotal mistakes. Firstly, despite the site being open until 7 p.m., we booked an audio guide that had to be returned by 5. We had things to do in the morning and so didn't make it to Pompei until 2pm, I had not considered the fact that audio guide would close before the site but it heavily impacted how long we could stay inside. Secondly, Stef recommended that I try a fried pizza while near Naples, and when we found somewhere that sold them, we grabbed one each. The main issue that arose from this was the incredible size and quantity of grease that came with it. Quite literally the last thing you would want before walking around Pompei in midday heat. Despite being very good, the timing was horrible. The third mistake was not checking the map before we started to walk around. Although I knew we would be restricted by time, I underestimated the size of the site and figured we could get through it all in 3 hours. In the end, we spent probably an hour in the just the houses part of the city and realised the monuments on the other side would be considerably more interesting, but even the trek to the other side of the site took ages. We then had to rush through the amphitheatres and collosseums, but we did end up seeing everything we wanted. A bit of extra time at these final sites would have been nice, but by the end of it, I think Jack had pretty much had enough anyway. Overall, I am very glad we went, but a bit of better planning probably could have made the experience a bit better. The audio guide wasn't as effective as I had hoped either, as it was difficult to understand what they were referring to when discussing different aspects of each area. Not to mention, they kept saying we should walk through different areas of the site that we did not have access to. I'm not sure if we had come on the wrong day where most things were shut or if they simply only open small sections at a time. Either way, it did slightly take away from the experience as we could only listen to what was inside and try and match with different things that we likely couldn't even see. It is difficult to comprehend how well preserved this site is given the age. Especially given the size, you could see how functional and effective it must have been running at one time. The site was breathtaking, and I hope to return one day and do it on a proper tour. Although we had these as options, they cheap ones only went for 2 hours, and I feel as though they would overlook some aspects that would be interesting. Next time, I will get a proper tour that isn't rushed.

    By the end of this, we were beat and ready to head to bed, so we caught the train back and did exactly that.    Read more

  • TravelerItalia
    Day 15

    Catania Reunited

    June 28, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Today was a throw-away day. We had nothing planned except for an extended train trip to Catania and eventual drinks with Liam Hair and Ben Grebert. We had originally planned to fly but Jack booked tickets for the wrong month and so we were forced to go on the train and hope that we could get some of our money back by changing the flight to a different time and place. In the end, we got some value back but had to invest more money to change the flight and catch a second one to make it worth it. This was a use it or lose it scenario.

    The only slightly interesting part of this trip was that the train had to traverse the Strait between Sicily and the Italian mainland. We thought this may be an underground tunnel, but it turned out to be a ferry for trains. Then, I literally got put on the boat, in a train, and ferried across to Sicily to disembark and continue on their rail system. This would have been cool if we hadn't lost 2 hours due to technical issues with getting the train on and off the ferry. Meaning we were suppose to arrive at midday to catch up with Hairy and Ben, but then it turned into 6 o'clock because we had to catch a train, then it became 8 o'clock due to the delays. This was slightly annoying, but we eventually caught up with them for a while. We got sloppy drunk off Aperols and shots before meeting some girls from Arizona. We spoke with them for a while before heading home for the night. It was great to see Hairy again after 11 months a part - it was especially good to see him knowing it may be another 9 months until I'm home. After this, we headed to our accommodations to sleep.    Read more

  • TravelerItalia
    Day 16

    Syracuse

    June 29, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Before we made our way to catch up with Hairy and Ben for our train trip to Syracuse, we decided to check out the beach of Catania itself. The walk toward the beach showed the worst sides of Catania as there was a clear divide between the nice parts of town and the dodgy parts. Even along the main strip there would be rubbish around, but in this trek toward the beach, we were shocked at the amount of garbage that littered the roads. I think this is a recurring theme of our travelling. A lot of the locations have nice parts and dirty parts, and it is simply identifying where these locations are and avoiding them. We did not do this as we walked toward the beach, and I think it lowered my expectations for the beach considerably. Jack was completely put off by it, but luckily, I had been warned about the rubbish in parts of Italy and Europe and wasn't completely shocked by it. By the time we had made it to the beach we assumed it was going to be a disgusting mess, and the Cherry on top of the cake, a minor fire that had broken out blocking out path to the beach, ensured we lost all motivation to even go and see it. Instead we started walking to the train station to get to Syracuse, but even this was difficult, road works meant we had to run across highways and jump on buses just to get us in the right direction. Eventually, we did make it, just as the train arrived at the station.

    After an interesting start to the day, we finally caught Hairy and Ben and made our way to Syracuse. We only got to experience the old town, but it was incredible. It would have been good to see how the rest of the city compared, but there were so many cool places in the old town alone that we figured it wasn't worth exploring any further out. It started with some old ruins as you first entered the old town before being welcomed by tiny streets and large cream buildings on either side. The little restaurants provided great food, and I got to try my first aranchini ball, and it was awesome. I haven't found one as good since. We made our way through the old town toward the beach before finding a secluded, yet still slightly busy, little Cove to swim at. Nonetheless, we parked up there for a few hours and continued our recovery from the night before. Eventually, we felt better and figured it was time for a spritz and a feed. We found a little bar that overlooked the crystal clear water and figured we would stay here for a few drinks before finding somewhere else for food. The food was so good in the area that the choice became a bit overwhelming, and we eventually ran out of time to be picky and had to just pick a restaurant. In the end, it was good and cheap, but there were definitely better options. By this time, we were already partly pissed so we figured we would grab a few drinks for the train ride. When we arrived at the station, there was a single carriage, banged up and graffiti'ed train that we joked might be our train. Once we figured out what platform we boarded from, we quickly realised that it was, in fact, our train. Not only this, but the train was completely full, and we were forced to sit on the ground of a dingy ass train for almost an hour. This was an interesting trip home, but we made it eventually    Read more

  • TravelerItalia
    Day 17

    Day on the water

    June 30, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Today, we booked a snorkelling trip to a cave system off the coast of Catania. So we made our way on Lime Scooters to the port where we caught up with Hairy and Ben. We chose the morning session, so the sun wasn't so brutal, and we actually enjoyed the morning sun sitting on the front of the catamaran as we sailed for about an hour to the location. The views across the coast of Catania were incredible, but eventually, they put up the sails, and the view was blocked mostly. Eventually, we arrived at our destination, and by this point, we were stinging a swim in the beautifully temperatured water after laying in the sun. For whatever reason, the captain dropped us off about 150m from the swimming spot. I think that most people on the tour rarely do the snorkelling and instead choose to swim off the edge of the boat. We, however, were keen to see what lay around the rock formations. They described them as caves, but they were hardly caves and instead just rocks protruding the water. Given that we were with 2 avid swimmers, Jack and I struggled with the swim and were easily left in the dust. Nonetheless, once we got to the rocks and could manage our breathing a bit better by taking it easy, it was really cool to swim with the fish and jellyfish. There were no massive sized fish, but thousands of little ones. It doesn't compare to the reef dives you can do in Australia, but it was cool just to see how it varies in the Mediterranean. I had forgotten my underwater camera attachment for my phone, but given the swim we had to do, it likely wouldn't have been worth bringing anyway. As such, the number of photos for today is very limited. At the end of the swim, which took about an hour, we started the long trek home, once again being blown out of the water by Hairy and Ben. This time, we were going against the current, and we felt every bit of difference. Eventually, though, we had made it. They then served some food and Proseco while we chatted with others on the boat. The 2 guys running the show were very cool and interesting people to talk to, and so we discussed life in Australia compared to Italy. This then continued as we made our way back to Port.

    On the way home, we found 3 euro aperol spritz, and we made some serious use of that deal. After about 4 of those each, we headed home, taking a detour on the lime scooters, and got dressed to prepare for a big night ahead. We then bought a few bottles of wine and headed to the boys' place to drink them on their rooftop terrace. By the time this was done, we were completely smashed and figured it was time to head out for some food. After some shit talking and some eating, we ran into the girls from the previous night and drank with them until early morning. After this, we were all completely ruined and had to send ourselves to bed, or we'd wake up in a random street in Catania. It was a great night, and it was great to see Hairy. Unfortunately, this would be the last time I see him for another 9 months as he was on his way to Malta and then home shortly after that. It was a shame to say goodbye, but I am lucky to have seen him while over here.    Read more

  • TravelerItalia
    Day 18

    Palermo

    July 1, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Today, we said goodbye to Catania and made our way toward Palermo to catch up with Zach and Ruby again. This meant most of the day wasn't too exciting, just involved Jack and I sleeping in, catching a train to Palermo, grabbing a big feed and jumping straight on Lime Bikes this time to meet Zach and Ruby at the beach. This was about a 30-minute ride, but it was along the water for parts and was a mostly chilled ride. The trip to the north of Palermo had already shown us enough to be sure that Palermo was a standout city in terms of cleanliness and beauty. It was much cleaner and had much more character than Catania, and when we arrived at the beach (although it was a trek), it was much nicer than the beach would have been at Catania. Palermo has huge cliffs that seem to encompass the whole city, and it made for a cool view anywhere you are but especially by the beach. We chilled by the beach here for a while, drinking beers and hanging out before we decided it was time to ride home. This time, there were 4 of us, which made it even funner, but eventually, we split up, and each of us headed home to shower and get ready for another big night of drinking.

    Zach and Ruby had an early bus to the airport for their flight and were sure they wouldn't drink much, but after racking up a bill of 180 euro between the 4 of us, it is safe to say we were quite smashed. Lots of different spirtz, some lemoncello shots, jeiger shots, and the rest. By the time we paid the bill, we were dancing in the middle of the restaurant and causing a scene, but we couldn't care less. The chaos continued when we got back to the hostel, as for the first time ever, people littered the halls and rooms. We were loud and considerably drunk, so we were sure to have some drunken chats with everyone, not that we can really remember. The waiter, of all people, had given us some weed to thank us for being so friendly to him, and we planned to make the most of that. It wasn't much, but we were drunk, and so that was probably a blessing. I don't even remember what time it is when they left, but surely enough, we fell asleep almost instantly. We later learnt that Ruby and Zach missed their bus and had to taxi the 40-minute drive to the airport, costing them a pretty penny. Once again, it was good to see them before they went to the final leg of their journey in Greece. The first part of my trip has involved more Australian mates than expected, but also I've also made fewer international mates made along the way. I'm sure that will come eventually, however. We head to Croatia next now in a change of plans to ensure I can do that with Tait before he runs out of money. Given the party atmosphere, I hope I can meet people and do other parts of Europe with them.    Read more

  • TravelerItalia
    Day 19

    Rest Day

    July 2, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    After a few big days of partying with mates, it was once again just Jack and I and so we spent the whole morning doing completely fuck all. The only time I left the room was to get food, but because we took the Lime Scooters we ended up seeing quite a few nice places around Palermo. Palermo is interesting in how it seems to be split up into market areas that are very active and vibrant during the morning and day, and then as that seems to dwindle out, the pubs that are across the main road seem to really kick off and create an awesome atmosphere. This is what I loved most about Palermo as there is always something happening, the nightlife is great whether it is partying, drinking, or eating, it has everything you could want. Palermo has been my second favourite city behind Florence at this point because it maintained a small town atmosphere with all the benefits of a big town. There was always things to do and the people were great. After lunch I once again ventured out of the room to get dinner, in which Jack chose a very fancy and very nice steak house to eat, for whatever reason. Though I must say it was one of the best meals I had eaten in my entire life despite costing quite a bit and being quite small. We of course got the cheapest meal we could but it was definitely worth it because of how great it actually tasted. It wasn't a big meal but it was enough to sustain me- but not Jack. After this Jack got roped into a date with a girl and was forced to once again have a big night of drinking but I was happy to lay in bed and watch Netflix until I passed out- this didn't take long to happen.Read more

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