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janeiro 2018 - julho 2025
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  • Trockie's TreksViajanteItaly

    Day 3

    3 de março de 2018, Itália ⋅ 🌫 1 °C

    The Bernina Express

    Since the weather has been so cold and snowy, I decided to try and add some scenery to all the cold and snow by taking what is billed as one of the most beautiful train trips The Bernina Express from Tirano to St. Moritz, Switzerland. The trip has actually received a designation as one of Unesco's World Heritage Sights, one of only 3 trains to have done so.

    I am sure the trip's views are glorious... in the right weather conditions, unfortunately that was not the case on this trip. It snowed all day and so it was somewhat grey and gloomy out. The views were sort of pretty but was not able to glimpse the glaciers nor towering mountains surely overhead. On the way home it was pretty much a whiteout, due to the fact that we were in the clouds.

    Interestingly enough, at the moment we arrived in tony, monied, glitzy St. Moritz, the skies parted, the sun came out and the temperature seemed to rise about 20 to 30 degrees. I guess that's what money does!

    I walked around St. Mortiz a little bit, which I found sort of boring. Just LOTS of luxury stores: Cartier, Harry Winston, Versace, etc. and some hotels, etc. I found a restaurant and had a really good lunch called "Bunder Capuns" which was swiss chard wrapped around spatzle dough, with bacon and vegetables, topped with a creamy sauce. I also had some drinks and then made my way to the train for the return trip. One of the drinks was called "Vitamin C" which was a warm orange punch with Grand Marnier and it was really good. I told myself it had medicinal properties and no doubt it could cure a lot of ills LOL.

    On the return trip, during the layover in Tirano I got a hot chocolate at a place and it was in truth more of a "drinking chocolate" and was pretty much like drinking a melted chocolate bar. They evidently take their chocolate seriously in these parts.    Leia mais

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  • Trockie's TreksViajanteItaly

    DAY2

    2 de março de 2018, Itália ⋅ ❄️ 1 °C

    I somehow overslept this morning but managed to shower and grab some coffee prior to heading to my first walking tour of the trip with Walkabout Milan. I took the metro to the Duomo, where I met up with our guide, Marco, and the rest of the folks taking the tour. As is usual in Europe, the public transport in Milan is great. The metro and the tram system are available for 24 hours for a mere 2 euro, if the ticket is purchased from the hotel.

    There are about 25 people on the walking tour but as soon as I met Marco, any concerns about the group being too big were abandoned. To say Marco is enthusiastic and passionate is an understatement. Remember Roberto Benigni's acceptance speech at the Oscar's when he won Best Actor for "Life is Beautiful"? Well, that's pretty much the level of enthusiasm and expression that Marco exudes. Full of energy, loud enough to hear and easily discernable English. Right from the start I anticipated that the tour would be a winner and it was.

    In about 3.5 hours, Marco walked us to pretty much all the major sights of Milan, excluding The Last Supper (because what's there to see without a ticket?) and the Sforza Castle but he mentioned them both during the tour. We saw the Duomo, Galleria, a few churches and chapels- including one that was an interesting crypt, the first hospital in Europe, and a modern scupture of questionable taste along with some things I've likely forgotten. Marco gave a thorough explanation of the history of everything and included some excellent stories along the way. The tour was everything I could have asked for and in now way was it a mere pointing out of restaurants and shopping opportunities. When asked, he did mention a pizza place that supposedly is great but I didn't have a chance to go.

    After the tour, I headed to my 3:30 reserved viewing and tour of the Last Supper. The Last Supper has to be one of the hardest "gets" in Italian tourist sights. You can only see it by way of a reserved ticket or by going with a tour group. If you go with the tour group method, it also means you are going to have to go on a tour of the city with them, which I didn't want to be stuck doing all day. So I decided to try and get a reserved ticket, which meant I needed to be online at 9am Italy time (3am EST) the day they made the tickets available for my desired time. If you aren't online and quick with the click of your mouse, you are SOL because the local tour companies are online buying all the available tickets as fast as they can and within minutes they are soldout. So I got online and managed to snag a ticket.

    I thought I was through all the Last Supper hurdles at that point but I was wrong. For a 3:30 reservation, you are required to pick up your tickets at 3:00. So I left downtown around 2:15 and caught the metro to the closest stop to the Last Supper and began walking in the supposed direction of the church. Along the way I attempted to ask directions and no one in Milan seemed to know what I was talking about (even when giving the name Cencalo Vincenza and referencing Leonardo Da Vinci). Occasionally I would come across someone who would pause and think and would send me in a direction, only for the next person to send be in a different direction. This went on for quite a bit and FINALLY I found the church and ticket office at about 3:26 and thankfully they still let me in for my appointed time but just BARELY. I'm not sure which required more perseverance, obtaining the ticket or finding the destination. It was astounding to me how few locals knew where the church was located. I meant it's like being at DIsney World and not finding someone who can point you in the direction of CInderella's Castle or a professional ball stadium in a big city. It simply

    Because the Last Supper is in such a fragile state and they have already had to restore it, they make everyone go into this special holding area to dehumidify and then they let you in to view the masterpiece for a whopping 15 minutes. I did not bother to look at my watch but I can tell you it was seemingly the fastest 15 minutes of my life.

    The Last Supper is pretty amazing and, if you had time to actually study it and take it all in, it would be even more amazing. Surprisingly, they allow you to take photographs, as long as you refrain from using a flash. Given the fragile state of this work of art, this was really surprising.

    Here's a little insight to the insanity of trying to get things accomplished in Italy... I have a friend who will be joining me midway through my trip and, understandably, she would like to see The Last Supper, so after my viewing, I returned to the ticket office to try and purchase a ticket for her. At the TICKET OFFICE they informed me I could not buy a ticket there but rather had to call the office to buy a ticket or buy one online. I attempted to argue the point but they were unrelenting, so there you have it. You can pick up a ticket at the ticket office but you cannot buy one there.

    After the Last Supper I headed over to the Sforza Castle before it closed. After 4:00 entry is free. This is where Michelangelo's final work, The Pieta, is located and it's all I really wanted to see, so I headed directly to that room. When I tried to enter the guard informed me I needed a ticket. I pointed out that it was now free entry and he said I know but you need a ticket. Again, Italian logic. So I hurredly walked across the castle grounds, obtained one of the tickets that were being handed out freely, and walked back to the Pieta room and handed the guard the ticket. Crazy.

    It snowed steadily all day and is freezing here. Glad I have plenty of layers! Every now and then, it makes sense to bring plenty of clothes.    Leia mais

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  • Trockie's TreksViajanteItaly

    DAY1

    2 de março de 2018, Itália ⋅ ❄️ 1 °C

    The plane trip was pleasantly uneventful and on time. I upgraded to a Comfort Plus seat that they claimed offered more legroom and 50% more recline. Based upon my experience on the flight, I'm guessing there must be no recline in standard seats these days.

    So here's an interesting factoid- there was no customs in Italy and no declaration sheet. Can't explain that.

    I took a bus from the airport to downtown Milan and caught a cab from there to the hotel. Hotel is super clean as it should be, given how small the rooms are. European rooms tend to be small but we're talking shoebox. If you are considering joining the tiny house movement, staying Italian hotels offers a great trial training ground. Not only are the rooms small but the shower is also, in fact it is like showering in a can. No problem with any of this though because who spends time in their hotel room? All I need is clean, comfortable bed and hot water and a good temperature, which is where the room fell a little short. It is freezing cold in Milan and evidentally far colder than normal. Evidently the hotel has decided to ignore this fact and is not altering the heat appropriately. I told them it was too cold and they sent me a space heater. In truth it would take about 3 of them to heat the place properly but there's no room for 3, so I am wearing extra layers to bed. Where are my dogs in my hour of need?

    I pretty much spent the remainder of the day tending to some housekeeping (repacking my rushed job) and sleeping as I didn't get much sleep on the plane.    Leia mais

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  • Trockie's TreksViajanteItaly

    29°11'13" N 82°8'24" W

    18 de janeiro de 2018, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 2 °C

    Plan or Perish

    At last the day has come. It was only 8 years and three attempts in the making but who's counting? FINALLY I am off to Italy for 6 glorious weeks. Hoping to prove true the adage "Good things come to those who wait."

    I planned my original trip 8 years ago when I was working in Europe but came down with a massive sinus infection that prevented me from flying. About 4 years ago I planned a second attempt but 2 weeks prior to leaving for Italy I was in Alaska climbing and hiking over glaciers and broke my leg. I quickly surmised that crutches and cobblestones were not a good pairing and cancelled my impending trip.

    So here we are and I am enroute to Milan as I type.

    I don't know how many people choose Italy as their first international trip but I'd love to see stats on any such people and how many of them continue to travel internationally after their Italy soujorn. I'm fairly convinced that if Italy was your first international trip, it might well be your last. It is no small endeavor to plan a trip to Italy. Italy will be my 49th foreign country, (50 if you count Miami) and it is by FAR the most time-intensive from a planning perspective. Seriously time-intensive. I could pretty much build a house, gestate a baby, or age a barrel of wine in the same amount of time it takes to plan and make all the necessary arrangements for a thorough Italy expedition. I know Italians are into slow food and slow travel and I am guessing it's because after you do all the planning and jumping through hoops and over the hurdles to bringing your Italy travel plans to fruition, you don't have any energy left to do anything fast.

    Here are some examples of what makes Italy such a challenge to plan:
    Let's say you are like most people and you want to see the big sights in Italy, well here's what you are up against: Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper- you can see it by reservation only and by "see" it I mean more like a quick glance, 15 minutes to be specific because that's ALL your advanced reservation gets you. Oh and as to making that reservation... well pretty much every Tom, Dick & Harry that is visiting Italy will be looking to score one as well and that has to be done either online or via phone, during opening hours, Italy time which is delightfully 6 hours ahead of EST. Now they only post the online tickets by a certain date for an upcoming month and those tickets will all be sold within minutes because not only are Tom, Dick & Harry wanting to gawk at that piece de la restistance but there are also dozens of tour operators who want to get tickets for their clients as well. Yep, you pretty much have a better chance at getting awesome seats to the final Rolling Stones concert in Madison Square Garden as you do to The Last Supper. The Last Supper office opens at 9am so you are going to be up and online just before 3am with your mouse ready to click and your credit card at hand to hope you are basically a lottery winner. If you do win a time slot ticket, you then have to pick up the ticket an hour prior to your entry time. I've picked up boarding passes for planes in less time than that. Unfortunately there's a lot of tourists who miss their 2:45 alarm and/or don't know about the Leonardo gauntlet and leave Italy having to view the Supper from a postcard.

    Want to see the Borghese? Well again you have to make a reservation well in advance and you only get 2 hours to spend there and they kick you out.

    Colosseum? Reservations in advance, well in advance. If you want a tour, it's another up at 3:00am to try and snag a ticket as soon as the office opens. And you will have to pick up those tickets when you get there too, in advance.

    Vatican? Yep, start praying now. In advance and look quick because you are going to get about 15 minutes in the Sardine Chapel, uh I mean Sistine but you will feel like your a sardine in a can due to the way they pack them in. Oh and after you get your CONFIRMATION from the Vatican, well you aren't necessarily "confirmed" (religiously or otherwise) because the Vatican notified me that they were going to "need" the Sistine Chapel during my time slot and so my time slot had been changed to over 2 hours later. Now let me tell you what happens to a finely planned itinerary when that happens... ever played Jenga when someone removes the wrong piece? Yep, it all falls apart. Poop on the Pope I say. Due to this "slight" change, my carefully curated and vetted guide had to back out due to later commitments that day and so I had to begin the search for a guide all over again. Almost made me lose my religion.

    Are you interested in taking a gander at Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel? Well you get a whopping 20 minutes in there but... wait for it.... ONLY with an advanced reservation and yes, they sell out as well and you have to make it more than 24 hours in advance.

    Unlike Disney, they don't believe in paying more for "fast passes". Well actually they do offer a "skip the line" but that's what booking in advance is in reality. Seems like they somehow just didn't get the Disney fast-pass concept. No one has to get up at ungodly hours and deal with Italian websites to get a fastpass.

    So if you are desirous of going to Italy, keep in mind that tickets sell out, private guides get booked, top-rated hotels sell out, etc. I'm pretty sure there's always a supply of gelato and wine at hand, so there's that. I'm told people develop a love affair with Italy but apparently she's going to make you work at it, 'cause she ain't easy.

    The good news is that I was not defeated in my quest to see-it-all and I have secured tickets to all the above and then some, at supposedly the best times and with some of the best private guides, so hopefully all the angst is behind me.

    Some of you have asked where I'll be going in Italy. Well in 6 weeks the answer is a LOT of places. It would be easier to tell you where I'm not going. If Italy is a "boot", then pretty much the only area I won't be seeing is the heel and Sicily. Milan, Rome, Florence, Venice, Amalfi Coast, Pompei, Tuscany, Umbria, Cinque Terre, etc. will all get a look-see. I had anticipated giving Pisa a miss because it just seems to darn cliche but it appears to be a good place to station oneself to tour Lucca & Volterra so I guess I'll have to endure all the idiots posing to hold up the tower.    Leia mais

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