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Italy

April - May 2024
A 9-day adventure by Mary Kieran Gap Year Read more

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  • TravelerItaly
    Day 1

    Day 110: Italy Travel & Venice at Night

    April 29, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Stayed up late watching Fallout so a very slow morning packing up for our flight to Italy. While walking from the Corfu port to Corfu downtown the first day, we saw an amazing Greek grill and hoped to return. However, it was a bit too far and instead we decided to try our luck walking to the bus station.

    By chance, we found the most delicious pork gyros from To Pikantiko which opened in 1995. Mary decided this was the best gyro in her entire life. They added additional spices to the meat and included a tomato sauce. We both lamented that we wish we discovered the place sooner and would have gone back a second time.

    While riding the bus we met Journalist Kai from New Zealand who was visiting family in Italy and taking two months to explore the area. He loved the Wire and Japan so we had a fabulous discussion and recommendations for places to visit. Our flight was 45 minutes to Athens and 2 hours to Venice with a short layer over. First flight was delayed and luckily the second as well so bags and team made it.

    We landed and bussed to Venice Mestri which is outside the city and a bit cheaper. A quick turn around and we were off to downtown Venice for a dinner and to see the city at night.

    Restaurant:
    To Pikantiko
    Ristorante Serenissima

    Food:
    Pork Gyros
    Hell Pizza
    Prosciutto Pizza

    Spots:
    Venice Mestri
    Venice Neighborhood Cannaregio    Read more

  • TravelerItaly
    Day 2

    Day 111: Venice in the Day Time

    April 30, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    Hard Truths About Venice:
    Venice is at risk for being placed on the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger due to over-tourism, climate change, and the city sinking in the water. Many told us the city smells and it’s so crowded that you feel like crammed sardines. The city is attempting to curb these issues by charging a €5 visit fee, ticketing people for certain behavior (swimming in the channels), and encouraging folks to visit outside the busy season or during the weekday. Online sources and locals will tell you to visit the lesser known neighborhoods and get lost in the city.

    We managed to pick the perfect time to go to Venice and enjoyed the city despite other’s warnings. Visiting Venice on a Tuesday in late April led to the most perfect weather, less people, and an opportunity to eat at restaurants with locals who live and work in the city.

    We enjoyed wondering through the Castello neighborhood and viewing the water filled alley ways. We didn’t ride any gondolas, but we did go looking for Italian happy hour signs where you get free small bites with your drinks. Recorded our spots, neighborhoods, and restaurants below, and definitely encourage folks to visit Venice in late April/early May if possible.

    We left Venice in the late afternoon, got on a 4 hour train to Florence, picked up a tiny little rental car, and drove into Tuscany.

    Hotel: Casa Margheri

    Restaurants:
    Osteria da Alex
    Al Bagolo

    Food:
    Bruschetta (Tomato, Shrimp, Sardines)
    Pennette Allabrabblata
    Grilled White Fish
    Spaghetti Bolognese
    Aperol Spritz

    Spots:
    Church of Saint Mary of Miracles
    Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo
    Saint Mark's Basilica
    Procuratie Vecchie Venice
    Venice Neighborhood San Marco, San Polo, and Castello    Read more

  • TravelerItaly
    1
    Day 3

    Day 112: Wine Tasting in San Gimignano

    May 1, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    Going hard through Turkey, Bulgaria, and Greece, Mary made promises to take it slow in Tuscany. By slow, she meant going on wine tours to sip Chianti, eat Italian cold cuts, and guzzle all the olive oil.

    San Gimignano is one of those little Tuscan towns situated on a hillside peak with a medieval wall and castle surrounding it. We found two wineries 7 minutes from town and signed up for a light 12pm lunch and 3pm tour, hoping to walk from each location. Sadly, the weather had different plans and we were facing 10 hours of heavy rain and thunderstorms.

    Regardless, we jumped into the car and visited Azienda Agricola Palagetto for small lunch of proccuto,, Tuscan fennel salami, bread with honey, olive oil, and homney. The lunch included a light meat ragú pasta and enjoyed 4 wines produced by a 3 generation winery. As nerds, we enjoyed learning that this winery used stainless steel for white wine, barrels for red, and then occasionally concrete tanks!

    The next winery Pietraserena, Az. Agr. di Arrigoni included a tour of the facilities, where we learned that their wines are so specific that they refer to the exact field the grapes come from. We enjoyed bruschetta, more Italian cold cuts, and then grappa, which is a 40% shot.

    We snuck in a nap before dinner and enjoyed a delicious meal in a small family owned restaurant where the cat sat at the desk and managed payments.

    Restaurant: La Bottega - San Gimignano

    Wineries:
    Azienda Agricola Palagetto
    Pietraserena, Az. Agr. di Arrigoni

    Food:
    Bruschetta
    Wild Boar Ragout
    Ravioli with Tuscan Pecorino Cheese
    Carpaccio de Chianina

    Spots:
    San Gamignano    Read more

  • TravelerItaly
    1
    Day 4

    Day 113: Etruscan Coast

    May 2, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    The next location was only an hour drive so we took our time driving along the Etruscan coast. We grabbed delicious sandwiches and hit the road.

    We drove to Spiaggia Beach, which actually turned out to be a black sand beach! Kieran had never seen one so it was a very exciting moment, especially because this sand contain a granite/quartz like material that sparkled in the sun. We drove up the Populonia hill and hiked down to Buca delle Fate which was an amazing cliff side overlooking the ocean. It was only us for 40 minutes and we sat there watching the waves crash against the rocks with storm clouds in the distance.

    When we hiked back to the car, we could clearly hear fighter jets practicing maneuvers and Mary got sad we couldn’t see them over the cliffs.

    We drove on to our next hotel and made our way up an extremely steep hill. As we climbed higher and higher, the full view of the valley lay in front of us. We realize that the hotel is at the peak and the town is very small/locals only.

    We park our car temporarily and walk into the hotel. As we check in, the hostess comments, “I’m so sorry, you booked our traditional room with no view or balcony” and we were like, “no problem, we like to book on the cheaper side ($60 a night)” Well she upgrades us for free to a room with a balcony/view and asks if we need parking. Gives us a gate controlled fob to park down the road.

    The view and room was fucking incredible. $60 a night at Hotel Vatluna is the best hidden gem we’ve come across on our travels (except for the whole country of Armenia). Yes the town only has one restaurant and a bar, but we were so lucky to stay in very small village with no tourists and only locals. We visited the town bar for wine and beer to play cards adjacent to old Italian men playing their cards. And then we ended the night at a tiny restaurant for 9:00pm dinner and received a free procescco.

    Hotel: Vatluna

    Restaurants:
    Vinaio di San Gimignano
    Il Ritrovo di Bes
    La Vecchia Cantina Vetulonia

    Food:
    Pork Loin with Orange
    Sliced Beef with Rocket
    Taramissu

    Spots:
    Spiaggia Beach
    Populonia
    Buca delle Fate
    Vetulonia    Read more

  • TravelerItaly
    Day 5

    Day 114: Vetulonia Magic

    May 3, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    Giving Kieran some video game quiet time and more relaxation, Mary spent the morning working remotely. It felt good to exercise the brain/typing skills while revisiting her life before Gap Year.

    In the early afternoon we drove to Cascate del Mulino which is a geothermal waterfall and bath that is 100% free (€4 euros to park). For three machines, the credit cards didn’t work and they didn’t accept bills either. We decided to risk it and put an old ticket on our window. Other people were also confused. Our mistake, €4 became a €30 ticket and many around us were also taking their tickets off their cars 😂 we consider it a donation to the local community in maintaining the free hot spring.

    The water was 98 degrees and perfect for the 65 degree day. The occasional cloud cover provided breaks from the sun and climbing close to the water fall meant more hot water. After 1.5 hours, we drove to Talamone where James Bond was filmed. The restaurants were not rated highly and too expensive so we drove 8 minutes to a local village. It was the best decision and we ate a yummy assortment of seafood pastas, mussels, and fried critters. It was locals only and we loved seeing everyone line up for their Friday beers and wines!

    Restaurant:
    Luna Morena

    Food:
    Mussels
    Fried Calamari
    Pici Alle Vongole (clams)
    Seafood Gnocchi

    Spots:
    Cascate del Mulino-Hot Spring
    Talamone
    Fonteblanda    Read more

  • TravelerItaly
    Day 6

    Day 115: Pisa dis Pizza

    May 4, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    Today was a our final drive through the Tuscan countryside. Both our parents are similar in age and have birthdays in late April/May (Susan, Susan, and Bert). Since We’ve collected snacks and drinks to mail home for birthdays. We found an international delivery service in Florence and finally could send the heavy bag we were carrying throughout Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, and Italy.

    We stopped in Pisa to drop our backpacks at the hostel and check out the leaning tower. When you are a kid, you imagine this tower is in the middle of the city and could hit the buildings around it. Maybe it was only Mary, but the tower was of great concern as a child. When you see it in person, it’s on a huge cathedral complex and will only land in grass.

    Still “It do be leaning tho” - Kieran

    Next we grabbed some pizza and drove to Florence to mail that package. The streets were so crowded with pedestrians and super tiny; it’s wild that Google maps recommends people drive here.

    Mailing the package home was interesting because there are many rules and differences between US states. For instance, no meats and no liquors. Mary got away with a tiny limoncello bottle because the people were nice. We learned that you can send 25 bottles of wine to Missouri, but only 8 to North Carolina.

    With the packages sent, we returned the car and got a 50 minute train back to Pisa. Grabbed dinner at a family spot and had the best pizza/food. Mary made lots of faces reacting to the delicious pizza and the older waiter just couldn’t stop smiling or laughing. We take turns using our travel credit cards, and this is the second time Kieran got roasted for Mary paying in Italy. The waiter asked if she had a sister that would pay for the bills too.

    Hostel: Safestay Pisa

    Restaurants:
    Pizzeria Da Filippo Pisa
    Il Prosciuttaio

    Food:
    Margarita pizza
    Sausage pizza
    Spicy Salami pizza
    Porcini Fungi Pasta
    Tiramisu

    Spots:
    Leaning Tower of Pisa
    Florence    Read more

  • TravelerItaly
    Day 7

    Day 116: Train to Milan

    May 5, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    In Europe, there are regional trains and high speed trains; our pass only covers regional trains and occasional scenic trains. Thus, sometimes we need to take a 7 hour journey (aka Florence to Milan).

    Also in Europe, they have rail strikes and the regional workers shut down the rail roads. May 4/5 was one of those weekends in Italy. We were lucky that a train police officer told us to hop on a high speed train and just pay the difference on board. Eurorail would also cover the cost incurred for the strike because we bought 90 days of railroad travel. We jumped on a direct train and even though we didn’t have reserved seats and had to keep moving, the train conductors told us we were fine and didn’t need to worry. We enjoyed the shorter commute time and the amazing ocean scenery while riding our train.

    After arriving in Milan, we jumped on one more train to Valmadrera.

    Hotel: Casa del Gatos

    Restaurants:
    Panella - Milano Porta Garibaldi
    La Perla

    Food:
    Margarita pizza
    Caprese
    Tomato Bruschetta
    Pizza
    Seafood Pasta

    Spots:
    Milan
    Valmadrera    Read more

  • TravelerItaly
    1
    1
    Day 8

    Day 117: The Great Pre-Alpine Lakes

    May 6, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    When we chatted with German engineer Tobias in Bulgaria, he told us we need to go to the Chianti wine region and the northern lakes in Italy. Neither were on our radar, but it was an excellent recommendation as the Great Pre-Alpine lakes were breathtaking.

    We hiked for two hours around the San Thomas church and had views of Valmadrera and Lecco. Next we ventured down to the water to catch a bus north. The service was reduced during non summer months so we opted to hang around the lake, especially with storm clouds and gloomy scenes feeding Mary’s desolate soul. Needing coffee, we hiked up what google maps said was a walking path which really was a road with no shoulders and blind spots.

    This was all worth it though as we found an espresso bar that really was a bar bar. We got some beers and chatted up the bartenders as they fed us little snacks and more drink recommendations. This included a coffee with anise vodka and then a Campari made extra strong. Mary had been looking for an Italian local happy hour she read about online and we finally got it. We ran home and enjoyed our last delicious Italian dinner.

    Restaurants:
    Caffè Pari Parè
    Ristorante Pizzeria Osteria Le Bocce

    Food:
    Bruschetta
    Ravioli with Burrata and Langoustine
    Tagliolini Con Vongole
    Complementary Lemoncello

    Spots:
    Piana di San Tomaso
    Lungolago di Malgrate
    Lungolago Valmadrera - Paré    Read more

  • TravelerItaly
    Day 9

    Day 118: Train to Switzerland

    May 7, 2024 in Italy ⋅ 🌫 45 °F

    Kieran located an amazing restaurant online in Valmadrera and every time we passed it, the restaurant was closed. On the last day in Italy we prepared for Switzerland expenses by hitting the store and buying .65 € pasta. We tried to locate a coffee shop with wifi and had no luck. Decided to give the restaurant one last try for lunch and to our luck it was open and has wifi! It was also a trattoria which is where all the workers and locals come out for lunch.

    After a delicious meal, started our multi-train journey to Switzerland. One train to Milan, one to Domodossola, one to Brig, and final train to Stalden-Saas!

    Hotel: Zimmervermietung Ackersand

    Restaurant: La Tana del Luppolo

    Food:
    Spaghetti    Read more

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