Relics & Ravioli

This post was originally supposed to be combined with the last post, but then I realized how long that would be, so I had to do a dedicated Italy post. This way I could include allll the details! 

I stole the "relics and ravioli" from a podcast that we listen to, but it was just very appropriate for this trip. For over a year we were planning this trip! Jeremiah and I knew that we wanted to do another international trip and originally were considering Italy in Nov 2021, but then were hesitant about the weather that time of the year so then we thought about Thailand in Nov 2021, but were unsure what Covid would look like there at that time, so decided end of March/beginning of April would be a better time weather-wise for Italy so that's where we landed and decided on a two week trip! Through all of these iterations we were telling our friends Tommy and Emily of our plans and they started to play around with the idea and it started to become more concrete for them as well until it was officially decided that the four of us were going to make the trip happen! T&E live in AZ so we had many a FaceTime planning session, starting with a blank slate and then whittling down to which cities we wanted to hit, then places to stay, things to do, booking things, etc. We settled on March 25-April 9 in Venice, Bologna, Cinque Terre, Florence, Siena, and Rome. 

T&E's initial connection was through Denver so it was great we just met them at the Denver airport and continued the rest of the travel together. We flew Denver to Munich and then on to Venice - the flights were great, no issues, and actually slept decently on the first flight which was overnight. We stayed in Airbnbs in each city that we went to and Venice was probably the nicest one we stayed in, right on a canal! While in Venice we visited the Murano glass museum, the Opera Museum, lots of wandering in the cute, narrow streets, took part in "ciccheti" (appetizers/happy hour), saw the Rialto Bridge, Bridge of Sighs, and St Mark's Basilica and Square. We took multiple water buses throughout our time in Venice which was definitely unique to this city! We popped in and out of stores for some shopping. We had a really nice little croissant and coffee breakfast along a canal one morning. And one particular night we went to a steak restaurant that had good-looking pasta on the menu, however instead of ordering said pasta, we were talked into wayyyy too much steak. You will see the photo below... We did however, take it for leftovers. We did not take one of the classic gondolas while we were in Venice as they are very expensive and definitely a tourist trap! Not that we are always above tourist traps! 

We were surprised at the relative lack of tourists in Venice which was nice because many of the streets are very narrow so we could easily imagine how crowded it might get in their peak tourist season! It was fun to have Venice as our first stop because it felt very quintessential Italy. It was exactly like we pictured! 

Layover in Munich!

Flying over the Alps into Venice!

First meal - Pizzacoccia. So good!!

Our Airbnb! 

Our ridiculously large Steak dinner that we were up-sold on, clearly...

Taking a short Crossword puzzle break!

While we were in Venice we obviously did not have a car, so we took a bus back to the airport to get a rental car for the rest of our trip. Our first stop was off to the town of Maranello where the Ferrari museum is! It seemed like the whole town was all about Ferrari, including the place we went to for lunch that had engines as part of the decor and the classic Ferrari red as a key color theme. This was one of our highlight meals of the trip. After the museum we finished the drive into Bologna where we stayed for only one night. This was one of the highlights of the trip because bologna in particular is known for their food so we did an amazing food tour! I think the unique part about it was not only were we trying a lot of really delicious food, we were getting history along the way. We tried various Italian meats and cheeses, a couple of pastas, got to see the pasta-making in action, tried a "rice cake" more of a true cake than something you might picture from Quaker! And of course wine and espresso, oh and croissants! Bologna was definitely a very young crowd, which we learned is apparently because the University has 200,000 students! We thought ASU was big! 

A random, pretty park in Parma!

Ferrari Museum

Bologna is known for their porticos - as seen here! 

After our food tour we hit the road again, this time stopping briefly in Parma where we popped into a church, Jeremiah bought some Parmesan cheese to bring home (which we have since tried and it is fantastic!), and just wandered the streets a little bit! We did a lot of wandering if you haven't already figured that out! Then it was on to Cinque Terre - perhaps my favorite stop! Though it is really hard to choose. Cinque Terre literally means "Five Lands" because it is five different towns nestled right along the Western Coast of Italy, all within hiking, or driving, distance of each other. They each have these notable colorful houses and, since they are right on the coast, are very hilly towns. Unfortunately as we were driving in the fog started to set in and right after we arrived it was full-on raining! An unfortunate turn of events since we were planning to do some hiking and our Airbnb was actually situated between two towns, not within any one town. And the drive was, well, precarious. So the first night we arrived, fortunately we had some leftovers (from the absurdly large steak dinner pictured above) and misc grocery items that did the trick for dinner! The next morning it was still raining, but our weather apps showed that it was supposed to clear out so we just took a slow morning and by around 11 am the rain was clearing up. Even so, we figured trails would be a little bit muddy so we drove in to our first town where we got lunch and, what do you know, wandered! There were a lot of very picturesque views so we had some fun taking photos along the way! We then drove back to our Airbnb where we left the car and by this time the trails were great! So we hiked into our 2nd of the 5 towns. From there we took a train to the 3rd and 4th, and then hiked back to our Airbnb from the 4th. So we missed one of the towns, but they are all pretty similar so we didn't feel like we missed out on anything. We also picked up sandwiches for dinner and had dinner on the patio of our Airbnb looking out onto the ocean. It was a view we will never forget!

Pesto with giant gnocchi

Dinner on the patio of our Airbnb!

The view when we first arrived...

Versus the view the next day!

After two nights in Cinque Terre we headed out for a quick stop in Pisa to see the leaning tower of course! It really is remarkable how much it leans! You can climb up the tower but we chose to just see it from the outside and visit inside some of the other buildings in the same square. We visited the best church up to this point, a really unexpectedly beautiful one, the baptistery, and a couple of museums. And got in some classic photos with the leaning tower. We grabbed lunch while in Pisa and then hit the road to Florence. By the way, Tommy and I were the alternating drivers over the course of this trip. This is a detail I am adding in to remember when I read back on this some day, not necessarily for any of you reading this! We had no issues with taking a car around and it was really nice to be able to stop in some smaller towns along the way and stay in a couple of more interesting locations!

Now, on to Florence! Perhaps my favorite larger city destination... Though typing out all of my thoughts in this reflective way is making me thinking that maybe Venice was my favorite. Like I said, it was very close! When Jeremiah and I were in Europe last time we did a few free walking tours where you just pay your guide in tips, so we looked into those again and ended up doing one in Florence! It was a great way to kick off the city because it is a great overview of some of the history and main places to visit. Some of the other highlights in Florence consisted of the Duomo, a climb up into the bell tower next to the Duomo, The Uffizi Gallery, Galleria dell'accademia, Ponte Vecchio, and Piazza Michelangelo. In Piazza Michelangelo it was a really gorgeous view of Florence since it is set up a little bit higher and so we had quite the time taking a ton of photos! Emily was really great throughout the trip at making sure we got plenty of good photos both of sights and of us! Some food highlights in Florence consisted of gelato (which we had nearly every night of our trip), delicious pizza at Gusta Pizza, a pear and asparagus pasta (per Jeremiah - I unfortunately did not order that but the taste I had was delicious), and yummy acai bowls for breakfast. Oh and we got boba while we were in Florence. Not Italian at all, but it sounded good and we were on vacation! My brother would be so proud, he loves boba! We stayed in another great Airbnb here with an amazing location just a couple of blocks from the Duomo. On a random note, most all of our Airbnbs had heated towel racks in the bathrooms. Not sure if that is a European thing just because or if it is to dry things more easily since most people don't have dryers... Either way it felt like a nice little luxury! Anyway, we were in Florence for a total of 3 nights and then we were on our way deeper onto Tuscany! Florence is in Tuscany, but the city center obviously doesn't really have the feel or look you may imagine for Tuscany.

This is me being very nervous about sitting on the slick railing that had quite a drop off on the other side! 

The photo was not supposed to include the jackets...

A behind-the-scenes of a committed shot.

So how better else to start the true Tuscany experience than with a wine tasting? I am not a big fan of wine, but I decided to give it my best shot while at the tasting. Fortunately when they brought out 4 wines only one of them was red, so 3 of them were easier to sip on! Part of the experience was a tour of the place as well and I didn't really know anything about the wine-making process so it was informative and a really beautiful place! This was Ruffino wine, by the way. After we enjoyed the wines with individual plates of meats and cheeses, we finished the drive in to Siena. This was a much hillier town than we had been to so far and it had a really cute main square. It definitely felt a little bit quieter and more peaceful as far as cities went. While in the city center we listened to a Rick Steves audio guide that took us around the city and laid out some of the history of the city. Then we headed to our Airbnb outside of the city, a little house on a larger property amongst many vineyards! Gorgeous! We dropped our bags and turned right around to walk around the area. Unfortunately all the vines were looking very dead, but it was still beautiful, green rolling hills that we could just imagine how much more beautiful they would be with full vines! That night we had pre-planned this private dinner right in our Airbnb. Our host had sent many options for activities/experiences you could add on to your stay, so we opted for the dinner and it was such a good idea. Definitely one of the best experiences of the trip. Our host and his girlfriend came over (with their dog Mimi) and prepared us a 3-course meal along with a wine that he made on his vineyard. The wine was aged, I believe three years, and they had bottled it only 2 days prior. Really cool to hear him explain the notes that we were supposed to be tasting and even how the artwork on the bottle came to be. I am making it sound like a small vineyard, but he actually has quite a large operation. This was a batch of 2000 bottles. So I took a couple of sips to be polite and quickly passed it off to Jeremiah when he wasn't looking... I was told by the other three that the wine was delicious! We even brought a bottle home! And the food they prepared was really good!! A gnocchi with sausage, onions, and gorgonzola (not my favorite at all generally, but somehow delicious in this meal. Fortunately very subtle), and a bacon-wrapped minced meat dish. And for dessert strawberries with sugar and lime. We definitely felt very fancy with basically a personal chef for the evening! As I mentioned, his girlfriend was there as well and we found out in talking with her that she runs a stable where she raises race horses for clients. Well, she invited us to the stable if we felt so inclined and we thought that would be fun - and Emily is a huge animal lover! So the next day, we went to the stables in the afternoon! But first, we went to local hot springs! It was kind of a resort setup, and it was a really great way to slow down and enjoy the views and rest our feet! Unfortunately since they were natural springs we smelled a little like rotten eggs after... But the horses did not care so that's where we went next! There were a ton of foals that had just been born, I'm talking within the past few days, weeks, and one only 6 hours previously! She showed us around and then unfortunately it was a bit of a crazy ending to the visit because one of the foals had gotten out of its stable somehow and as she/we approached it it started running away and toward a pond where it started to slide down the bank and could not get up out of it so she quickly rallied a few helpers one of which had to climb down and keep the horse from going deeper into the pond. It was quite an ordeal but fortunately they eventually got the foal back up and out... And then we felt like we were kind of in the way at this point and we headed out! When we got back to the Airbnb the heat was suddenly not working... including hot water. And don't forget we still smelled like rotten eggs! What timing! We contacted our Airbnb host and he fortunately had another Airbnb on the property that was vacant that we were able to shower in. That night we went to another delicious pizza place for dinner! I really loved the pizzas on the trip, but overall we all agreed that we can find some really delicious pizza that is comparable in the US, but the really good pastas we had never found anything comparable in the US. 

This was our Airbnb!

This was a foal whose mom died so they put a goat friend in their stable! Now she said they are best friends!

On a random note, most evenings when winding down and before bed we would often do the Wordle, Quordle, Heardle, and a couple of other word games we found. It was a fun little tradition we started! We also brought a couple of card games along on the trip that we did in the evenings here and there as well as an online Catan!

So after Siena it was on to Rome, our final destination! We tried to stop by another winery on our way, but when we got there they were not doing tastings yet so we just hit the road again and stopped for lunch a little closer to Rome. It was a pretty random spot off of the freeway, but it was really pretty good pasta! FYI, not every pasta dish we had was incredible! From there we obviously did not want our car in Rome City Center so we headed to the airport to drop the rental car and then got a shuttle van directly to our Airbnb. The nice thing about traveling as a group of 4 was that something direct like that split between 4 people worked out to the same as navigating public transport a lot of the time! We settled into our Airbnb and then headed out for another free walking tour! This one was specifically on Rome's city center. Rome obviously has a TON of history, so he could only touch on a fraction of it but it was a good starting place. Then we went to a restaurant and gelato place our tour guide recommended and then back to our Airbnb for the night. 

The next day was all about Vatican City! We explored the Vatican Museums which includes the Sistine Chapel, which strangely you are not supposed to take pictures in. Not sure why, but I caught a couple before I realized that was the case... And then did not delete them... We were stuck in the museum for lunch so we had the most ridiculous lunch that was overpriced and bad. Definitely the worst meal of the trip, we were laughing at how pathetic it was, but it made for a funny memory! The next part was a pre-booked tour of the "Scavi" which is this necropolis underneath St Peter's basilica, below the crypt even, that was at some point open air, but had been filled in by dirt many many years previously so that when the contemporary Basilica was built they did not know about the necropolis and only discovered it once they ran out of the space for the Pope's burial sites below the church and were looking to bury in a second deeper layer. It has since been carefully dug out and preserved and you can walk through this underground graveyard essentially! The tour was given by an American student-priest studying in Rome and the most interesting part of this is that this is the supposed burial site of St Peter himself! So we got to see that site which is right below the current alter of the Basilica - a couple of layers down! Then it was up to the highlight of the day, St Peter's Basilica! Wow, what a church!! By this point we had seen many churches but this one definitely blew the others out of the water. The scale and detail were truly incredible. We did another Rick Steves podcast for this building which was helpful to give us some more detail of the building and its history. While we were in the Basilica there was a small service of some sort as well which was kind of cool to see! After a full day in Vatican City we had another fancier dinner that definitely had one of my favorite dishes, a Parmesan risotto with red wine reduction. It was so good! I say the restaurant was fancier because it included a little pre-appetizer "courtesy of the chef" and when they brought out our main courses they brought a mini plate of each entree we had ordered for the others at the table to try! How genius is that?? We were all always trying each other's dishes anyway so this was perfect and so cute! Before going back to our Airbnb for the night we sat in one of the main piazzas and people watched and it was a really nice, quiet end to the day! 

Just stretching... And Tommy making fun of me in the background.

The Sistine Chapel!

The infamous lunch...

One of our many gelatos... Definitely the biggest serving we'd had! 

The next day was our last full day in Italy and this day was dedicated to Rome's ancient history! Well first thing that morning we actually all did our virtually-proctored Covid tests that had to be done in order to return into the US! I was of course a little bit nervous, just on the off chance it was positive, but all of us were of course negative, so that was taken care of and we could enjoy the rest of our day! We started out at the Colosseum which is fascinating just to think about how old the structure is yet how intact it still is and all of the events that took place there! I also found it particularly interesting just how much our stadiums still look like the Colosseum. The set up is so similar, even down to the way they would do tickets including section and row! We listened to yet another Rick Steves audio guide here! They were definitely coming in handy! Then we grabbed Trapizzino, a Roman street food, for lunch. Basically a sub of sorts! And after lunch the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill! Also just really incredible how old the sites were! We listened to, you guessed it, Rick Steves! After the Forum we popped into the Pantheon as well. For dinner we had another kind of street food, called suppli, essentially like arancini. They were delicious and a nice casual end to the day and to our whole trip! Over dinner we of course reminisced on our favorite cities, experiences, and meals and are already dreaming of our next trips both together and separately! 

The next morning we were up bright and early for our van pick-up back to the airport. There was a problem with our online check-in so we couldn't check in until we got to the airport and unfortunately that meant the last pick of seats. The first leg back to Munich was fine, but then from Munich to Denver Jeremiah and I were across the aisle from each other (not too bad), but Tommy and Emily were both in middle sites, one in front of the other... Not ideal at all but we all made it and they made their connecting flight from Denver to Phoenix without issue. We purposely flew home on a Saturday so that we would all have the next day to recover and get organized before back to the realities of work! Fortunately, you know that Jeremiah and I both are enjoying our jobs because we were looking forward to getting back to work! Perhaps it was more of the feeling of being in routine that we were looking forward to being back in too...

So that was it! Italy! So long-awaited and so well worth it! We are so happy that we got to go on this trip and that we got to go with our best friends. Many people wondered if we would still be friends after this long together and I am happy to report we all still get along great and would do it again! 

Here is a video of a compilation of clips we took along the way!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gc3IFRCC1y35Rfg3pu3wtApvJgIF9YYb/view?usp=drivesdk

Since we've been back we have been steadily filling our home with furniture and decor, working, pet sitting for friends, celebrating Easter with friends, and enjoying the weather as it has been warming up in Denver! In the next couple of weekends we host Jeremiah's family and then my parents, so we are looking forward to more hosting in our new home!