I left on April 26th for an 8 day trek through Italy. This was such a special trip and it was incredibly difficult to leave the country as I really loved the culture and especially the weather (thanks for awakening my danish skin). Katie and I completed the entire trip together and shared a day in Venice and the time in Florence with Ali and met up with Jac in Florence for a day. I really enjoyed being able to see 3 cities in one go and will miss the fresh tomatoes, the amazing and cheap wine, and how nice and hospitable the Italians were to us. I'm really hoping to return to Italy sometime in the near future.
Wednesday, April 26th: Copenhagen to Venice
We left early in the morning for our flight to Milan. We had to take a bus and two trains (had my first Italian panini and a beer on the train) to Venice and arrived at our airbnb near San Marco in the late afternoon. After readjusting ourselves, we went to Bacaro Risorto for some cichetti and wine. I had amazing speck caprino and bacalla alla vicentina and the red wine was amazing. It really set the tone for the rest of the trip. We then got lost but saw Rialto Bridge, San Marco square, Doges Palace, wandered the canals and streets, and ended up making our way to the Jewish Ghetto area. We then grabbed dinner at Osteria al Mariner near the Jewish Ghetto area. Katie and I obviously messed up and were super American and dipped our bread into olive oil and balsamic. The waiter looked at us weirdly and we just had to accept what we did at that point. I had cuttlefish in its own ink and it was pretty good. I knew I had to get seafood in Italy because it's regional to the area. We then walked home in the rain, grabbed our first Italian gelato and I got tiramisu and it was amazing.
Thursday, April 27th: Venice
We first hit Rosa Salva for a delicious morning pastry and enjoyed our cappuccino while standing at the bar like a local Italian. Then we bought a day vaporetto ticket and went to the islands of Murano and Burano. We walked around Murano and got genuine glass from this artist who allowed us to watch him make some of his art. I got my mom a glass sheep and I really think she'll like it because it's from a local seller who is preserving the history of murano glass against the stores that import glass. The artist was also a pretty funny guy. While walking around murano we also saw a few guys blow glass and the whole thing is incredible. I have no idea how they don't seriously injure themselves. We then took another ferry to Burano, an island known for lace and really colorful homes. Although it was raining, it didn't take away from the island's colors at all. We first grabbed some pizza from Devil's Pizza (tasted like traditional NYC pizza but with much fresher ingredients). We then explored the island and the colorful homes. We then took a ferry back to Venice and caught another ferry to bring us around the Grand Canal.We got to see some really gorgeous buildings from the boat and the rialto bridge. I love how a lot of the buildings are only accessible by boat, it's so unique that an entire city is built on the water and really depends on water transportation. We then met up with Ali who arrived in Venice and let her into the air bnb. We relaxed a bit then went for an early dinner at Osteria Nono Risorto. We all got aperol spritzes, shared an amazing verdura pizza to start and then I got spaghetti with clams and mussels. The food was amazing and we spent around 3 hours just catching up over really great food and wine. We then left the restaurant, walked around a little bit more (it was still raining), and ended up watching a game and talking to kids studying abroad in Venice at a bar where we obviously got more aperol spritzes. On the way home, we grabbed some gelato and I tried the noce e fichi (walnut and fig) gelato and it was amazing.
Friday, April 28th: Venice to Florence
Our train wasn't until the afternoon and we wanted to make the most of our morning in Venice. We started off with a chocolate croissant and a cappuccino and then explored the inside of Doge's Palace. This was the residence of the Doges in Venice who were the supreme authority, there is also a prison and court system inside the building. There were rooms with amazing art, especially Il Paradiso which was this magnificent painting that's massive and had to be completed in original parts. It's incredible how much symbolism there is in renaissance painting, and I always feel very uncertain or confused while looking at it but the gold and colors are just spectacular. After Doge's, we went shopping. Katie bought this beautiful mask for Haley (which was so cool and she will absolutely love it), Ali bought murano glass for her mom, and I bought this funny "Venetian papi" glass for James. One thing I realized is that shopping in Italy is so so so much fun, the people are great, and you can bargain with them. This will become a theme for the trip (s/o to leather market in florence). We then somehow found ourselves on a gondola tour of Venice and Tobias our driver was very italian, pretty cute, and so nice. He took us through the canals and then out into the open water of the Adriatic and it was so much fun. We then grabbed some amazing to-go pasta from Dal Moro's. I got arrabiata pasta with mozz and a bellini and you could taste how fresh the pasta was by its thickness. We then went back to the airbnb to grab our stuff, walked to the train station, and hopped on our train to Florence connecting in Ferrara.
We checked into our airbnb in Florence by meeting with the host's husband who was so nice and adorable. The apartment was very cute because it was like it's own little Tuscan home. One thing we realized is that we were right in the middle of the going out scene (which is obviously fun but also very loud at night esp for someone who is sick @katie) We relaxed for a bit, picked up some snacks and wine, and hiked up to Pizzale Michelangelo to watch the sunset. Here we realized how there were so many American students studying abroad in Florence. It also started to hit me that Italy (or at least the major cities) are pretty touristy which is very different from Copenhagen. We watched the sunset and enjoyed our time, then walked to Gusta Pizza. Unfortunately the line was really long, so we ended up eating at Ristorante Borgo Antico. This was a great meal and we were able to sit outside. I ordered tagliatelle with boar in tomato sauce and it was delicious. I also complimented it with an amazing glass of wine. Ali got pizza too, and I had a piece and the sauce was soooo fresh and sweet without the nastiness of added sugars. We then walked around the area, crossed Ponte Vecchio, and walked past Palazzo Vecchio. We then grabbed gelato and I got two flavors: chocolate with orange and chocolate with hazelnut from Gelateria Dei Neri and it was so good (probably best gelato yet). We then went back to the airbnb and crashed.
Saturday, April 29th: Florence
We woke up early this morning, and Ali and I headed to the Cathedral of Santa Maria Fiore (grabbing a pastry and massive capp on the way). It took us a while to figure out how it all worked, but we ended up walking inside to see the church and saw the basement that had old ruins leftover. It was pretty interesting learning how the church was constructed, however, the outside of it was a lot more beautiful than the inside. Katie met up with us and we hiked up to the top of the bell tower. We had a great view of Florence and the duomo and it was so beautiful. We then attempted to go to All'Antico Vinaio for paninis but the line was sooo long so we ended up getting paninis next door at La Fettunta. They also had amazing wine and the coolest wooden dispenser. We then enjoyed our paninis in Palazzo Vecchio listening to a guy play his guitar. We then walked to the leather market and met Abby's friend Alex and this is when I proceeded to ball out on leather. Approx. $500 and 2 hours later, I bought my mom a tote bag, myself a backpack, my dad a wallet, and gioia a keychain. Somehow, I also ended up kissing the guy who sold us the leather. It was such a strange but fun experience. We then went to Uffizi, saw some great art (Michelangelo and Leonardo, the boyz), and chilled outside afterwards. We then walked to Osteria Santo Spirito for an amazing dinner. I got half portions or rigatoni with dried ricotta cheese and tomatoes and gnocchi in this creamy truffle sauce. It was soooo good. Ali and I also started off with some aperol spritzes and had amazing wine afterwards. We finished up dinner, ended up going back to Gelateria Dei Neri for more gelato, then went back to the airbnb to chill. Ali and I went out later that night for drinks (so fruity and fresh, basically no alcohol) at Eby's (the guy who looks like einstein)
Sunday, April 30th: Florence
Jac was able to come meet up with us and we left early in the morning to go to the Accademia to see the Statue of David. He was soooo much bigger than I thought he would be. His hands are so not proportionate to his body, and it's cool because there are a lot of interpretations of David and Michelangelo's interpretation is one of the few portraying him before the fight. After Accademia we went to get brunch at La Vespe (very american, had some amazing eggs and potatoes and an iced coffee). We then walked around, checked out the leather market again, and then went to Mercato Centrale (which was this massive market- absolutely loved it). I bought some pasta and spices from this cute Italian man. We picked up some cheese, crackers, grapes, and wine for a picnic later in the day. We also walked around the second floor which had a ton of food options. Katie and I both got cannolis which had delicious ricotta cheese. We then picked up my leather (avoiding the guy we kissed but met his brother), dropped it off at the airbnb, then walked to Pitti Palace attempting to get into the garden. Unfortunately, the line was so long, so we found another park and laid out for a few hours. The four of us just chilled, had big talk, and caught up. We picked up some amazing cheese and it went so well with the wine. We then walked back to the airbnb, dropped off leftovers, and walked to Pizzale Michelangelo. We hiked up even further to see the Church of San Salvatore al Monte. It was beautiful inside and the church had these massive doors that opened up to the view of Florence. We also saw a bride and her groom take photos. We then walked down to Pizzale Michelangelo and watched the sunset. We refreshed at the airbnb, then walked to Trattoria Za Za for dinner. We had an amazing and long dinner here, I somehow ended up with this weird tuna pasta dish (always struggle at ordering). One thing I know about myself is that I absolutely love long dinners. As we finished 2 bottles of wine between the 4 of us, we walked around (it was supposed to be this annual night called bianca notte) and took really funny photos outside the beautiful Santa Maria church. We then went to this bar that was built for study abroad American students. I enjoyed a peroni with Jac and Katie, chilled with some people from SLC, met some Texan guys who work for Accenture and just studied abroad (they told us about their travels all the while he was leaning over me and breathing into my ear, katie and i were also just joking around the entire time), and ended up going home to crash.
Monday, May 1st: Florence to Rome
Ali got up pretty early to leave for her flight from Pisa. Jac, Katie, and I got up a couple of hours later, cleaned up, and left to catch our trains. This may be my last time seeing Ali and Jac until August- which is crazy! Katie and I arrived in Rome and hiked it to our airbnb (took us like an hour) but it was really cool because we passed so major sites like the colosseum and forum. We checked into our airbnb, chilled for a little bit, then left to explore Travastere. We grabbed pizza from Dar Poeta (amazing tomato sauce- this will be missed so much!), walked around some more and into churches (one of my favorites was in Travestere), then walked to Campo del Fiore (a massive outdoor market) and continued to Trevi Fountain. We then walked to the Forum, then into the old Jewish ghetto, and got dinner at Nonna Betta. Amazing wine, had delicious lasagna with roman style artichokes, and met this guy who went to school in Paris, lived in London for a couple of years and now works in Japan (goals). After dinner, we walked around some more, walked around Travestere, got amazing gelato then went back to the airbnb to crash.
Tuesday, May 2nd: Rome
We woke up early for our Viator tour to see the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peters Basilica. It was great that we had a tour because I learned about the imagery and symbolism of the sistine chapel and wouldn't have paid attention to the beautiful colors without our guide telling us to do so. She was also the most adorable little italian lady. I also learned a lot about St. Peter and how important he is to the faith. The Basilica is massive and you would have no idea what was happening in the other side of the church. Katie and I went underground and saw past pope's tombs and also saw a wedding procession. I really really enjoyed seeing the vatican and the basilica. It was amazing to be in a place where so many people want to go. It kind of felt like you were apart of something bigger and I did learn a lot more about Christianity (which i kept pronouncing like Christania) We then grabbed some food at Panino Davino, again the people were so nice there. The Italians are very hospitable and that's one thing I would like to do more. Be a really gracious and warm host, and provide the tastiest food. Afterwards, we grabbed one of the best gelatos of the trip from Old Bridge Gelateria and it was amazing. We were actually surrounded by a bunch of kids from Brigham Young University, I felt so close to home. We then picked up our tickets to see the pope on wednesday from the Swiss Guards and then walked to Castel Sant'Angelo. This was an old fortress/castle/apartments for the pope that was built in the 2nd century. There was a great view of Rome from the top. We then exited, saw a crowd gathering around these musicians, and wanted to see what was going on. We literally spent an hour waiting to only see this really strange 80s runway show. It was hilarious but such a waste of time. We then walked to the Spanish Steps and this is where Carlo Petrini protested the development of a McDonalds. It was so cool to finally see where it happened after learning and being so involved in Slow Food. Turns out there is a McDonalds less than a 2 minute walk away :( we then decided to go see the Borghese Gallery. Turned out it was closed but we walked through this beautiful park that was such a great escape from the crowded city. The trees in Rome are crazy and I think its because they sort of remind me of African trees given how close the continents are. We then went back to the Spanish Steps, walked inside a beautiful church near there, and proceeded to Pincio Promenade to watch the sunset. This is where the sunset in Florence was a lot better. The promenade wasn't very beautiful, no where to sit, plus we didn't have a bottle of wine. We hung out there for a few minutes and then walked to where we had reservations. We went to Ditirambo for dinner and it was aboslutely amazing. They had a few items on the menu that were slow food certified which was awesome. It was really cute inside and very romantic. Katie and I split a .175 liter of wine, shared these amazing truffle cheesy potato slivers and I ordered this ravioli special of the night. It was sooo amazing, and I'm not even sure what was in it. But it was delicious. We then walked back home as we were absolutely exhausted from the day and crashed.
Wednesday, May 3rd: Rome
We woke up early again to go get our seats to see the Pope at the Vatican. We had a bit of an issue getting our two pastries of the morning (didn't have any cash) and we dealt with a very scary Italian man but found our way out of the situation. I grabbed another cappuccino on the way as I really wanted to be amped to see the Pope. We found great seats next to the area that the Pope will drive by. An Irish choir sat down next to us, started singing, and it was so wonderful. They had the cutest accents and I wanted to squeeze all of them. Katie and I chilled for a while but the Pope eventually rolled out in his little car and started to drive around waving to everyone. Everyone started to freak out and yell "Papa Francesco" He drove by where we were seated twice and I got a decent selfie with the man. They then proceeded the service that was conducted in multiple languages. It started to get pretty hot but again I really loved being inside the Vatican, with a bunch of people, who were all there to see the Pope. It's amazing how people can just gather behind one idea or person and I hope that a lot of us all share the common interest of being good, generous, and forgiving people. After he finished up, Katie and I hung around for a little bit to just watch what was going on. We then walked to my favorite spot in all of Rome. It's called L'Antica Salumeria and its next to the Pantheon. It's the cutest little shop with a ton of paninis, pastries, and all of these Italian products from around the country. It really reminded me of Slow Food's mission and goal to protect food heritage and history, and not lose it to mass supermarkets and the merging of food cultures. I somehow ended up with two paninis. The meat was so salty and fresh in one panini and the other had the most amazing mozz and the sweetest tomato. We then made our way to the Colosseum and the Forum. We got an audio guide for the Colosseum and it's amazing how there is this whole architecture underneath where they battled where they kept the lions and hippos in pens. It was so cool to be walking around such an old but globally known structure. We then proceeded to the Forum and just strolled around reading various blurbs. One of my favorite things about Rome is how you can just continually run into amazing history wherever you are in the city and I can't believe I was just hanging out in this ancient city that was excavated like 30-40 years ago. We then went to check out this massive white building that would make anyone think it was from anicent times as well; however, apparently Mussolini just built it when he was in power as a monument to his army. We then printed out our Ryan air tickets before deciding where to eat dinner. We tried getting into one of the first slow food certified restaurants; however, they were all booked up so we went to this wine bar called VinAllegro and enjoyed a nice glass of prosecco. We then walked to one of Jac's favorite restaurants, Vecchia Locanada. It was soooo boujey but we weren't surprised at all and loved the place. The owners were so nice. I, of course, had to get my last glass of wine in Italy, a Roman artichoke, and also this amazing tomato pasta dish. I couldn't have asked for a better last meal. Katie and I just hung out there for a while, then made our way to the Trevi Fountain to watch it at night (where we saw a lady jump in and proceeded to get arrested), and just people watched. We tend to do this in a lot of places we go and I think it's totally fine. It was amazing being there at night and seeing so many happy people, it makes me so happy. We then got our last Italian gelato from Frigidarium. I balled out and got 3 flavors (oh boy) and dipped in chocolate and it was the holiest of experiences. We then just walked around the city and Travestere, watched Italians who just hang out on steps ( i love it and im going to bring it back) and made our way to the air bnb to pack and go to sleep for an early wake up call.
Thursday, May 4th: Rome to Copenhagen
Katie and I got up mad early to haul our stuff across the city. We did it in about an hour and I'm very proud of us. We boarded the bus, got to CIA, had the nastiest pastry, and then left to go home. I slept pretty much all day when I got back, which was about what I had planned to do to recover.
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For a long time while abroad, I really didn't think I was going to make it to Italy. I was supposed to be on a tour of Denmark during this weekend, plus I missed 3 classes (don't tell the rents) but it was all soooo worth it. This was probably one of my favorite trips because we got to see everything we wanted to, I got to shop for my family, I ate amazing food and drank even better wine (#1), and I got to do it with some of my closest friends. The cities were so different from each other (Venice: a city built on water for trade, Florence: so romantic and beautiful in the Tuscan foothills, Rome: very busy city but an ancient ruin every time you turn a corner) but they had so many similarities too (the hospitable, passionate, and generous Italians, the magic of Italy, and of course the delicious food and wine). While I was there, I was thinking about my parents and how much they would love this country. I really want them to travel here and enjoy it all. And, I also can't wait to make it back again. Ciao.
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