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2022
Lake Como, Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, Milan
September 3-17
Planning Notes
-We stayed at Airbnbs in each city due to the favorable price, space and desire to have a terrace.
-We used trains to navigate to each city as the public transportation is fantastic and very affordable.
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-Another couple joined us as it was their first trip to Europe. Based on our last trip, we decided to stay in the north, visiting two new places and two favorites.
Lake Como- 3 days
Day 1: Arrived via red eye flight. We decided to stay in the town of Varenna as it had its own train station, a big plus. Our Airbnb was minimalistic and many steps up but had two terraces with an amazing view of the lake. The top rated restaurant in Varenna was unfortunately closed for the week so we had to pivot and most place were full. Wound up at Bar Il Molo near the lake, which was hit and miss and in our opinion, not up to par with other Italian places. Finished the day with wine on the terraces overlooking the lake at night.
Day 2: Explored Varenna, which is a small town, somewhat similar in size to the villages in Cinque Terre. Today was a hike to Castello di Vezio. It was not a very difficult hike and well worth it as we had lunch at the top and were able to explore around, in and under the castle! Dinner that evening was at La Vista on the rooftop of Albergo Milano, which had a good amount of vegetarian dishes for our friends and a stunning view.
Day 3: We had plans to go paragliding but missed our train and was told that it would be too late to catch the next one. Lesson learned is to not always trust the app and make sure to know your train number! Instead we rented a boat and spent the day on the lake. We went north to see some of the other towns including Bellagio and stopped to swim. Dinner was pizza from the small place under our Airbnb which turned out to be our best meal so far.
Venice- 3 days
Day 1: Train to Milan, then to Venice and our first thought when walking out of the train station was that this was a magical place. Took a private water taxi to our Airbnb which was small but did have multiple bathrooms and terraces which was a plus. We stayed in the east end of the Dorsodouro neighborhood to be away from crowds, but not too far from the main sights. We hit up the local market for some supplies and had dinner at a recommended restaurant, Trattoria Da Johnny in a quiet part of the city. As with Varenna, we felt the food was good but not like our first visit. On the way back we stopped by St. Marks Square which is quite impressive at night.
Day 2: Unfortunately, upon waking up, I tested positive for Covid so I was in bed for the rest of Venice. Heather and our friends spend the day doing one of the best things you can do in Venice which is wandering through the city and all of the streets. They took in the sights of St. Marks Square, The Rialto Bridge, the Grand Canal and got to try cicchetti as well. Dinner was at a vegan restaurant which was decent and drinks were at a bar called Experimental where they made friends with the bartender, Lorenzo, who made and named a drink after our friend.
Day 3: Heather and the crew journeyed via water bus over to the Lido island to spend time at the Blue Moon Beach Club. While it was a bit chilly, they enjoyed relaxing and taking in the sights. The evening was spent on a gondola ride and dinner at Ristorante Florida with three times baked pizza overlooking the grand canal.
Florence - 3 days
Day 1: I'm feeling better and ready to move on to one of our favorite places, Florence. For this trip, we decided to stay in the middle of the city to be closer to the sights and had an amazing Airbnb with a rooftop terrace! Our friends went to anniversary dinner at Trattoria Za Za, which we went to last time. Heather and I got take away from the restaurant downstairs and spent the night enjoying the view from our terrace.
Day 2: Today's adventure was a trip out to Tuscany to ride vespas through the region! We all got quic and simple riding lessons and away we went, stopping at various points to see castles and vineyards. We had group lunch at a winery with homemade pasta and wine of course. Dinner at night was again at the downstairs restaurant where we made friends with the owner. Great food at great prices and some gelato afterwards to cap off a fantastic day.
Day 3: Wandering Florence is the agenda for the day. Starting at the Piazza del Duomo, then moving to the Piazza Signore to marvel at the Palazzo Vecchio, David replica and other statues. We travelled across the Ponte Vecchio and tried to go to the Giardinio Bardini only to find it closed. We pivoted and decided to take the trek up to Piazza Michelangelo stopping halfway up to for a Spritz. We enjoyed fantastic views from the piazza and then head back into the main part of the city. Got some focaccia for lunch, did some truffle tasting and enjoyed a pizza dinner on our rooftop terrace.
Day 4: Today was a unique experience as we booked a cooking class with Ileana. We started by going to the markets to pick out ingredients for our meal. We then went back to her apartment and started with a charcuterie board along with a spritz. Once that was done, we made dough and prepped two types of fresh pasta, tagliatelle and gnocchi. Afterwards, we prepped the other ingredients and started to make sauces. Once done, we all sat and ate our creations along with more wine. This was another big highlight of the trip and highly recommended. We ended the day chatting with our new friends at Trattoria de Maida, took some pictures and enjoyed our final night on the terrace.
Cinque Terre- 4 days
Day 1: Heather and I were very excited to be heading back to our favorite place we visited the first time around. This time we stayed in Vernazza, mainly for the Airbnb and it was definitely worth it. Despite the many many steps up (with luggage), the place was perfect for us and had a large terrace overlooking the ocean. We explored the town a bit and decided to revisit Il Pirate from last time. Much to our surprise, it is now only open for breakfast but we chatted with the owner who gave us each a glass of wine. We discovered most restaurants were booked so we pivoted, got a bunch of different take away focaccia and enjoyed the terrace.
Day 2: For ourselves and our friends we are duplicating one of our days from the last trip. We train to Corniglia, take the 350+ steps to town and proceed to hike the blue trail over to Manarola. This is the opposite direction as last time, which seems a bit harder, but we make it and enjoy views along the way. Once into Manarola, we head to the water to cool off, swim and rock jump again. While having aperitivo, we run into people from London that we met in Florence! We are able to get into a restaurant in Manarola for dinner and have a great seafood dinner. The night caps off with a repeat of wine and terrace of course.
Day 3: Today we venture over to Monterosso, one of the towns we had not visited yet. Known for its beaches, we found it quite crowded and less charming than the other towns. We did have a nice lunch at Cantina di Mikey overlooking the beach which was fantastic. We grab some souvenirs and head back to swim in Vernazza which was a bigger area than Manarola and very nice. We split up for dinner and head to our favorite spot in Manarola, Trattoria dal Billy. We got an amazing spot with sunset views and even bought two staff t-shirts to take home. We capped off the night with a bottle of prosecco to celebrate our last night here.
Milan - 1 day
Day 1: As with last time, we decide to travel to Milan and spend the night so we can be close to the airport for the next day. Before leaving Vernazza we visit our friend at Il Pirate for a great breakfast and head off to the train. We meet Giancarlo while waiting for our train to Milan and learn all about his life. Our Airbnb in Milan is right by the train station and perfect for our one night. We wander out and have our final dinner in Italy before heading off to bed and back home the next morning.
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