BUON VIAGGIO ITALIA!!

Buon giorno tutti!! Apologies for a very very late entry on our wonderful week in Italy. We are nearly through our time in India, and have already finished our trip through Egypt as well, but would like to share some of the experiences we had during our final stop in Europe since we finally have some time to write – and there is a lot to share

In summary, the trip in Italy was amazing. We had a fantastic time and really liked everywhere we saw and everything we did. For several reasons, our favorite place in Italy was Bolsena, where we stayed for four nights in an ancient cave-like basement apartment that belongs to Alessandro (Ale), one of Sal’s good friends and roommate from his time in Australia. The house was created inside the 1,000 year old wall of the castle – complete with a super old wine cellar, which was hand-dug by pick axes hundreds of years ago (2 stories deep!) – so cool and original!

We loved the laid-back atmosphere of the village, beautiful Bolsena lake and the vacation homes near it, Bolsena castle and its incredible museum with amazing artifacts from up to 3,000 years ago…!! (that’s B.C. ya’ll) and the little known Roman ruins that were recently opened to the public for FREE entry and are still being excavated.  There were only two other people there at the ruins with us, and the guest book showed that only about 10 people per day visit the site, but it is pretty big and there are lots of really interesting ruins there! We doubt it will be free for long. The last time Sal visited Bolsena, the the whole area was closed off.

We also saw ruins at Ostia Antica (the ancient Roman seaport very near to Fiumicino airport) as well as the excavations at Herculaneum (Ercolano, in Italian). Both were very cool, and very impressive, but the fact that the Bolsena ruins are less than a quarter mile from where we were staying and free for entry was really, really cool!

For dinner one night, we found a good pizza place in Bolsena, down the hill from the apartment that serves pizzas for a reasonable price that are WAY bigger than a dinner plate. We had Capriciossa (ham, olive, artichoke, mushroom, onion) and Quattro Stagioni (4 seasons) pizzas there that were excellent and very very filling, for only about 7 euro – pretty cheap for a big tasty meal in Italy, which is molto expensivo.

Bolsena is also in a nice location, overlooking a large lake, and was a convenient home base as it is about halfway between Rome and the main sights in Tuscany.

We were so fortunate to be invited to meet up for lunch in Orvieto one day with Claudio, Ale’s dad, at Mezza Luna – his favorite restaurant where he eats lunch EVERY day and has done so for the past 35 years!!! We had to both order their house special, the unbelievably delicious spaghetti carbonara (al dente perfetto!), which Sal had once before and never forgot.  Best pasta of Sal’s life, and he didn't want it to end! So stuffed from our meal, we watched in amazement as Claudio put down all his carbonara, and then also ordered a veal steak and french fries and bread... he ate.it.all. How do Italians eat SO much and stay in good shape? We don't understand how it’s possible. If we ate JUST the carbonara every day we would gain tons of weight! haha

Having our own car in Italy was AMAZING. Alessandro had recommended this option rather than taking trains and it definitely gave us a whole new level of freedom and an ability to explore less frequented destinations. This was especially true in Tuscany, where driving down country roads, winding past fields of sunflowers (girasoli, in Italian), stopping at little hilltop villages and trying local foods and wines was such a highlight of our trip!

Sal amongst his beloved girasoli! :)

The biggest downside of having a car in Italy is the cost – gas costs roughly $8/gallon (1.60 euro/liter) throughout Italy (and here we thought $4/gallon was a sign of the apocalypse!), and when you add in the HUGE highway tolls and car rental prices the cost of a car rental adds up quickly. Trains are relatively expensive as well though, and in the end the freedom and fun of a car for this week was worth the extra cost, since it was our only car rental of the entire trip.

The key to "Tony" --our little white rental FIAT <3

As a side note, Sal did a stellar job of driving the whole time in Italy, covering at least..."1/6" the country! ;) My eyes could not have handled all of that road time, especially on mountain cliff roads with pedestrians and mopeds jumping in front of the car at random, all the time.

Of the hilltop villages in Tuscany (and Umbria/Lazio), we LOVED some lesser known towns like Montefiascone, Bolsena as we've said and Orvieto. The towns all have a great feel, great sights, and great history. We loved chatting with locals who are passionate about their cities, and since the huge tourist crowds haven’t hit there, they are happy to have you there, sampling the local specialties and seeing the sites.

By comparison, the more famous walled cities known for their romantic feel (like San Gimignano and Siena, for example) were too crowded with tourists to really get the relaxed feel that we were looking for. They are still beautiful places to visit with lots of charm, history and beauty, but we did consistently prefer the ‘off the beaten path’ towns to these tourist juggernauts. And the best thing about this region is that there are HUNDREDS of these hidden gems!Just bring your translation book or brush up on your Italiano, as many don't speak English in these hill towns.

Unfortunately, like San Gim and Siena, the crowds have also reached one of Sal’s most anticipated places: the Cinque Terre, five colorful, ‘sleepy’ fishing villages in NW Italy on the Mediterranean coast, linked only by windy mountain roads and rocky hiking trails.  They ain’t sleepy no more... We stopped by three of the five towns, but they were too crowded and parking too hard to find, so we didn’t spend a full day there as we had hoped. We still want to visit there again one day and hike between the towns, but we will wait to do this in an ‘off peak’ month away from the crowds.

One of the fishing villages in Cinque Terre, Italia

One of our favorite nights was at the Saturnia thermal baths. Per Ale’s suggestion we went here just after sunset – the baths are a cascade of warm water down a beautiful hill (warmest water near the top of the hill!).  Lit only by starlight and moonlight, we shared the strong sulfur-smelling pools (a nice throwback memory to Iceland!) and mini-waterfalls with dozens of locals who had also come here to enjoy the therapeutic waters after a long day. So fun and relaxing!

Alessandro and his dad Claudio have two fantastic apartments in Bolsena – the basement apartment that we stayed in and another, larger two story house (part of the original thousand-year old castle wall itself!!) that is lovely.  For anyone looking for a relaxed and authentic vacation in Italy we would HIGHLY recommend staying in Bolsena!  We know that Claudio rents out both houses for a reasonable price, so if interested let us know and we’ll inquire with them about dates :)

The Bolsena castle village is overrun with cats!

Delicious birthday cake with nutella and whipped cream!

One other highlight was Jill's birthday! It was special from start to finish, with warm and delicious breakfast cappuccinos in Sorrento, a cruise along the Amalfi Coast by day and dinner back in Bolsena by night -- complete with an incredible birthday cake the restaurant whipped up for us on the spot when Sal told them with pointing gestures directed at the back of Jill's head "BUON COMPLEANNO" until they understood he was trying to celebrate a birthday at our table! hahaha it was a blast!

Toward the end of the week we took a day trip to Rome, and had a nice meet up with Phil, a friend of Sal’s who’s studying to become a Catholic priest in Opus Dei. We went to some great places in Rome as well -- the old city (i.e. the Roman Forum, Colosseum, Arch of Emperor Constantine), the famous Pantheon building which so many more modern buildings, including the White House, were architecturally inspired by, the Trevi Fountain where for tradition’s sake you face away from the fountain and toss a coin in over your shoulder and make a wish to return to Rome one day, and a VERY strange church that has five rooms in the basemen/crypt which are elaborately decorated with the bones and mummies of the former friars! There was a head “enterprising” friar in the 16th or 17th century who decided to make this 'art work' out of the former friars' bones which had previously filled the crypt in haphazard piles. In the last room he wrote something like "What you are now, we once were. What we are now, you will be"... very creepy but cool at the same time! This is why you travel, right?

Jill, Sal and Phil a Roma!



Jilvatore at the Colosseum



Overall we may have tried to do too much in Italy and in not enough time. We wanted to see Venice, Verona, Cinque Terre, Pisa, San Gimignano, Florence, Siena, Rome, Herculaneum/Ostia Antica, and the Amalfi Coast, as well as spend at least a couple days in the Bolsena/Orvieto area for relaxing and taking a break from the driving - all in eight days and seven nights!!  Somehow we did it all, on schedule, but by the end we felt tired before Egypt instead of feeling well rested in preparation for 40 degree heat and early wakeup times. At the same time though, I'm not sure if there is a single place that we went to that was not worth it (other than Genova. We’d take that back. We spent a night there and the whole experience was a NIGHTMARE).

All that aside, we loved our time in Italy – the food, culture, history and sights – and can’t wait to go back one day and see even more. Ciao!


Birthday Jill at an overlook near Rufulo gardens, on the Amalfi Coast




The beautiful Amalfi Coast, Italy



Sal and his girasoli <3