Italy in my life
I grew up listening to and watching Italian operas with my father and eating pasta almost every day, because my mother never liked rice and beans. However, Italy only really started to catch my attention after I watched the movies. Under the Tuscan sun and Eat, Pray, Love and I felt like I was living the experiences of the two actresses who wanted to start their lives over.
I I love stories of new beginnings, especially if they involve travel, so it was very easy for me to be enchanted by the little house in Tuscany Diane Lane (I made a point of visiting on this trip!) and for the wonderful meals at Julia Roberts cross country.
Me and the lack of interest in History
I know some people dream of visiting Italy because of the country's rich history, with all the ruins, historic buildings, artists and works of art, but I wasn't in that group until I got there. Maybe it's because I never liked history thanks to the terrible teachers I had in high school, but with Celo explaining the details to me and reading the travel guides, I'm starting to understand this feeling of enchantment with history.
Our itinerary and my impressions
After listening to several dear people and reading several guides and blogs about Italy, I made sure to include the attractions of the main cities in the itinerary, even knowing that they would always be crowded. To my frustration, I found most of the main attractions to be quite ordinary. Uffizi Gallery in Florence and the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican were the ones that disappointed me the most, to be honest.
The first is full of famous paintings and sculptures, which didn't catch my attention at all, and the Sistine Chapel is nothing more than a huge room with a WONDERFUL ceiling painted by the genius Michelangelo. Both attractions would be enchanting, in my opinion, if they had half the tourists that were there. To give you an idea, in the 15 minutes I spent in the Sistine Chapel trying to admire its ceiling, I heard security guards yelling at tourists every 10 seconds because it's not allowed to take photos and people insist on taking a photo to post on social media (where are we going, my God?).
The atmosphere was stressful, the jostling was a pain, the room was like an oven and the smell from the hundreds of people there was horrible, so for these reasons, I didn't think the experience was worth it. There's no denying that the ceiling is really beautiful, but I've seen so many beautiful ceilings in my life, that I wonder if this really is THE most beautiful. top of all, understand?
On the other hand, seeing the statue of David, perfect in every detail, also made by Michelangelo in Academy Gallery, return to time within the Coliseum on a sunny day and enter the Siena Cathedral were VERY worth it. We visited countless churches in the cities we passed through and they all really have their own charm, but after Siena, the ones that impressed us the most were Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran (Rome), for its incredible interior, and the Florence Cathedral, for its tricolor exterior and view of the dome (literally breathtaking – there are a lot of steps).
THE St. Peter's Basilica, in the Vatican, being the largest and most important of all the churches in the world, is also very beautiful and special, but the experience of visiting it would be much more pleasant and I would be able to appreciate it much better if the number of tourists inside were fewer. You have to be patient, it's no use.
Although I really liked the cities of Pomegranate, Florence, Siena and Bologna, I can't deny that what enchanted me most during the entire trip were the smaller towns of Tuscany, surrounded by majestic wineries. What a divine place, people! We visited Lucca, San Gimignano, Volterra, Monteriggione, Cortona, Montepuciano and Step, in that order, knowing on average two per day.
We visited Cinque Terre also, there are five colorful little towns on the cliffs of the west coast of Italy, they are Riomaggiore, Vernazza, Corniglia, Monterosso and Manarola. We stayed at La Spezia, following the tip of a dear friend, and we also met Portovenere, which is considered the sixth land and in my opinion, is the coolest of all. You can visit all 6 in just one day, by train or boat, but we set aside two days to enjoy it more calmly. Since it rained a lot while we were there, this second day was a bit dull, but it was great in the end because we finally got to rest. Some ills come for good. 🙂
Accommodation and transportation
We stayed in a charming villa right in the middle of these towns, so it was the perfect base for these trips. From there, we set off in the rental car to explore Tuscany in the most peaceful and romantic way possible.
Food and drinks
During the 14 days we spent in Italy, we feasted on the local cuisine and wines, as we had expected. We ate a lot pasta, ragù sauce (origin of our Bolognese), pizza, focaccia, Tuscan prosciutto (divine!), pecorino cheeses (my favorite!) and stracchino, succulent seafood and to our surprise, one of the best meats ever: the famous Florentine steak. It was delicious, but maybe because we made a point of choosing one of the best-rated restaurants for this dish, which costs on average 40 euros for two people. All the details are in post from Florence.
Regarding wines, we drink on average one bottle per meal, varying between house wines (those that come in glass bottles without labels and are cheaper) and more well-known wines. What a country to have good and cheap wine! We took the Brunello di Montalcino, which is one of the most famous in the region, and he won the award for our favorite. Oh, and of course we had a lot of ice cream (ice cream) also to finish messing around, right… Now, diet now!
In short, this trip was complete, just as I expected my first time in Italy to be. There was perfect food, impressive attractions, delicious wines, beautiful and not so hot days, typical hardships of a not so developed country that make us laugh, and the best part, he was by my side. Thank you, God, for yet another gift in my life! <3
Posts from this trip
Want to know more about THIS TRIP? See the posts below:
- Italy – Rome, Tuscany, Bologna and Cinque Terre (14 days -SUMMARY)
- Italy – Rome and Vatican (4 days)
- Italy – Bologna (1 day)
- Italy – Tuscany – Summary (4 days)
- Italy – Tuscany – San Gimignano and Volterra (1 day)
- Italy – Tuscany – Florence (2 days)
- Italy – Tuscany – Lucca (1 day)
- Italy – Tuscany – Monteriggioni and Siena (1 day)
- Italy – Tuscany – Montepulciano and Cortona (1 day)
- Italy – Tuscany – Pisa (1 day)
- Italy – Cinque Terre (2 days)
Other trips around Italy
If you want to know more about our other trips around Italy, see below:
