Eating our way through Italy

We did exactly that. I feel the need to talk about Italian cuisine first and foremost because of how wonderful it made our 10 day trek through Italy. For the most part of the journey, we were students on a budget. A tight budget. Meaning 1 euro pastries for breakfast, a panini from a cafe and a banana found at the nearest supermarket for lunch at a price that was normally less than 5 euro total, and an aperitif for dinner. Aperitifs were clutch because all we had to do was buy a drink/glass of wine at a wine bar and voila, an entire dinner buffet for free. Every once in awhile though, we would splurge. I mean, okay, yes we also bought gelato every day, but that was just our civil duty to do so. But boy, was splurging worth it. By the end of our trip, we were thinking about food, while talking about food, while eating food. Actually writing about the food we ate is making me hungry. I definitely ended up in the wrong country.

Every city we visited however, definitely had a different vibe, which was interesting because we only spent 4 days in any given place. I decided that I didn't have a favorite, and appreciate the cities for what they offer.

Rome: The Touristy Hot Mess
As many of you know, Rome is home to arguably the most incredible collection of Roman artifacts, monuments, and exhibitions. It didn't let me down. What I appreciated the most about Rome was the opportunity to peek around a corner and be surprised by the Colosseum peeking back at me. Up until our fourth day (when I finally became familiar with directions), this happened quite often and it never failed to surprise and delight me. Unfortunately I ate some bad pizza and came down with a nasty bout of food poisoning on our second day in, but luckily for me I had some incredible travel buddies who were more than accommodating and understanding*. Rome is big, loud, incredibly international, but also well worth the feast for your eyes.



The girls in front of the Colosseum and Arch


Standing in St. Peter's square, with the center of the square to my left and the Basilica in my sunglasses. Kudos to Katie for the photo cred.

Florence: Where the Fab Five come together
Florence felt more welcoming than Rome. It's not as international (we heard hardly any English), and more generous with its Italian culture. Everyone in Florence smiles at you as you walk in the door, go out of their way to make you feel important and satisfied, and generally want you to profit from Italy as much as possible. The perfect example: one night we decided to hit up a random bar we walked by for dinner due to its promotion of a 9 euro PITCHER of wine (who wouldn't want to profit from this deal?). We sat down at a round table with an Italian man (mid-30s), with a big thick bushy black beard and tattoos, who was chatting with a lady friend of his. His lady friend took a phone call, and 10 minutes later was still on the phone. Feeling friendly (and bummed for the guy), we started chatting. Found out his name is Fabiano (loved it), and that he owns a bar near the one we were at. He mentioned a Balkan band playing the next night, along with a great aperitif. Naturally we decided to go - I mean where else were we going to be? I think our decision to visit his bar really surprised and touched him, as we received multiple free shots, free cocktails, reduced wine bottle prices, and free tiramasu! Needless to say, we had the time of our lives that night, and the Fab Five was born (Fabiano being the centerpiece to our tight-knit gang of course).

Greve (Chianti region): A complete picnic dream
We decided to take a one-day side trip out to the Chianti region of Tuscany during our stay in Florence. Greve ended up being the city of choice for no other reason other than we heard it was "pretty". Pretty does not even begin to cover the rolling hillsides, crisp autumn air, breathtaking vineyards, and one incredible picnic. We spent a total of 4 hours sitting on the edge of a vineyard overlooking the landscape with nothing more than a pizza box and a bottle of wine.


One view of the landscape

Milan: The Silver City
I gave Milan this name because when I think of the atmosphere there, silver comes to mind. Silver is cold, sought-after, and expensive, which describes Milan perfectly. It was the chilliest city we visited, both temperature-wise and people-wise. MIlan seemed to be the most economically-focused city of the four we saw, with business men walking in suits everywhere, and a general feel of urgency in the air. Milan is also home to the best designer shopping in Europe, which made it really hard to find cheap places to eat. It's an incredibly urban city, with smog that never lifted during our 2 days there.

The girls I went with were so much fun to be around and we found that we had the most fun just wandering aimlessly around the cities, stopping in at random boutiques or side shops that seemed interesting. Besides all the touristy places, we found ourselves visiting the Gucci museum, a famous mask-maker's workshop, a cat-park sanctuary thing in the middle of Rome (we counted over 60 cats on one patch of land), a shop with various chessboards and chessman, an Italian opera (student discount tickets!), and a Guiness World Record location that held a ring with the most amount of diamonds (2,525 total).



I managed to sneak a pic of Gucci snorkel goggles and fins. Didn't get to find out how much they cost, but I can imagine they're not in high demand.

Overall it was an incredible vacation, and one that I'll definitely never forget.


*Speaking of getting sick, each of us four girls on the trip came down with something on the trip. Good thing we got along really well and kept up a good sense of humor about the whole ordeal.