Ciao from Italy!

This one's going to be a long one...

February 10

Going International: Milan

On Thursday, we woke up at 2:30am to go to ITALY! We had a bus to catch at 3:45am to get to the airport to catch our 6:30am flight to Milan. Half asleep, we all made our way through security and onto the plane (we actually had to walk outside to board our plane!). And then, we were off! On our flight, we passed over the Alps, which was the coolest thing ever.

We arrived at the Milan Bergamo airport, which is an hour bus ride outside of Milan, so we took yet another bus to get into the city center. With our heavy backpacks, we walked the 45 minutes from the bus/train station to the Milan Cathedral. We explored the surrounding area, including the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which holds high-end shops like Prada and Dior. The inside was stunning!

After doing some exploring, we were off to find some food. We found a pizza place called Un'Altra Pasta, and the pizza was FANTASTIC (which was no surprise to me). That's where we found out we knew no Italian; our server had to bring us English menus so that we actually knew what we were ordering.

After lunch, we checked into our hostel, which was really nice! We stayed at Babila Hostel & Bistrot, which provided a free breakfast and bunk beds - it felt like camp! Exhausted from our travels so far, we decided to take half an hour to rest before continuing on. After a short pit stop, we went back to the Duomo for our rooftop tour. We took an elevator up to the roof of the cathedral, which offered us insanely cool views of Milan.

We then explored the inside of the cathedral, which was also amazing! After the Duomo, we got gelato in the square! What a cool experience to eat gelato in front of the Duomo! After a full day, we all headed back to the hostel and crashed at 7:30pm.

February 11

Lake Como

On Friday, we woke up to take a train to Lake Como!! Our train took us under mountains and next to the lake, making it the coolest train ride I've ever taken. Our stop was in Varenna, a small lakeside town. Every view was stunning. We walked around a bit and then stopped for coffee at a restaurant that had unobstructed views of the lake. It was so quiet there. It seemed like it was our little group and the locals; that was it. It was actually nice that there were so few people, as we were fully able to enjoy the views without fighting off tourists for the best picture-taking spot.

We stopped for coffee and a small breakfast at Bar Molo. The coffee and food was delicious!

We continued to walk around a bit more then took a 20-minute ferry across the lake to Bellagio! There, we walked around even more. Unfortunately, a lot of the shops and restaurants were closed as it is the slow (non-tourist) season, but again, it was so nice to be able to walk around and have it be so quiet. We were able to really fully enjoy ourselves and the views.

After extensively exploring Bellagio, we took a ferry back to Varenna for dinner. At this point, it was so windy on the lake. We had our hoods up and started to bundle, but we powered through to sit by the lake to watch the sunset during dinner. We went back to Bar Molo (because we knew it was open) and had our first dish of pasta while in Italy! The view of the sunset on the lake was just breathtaking.

After we couldn't stand the freezing wind anymore, we headed to the train station to head back to Milan. We again crashed very early, as we had just spent another entire day of traveling and walking. Next stop: Florence!

February 12

Florence Day 1

Some of the girls I was with decided to take a bus to Florence, but one of the girls and I took the high speed train! Going through the countryside of Italy was beautiful!

When we got to Florence, we checked into our hostel, which had TRIPLE bunk beds. It was honestly kind of scary, especially the very top bunk, but it was so fun! After dropping off our luggage, we went to the Galleria dell'Accademia to see Michaelangelo's David. He was huge! It was so cool to see a piece of history I learned about in eighth grade standing right in front of me.

After exploring the small museum, we went to a restaurant called Vecchio Mercato for lunch, where we got charcuterie boards! Some of the bruschetta pieces had interesting (questionable) meats on them, so we passed on those, but the rest of the board was amazing!!

By this time, the rest of the girls had finally made it to Florence, so we all went back out together to keep exploring Florence. We went to the Duomo, which was imposing to see in person. The whole structure was so big that you could barely see it on the street, but the stone work was absolutely stunning.

Sunset was approaching, so we made the hike to a famous sunset spot to see the sun set over the city of Florence. From the vantage point at San Miniato al Monte, we could see the entirety of the city, including the famous view of the Duomo from above. It was gorgeous to see in person. The picture you see in all the postcards was the view I was seeing for myself.

After the sun set, it was still early in the evening, and restaurants were not open for dinner yet, so we found cannolis and gelato! I had the best cannoli I've ever had in my entire life at Gino's Bakery. That is no exaggeration that it was the best cannoli I've ever had. It was so good that we went back the next day for more.

After killing some time, we went to dinner at Osteria Santo Spirito for gnocchi (as it was recommended to us for that very dish). We all ordered the cheese and truffle gnocchi, and it was amazing. The truffle wasn't too overwhelming, which was a worry when I ordered it, but it was perfect.

After dinner, we all wanted to go out for the night, but by the time we got back to the hostel to get ready, we were all too exhausted and hit the hay. Another early night in Italy, but spending all day on your feet is surely exhausting.

February 13

Florence Day 2

On Sunday, we had an entire day in Florence to continue exploring. We found a cafe to go to in the morning called Gilli, where I ordered my Marocchino coffee and an omelette! It was another fantastic meal.

After breakfast, we found a square that had a merry-go-round in it! Very cool. We then made our way to Palazzo Vecchio, where we some some cool sculptures from the 1500s!

After Palazzo Vecchio, we were planning to go to the Bardini Gardens and on our way saw the oldest bridge in Florence: Ponte Vecchio!

On our way to the gardens, people got hungry, so we made our way to a world-famous sandwich spot, but the line was sooooo long that we decided to find another place to eat. I had been recommended a pizza place that was known for its heart-shaped pizza, so we attempted to go there but saw it was closed until the 14th (sad). After a second strike out, we decided to just stop to eat at the first place we saw. That place ended up being Borgo Antico, where we each devoured a pizza that was definitely meant for more than one person. It was delicious pizza!

After lunch, we finally made our way to the Bardini Gardens. When we got there, though, the sign said the last entry was at 3:00pm, which was the exact time we got there. We tried pleading with the woman to let us in, but she wouldn't let us. Another strike out for the day. At this point, it was early evening, so we decided to lift our spirits with gelato! One of the girls was recommended a gelato place along the river called La Carraia. It was the best gelato I've ever had!!

Some of the girls wanted to keep exploring, but some of us were tired and wanted to head back to the hostel for some rest.

For dinner, I met up with a girl I knew from my home university at Tre Merli. I ordered cheese and pepper pasta, and it was the Italian pasta dish I had been waiting for all weekend. It was amazing! After dinner, we experienced some of the Florence nightlife (it was also the night of the Superbowl). Compared to Dublin, the Florence nightlife was lacking. It may have again been due to it being the slow season, but there really weren't people out at the bars. It was no matter, though. After spending some time exploring Florence at night, we headed back to the hostel to get some sleep before another early morning.

February 14

Pisa

We woke up around 6:00am to catch a 7:00am train to Pisa, which was where our flight to Dublin was out of. We all slept on the train then made the 35 minute walk (again with our heavy backpacks) to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Because it was around 9:00am on a Monday morning, there was no one at the tower. This just meant better pictures for us!

I will say that the tower definitely looks more crooked in real life than it does in pictures. We spent about an hour at the tower taking silly pictures and enjoying having the city basically to ourselves. We then made the 50 minute (2 mile) walk to the Pisa airport.

We got on our flight back to Dublin and then took a bus back to campus. It was another long day of traveling.

The entire trip was so incredible. We fit in a whole lot, and every second was amazing. Some things we learned: it is wise to book tickets in advance for some things; Italy shuts down on Sundays, so not a lot is open; and bringing comfortable shoes is a must.

I am soooo happy with how the entire weekend went. For it being our first international trip, nearly everything went on without a hitch! Italy has been a dream destination for a long time, and I was so grateful to have made it and to have made the most of every moment I was there.

Ciao!