Five lessons from my journey to Northern Italy
Lesson one: No Rome, no problem!
When it comes to travel, people love must-see’s. Going to Europe? Must see Paris, London, Madrid, and Rome! Going to Italy? Must eat pizzas, and visit Vatican City! Going to Venice? Must get escorted on the Gondola, and go to Piazza San Marco (Big Square). Why would you pay for the long flights and expensive accommodations otherwise?
However, this tempting “101” experience is actually a tradeoff. You are trading time otherwise spent on immersing in the experience, discovering new places and finding unexpected gems with time sweating long queues, paying for overpriced tickets, and fighting other tourists for a quick selfie space.
So, here is a list of things and places we stumbled on by (mostly) not following the tourists:
- By not visiting all of Europe and focusing only on Northern Italy, we got to improve our Italian (some of us more than other :”>), avoid border controls, and minimize moving time.
- By not going to Rome, we had 3 days extra in the German-influenced province of Südtirol, where lies the magnificent Southern Limestone Alps.
- By not visiting Venezia’s most popular destinations, we got to get lost in Venetian streets and stumbled on the best street food stall ever. Imagine, the guy had to use a calculator when summing up our orders at the end!
- By not staying at the more popular towns in Cinque Terre, we got a balcony facing the ocean, perfect for sunset watching and stargazing, quietly situated in the middle of the pretty village of Corniglia. To this day that Airbnb is still our favorite accommodation of the trip.
- By not going to all the famous duomos, museums and churches, we stumbled on tens of different pop-up museums, art exhibitions and galleries everywhere we went.
Which leads me to my next lesson.
Lesson two: Sometimes the best art is free
Besides its flawless, gorgeous-looking and fashionable people, the biggest perk Italy offers is its concentration of quality art: from paintings to sculptures, from historical museums to contemporary exhibitions, from architecture to music, from street artists to world-renown ones. Italy is no doubt a haven for lovers of the art, and if you are lucky, free rides. Our most valuable art-per-square footage experience was actually from this free Milano Expo 2015 installment in Brera District, Milano.
Comparable to the Olympics of the art, Expo 2015 is held in Milan for 6 months and has been taking the city by storm. The display installment was built to give us a taste of the event itself, and it was phenomenal. We saw paintings by renowned artists of whom we only heard from books and talk-shows, and they were all free.
Street arts are ubiquitous, free (by definition) and amazing too. The street is a perfect venue for emerging, lesser-known artists, two of whom we learned about completely by chance.
As we wandered around Firenze old town, we started to recognise patterns in some of the street arts — one with a lot of red hearts and minimalist stick figures, the other with under-water themes. Unconsciously, we started following K and Blub (names signed under the drawings), all over the city. On the last day, while running across a street to catch the sunrise, we stumbled on a piece in which the two street artists collaborated for the first time. This then led us to the little art shop they open together on the same street.
The experience was precious, like being awarded at the end of a scavenger hunt.
Lesson three: when in Italy, learn the Italian ways
- Museums in Venice are closed on Tuesdays
- Milano restaurants open till late, up to mid-night or even past
- Wifi passwords are rarely changed from the one provided by the original company, so be prepared to have to deal with a chain of convoluted numbers and letters
- The local trains are mostly very reliable but don’t mistake Departure (Partenza) for Arrival (Arrivo) times!
- Don’t tip the waiters — they have tips built in to their bills
- Specify that you want still water if you hate sparkling water like me
- Pharmacies in Bolzano charge you extra for buying things after 7pm
- Don’t ever use maps to navigate Venice. As the Russian Writer Joseph Brodsky said (and I'm paraphrasing): “The only direction in Venice is sideways”
Lesson four: Deli meats + condiments are the best cheap meal!
Admit it — eating in one of the world’s top culinary countries is not cheap. If you go to a sit-down restaurant, expect the cost to be at least EUR40 per person. A decent gelato would cost about EUR 3–5. Pizzas are the cheapest, but those with better qualities are found in better sit-down places and of course, more expensive.
For us, the perfect alternative that’s comparable to sit-down fine dining is this: go to a Prociuterria (or Deli Meat shop) and order 20 slices of their finest ham, perhaps with condiments like sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, olives, or tuna spread, and eat them at a beautiful park bench, bridge, or lawn somewhere. The cost varies from 12–20 EUR for such a meal, and it is beyond delicious, sometimes even more so than a proper extravagant meal. Think of it as outdoor fine dinning without extra service charges!
Lesson 5: But can you really go wrong with food and drink in Italy?
Best food we found, in no particular order:
- Cinchetti from Cantinone Gia Schiavi, Venice. Cinchetti are the Venetian/Italian equivalence of appetizers in America, tapas in Spain, or sliders in Irish pubs that come only in bars.
- Sprizt (orange-lemon drink with tinest amount of alcohol and soda) in any Venetian bar.
- Gelato from Latte Neve in Milan: my recommended flavors are basil, pistachio, and dark chocolate
- Venetian style sandwiches (without crusts) from Trame, Brera District, Milan.
5. Sandwich in black truffle cream from All’Antico Vinaio, Via de Neri, Firenze.
6. Fried fish, cream of tuna and fish balls from Venetian street food stall Acqua and Mais.
7. Sauerkraut, pork tenderloin, dumplings and onion soups (basically all German food) from Cavallino Bianco in Bolzano Bozen.
8. Florentine steak from Il Latini, Firenze. The steak was so good that we could have a second dinner with it the next day!
9. Limoncello (lemon wine) from a tiny hut at the end the blue trail hike from Vernazzato Monterroso.
10. Cappucino con panna in Sforza Castle, Milano.
11. Affogato near Walther Square, Bolzano.
12. Prociutto and sun-dried tomatoes anywhere. Ask for copa, or finest ham.
As this post starts making me hungry already, I shall stop. Until next time, ciao Bella! ❤
