We have arrived in Italy. Made it to our Airbnb … took the train from MXP airport to Milan Centrale then into the metro for two stops, a short walk to the Airbnb. It’s surprisingly spacious! Next up, grocery store then finding some pizza! Tomorrow we have a tour of the Duomo with rooftop access and plan to walk around the canals. It’ll be a fast couple of days here. Oh we have to jetlag here too. It’s 6pm and we are on track to stay awake until 10pm!

View from our window

Living room

Entry toward the dining and living room

Sunday, July 30, 2023

A piedi

ANTICIPATION

Sitting there just under 45 days is another adventure. The majority of this trip is 'a piedi' which means 'on foot' and that's why I titled the post this way. Let's take a look at the plan.

1. MILANO

We will be staying in the Brera District, close but not too close to the central station. Close to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Italy's oldest active shopping gallery. Close to Teatro alla Scala, the opera house which will be playing Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) when we are there. But it is sold out, 3 hours long, we will be jet lagged, and to think we had something suitable to wear in the fashion capital of the world is a long stretch. Not sure what our plan will be, but I'll write about it. We are definitely getting pizza here.

2. ORTISEI

This is a repeat for us. We stayed at Rainell AlpenHotel in the Dolomiti in 2018 and it was so amazing, we are doing it again. It's a half board, so we get a breakfast and lunch. There is access to so many gondola systems here. We could see the bright red gondolas from the window of our room last time we were here. I think this is where I'll be for my birthday this year.

3. SIRMIONE

Next up is a visit to Lake Garda. Here we are staying on the Sirmione peninsula in a bed and breakfast. We hope to do some stand up paddleboarding while we are here. Somewhere on the lake is Gardaland, what looks to be similar to Legoland. This is a bit of trivia, I doubt we will use our Italy time at an Italian version of Legoland. But you never know.

4. FLORENCE

This is another repeat. We are staying the the exact rental we stayed in 2018. It is a comfortable place with a washer/dryer, and a view of the Duomo. We are practically in the cupola itself. When we visited before, we had no idea how many cool historic places we were literally steps away from. This time, we have done our homework -- super interested in Medici history as well as famous artwork in churches.

5. SIENA

We will be staying in a very cherub-y hotel -- I say cherub-y and they say period residence. Now that I understand a bit more Italian, the name is still is a bit of a puzzle -- Relais degli Angeli. Degli Angeli translates to "of the angels" (hence the cherubs) but Relais is not an Italian word. In French it means "a hotel located in the countryside." While we are here we are going to see a sampler opera -- call it the "best of" or call it a "tourist trap" ... we will see. I hope to arrive early enough to tour the city, because the next day we begin our 15-day walk to Rome.

6 - 8: THE WALK TO ROME

This is a 15-day walking trek. Day 1 will be a short trek Siena to Colle Malamerenda which is roughly 7km. Yeah, I'll be talking in kilometers (chilometri). I'll be posting daily each segment, so be sure to follow along.

ROME

We will be in Rome for 4 days, lodging in Piazza di Spagna. This is a great location, tucked close to Villa Borghese, a large landscape garden, and close to the Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti (aka Spanish Steps). Last time we stayed steps away from the Trevi Fountain, so we wanted a different experience this time -- and to be really close the to metro line.