October 2022

Rome was our final destination on this Italian adventure and honestly I don’t think prepared for the energy needed to do this famous city up right. It was a wild juxtaposition of a modern city with ancient excavations sites and cultural landmarks sprinkled throughout. I really had no expectations going in besides knowing some of the well-known features such as Vatican City, the Coliseum, the Forum and piazzas galore. We only had 2 days here and packed it full of checking out everything possible by foot.

Getting there…

We hopped on another high speed train from Masa to Rome and it took about 3 1/2 hours to arrive. There were many stops along the way but it was timely and travel was smooth. We did grab an Uber from the station as our apartment was not in walking distance. Driving in Rome is really its own thing. I think there are rules and laws but it was hard to tell. It felt like crazy race or battlefield but no one was running into each other. Driving in Rome is not on my bucket list nor will it ever be.

Where we stayed…

Our amazing tour guide Leonardo in Florence graciously recommended we stay in the hip Trastevere neighborhood. We found one of our best Airbnb here and our host was lovely. It was newly renovated had the most amenities of any of our Italian stays (other than Hotel Hartman of course).

There were tons of restaurants and shops just outside our place and it was a quick walk across the River Tiber to the main city center.

What we did…

Surprise, surprise….more walking, sight seeing, and enjoying local food and drinks!

I think our favorite adventure in Rome was touring Vatican City. We chose to join a small group tour and were glad we did. The variety and amount of art collected here was insane. The guide was very helpful and made it less overwhelming. I personally loved the paintings on the ceilings, Raphael’s rooms, the marble sculptures and the architecture that changes with each new pope. Seeing some mummified popes in Saint Peter’s Basilica was just a cherry on top 🙂

The sights in Rome were spectacular and gave you such a unique peak into the past and how civilizations evolved and built upon each other. I enjoyed the fountains around as well. The photos below say it better than I can.

What we ate…

We did have some fairly good food on this leg of the trip but nothing spectacular to be truthful. I think my favorite memory eating in Rome was just sitting at a tiny table in an alley enjoying the little snack they give you while sipping on some yummy local red wine.

Here’s a highlighted list of some of the places we visited.

• Restaurant in Trastevere – Locanda Tonnarello, since 1876 (nannarellaroma.it)
• Ristorante Il Ciak (superbexperience.com)
• Osteria Cacio e Pepe
• La Tavernetta 29 by Tony and Andrea – Ristorante Roma | Italian cuisine near me | Book now (eatbu.com)

Final thoughts….

Rome was not my favorite part of our trip but I am absolutely happy we made the time to visit. It is a vibrant city, I just don’t think it was completely my vibe with how chaotic it is all the time . I was surprised by the amount of graffiti everywhere. They seemed to be trying to frame it as an art but it didn’t do it for me. For anyone planning a visit to Rome, I would do it at the beginning of their trip while energy tanks were on the fuller side.

My memory of our departure does make me smile though. We had a seasoned driver who zigzagged his way out of the city going at speeds of 120km/hr+ in a car that really had no business going that fast. The flight to our connection in Finland was filled with fittingly rowdy Romans but it did make the clean, calm, organized Helsinki airport feel like an oasis. We also were able to enjoy a beautiful meal before boarding a near empty plane and see the longest sunset I’ve ever experienced. It was a perfect way to end a trip of a lifetime.

October 2022

The Cinque Terre villages and trail system was our other hiking destination planned for this Italian vacation outside of the the Dolomites. It’s iconic brightly colored buildings on brilliant clear blue are highly recognizable from tourist marketing, blogs and even puzzles (we’ve had one a my house for years). The allure of no cars and being able to reach the villages only by foot or train was undeniable. My mind had romanticized hiking peacefully with my love in the fresh air along the sea to explore the quint shops and restaurants each spot had to offer. It turned out to be more crowded than I had imaged but was a memorable day nevertheless. The views were spectacular, but I could have done without the aggressive speed hiking we had to do to get around the slower hikers.

Getting there…

Trains again for transport. Nothing fancy on this leg of the trip. It was the usual story of chaotic Italian public transit by train and bus. We had no delays and there was not much to report about getting to Massa.

Where we stayed…

We chose to stay in the seaside town of Massa-Carrara for a chance to check out the ocean and its proximity to the train station. October is off season for this part of coastal Italy, and it proved to be completely dead. I had hoped for a little downtime to sit at the beach under a colorful umbrella after being in Florence. This wasn’t the case due to stormy weather and all of the umbrellaed beach clubs being packed up for the season. It was pleasant enough though and served its purpose to get us easily to our hiking destination. We secured a brand-new condo on Airbnb that was walking distance to the beach and the main town.

It was a last-minute booking, and it was lacking basic amenities such as towels or soaps. The host did respond quickly though and got us what we needed. It was quiet, clean and had a laundry machine, so I don’t have any complaints. We were able to rest and take a few gentle, flat jogs along the canal trail on during our off time here.

What we did…

Hiked! Obviously. We had checked out the maps on the train ride up and learned that the southern 2 villages were not accessible by trail due to maintenance from floods during the previous years. We started at the Northern most town and got straight to it. I had read plenty prior to arriving about the need to purchase the trail pass and was prepared for a solid hike of hiking through the speed terraced vineyards and hills along the coast. The weather was sunny and humid the day we visited, so water was a must! It was a bit of a tease not having swimwear or towels to cool off in the clear waters below but getting back on a train all salty and sweaty was not appealing.

The trails were well maintained and spectacular views the entire route. However, they were heavily trafficked with tourists whom were underprepared for the level of hike it was (apparently no one read the thousands of warnings about it being a challenging hike) and the villages between were very crowded to match making it a bit difficult to stop and enjoy the beauty of the place.

We sprint-hiked in order to not get stuck behind multi-generational families or beach goers clad in flip flops. I truly can’t imagine what it would have been like during the high season of summer. My hip was in terrible shape after this day, but we did take appreciate the uniquely beautiful place and enjoyed a very cold beer and local fish at the village we ended at.

What we ate…

At Cinque Terre, we only had the opportunity for 1 lunch. It was cool, the servers weren’t jerks and the food was tasty. I considered it a win for the day. I was in the spirit of eating what’s local and ordered the fish of the day, which I was able to expertly debone from watching the waiter back in Venice doing it table side.

Now in Massa, we ran up against a language barrier and it being off season, so choices were more limited than they had been in week before. We ended up cooking at home after our hike which was a lovely break from eating out every meal. Here are the few restaurants we did enjoy-Ristorantino da Mariano, La Casina, & Bagno Fassoni Ristorante & Cocktail Bar. I left out the lunch we had upon arrival as they were very unfriendly and the fish appetizer they brought out instead of the caprese salad I ordered gave us both sour stomached.

Final thoughts….

The northwest coast of Italy is spectacular. I am really happy that we took the time to venture up this way to hike the seaside villages even if wasn’t as perfect as I had imagined it to be. Next time, if given the chance to visit here, I would consider staying in one of the villages for a few days in order to enjoy the ocean more and to be able to take it in at a slightly slower pace. Cinque Terre is one of a kind and worth a visit if you enjoy the ocean, and don’t mind dodging some crowds during a moderately challenging hike.

October 2022

The Dolomite Mountain range is the Italian region of the Alps. Being the hikers that we are, Dave was quick to put this on our itinerary once we had decided to visit Italy. I had never heard of this area before but as we researched and explored online, I was blown away. The pristine villages and striking peaks were unlike anything I had imagined seeing in Italy. We stayed in the village of Ortesei in the region of Val Gardena and had plenty to explore in the short 3 days we had there. It was everything I had hoped it would be and we left with tired legs and smiles on our faces before heading down to the Florence.

Getting there…

From our Venice apartment, we negotiated the water taxi system to the train station to get hop on a high-speed train headed north. It was fairly easy to get tickets at the station and we were off. The train was comfortable enough and had several stops along the way to our destination to Bolzano where we caught a bus to the village. The scenery was beautiful and became progressively greener as we travelled through Verona then north through Trento up to the mountains. We had views of the miles of vineyards and were able to catch glimpses of old castles. The roads to Ortisei were winding and narrow, but bus driver drove it with no hesitation whatsoever. There were multiple shops with carved wood offerings and religious souvenirs along the way. Our bus stop was a short walk to our hotel and though we were still a bit tired from the travel and lingering jet lag, the fresh mountain air was invigorating.

Where we stayed…

We chose to stay at the lovely Chalet Hotel Hartmann during our stay in the Dolomites. We almost chose the Hotel Hell because, well, how often do you get to say you stayed in Hell, right?!? (FYI- it did look nice, so I’m not throwing any shade their way) Anyhow, Hotel Hartmann was about a mile walk into the village center, but there were really nice paths throughout the town to connect us. It was friendly, clean, quiet, and the breakfast spread was AMAZING. I’m not kidding. Everything was freshly made (baked goods, sliced meats and cheeses, spreads, some sort of to die for yogurt), your cappuccino was made to order as you sat down and there were views of the valley and mountains throughout the dining area. The concierge woman who greeted us gave us a list of restaurants to try that all turned out to be unique and delicious. I would stay here again without a second thought.

What we did…

We hiked until the sun went down on both of the full days, we had in this magical place…and then we walked some more. It set the pace for the amount of walking we did on this trip. The weather was pleasant, and the trails were all clean, so it was no both to walk everywhere. There were ample bus stops available, but we opted to stay on our feet.

On day one we took a gondola ride (actually 2) up to Seneca and hiked through picturesque meadows and craggy peaks. It felt unreal. Literally there was a horn playing across the valley when we arrived, we were able to stop at these little huts (we stopped here at the end of the day) for beers and snacks, and there were only whisps of clouds in the sunny blue sky. I had a pang of feeling like we were cheating a bit by taking a lift up there but there were ample heights to be climbed still. I did like how it was accessible for those to enjoy the view but weren’t up for a climb. If you choose to hike in the afternoon, do note the time that the gondolas stop working. We arrived at the gondola to return us to our starting point just as it was closing. So, we had to ride down to the town of Santa Cristina and walk back to Ortisei, not a huge trek in general, but after covering 10+miles in the mountains, your legs are ready for a rest.

One day 2 we took the other gondola from the center of town up to the mountain plateau of Alpe di Siusi for another day of hiking. This is considered the sunniest area of the Dolomites, and we lucked out and had another epic day of walking under the blue skies. This was more walking trails that wander through pastures with view of the mountains, rather than climbing them like we had done the day prior. Personally, I was ok with this as my legs were rather like jello from the day before. That being said we still covered over 10 miles again. We saw horse-drawn carriages, more rocky peaks and enjoyed some local beer in the sun. It was as picturesque as it comes.

What we ate…

Much thanks to our host at Hotel Hartmann, we enjoyed a delicious variety of restaurants during our stay in Ortisei. It ranged from “Typical” cuisine (we learned that this means local) to pizza to a higher end modern restaurant. This stop on our trip got us primed up for the mass amounts of sliced meats that we would be consuming over the next weeks. If you were having a cocktail or beer, it was customary to be given chips, prosciutto, cheese, and pickles. You almost didn’t need dinner, but it was good to soak up drinks for sure. We also hit up a local salumeria in the village on day one for hike snacks and wine as well. Note to our future selves- grab a knife from the hotel prior to leaving for the day. Hard blocks of cheese aren’t meant to be eaten by biting off chunks.

Here’s a highlighted list:

• Turando– Upscale Pizzaria & bistro. The Crudo Gialla pizza was to die for and upon recommendation from our serve we had our first (but definitely not last) Amaro cocktail. Yum!!
• Snetonstube– This was the most “typical” style restaurant we visited. It seemed to be mostly locals celebrating occasion or another. The food and wine were great. We started with meats and cheese starter, and I ordered some sort of schnitzel type dish that felt authentic for the region. It was fun to feel the vibe of this place.
• Adler Shop- Lively bar and cafe attached to the upscale Adler Hotel. We had the best gin and tonics I have ever drank. Both ingredients were local to the area.
• Zicoria Brasserie– We enjoyed steak, pasta and wine at this upscale steak house that was near the base of the gondola on day 2. We were pretty tired from hiking and didn’t want to walk all the way back to the hotel before dinner, so we showed up a bit grubbier than what we normally go to a place like this and arrived before they opened. They were still kind and we sat at the bar before being sat. It was a really nice meal to end our stay in the Dolomites.
• Hotel Hartmann- I have to give them a shout out, because as I said earlier, the breakfast included in the stay was next level.

I was off my game for food pictures so enjoy some mediocre pics of our bar food at Alder Shop and a very questionable hotel sign that cracked me up 🙂

Final thoughts….

The Dolomites is officially on my top favorite places in the world I have visited. Being with my love and hiking around majestic mountains in the autumn sunshine cannot be beat. I would go back here in a heartbeat and would enthusiastically recommend anyone give this place a visit if they find themselves in Northern Italy.