Bologna

Sarah and I made a short stop in Bologna on Wednesday. We weren't sure if it made sense to spend any time here but given its title as Italy's "Culinary Capital" and the fact that Rick Steves left it off his list of places to visit in Italy, we figured it would be a less touristy place to get a few great Italian meals. We were right...on both counts. The town was deserted compared to the other cities we've visited so far and the meals we had were amazing.

We arrived around 2pm, dropped our bags off at our hotel and immediately headed to town to find a lunch spot. Café Santangelo turned out to be just what we wanted: delicious food served by locals who barely spoke English. I had the lasagna, Sarah got the caprese salad; both were prepared with fresh, simple ingredients and were among the best dishes we've had in Italy so far! After lunch we set out to see some of the city's sights.

The square in front of the Basilica of San Domenico. Didn't even need to wait for any tourists to get out of our way for this shot - this is how it was when we showed up!

The other big church in Bologna, the Basilica of Santo Stefano.

Though the outside looks nondescript, the detailing inside was pretty cool...

...and there were several nice courtyards like this.

Bologna's Two Towers. Seems like every city in Italy has at least one tower that is leaning.

The colorful, quiet streets of Bologna.

The courtyard at our hotel.

By late afternoon we were practically melting from the heat so we decided to take a break at our hotel to cool off. Once we were showered and ready for more, we headed out to see the Piazza Maggiore and the Fountain of Neptune, the last must-see attractions in Bologna.

Neptune always has the best fountains.

We ate dinner at Al Sangiovese, a well-reviewed place that was only a few doors down from our hotel. Turned out to be another culinary highlight for us in Italy. Our favorite was the Tagliatelle alla Bolognese, one of Bologna's most famous dishes. Though simple in execution - who didn't eat that when growing up? - these guys really have the recipe down!

On Thursday morning, Sarah was feeling ambitious so she took a walk up to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. The walk is about six miles total, from the center of town to the church and back, and the entire walk is covered entirely by arcades (basically high archways). Good thing it was covered since it started to drizzle during her walk...

A pretty unique view for a hike up to a church on a hill.

We're now on the train again, heading to Venice. Sarah has been before, but given the beautiful setting and our newfound ability to "outsmart" the big packs of tourists I think she is pretty excited to go back!

Amalfi Coast

Saturday morning Alex and I grabbed a train from Rome to Naples, where we would pick up a local train to take us to Sorrento, our base for exploring the Amalfi Coast. While the two-hour trip to Naples was a breeze, the one-hour "train" ride to Sorrento was horrendous - no air conditioning and people packed into the subway cars like sardines for nearly the entire journey, which lasted for over 30 stops. Needless to say, by the time we arrived in Sorrento we were ready for a relaxing lunch in town under the ubiquitous outdoor misting fans. Unfortunately, our travel woes were not yet over for the day. I knew that our hotel was a 20 minute drive from town but we were supposed to be able to catch a local bus to take us there; sadly we had to wait another two hours for the bus and, worst of all, because the bus is often used by budget travelers as a way to see the coastline, we almost didn't make it on because it was so full! After a harrowing and winding bus ride up the mountain - while standing and gripping our bags - we finally made it to Hotel Prestige.

Since we didn't arrive until around 4pm we took advantage of the beautiful views and outdoor pool and relaxed by the pool until dinnertime.

Happy Fourth of July from our hotel balcony!

We decided against taking the hotel shuttle into town (which we will definitely be using going forward!) and dined at a nearby local spot, Il Panorama. Over seafood pasta and Prosecco, we enjoyed a great sunset after a long day getting to Sorrento.

Cleaned up and ready for a nice dinner.

Sunset over the Bay of Napoli.

We started Sunday at a much more leisurely pace and lounged around the pool for a few hours in the morning. I'd read that there are many great hiking trails throughout the Amalfi Coast but most of these start in some of the neighboring coastal towns so Alex and I settled on an hour-long trek down the mountain into town. Once we arrived at the picturesque lunch destination I had selected, Bagni Salvatore, and realized that the spot was also a popular beach club we booked lounge chairs and enjoyed the water for the remainder of the day.

Looking down over the beach clubs in Sorrento.

View from Bagni Salvatore.

Alex taking a dip and escaping the heat. Can you tell why we decided to stay here for the day?!

I loved the colored umbrellas we saw - different patterns for each beach club!

One more shot as we headed back to town.

Once we felt we had gotten enough sun, we walked back up the hill into town for negronis and people watching. Feeling tired from the heat, we grabbed a quick dinner of takeaway kebabs and made sure to time the hotel shuttle correctly! We headed to bed early after a great day in Sorrento and rested up for our tour of the coast on Monday.

Around 11am we joined three other couples from our hotel for a guided tour of the Amalfi Coast and headed toward Positano for the first of many beautiful scenic stops.

Our guide insisted on taking our picture - we can tell why!

Looking down on Positano. This was right before one of the older men in our group ran into the street to violently vomit. Luckily for him (and us), he recovered for the rest of the journey. Too many negronis the night before??

Looking up at colorful Positano.

From Positano, we headed to nearby town Praiano and then Amalfi, where we had an hour and a half to explore the town on our own. While the towns along the Amalfi Coast are all gorgeous and completely deserving of their destination allure, we found the number of tourists to be a bit overwhelming. And, in fact, we were traveling with some who had very different desires than we did, forcing our group to stop at a nearby pottery and tile factory for over a half hour. Alex and I recognize our travel tastes have evolved over the past year and Western Europe has definitely been much more crowded than many of our other stops, but we found ourselves constantly seeking more "off-the-beaten-path" experiences. Instead of using the time in Amalfi to walk in and out of various gelato and souvenir shops, we found a beautiful, quiet restaurant on the beach and perched there for a delicious seafood lunch.

View from Marina Grande in Amalfi - one of the best meals we had in the area. Note the differently colored umbrellas!

We walked a little further up the main road to check out the views looking back on Amalfi.

After rejoining our group, we headed further down the coast to a small town up in the hills, Ravello. Alex and I loved walking around the small pedestrian streets and ended up wandering into a very charming wine store (not so charmingly named Wine & Drugs) offering free tastings. After 10 - seriously! - different wines to try, we decided to send a few bottles home before heading back to check out the views.

Looking down over the Amalfi Coast from Ravello. No complaints!

The drive back to Sorrento took almost two hours so we were feeling a little lethargic after a full day of gorgeous sightseeing. We relaxed a little bit and then headed to another nearby spot for dinner and called it an early night.

Today we woke up early to overcast skies and cooler weather, which was disappointing because we had planned to take a ferry to Capri for the day, before taking another ferry to Naples for the night. We decided to wait out the fog a bit and hoped that it would clear as the day heated up; luckily, we saw the beginning of blue skies as we pulled out of the Sorrento harbor around noon.

Goodbye Sorrento!

Pulling into the docks of Capri is just as scenic as we'd hoped; though after spending a day ogling the Amalfi Coast we definitely had outsized expectations!

Port at Capri.

Alex and I had read about the various well-known attractions of Capri - The Blue Lagoon, Capri Town and Anacapri, but weren't sure we wanted to pay up for the expensive boat rides required to journey around the island. Similar to Sorrento, we arrived at Bagni Tiberio, a lunch spot I had read about nearly a 20 minute walk from town, and found an adjoining private beach club. Making a game time decision was pretty easy once we took in our surroundings - one last beach day it is!

Exploring our own "blue lagoon."

Oh look, it's a $100 million yacht that, as Alex researched online, belongs to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen!

View looking back while taking a boat back to town.

One final shot as we say goodbye to Capri.

The ferry ride back to Naples was far more enjoyable than the local train we had previously taken, but arriving in the infamous city was somewhat jarring. We had read that Naples was a little rough around the edges, but we weren't expecting what was essentially a third-world city in a first world country! Dirty streets and dark alleyways filled with trash, exposed electrical wires and nefarious characters was a pretty stark contrast to the much more tourist-friendly Amalfi Coast (and everywhere else we've been in Italy, for that matter!). We scrapped any potential sightseeing plans and grabbed a quick dinner near our hotel. Tomorrow we are spending the day in Bologna, Italy's supposed food capital, so we are pretty excited!

When in Rome...

The train ride from Florence on Wednesday only took about an hour and a half so Sarah and I arrived in downtown Rome right at mid-day. This was convenient because we still had most of the day to explore the city; this was inconvenient because it meant doing the 15 minute walk to our hotel during the hottest part of the day. Some locals were complaining about the heat while we were here – apparently it’s been hotter here in the last few days than it normally is during the summer – so we felt better about our own whining.

Anyway, after settling into our hotel Sarah found a great salad place right next door, Green & Go, which was a great change from all the heavy Italian food we’ve been eating. After lunch, she walked around the city for a few hours to see some of the main sights and get the lay of the land; I was too hot so I stayed home in the air conditioned room and strategized about how we could beat the heat and still see everything we wanted to see over the next two days.

The Trevi Fountain is under construction currently. All the water is drained and there is scaffolding everywhere…

…but that didn’t stop tourists from lining up to get a picture!

A more peaceful garden Sarah found on her walk.

Some ancient ruins with the Altare della Patria in the background.

More ruins scattered among the more developed city streets.

After Sarah cooled down for an hour or so back in the room, we went out together to brave the heat once more. Given the light lunch we had earlier, we figured we’d return to the rich Italian cuisine we’ve gotten used to over the last week for dinner. We went to Osteria Barberini, a restaurant known for including truffles in most dishes and recommended to us by our friends Oya and Can. We each had a delicious pasta covered in truffles, then walked home – by way of the gelateria, of course! – and called it a night early.

One of the quiet streets near our hotel on our walk to dinner.

Our plan for Thursday and Friday was to start sightseeing early, then siesta during the peak heat of the day, then re-emerge from the hotel in the late afternoon. I think the plan worked pretty well – we got to see many sights with only a few tourists around and managed not to completely sweat through all our clothes!

We parted ways on Thursday morning. I went to St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican; Sarah decided to take a pass because she’d been twice before. St. Peter’s opens at 7am (and is free) and I ordered 9am Vatican tickets online so I was able to wander around St. Peter’s without a big crowd for a couple hours, then stroll right to the front of the Vatican line and see the exhibits at my own pace for a couple more hours. The Vatican gets extremely crowded (even more so than the Louvre) so you need to be in the right frame of mind to get through the experience but it was definitely “worth it.” (That said, I completely understand why Sarah took a pass and I can’t really think of a reason why I’d ever go back…)

The entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica.

St. Peter's.

The altar at St. Peter’s.

One of the many beautifully pained domes in St. Peter’s.

In St. Peter’s Square looking back at the Basilica.

The Sphere Within Sphere sculpture in the Cortile della Pigna.

Some of the many busts in the Galleria Chiaramonti.

Perseus with the head of Medusa in the Museo Pio Clementino.

Arguably the most famous statue in the Museo Pio Clementino: Laocoön and His Sons.

Looking up at the spiral staircase that leads out of the museum.

There is no photography allowed in the Sistine Chapel, but trust me, it’s amazing. Hard to imagine how someone could paint something so grand – it is deservedly the highlight of the Vatican!

I met Sarah at noon at La Boccaccia, a small pizzeria that her friends who studied abroad here introduced her to years ago. It is some of the best pizza we’ve ever eaten…and it’s incredibly cheap! Definitely worth a stop when in Rome!

Our delicious spread from La Boccaccia.

After lunch we stuck to our siesta plan so we walked back to the hotel and took a rest for a couple hours.

We passed this Fiat on the way back to our hotel. Sarah thinks they look cute; all I can think about is how little leg room there is in there!

By the time we roused ourselves from our siesta, neither of us had much more energy for exploring the city. So we went to Ai Tre Scalini, a bar and restaurant right across from our hotel that is well known to the locals (and not well known to any tourists). We had a few local beers and wines (the Menabrea Amber was a standout!), then munched on some great small plates. Not a very eventful end to the day, but it was exactly what we both wanted after such an early start.

Another reason we had a low-key night on Thursday was that we planned to get up to see the sunrise on Friday. The 5am wake-up call was a tough pill to swallow, but the views were definitely worth it (and at that hour, it’s practically cool outside!).

Just as the sun began to peek out over Rome.

Sunrise in Rome.

A key benefit of the early rise was also that we could explore some of Rome’s most famous tourist sights without the hordes of people pushing each other out of the way for a picture. We booked 8:30am tickets at the Colosseum so we made our way there and snapped took in the views along the way.

The Altare della Patrica (a.k.a. "The Wedding Cake").

The Roman Forum.

The Colosseum.

We made it in the Colosseum before the rest of the crowds.

Even got someone else there to take a picture of us.

One more inside the Colosseum – what an incredible structure.

Another shot of the Roman Forum.

Sticking to our original plan, we headed back to our hotel to rest for a few hours. There were still some other sights we wanted to see though, so we rallied much better today once the heat died down a bit.

On our walk to the Pantheon, we stumbled across the Sant'Ignazio Church. The outside of the church is nondescript, but the inside is beautiful – glad we stopped in!

The Pantheon.

The dome of the Pantheon.

The Piazza Navona.

One of the fountains in the Piazza Navona.

We had a well-timed stop for a drink in the Piazza Navona. We’d planned to stay for only a few minutes, but after we sat down the skies opened up with rain for half an hour or so. Once the rain passed, we continued walking toward dinner at Il Gabriello, a last-minute recommendation from a friend. This place was great (thanks Cam!) and we had an excellent meal to wrap up our time in Rome.

Tomorrow we’ll take a train to Naples, then another train to Sorrento where we’ll spend a few days relaxing near the famous Amalfi Coast. After a hectic week exploring Florence and Rome, we’re both looking forward to a slower schedule in Sorrento!

Sant'Angelo Castle, as seen on our walk to Il Gabriello.

Florence

Sunday morning we said goodbye to the last of our remaining friends in Levanto before taking the train to Florence. Since Alex hadn’t been to Italy before, I indulged him with the standard tourist move: a stopover for lunch in Pisa to see the famous Leaning Tower.

We were definitely the only people taking this shot…

Since there really isn’t much to see in Pisa (at least compared to many more preferable spots in Italy), we grabbed a late lunch and headed to Florence. Our first realization was that the temperature had climbed to nearly 100 degrees; we were in desperate need of a rest in the cool AC of our hotel room. Feeling a little more refreshed after getting settled, we headed to the nearby Mercado Centrale for a casual dinner. Florence’s central market recently underwent a makeover and the second level has been turned into modern food court with restaurant and drink stalls. Having been a bit spoiled by the Mercado Ribeira in Lisbon, we weren’t overly impressed with the available options but the bakery Il Pane e la Pasticceria had some of the best thick crust pepperoni pizza we’ve found. After dinner we went to bed early and prepared for a sweltering day of city sightseeing on Monday.

I started the day with a run through the streets of Florence and reaffirmed that starting the day before all the other tourists is the best way to see a city. After meeting back up with Alex at the hotel, we set off for the Duomo and spent a few hours walking around downtown Florence.

The detail on the outside of the Florence Cathedral is incredible.

Looking up at Giotto's bell tower.

The Piazza della Signoria.

One of Florence's many quiet streets.

The Centro di Solidarietà, looking back on the Duomo.

Since we were already sweating under the blinding sun and the line to climb the bell tower crawled all around the plaza, we decided to return on Tuesday with the hopes of fewer people and better light.

We made our way toward the Arno River and took refuge from the heat in La Buchetta, a small family-owned restaurant that was just opening for the day. What a find! We had the most indulgent meat and cheese platter while watching the local group next to us order nearly 5 pounds of prime T-Bone steak. After a very filling lunch, we walked back to our hotel for an afternoon siesta and a break from the heat (after a few days walking around central Italy we understand the tradition much more!).

This view of the river was only a block from the restaurant.

The Ponte Vecchio, probably Florence's most famous bridge.

Sufficiently rested, we walked around the narrow cobblestone streets and made our way across Ponte Vecchio to Oltrarno and up the hill to San Miniato. Since this trip – oddly enough – marks my fourth visit to the city, I wanted a new location for sunset gazing so we chose this spot over the standard Piazza Michelangelo (another great place if you are ever in Florence). We were drenched in sweat as we reached the top of the hill but the views were definitely worth the effort – and we were lucky to be some of the only people there!

Looking down on the Duomo.

Sunset over Florence.

One more of this gorgeous sunset.

After sunset, we slowly made our way down the hill and back into Florence for dinner. I had spotted the modern and airy Konnubio on my morning run and, after confirming with TripAdvisor that its quality matched the décor, we decided to try it out. Definitely a more modern take on traditional Italian food, but we loved each entrée that we tried – specifically the octopus soup and the incredible chicken and sausage pasta. Highly recommended if you are in search of something other than margarita pizza or spaghetti (not that we don’t love both of these!).

The Arno River at dusk.

Tuesday morning we made our way across the river again to meet up with our Tuscany biking tour for a day of cycling through the countryside. We were both a little surprised that our guide was a middle-aged American originally from California (we both thought: "Is he really an authentic guide for our tour?") but having done a handful of these tours before we were excited to explore on bikes and learn more about the area.

For a few reasons, this particular tour was probably one of our least favorite; below are a few helpful hints if you ever consider a bike tour!

1. Make sure you have an experienced guide. As mentioned above, our guide was not a local. Having only lived in Florence for six months, Jonathan just didn’t have much in-depth knowledge about Tuscany, or Italy in general for that matter. We felt like we were being given a Wikipedia-level tour by someone as informed as a volunteer college tour guide.

2. Double-check the terrain and itinerary. Described as an “easy, flat” bike ride through the countryside, our journey was actually full of steep hills and required a decent amount of physical exertion. Additionally, we really only had one “stop” of any value – lunch – which meant we didn’t have time to rest in between.

3. Don’t always trust the positive reviews. We thought we were going to be having several stops: lunch at a family villa, a wine tasting, an olive oil tasting and stops to take pictures and eat gelato. In reality, we just had some wine and olive oil served alongside our lunch – no explanation or tasting – and never stopped for pictures except once in the small town that housed the gelato shop.

4. Consider cost and context. For about half the price, Alex and I did a vineyard bike tour with my parents in Marlborough, New Zealand and were able to stop at six different wineries – each of which had tastings and knowledgeable staff members.

While we didn’t get quite as much out of our tour as we had hoped, Alex and I still enjoyed taking in the scenic views (and burning off a few calories!).

Not a bad place to stop for a gelato, and picture!

One of the many vineyards we rode by. (Though the group didn't stop here to snap a picture...Alex took it upon himself to stop for a minute, then pedal hard to catch up!)

The beautiful Tuscan countryside.

Had to get a picture with the beautiful bougainvillea at the end of our ride.

Once back in Florence, we both desperately needed to shower so we headed back to the hotel and got cleaned up for our last night in the city. First, we headed back to the Duomo and were thrilled that there wasn’t a line to climb to the top of the bell tower. After a day spent cycling for nearly 18 miles, the 414-step ascent was a little tough on our legs, but the views at the top were definitely worth it.

The best view in Florence? We think so!

Looking up at San Miniato.

Alex took this great shot on one of the lower levels that doesn't have wire coverings on these "portals."

We spent some time at the top taking in the panoramic vista of Florence (and catching our breath!) and then headed down to a nearby bar to cool off with a couple of negronis. For dinner we heeded the advice given to us by multiple friends and headed to Acqua al 2 for their famous blueberry steak; since the place is so well known, Alex actually popped over there right before they opened to ensure we got a table! The uniquely flavored steaks were delicious (though maybe a little sauce-y compared to NYC norms) and we both loved the truffle tortellini, which was so rich we were happy to share!

After dinner, we walked home slowly to take in the quaint pedestrian-friendly streets of Florence one last time. Tomorrow we take the quick train ride to Rome and I get to decide which sights I want to repeat with Alex (Colosseum) and which ones I do not (Vatican).

Prego Levanto

Our last day in New Jersey was sort of a whirlwind – laundry, packing, running errands, updating our resumes and other “real life” tasks – so after a nine hour flight to Milan, two hour wait in the airport and three hour car ride to Levanto, we were pretty exhausted. Enter a great group of friends, together in Italy to celebrate an amazing wedding, and somehow we managed to power through the day!

First stop: smiles, sun and sand.

Having never been to Levanto before, Alex and I were immediately charmed by the small-town feel, friendly locals and beautiful beaches. Levanto is one town away from the famous Cinque Terre, so it has the same incredible scenery but far fewer tourists. We spent Wednesday afternoon catching up with everyone at the beach before getting cleaned up for a group dinner and welcome drinks with the bride and groom. We had the best time reuniting with our friends but after a few hours the combination of excitement, jetlag and negronis kicked in so we sent ourselves home to rest up for three more days of celebrating.

Great dinner crew for #pregolevanto.

Thursday morning we woke up early and met nearly 100(!) other wedding guests for a ferry ride and hike through the Cinque Terre. Everyone was feeling a little sluggish but the scenic views definitely made up for it.

Really cannot beat these ferry views of the colorful cliffside towns.

View from the ferryboat.

Boats on boats on boats.

Our hiking team!

The stated “one hour” hike we all planned ended up being slightly more difficult than expected but we all patted ourselves on the back for getting some exercise and promptly undid all that effort with more carbs, wine and gelato.

Once back to Levanto and properly refueled, we headed back to the beach for a few hours and then got ready for the rehearsal dinner, which was conveniently located at our hotel’s beautiful courtyard! The homemade oven-baked pizza was delicious, the speeches to Blythe and Cody were funny and heartfelt and the company couldn’t be beat. We headed out to the afterparty in town and continued to toast the happy couple into the early hours.

We – and pretty much everyone else – slept in late Friday morning and moved at a fairly slow pace until it was time to get ready for the wedding. We switched up our usual lunch spot – Roma Café is delicious if you are ever in Levanto! – before heading to the bride’s family’s villa to make flower crowns for the wedding (well I did - Alex hung with the guys and went to the beach). Once it was time for the wedding ceremony to begin, everyone was properly scrubbed, shined and ready to celebrate our amazing friends, Blythe and Cody.

So much happiness and love.

Alex looks pretty dapper without that mountain-man beard!

Just a few Tulane girls in handmade flower crowns for the wedding!

The ceremony was beautiful and touching and Alex and I are so happy for our newly married friends!

From the ceremony, we took a shuttle up the hill to a gorgeous venue for the reception and enjoyed a night of drinking, dancing and eating. The whole night – and previous few days – was so much fun and Alex and I were so happy to be a part of the entire experience.

Pretty great place for a wedding reception!

Sunset over the sea.

Someonelooked a little nervous during the hora...

Can you believe all these beautiful people went to Tulane?

Ending the night at a local bar on the bay.

Many of our friends headed back home – or to other destinations – on Saturday so we said goodbyes, hung out by the beach and took it easy with our remaining gang. For dinner, seven of us took the train to nearby Monterosso and had a delicious dinner overlooking the water at L’ancora della Tortuga.

Walking past the beach in Monterosso.

Me, Zoe and Nicole outside the restaurant.

I spy...Heller!

Cheers to a great time in Levanto!

Tomorrow we take the train to Florence for the start of our next two weeks in Italy (sans friends). This is Alex's first time in Italy and we are both excited for more sightseeing, scenery and carbo-loading!