Or, the ten best…in Italian. Here’s our top ten list from our Italian honeymoon.
10. Our Itinerary: Milan – Venice – Florence – Tuscan Countryside – Rome – Amalfi Coast. I received some great recommendations from my cousin’s wife when I asked for her “ultimate itinerary” if she were to have 3 weeks in Italy. She did not disappoint. In most cities, it felt like the right length of time; and in Tuscany and Amalfi, we wished for even more.
A Typical Venetian Scene
9. Old stuff. Duomos, cobblestones, the Colosseum, ruins. What better way to reminisce about all my art and architectural history classes than to see these places and pieces of art in person.
Really old stuff, Rome
8. Traveling by train. What a way to go. No security lines. Watching the countryside fly by. I wish the US had a train system like Europe (and that SF had a metro system like Milan!).
Stazione Milano Centrale
7. Cappuccino. Every morning. And I don’t even drink coffee. With only one exception, everywhere we stayed included breakfast, and I just could not resist saying, “Un cappuccino, per favore,” when the nice waiters came by.
Breakfast at Villa Podernovo, Tuscany
6. Meeting up with familiar faces. Our friend Nicco took us on a walking-eating-drinking tour around Florence, his home town, complete with childhood stories, and Chris’ cousin Melissa and her Italian boyfriend, Vincenzo, took us out for an amazing dinner in Rome – we didn’t have to order a thing.
familiar faces in far away places
5. The wine. Whether it was a Brunello di Montalcino in Tuscany or the glass of Prosecco every night before dinner at our hotel on the Amalfi Coast, we were never disappointed.
Vino in Firenze
4. The food. I think we ate our weight in prosciutto and salami, more than our fair share of pizza, some amazing Risotto Milanese and a couple kickass sandwiches from the Mercato in Florence, but…we had some standout memorable meals – particularly our dinners at Trattoria Quattro Leoni and Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco in Florence, and our honeymoon finale at Le Sirenuse in Positano. Huge thanks to our friends for the recommendations!
Happy Hour at Enoteca Gola e Cantina, Florence
3. Gelato! Favorite flavors were definitely pistachio for him and hazelnut for me, but we never met a flavor we didn’t like. It became our daily ritual. Walk around until we’re hot, get gelato, repeat.
Our very first gelato in Italy; would not be our last
2. Villa Podernovo in Monticiano, Tuscany. It was a beautiful villa (found via Agriturismo.it) in a teeny tiny village, but a perfect home base for exploring the nearby hill towns of Siena and San Gimignano.
Villa Podernovo, aka heaven – our apartment was upstairs in this building
1. The Amalfi Coast, by scooter… When the road is really only about one-lane wide, you definitely want the smallest, most agile vehicle. We were so glad we rented a scooter for three of our days on the Amalfi coast. Zipping to Positano or Amalfi for dinner, from our centrally located hotel in Praiano, was not only convenient, but so much fun!
Sunset from Praiano, looking towards Positano
La dolce far niente – “the sweetness of doing nothing” – really the best thing we learned in Italy, and what we hope to maintain, at least a little bit, in our lives back home.
foggirl 