Italy.
It is as much a state of mind as it is a nation.
The country of Italy is undoubtedly one of the most sought-after destinations in Europe for American tourists, and for good reason!
With that said, I have to admit that Italy would not be our first choice if we were given an opportunity to return to any country from our 2022 adventures.
Let me clarify what I mean.
It’s not that we didn’t enjoy our time in Italy last year! Florence quickly became one of my favorite cities in Europe, and our cooking class in Tuscany was definitely on the highlight reel for our entire year.
I just mean that it wasn’t a place we immediately felt drawn to return.
There was plenty of the peninsula left for us to explore. We just had this uncanny feeling that we would not have any trouble getting back there in our lifetimes, and therefore, there was no point rushing it.
This prediction ended up being true, but in perhaps the most ironic way possible.
Just 16 months after our first visit to Italy, we found ourselves back on “The Boot” for a far quicker return than we could have possibly imagined!
Last year, we spent some time with my aunt and uncle in Tuscany. This year, it was Sidney’s aunt and uncle that invited us to join them for a two week Italian extravaganza!
We were also joined by Sidney’s cousin Samantha and Jordan (Samantha’s boyfriend) for a 4-part journey through Venice, Milan, the Amalfi Coast, and Rome!
We were absolutely ecstatic about this adventure for several reasons.
For one, we were going to spend some quality time with family before making our way to unfamiliar territory. There was something very comforting about that.
We were also really looking forward to exploring new parts of Italy! The only repeat from last year was Milan, and we were beyond excited about adding the Amalfi Coast and Rome to our repertoire!
Since I am somewhat limited by the email length limit, I will split up this recap into two parts. For now, let’s catch you up on Venice and Milan!
If you know anything about Venice, you know that it is often hopelessly infested with tourists. Many go as far as calling it “one big tourist trap”.
The problem with this statement is that it inherently suggests that Venice is not worth the trouble. In my opinion, this could not be further from the truth!
Venice is one of the most fascinating cities in the world, and there is not a single city that it can be compared with!
I had visited Venice once before, but Sidney had never been! It was an important location for us to document on the YouTube channel, and a perfect place to begin the trip!
The former epicenter of the powerful Venetian Republic is a testament to over 1,000 years of fascinating history.
The might of the Venetians was upheld by their control of the Adriatic Sea. Their powerful navy allowed them to both defend their territory from invaders and control the most lucrative trade routes in the region.
With this dominance of the sea came unimaginable wealth. However, Venice was unique compared to other empires of the age.
There was no king or royal family to claim the majority of the spoils. Venice was ruled by the “Doge”, which was effectively their version of a mayor. The holder of this position was elected by a council, not predetermined by birth, which was wildly advanced for the time!
Life in Venice during the height of the Venetian golden age was extremely prosperous, and the echoes of that prosperity are still on display all over the island.
The Piazza San Marco is the tourist hotspot of Venice because of the fact that it includes three of the city’s most iconic landmarks.
The San Marco Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, and the San Marco Bell Tower.
All three are a must on any Venice itinerary.
The detail in the design of the Basilica is absolutely incredible. We got that familiar feeling we had in Florence last year that we were in a place where excellence in art was celebrated as the pinnacle of human achievement.
The Doge’s Palace provides a fascinating look into the history of the Republic of Venice and their revolutionary power structure. Some of the artifacts in that building are three to four times older than the United States!
Lastly, the Bell Tower provides the best panoramic view of the island. If you’ve read our newsletter before or watched any of our videos, you know that Sidney and I absolutely LOVE to find the best lookout points in any city we visit.
It has a way of shifting our internal perspective of the terrain and deepening our appreciation of the place we are exploring.
When taking in these views, a sunset never hurts!
The other must-see tourist attraction is the famous Rialto Bridge. It is the largest of Venice’s 413 bridges, and it connects the west and east sides of the island over the grand canal.
Once we checked off “The Big 4”, we were free to explore Venice at our leisure!
The highlights included an incredible meal at one of Venice’s top restaurants called “Al Covo”, a cruise down the grand canal in a Venetian water taxi, and OF COURSE a ride in the iconic gondolas!
The gondola ride was something I didn’t get the chance to do my first time, and I am so glad I got to experience it with Sidney this time around!
The thing that will always stick out in my mind from this experience is that we instantly became a tourist attraction ourselves.
I was as guilty of it as anyone, but many tourists in Venice take pictures or videos of the gondolas as they make their way down the canals and pass beneath the pedestrian bridges.
In just a 30 minute ride, I would guess that we made a cameo in hundreds of smartphone videos!
Frank and Julie went one step further and booked a boat with musicians to serenade them along the way!
Since our gondola was right behind them, we were able to enjoy the gentle melodies as well. It was so cool how both the guitar and vocals echoed off the brick walls.
This obviously made us even more of an attraction for pedestrians!
During the golden age, all of the wealthy Venetians had their own personal Gondoliers to take them around, and many of them would provide musical ambience as well.
So, as touristy as it may sound, we were actually getting an extremely authentic gondola experience!
My biggest takeaway from this particular stop in Venice is that the city is even more magical when admired from the water.
Even the public water bus rides (which Sidney and I took a few times before Frank and Julie’s arrival) are an amazing and affordable way to take in the grand canal!
The private grand canal cruise is obviously even better, and the gondola experience is hard to top!
After Venice, we took a train to Milan.
While I’ve made my adoration of high-speed trains well known on this newsletter, I will save my “train talk” for Part 2 since we took one of the premier high-speed routes in Italy to get down to Naples!
It was a somewhat surreal feeling to visit Milan for the 3rd time in my life.
I truly love this city. It is far more modern and metropolitan than its deeply historic neighbors of Venice and Florence. However, it is home to one of the most incredible cathedrals on the European continent.
The true magic of Milan is in the vibrant nightlife and incredible restaurants. Quite simply, it is just a fun town!
I wrote an entire love letter to Milano last year, so it would seem a little redundant to do it all over again. Just in case you missed that one or if you want to refresh your memory, click the button below 👍
This visit to Milan did include two things that we weren’t able to fit into the schedule last time.
The first was a day trip up to Lake Como, which completely exceeded all of our expectations!
Similarly to how I felt about Venice, getting out on a boat forcefully changed my perspective of this popular destination.
Sidney and I passed through the town of Como on our bus ride from Switzerland last year, and we got several glimpses of the lake on the way through.
We honestly weren’t all that impressed, and it didn’t come up in any conversations of places we would like to check out next time.
It just seemed like a crowded tourist town on a lake, and we had just come from our cozy chalet on Lake Brienz in Switzerland.
Como just didn’t seem to pop in the same way from the bus window, and it became an afterthought in our minds.
How foolish!
As soon as we got out on the open water, it was as though someone had just turned a spotlight onto a painting.
Lake Como is STUNNING!
The foothills of the Alps hug both sides of the narrow basin, and elegant manors speckle the landscape as far as the eye can see!
While I still think that Switzerland’s scenery is a step above northern Italy, the beautiful lakefront properties are what make Lake Como special.
We were incredibly grateful that we ended up seeing it against all odds, and I would now highly recommend it to anyone visiting Milan! Como is only about 45 minutes away from the city.
The other new addition to our Milan re-run was that we were able to meet up with my friend Riccardo this time!
Riccardo was one of many European exchange students who lived in my apartment building during my senior year at Marquette.
Ironically, I probably have more friends living in Europe than the US at this point in my life 😂
He has lived in Milan for a number of years now, but was out of town when we came through last year.
It was amazing to meet up for dinner and catch up on the last 6 years. It was also so much fun to introduce him to Sidney and her family!
Somehow, we completely forgot to take a picture together and both maligned this blunder in our Marquette WhatsApp group the next day 😭
Oh well. I am sure we will have another opportunity. His parents have now retired in Sicily and we have an open invitation to visit any time.
The first week of Italy went about as smoothly as we could have hoped, and as always, it went by way too fast.
My appreciation for Venice deepened, my perspective on Lake Como underwent a seismic shift, and Milan is becoming like an old friend that I always enjoy seeing.
While it was hard to believe how fast these six days passed us by, we still had plenty left to look forward to.
More on that in Part 2!