Kevin and I just returned back from our honeymoon to Italy. We have been planning our trip to Italy for the last few months. Instead of going on our honeymoon immediately after our wedding in July of last year, we waited several months before we took our trip. Our dream has always been to travel throughout Italy and experience the food, culture, and history of the country.
The planning process was fairly easy. I read through a lot of travel guides and forums for suggestions on what to pack, where to go, and what to do. Since we only allocated a week for our trip, we wanted to see as much as we could in the short amount of time we had. May worked out as the best month for us to travel to Italy since it was right at the start of tourist season.
Kevin and I each packed a duffle with enough clothes for the week. We had to be thoughtful about what we packed because we knew we would be taking some high-speed trains throughout our trip and definitely did not want to be lugging too many bags around. I rolled up all of my clothes the Marie Kondo way and neatly arranged them in my weekender bag. I also brought a small antitheft travel bag with two TSA complaint lock and keys. Kevin folded his clothes into a large duffle and brought along an antitheft backpack. We were finally jet set for Italy.
Day 1: We arrived in Rome and proceeded out of the airport to the taxi queue. The taxi ride from the airport to our hotel was fairly quick. The roads were a bit bumpy, but otherwise, we had a mostly pleasant ride. Once we checked into our hotel, we asked the concierge for an area map and started mapping out our trip in Rome. I wanted to maximize our visit to as many areas in Rome as possible. Our hotel had an area shuttle so we took advantage of it for easy travel. The first stop we made was to Eataly for some food, snacks, and drinks. The Eataly in Italy seemed a lot bigger than the Eataly stores I’ve visited in New York and Chicago. The Eataly in Italy had four floors filled with a mixture of shopping, restaurants, and office space. The fourth floor even had a professional kitchen for cooking classes. In Italy, dinner service didn’t begin for most restaurants until about 7:00 in the evening. We had a late lunch instead at one of the restaurants on the second level. Kevin ordered a burger with fries and a salad. I asked for half of a small roast chicken with a side salad. We also ordered some cacio e pepe chips, which were absolutely delicious. I definitely made a mental note to incorporate some cacio e pepe into fries and chips when I returned back to Ohio. After a few hours, our hotel shuttle picked us up and transported us back to our hotel in the EUR district.
Day 2: Kevin and I headed to the city center of Rome to check out some of the historic sites. Our hotel shuttle dropped us off just south of Piazza Venezia. We walked around for a bit until we saw a local shop selling maps. For four Euros, we purchased a Rome area map and used it for the duration of the day to see Rome. The first stop we wandered to was the Roman Forum. The Forum was stunning and showed the dept of the culture and history of Rome. From the Roman Forum, we headed towards the Colosseum, another equally breathtaking historical site. We didn’t end up going inside the Colosseum as the lines were extraordinarily long. Kevin and I just walked around the outside of the Colosseum and enjoyed the breathtaking views from outside. There were a lot of people trying to sell trinkets and souvenirs and would approach us constantly. Although there were a lot of vendors, we weren’t too bothered by the vendors. We just tried to stay out of the way and enjoyed the historic views of Rome. By this time, we were hungry. We stopped at a restaurant near the Colosseum to enjoy a light lunch. Kevin ordered a salumi and cheese sandwich. I ordered a Magherita pizza. After lunch, we made our way to Trevi Fountain, but got lost halfway there and enjoyed a gelato break. The streets were a bit tricky to navigate, but with the trusty map we purchased earlier, we eventually wandered our way to Trevi Fountain. There were hordes of people taking pictures at Trevi Fountain. Kevin and I made our way towards the fountain and snapped a couple pictures before slipping out of the crowds towards the busy winding streets of Rome. The best part of Rome is getting lost and finding our way to the next historic site. Our next stop was Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. We admired both sites for several minutes and absorbed as much of the breathtaking views as we could before heading to Campo de Fiori to enjoy a stroll along the river walk. Kevin insisted we stopped by Giolitti, a gelato shop recommended to him by one of his colleagues from work. Giolitti was just a short distance from where we were so we stopped for a gelato break. The gelato break gave us the wind we needed to continue our trek through the streets of Rome. Our final stop in the evening was dinner at a local restaurant back in Campo de Fiori. Dinner for us was two plates of fresh handmade pasta. Kevin had gnocchi with ragú. I had ravioli with pomodoro and fresh basil. By this point in the day, the temperature had cooled down quite a bit. After dinner, we returned back to the spot where we were dropped off to take the shuttle back to our hotel.
Day 3: After yesterday’s fairly exhausting day, we started the day off with a leisurely breakfast at our hotel. We ate breakfast and then relaxed for a bit before checking out of the hotel to make our way to the nearby Metro station. When we arrived at the train station, we purchased two train passes and took the local train to Roma Termini, the train terminal where we would be taking a high-speed train to Venice. The train passes I purchased ahead of time granted us access to the ItaliaPass lounge near track 25. We sat in the lounge for a total of 15 minutes before heading for our high-speed train to Venice. The ride from central Rome to Venice Mestre is estimated to be 3.5 hours long. Kevin and I were both excited to take the train and see the views of Italy by train. Kevin also used this time to catch up on gaming. I did some light writing and reflected on our trip thus far. One of my favorite experiences of Italy so far was navigating through the city of Rome with a physical map. While there were pockets within the city center with crowds, there were also pockets of the city center with very little people. I was a bit nervous about just wandering our way through Rome, but I’m so glad we did. Spending a day wandering around Rome allowed me to thoroughly enjoy Rome without feeling rushed. The train ride was very smooth and just after 3:00 p.m., we arrived in Venice Mestre station. We connected to another local train for just a stop and walked towards our hotel. We checked in quickly and headed towards Porte di Mestre for an afternoon of window shopping and a light dinner. Inside the mall, there was a quaint little café selling pizza by the square, pastries, and drinks. Kevin got two meaty square pizzas. I went straight for the arugula and burst tomato pizza along with a slice of anchovies and olives pizza. The meal was simple, but very delightful. After dinner, we had another round of (you guessed it) gelato. It was a very simple and relaxing day. Once we returned back to our hotel, we started planning our outing to Venice the next day.
Day 4: Our hotel offered the option of an all-day bus/water bus pass to use for visiting central Venice. We purchased two passes and headed out of our hotel towards Venice St. Lucia early in the morning by bus. Once we arrived in Venice, we were blown away by the stunning views of the city. I’ve heard Venice described as a city on water, but the amazement of the city did not hit me until I was witnessing it with my own eyes. It’s a city built on water and had walkways connecting parts of the city everywhere we went. The first stop we made was to a local shop to purchase a map. Kevin and I had used a map in Rome and found it to be the best investment we made on the trip thus far. Once we purchased a map, we went to a local restaurant for breakfast to enjoy some breakfast and plan out the rest of our day. We ordered a hearty breakfast of sunny side up eggs, bacon, orange juice, and cappuccino. The day was especially rainy so we had to be careful not to step into puddles. I loved the beauty and history of the city. We walked around the streets a bit and wandered our way to one end of the grand canal. We then used our trusty bus pass to take the water bus line 2 to Piazza San Marco. Every direction we looked in Venice had the absolute most beautiful picturesque views. We continued through the streets until we reached the square and spent some time browsing through the shops. There were many shops selling items ranging from souvenir trinkets to high end designer bags. The streets were interspersed with restaurants, bakeries, and gelato shops. The aromas filling every corner of every street were intoxicating. I had a sudden urge and intense craving for every carb there was. Kevin constantly craved gelato and asked if we could take a gelato break every time we walked by a gelato shop. We had to distract ourselves with the beauty of the city to prevent us from overindulging in the endless food options. Our walk through the city took us to the Rialto bridge where we crossed it just to view more of the city on water. We continued strolling through the streets and wandered our way back to where we started. By the time we reached our starting point, it was late afternoon. We decided to take the water bus line 1 through the grand canal so we could enjoy the breathtaking views once more. Kevin suggested we take the water bus line 5.1 on our way back so we could see the outskirts of Venice. By the time we finished riding the water bus, it was early evening. We took the same bus from this morning back to our hotel in Mestre. We ended the evening by having dinner at our hotel’s restaurant. Kevin had some asparagus risotto with bacon. I had some pesto spaghetti with prawns. We ended our meal with tiramisu for dessert. The day itself was a success. The only downside was the rain seeping into my shoes. We retired for the evening after a long day.
Day 5: We spent the morning enjoying a light breakfast in our hotel before packing our belongings and departing for Rome again. Reflecting on our visit to Venice, we had an absolute splendid time. We definitely felt we were able to see a substantial part of Venice in a day. As we waited for our train back to Rome, we both hoped to be able to return back to Venice sometime in the future. We arrived an hour before our train’s departure time and browsed through some of the shops at the Mestre train station. I ended up purchasing a small planner at the book shop. Our train departed Mestre just after 1:30 in the afternoon. Kevin took a nap on the train. I did some light writing and enjoyed the wonderful views of Italy through the train window. I snapped a couple photos of Florence on our way back to Rome. Overall, the train ride wasn’t too bad. Even with multiple stops along the way, we reached Rome just after 5 in the evening. It took about three and a half hours from Venice Mestre to Roma Termini. Strolling through Roma Termini reminded me a bit of Grand Central and Penn Station in New York City. The hustle and bustle of the terminal made me feel a bit at home. We purchased some Metro train tickets and took the train back to the EUR district where our hotel was located. We checked in and enjoyed dinner at the hotel.
Day 6: We had booked a full day excursion trip from Rome to Florence and Pisa. However, our tour bus/guide never showed up. Although disappointed, Kevin and I decided to go ourselves and take the high-speed trains we’ve taken to Venice a few days earlier to go see Pisa and Florence. We departed our hotel for the metro and took the metro to Roma Termini to purchase Trenitalia tickets for Florence and Pisa. Our high-speed train departed Roma Termini for Firenze S.M.N. around 9:30 in the morning. Once we reached the train station in Florence, we transferred to another train to take us to Pisa Centrale. From the Pisa train station, we walked about 20 minutes and could see the leaning tower when we were a couple minutes away from our destination. There were street signs directing people from the train station to the tower. I’ve always wanted to visit the leaning tower of Pisa. When we approached the tower, we soaked in the breathtaking construction of the tower. It’s amazing how the tower maintained its stability after so many years. There were tons of people posing from all different angles trying to prop up the tower. Kevin and I just enjoyed the views from all sides. We walked around the area and read about the history and construction of the tower. After spending time admiring the beauty of the buildings, we headed back to the train station to take the train back to Florence. The ride from Florence was about an hour long. Kevin took a nap while I admired the views of Tuscany from the train window. Once our train arrived in Florence, we headed towards the city to soak in some of the views. Our walk eventually led us to the San Lorenzo market. We browsed through some of the leather products and trinkets and headed back to the Firenze S.M.N. train station to catch a high-speed train back to Roma Termini. The return trip took another hour and thirty minutes. We had a fantastic day exploring the two cities. When we arrived at Roma Termini, we exited the station and had dinner in downtown Rome. I finally had my cacio e pepe pasta while Kevin enjoyed a Roman style stewed veal.
Day 7: On our last full day in Italy, I signed both Kevin and I up for a pasta making class. Our class was scheduled for 10:30 in the morning at a restaurant in Rome’s city center. We were hoping to enjoy the pasta making class and lunch in the morning and then head towards the Saint Petersburg Basilica in the afternoon. Kevin and I were both looking forward to seeing some of Michelangelo’s artwork displayed at the church and its surrounding museums. First thing in the morning, we took the hotel shuttle to downtown Rome. Once we were dropped off, we headed towards the restaurant where we took our pasta making class. We zig zagged through the streets of Rome and through an alleyway as we made our way to the restaurant hosting our pasta making class. When we arrived, we met our chef and were introduced to another couple also taking the class. The chef started right on time and set up the working station for our class. He noted fresh pasta started out with double zero flour, a very fresh egg, and some salt. We began by pouring the premeasured flour onto a plate, creating a well, cracking an egg into the center of the well, and then starting to whisk the egg until the white and yolk were well blended. We then started gently folding the flour into the egg mixture. Once the mixture was mostly blended, we covered the rest of the egg mixture with the flour and let the mixture rest for several minutes while the flour absorbed the moisture from the egg. We proceeded to knead the dough and roll out the dough until the pasta dough was about 1 mm thick on all sides. The dough was left to rest for a few more minutes, rolled and cut into strips. When we were done making pasta from scratch, the restaurant staff cooked our handmade pasta with a choice of sauce and served it to us as part of a full course meal. Kevin chose carbonara. I chose amatriciana. The fresh pasta definitely made a huge difference in the end product. We rounded out the rest of our meal with some bruschetta, meatballs, salad, tiramisu, and limoncello. Once our bellies were full, we proceeded to Saint Peter’s Basilica to see the church, Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel. We ultimately decided to join a Skip the Line tour and experienced the rich history, beauty, and stories behind the museums. When we reached the Sistine Chapel, we experienced the art in silence. It’s amazing to witness the end product of someone who dedicated his entire life to art. The artwork was admirable and beyond inspiring. With our visit to the museums, we crossed off the final item on our Italy travel list of places we wanted to see. Kevin and I had one last gelato break and headed towards the metro station to return back to our hotel. We spent some time packing and had dinner at the hotel restaurant. Kevin enjoyed some rigatoni amatriciana for dinner. I had a Margherita Pizza. We retired back into our room for the rest of the evening.
Day 8: We said ciao to Italy as we checked out of our hotel and took the hotel shuttle to the airport. It was bittersweet to say goodbye to a city I’ve always wanted to visit at some point during my lifetime. I loved every part of Italy from the historic sites to the warm culture to the amazing food. Our flight back took nine and a half hours, but I was able to watch tons of movies to pass the time. Once we got back to Ohio, it was laundry time and naps.
Takeaways: My two best investments for this trip were a money belt and physical maps of the cities we visited. Kevin and I each wore a money belt during the duration of the trip and felt very secure with our travel documents. Our GPS and internet connection weren’t always reliable, so having physical maps definitely helped with navigating through the cities. Plus, by using the physical maps, we saved our battery life on our phones for photos.