Alyssa L Media

Benvenuto!

As you may or may not have seen, I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Italy recently. Throughout my time in Spain, I have been on several trips within the country, but this was my first time leaving to visit a different place in Europe. The opportunity was everything I imagined and more!

I met with a couple of friends not long after arriving in Spain, and together we planned the trip for our 5-day weekend/mid-semester break. We had Wednesday through Friday off of school, when typically we have classes every day, so we tried to take advantage of the time and visit as many Italian cities as possible.

Our trip started with a flight to Milan on Tuesday night, and then train rides to various cities on the way to Rome, where we would fly out of Sunday morning. We ended up visiting Milan, Verona, Florence, and Rome in 5 days, which was extremely tiring, but so, so worth it!

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Milan

We didn’t see much in Milan while we were there. It’s definitely a place more well-known for fashion, or exhibits like Da Vinci’s The Last Supper, but we were able to eat dinner and then see a bit on the way to the train station. The cool thing about arriving in Milan was that it felt like autumn had finally started. In Alicante, the weather’s still warm and very sunny, so experiencing fall weather once we got to Italy was magical.

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Verona

We left for Verona the morning after arriving in Italy, and I didn’t really know what to expect. Of course, Verona is well-known as the setting for Romeo and Juliet, but I didn’t know much besides that. When we arrived, we found Verona to be small, but quite beautiful. We stopped at a café to ask about things to do for the day, and then we set off. Most of the touristy activities in Verona can be done in a day, if you really put your mind to it. We wanted the day to be a little more relaxed, so we fit in time just for walking around and exploring in-between our museum visits and tours.

Verona has a plaza called Piazza Bra, where the Arena di Verona is located. Many shops and restaurants surround the Piazza, and it is very well-known in the city. We started our day by walking around the Piazza, to see the Arena and also to visit Via Giuseppe Mazzini, which is a popular street lined with tons of stores. (It was in this Piazza where we stumbled across a children’s event hosted by the Verona Fire Department and accidentally became certified “Junior Firefighters of Verona.”) After the plaza, we visited la Casa di Giulietta, which featured Juliet’s famous balcony, and a statue – said to bring romantic luck to those who visit it – of the star-crossed lover herself.

Nearby, next to the Piazza delle Erbe, was the Torre dei Lamberti, Verona’s bell tower. We climbed up to the very top and got to see all of Verona around us. The view was out of this world. Now, tickets for the tower include entry to the Galleria d’Arte Moderna Achille Forti, which carries some beautiful pieces. And once we had gotten our fill of all of the wonderful views, we returned to la Casa di Giulietta to leave some notes for her in the archway leading into the courtyard.

We closed out our evening in Verona with a very touristy train ride around the city, and a nice dinner out. And then, we prepared for our trip to Florence.

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Florence

Florence was gorgeous. I have to start with that. It is so, so beautiful. We had the opportunities to look over several Italian cities from high vantage points throughout our trip, but Florence had my favorite landscape, by far. When we arrived in Florence, we stopped at a café, once again, to sample more of Italy’s finest coffee and croissants, and also to figure out how we wanted to spend our day. *At this point I’d like to mention that trying to buy last-minute tickets to museums and art exhibits abroad can be very stressful, so I highly recommend making plans before you visit a city popular for tourism.* A few of the popular activities in Florence include seeing Michelangelo’s David, visiting the Duomo, and looking out over the city from the Piazzale Michelangelo.

Unfortunately (due to the whole last-minute ticket debacle) we were unable to see the David in person or go up into the dome of the Florence Cathedral (Duomo), but nevertheless we persevered and found ways to explore the beauty that was Florence. We went to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, and then we saw the Duomo and visited a Leonardo da Vinci museum, which featured recreations of some of his famous inventions. We ate some gelato, deemed by Google Maps as the best in the city, and then we saw the Piazzale Michelangelo. That was by far my favorite part of the city. From there, you can see out over the entire landscape. It was just wonderful.

The next morning, I went with my friend into the Duomo, to see the inside of the cathedral, which was gorgeous. (Every cathedral I’ve visited so far in Europe has these beautiful painted ceilings, yet each one is completely different. It’s so cool!)

And then, directly after we finished our cathedral visit, we packed up and left our Airbnb, bound for Rome.

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Rome

Our last stop in Italy, we planned out our trip so we had the most time here. Each of us planned on visiting the major sites in Rome, so we kept our schedules open for tours of the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, and the Vatican City.

We started Friday with a guided tour of the first two, taking our time to hear about the history behind the ancient structures. It was a lot of fun to hear about how much had taken place right where we were standing, and the Percy Jackson fan in me had a field day. Later, we visited the Trevi Fountain, tossed in our coins, and then ended our night with a visit to the Spanish Steps.

Now, we didn’t want to pack all of our sight-seeing into one day, so we decided to see the Vatican City on Saturday morning. We bought tickets to skip the line at the Vatican Museums, but decided to do self-guided tours instead of moving as a group with a guide, which worked out better for all of us. We took our time looking at each hallway and exhibit, and the vastness of it all was almost overwhelming. We saw everything from sarcophagi to sculptures and frescoes, and we also visited the Sistine Chapel. We had split up into pairs by early afternoon, but one of my friends and I easily spent 8 hours in the Vatican City that day.

By the end of it, we were exhausted, but on the trek home (yes, we walked an hour from our Airbnb to the Vatican City) we stopped at the Pantheon, visited another cathedral, and tossed another coin in the Trevi Fountain, just for fun. That night, we napped, and then went out to explore some of the night life, before preparing for our trip back home.

And finally, we were on our way back to Spain.

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That’s it for my city-by-city account of my 5-day trip to Italy. There’s so much more I could write, but I think I’ve included enough for now! Italy was so cool not only to see, but also to experience. Though we definitely had to move fast through each city and we weren’t able to see everything, we still had a great time, and I would love to return some day to keep exploring.

Anywho, that’s all for now – so, ciao!!