OK no, I will not be writing in all Italian, but I have been dutifully doing Rosetta Stone in preparation for my upcoming trip to Northern Italy coming up in just over two weeks! Not to sound like a shill, but that thing really works. If you really want to learn a language, I mean really learn it, I highly recommend Rosetta Stone (just get it on sale!).
So, in just a couple short weeks I will be returning to the scene where it all began, Bella Venezia. I was watching a Smithsonian show this morning about the water problems Venice is having and I have to say it was very bleak and depressing that a place so stunningly amazing is so abused to the point where it is literally sinking and crumbling onto itself. I feel lucky that I am going to return again to a place so special because, frankly, who knows how much longer it will exist in this form. I will never forget the view (seen to the right in a photo that is NOT mine) when you step out of the train station into the insanity and beauty in front of you. It was that exact moment when I knew I was very much in trouble where Italy was concerned. So, my itinerary is as follows:
- Venice - 3 nights
- Verona (with a day stop in Padova on the way) - 2 nights
- Mantova - 2 nights
- Milan - 3 nights
- Lake Como/Varenna - 4 nights
- Torino - 4 nights
Although day trips seem to almost never turn out the way I want them to (remember the awesomeness to the right that happened on a day trip on my last trip, to Spain - don't worry, I got a new camera!), I plan a few, most probably to Lugano, Switzerland from Lake Como and one of the Alpine towns from Torino. If I get "bored" I can always squeak in stops to places like Bergamo and Cremona, too. The nice thing about Northern Italy is that the distances are short, and the trains are extremely frequent. In my planning on this trip I have broken a few of my cardinal rules. I am not staying in the same place in Venice as I stayed the first time (which was almost perfect, but right behind all the tourist insanity). Instead I'm staying across the Rialto Bridge in a less-touristy area because my goal for Venice this time around is to see and experience more of the REAL Venice (and not eat any pizza!). Another broken rule is that I don't really have an itinerary for my 3 nights/2 full days in Venice, except for a visit to a glassblower that I've booked. Instead, I plan to wander neighborhoods, and do nothing more than eat, shop, and take boatloads of photos.
Next rule I've broken is that in Varenna, I'm staying in a place that has shared bathrooms. But, it's only 50 euros a night, and it has what you see on the left. So I think it will be ok.I am also trying airbnb for the first time and have rented an apartment in Milan, since the B&Bs were essentially just as expensive.
I may also make myself take an apparently vertigo-inducing elevator to the top of the cinema museum in Torino. It happens to be open quite late on Saturdays, which happens to be my last night on this trip. For those who know me, you know what kind of big deal this is.
I will of course be blogging and posting my photos as I go, wifi permitting.
A presto, mia bella Italia!!!
