Italy, A.K.A. Can't Stop, must See All
Italy can only be described as a whirlwind; a desperate rush to see as much as possible in a time way too small for the enormous volume of things to see and do. AGAIN, because of our budget and the purpose of this particular trip we found ourselves in Italy only because of a cheap flight connection that brought us across Western Europe. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved to spend months in Italy, but this trip had other purposes.
Sleeping in a train station, fuelled by counter-side espresso, and stuffed with gelato, we ran through three Italian cities, eager to take in as much as possible and not waste a second.
Sleeping in a train station, fuelled by counter-side espresso, and stuffed with gelato, we ran through three Italian cities, eager to take in as much as possible and not waste a second.
Milano
September 8, 2015
We flew into Milan and took a shuttle bus into town. We didn't think to pay much attention to the airport we would be flying into and so we ended up arriving at the one quite a bit out of town and due to there being no public traffic we paid the price requested for a shuttle bus and arrived at the train station around midnight. Midnight at the train station in Milan is not a nice time to be out. There were a lot of people sleeping and hanging out in the area and we got the feeling it was probably best just to hurry to our hostel.
We stayed at Hostel California which was about 25 minutes from the train station, in the opposite direction of the city centre. This was the cheapest option for the expensive city, and still, it wasn't one of our cheaper nights.
We only planned to spend one day in Milan for the sake of expenses and I was sure as hell we were not going to miss out on anything. Despite arriving after midnight we were up and ready to go at 8am the next day, walking the whole 40 minutes into the centre.
As food is one of the most popular attractions Italy has to offer, we ate well during our one day there.
We stayed at Hostel California which was about 25 minutes from the train station, in the opposite direction of the city centre. This was the cheapest option for the expensive city, and still, it wasn't one of our cheaper nights.
We only planned to spend one day in Milan for the sake of expenses and I was sure as hell we were not going to miss out on anything. Despite arriving after midnight we were up and ready to go at 8am the next day, walking the whole 40 minutes into the centre.
As food is one of the most popular attractions Italy has to offer, we ate well during our one day there.
Other than eating we spent the day pretty much wandering around, starting at the Sforza Castle and heading down Via Dante to the Duomo di Milano and centre of town.
The Sforza Castle
The Duomo di Milano and The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
A few other samplings from our Day In Milano
Venezia
September 9, 2015
Our trip from Milan to Venice was an interesting one, but one true to the budget traveller lifestyle. As hostel prices in Italy were more than we were looking to pay and we wanted to maximize out time in each city we opted to take a night train with an extended stop over in Verona. We left Milan late in the night and arrived at the Verona station around 11pm. You may be surprised to learn that the Verona train station is actually a popular sleeping stop for a lot of weary travellers, we were. We were not scheduled to leave Verona until 4:30am the next morning and so we searched out an unoccupied bench or slice of secluded floor space and actually ended up at a bench on one of the platforms. Jer, being the gentleman that he is allowed me to sleep on the bench and we took the floor directly below we. We bundled up against the chilly September air, heads on our backpacks, and attempted a restless night in the train station.
We've recently debriefed about our choice to forgo comfort for a maximization of time and experience and have agreed that it was completely worth it. One restless and chilly night was quickly made up for with a beautiful sunrise over the city of Venice as our train approached and it rose up out of the water. As well, arriving in Venice at 6 in the morning means quiet access to one of the worlds most fascinating cities, free of the daily hustle and bustle tourism brings. The historic city of Venice receives 60,000 tourists daily, that is slightly more than the actual population, and something that is not hidden by any means. Those narrow streets fill up quickly.
We've recently debriefed about our choice to forgo comfort for a maximization of time and experience and have agreed that it was completely worth it. One restless and chilly night was quickly made up for with a beautiful sunrise over the city of Venice as our train approached and it rose up out of the water. As well, arriving in Venice at 6 in the morning means quiet access to one of the worlds most fascinating cities, free of the daily hustle and bustle tourism brings. The historic city of Venice receives 60,000 tourists daily, that is slightly more than the actual population, and something that is not hidden by any means. Those narrow streets fill up quickly.
We were also treated to an early morning market full of fresh produce but also empty of people. Here we ate the most delicious nectarines either of us had ever had and kicked off what would become a complete nectarine obsession for me.
We took less photos as the day went on and streets filled up. Partially because we were exhausted and partially because we enjoyed the city so much more when it was empty. Some of the narrower streets close to the centre and Piazza San Marco were just uncomfortable due to the volume of bodies. Our overall impressions of the city were fantastic though. The canals, and the small bridges that crossed them were picturesque, the alleyways were charming and the courtyards brought with them life and society. In the early morning, seeing people out reading at the coffee shops and kids heading to school we imagined a charming life in the city. Venice is definitely a city I could return to. We covered a lot of ground by foot, even with our bags, and on another occasion, with a different budget, there are still so many experiences to be had there. Here is a final collection of photos from Venice.
Trieste
September 10, 2015
From Venice we were looking for an economic way to travel to Slovenia; easier said than done really. What we ended up doing was heading to Trieste and actually having to put out for a hotel room in a fairly run down hotel as there was no youth hostel. We then awoke early to take the historic Opicina Tramway to Villa Opicina. Due to country politics we were informed that only from here we could take a train over the Italy-Slovenia border. Finding that train proved to be harder than we'd ever imagined possible.