Italy: Rome to Venice... and everything in between

6:15AM the morning of August 3, 2008: Ryan and I are in Girona airport preparing to check in for our flight to Rome. Things started smoothly, we had more than enough time to check in, and it wasn’t too crowded yet. We knew the rules for flying with RyanAir were pretty strict as far as baggage weight and we were already feeling hesitant about even taking this flight, but we went thinking it couldn’t possibly be that bad, right? We were not at all prepared for how much it would cost us, financially and mentally. When we reached the check-in counter we were already feeling sick and nervous about how much our bags would cost. We were allowed 15kg, and anything over that would be 15 Euro per kilogram. We didn’t even have time to decide if we wanted to go through with it, because they sent our bags down to the plane and handed us a slip to go pay our fees and come back to get our boarding passes. My bag was 22kg, so I owed 105 Euro (that’s approx. $185). Ryan’s bags were over too, plus although they told us we could have up to 3 bags, they charged him 20 Euro extra for having two; he owed 115 Euro. We paid the fees, got our boarding passes, and headed to security. This is about where I lost it.

I hadn’t realized I forgot to put my brand new Spider knife and my personally engraved Swiss army knife in my checked baggage. Both being gifts, I was really upset about having to give them up. We walked back down to the line where we checked our bags and asked if we could out them in our luggage. Nope, out of luck (and you can imagine they were really nice about it too). I handed Ryan my knives and started crying in the middle of the airport. I just wanted him to throw them away without me looking. He tried to calm me down and after thinking about it for a moment we decided to ask someone else in line if they would stick them in their bags. Not exactly an easy thing to do when you don’t speak the language and you’re walking up to people asking them to hide knives for you. Especially since one of the knives is pretty knarly and big, but it does have a pretty and bright pink handle to make it less scary. We got a few no’s, but eventually found two American girls who seemed semi-ok with the idea. We offered them 5 Euro since they were already worried about their bags being heavy. They finally agreed and all I could say was thank you and if I never saw them or the knives again, at least it was better than them being in the garbage.

Back up to security. I was feeling pretty good at this point, because I had at least avoided throwing more money in the garbage. I made it through fine, but Ryan got stopped. As they pulled his bag off, he remembered he had a multi-function bike tool in his bag that his dad had given him. The only tool on there that they didn’t like was the screwdriver, so after arguing and throwing a pen at the security guy, Ryan gave up and let them take it. We were both completely shaken and exhausted. I have never felt worse about a traveling experience ever! I couldn’t even get Ryan to speak to me for the next 40 minutes before our flight, which was fine, because anything either of us had to say would have only made us more upset. By 8:15 we were boarded and ready to go on our crappy little plane that was smaller than a sardine can with the way they crammed people in. We didn’t realize the seat numbers on our tickets actually meant nothing either, so we had to find any seats we could get. It was a fairly quick flight and other than a huge bounce when we landed, it was ok. Everyone clapped, which I hate, especially since there was no turbulence or anything. Then they played this silly recording over the loudspeaker saying “Congratulations, you’re on another RyanAir flight that’s on time!” All I could think was ‘who cares about being on time’. We got off the plane, walked a few feet from the plane to the terminal, and 45 minutes later our luggage showed up. So much for being on time; what’s the point if it takes 45 minutes to move luggage 20 feet!

Moving on… yay we’re in Rome!!! Time to enjoy ourselves! We walked to our hotel which ended up being a really cute B&B on a small little street. It was 5 flights of stairs up, which was fun with all of our luggage, but it was air conditioned, so by the time we made it up there we didn’t care how high it was. After cleaning up a bit, we went out to get pizza. We made it less than a block when we found a place to stop, and during our lunch we realized how tired we both were. That’s one of the funny things about traveling, you’re always tired, but you’re always somewhere new, so it’s hard to justify a nap when you feel like you’re missing out on seeing everything around you. Well, we justified it anyway. After 4 hours of sleep we woke up ready to go, and it was only 5PM. We decided to walk to the Colosseum, and then along the river to the Pantheon. It was great going out later in the day, because the sun was low in the sky and it made Rome look amazing. I had a lot on my mind while we were walking, because it was the day before the one year anniversary of Chris’ passing. I think I am getting better about dealing with the emotions that are stirred up by these thoughts. I find it very easy to go to a very dark place in my head, but I am trying to let that happen less and take control over it. So I tried to focus on happy memories. For the most part I did ok and I didn’t let it change the outcome of the night.

We ended up at the Pantheon by dark and it was beautiful! I think I am really drawn to that type of architecture; it was so large and unique. We had dinner at a great place just around the corner where our waitress turned out to be the most entertaining part of our trip so far. She was joking around with us and being super sweet. It was a nice change from some of the other people we had been dealing with. I did find it interesting that out of all the places I have been, they speak more English in Rome than anywhere else. Even just walking down the street, the restaurants call out to you in English to try to get you to come eat there. How do they know? Is it that obvious we’re American, or is it just that everyone else in Rome is an American tourist? I didn’t care that much, in fact I kind of enjoyed not struggling to understand what I was about to eat. The best part of Italy was definitely the food, which I have been anxiously awaiting since our first visit with the Swiss group. I could eat pasta and caprese salad for the rest of my life with no problems.

The next morning we decided to dedicate the whole day to the Vatican, since I wanted to see that more than anything. On our way there we got solicited by a tour company that offered a guided tour of the museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica, plus through the tour you got to cut in line past the people that were wrapped around the entire block. It ended up being more than worth it to pay for the tour. We had a great guide who led us through the museum with interesting facts and tidbits about pieces I would have otherwise completely overlooked. I was not a huge fan of the Sistine Chapel however. Not to say I didn’t like it, but my super high expectations were hard to meet with it being so insanely crowded and everyone was talking loudly and taking pictures (which meant all I heard the whole time were security guards yelling at people “No photo!!!”). I think it would have been nicer if we had just had a bit more room to stand and look up and enjoy it, but oh well, maybe next time. St. Peter’s on the other hand was spectacular. It was so big and you could take your time walking around and seeing all the details.

Afterwards we walked along the river again while making our way towards the Trevi Fountain. It was pretty hot when we got there, so it was pretty crowded with people trying to get a splash. We found a nice spot to hang out in the shade and chatted with a family from Portland, OR. It was all slowly sinking in, that I was in Rome, that I had just seen the Vatican, or that I was at the Trevi fountain! Pretty cool realizations. After a nice rest, it was time to head to the hotel to get our things and get to the train station.

We had a night train from Rome to Verona, which was a little rough since it was our first one. It was late when we got on and the other two men in our cabin were already asleep, so we just had to lay down and be quiet. It was a nerve racking trip and neither of us got much sleep. We arrived in Verona around 6:30AM, and took the bus to the airport where we had to pick up our rental car. This actually worked out great cause we went to the arrival terminal and there was no one there, so we took the opportunity to use the bathroom for sink showers.

When we go our car, we headed to Masi, an Italian wine producer that specializes in Amarone. This is a dry wine, meaning no residual sugar, but it is made from grapes that are dried out like raisins. It’s a really fascinating process that has a lot of history behind it. Last year I was lucky enough to meet Rafaele Boscaini who is the 5^th generation of the family business. With the help of him and his US distributor we were able to get a personalized tour from a wonderful girl named Anna. She took us all around the facilities and did a tasting with personalized tasting sheets and a powerpoint presentation with mine and Ryan’s name on them. It was fantastic. Then we went to the neighbors place, Sergo-Alegheri. This is a royal family that has a partnership with Masi, since as royalty they cant exactly make the wine themselves. The place was stunning, and I don’t know if I have taken so many pictures in one place this whole trip. The buildings were really old and overgrown with vines, and the gardens were done in an elegant English style that made me speechless. We got to see all the facilities here too, and one really cool thing they have here are Cherry wood barrels. They still use oak barrels, but they also throw the wine in the Cherry wood for 4 months of aging to give it something extra special. I’ve never smelled a barrel room that was so unique. On this property they have the wine shop where regular customers can go taste and buy. We stopped here and Anna gave us 2 bottles of their wine from Argentina, which is a blend of their native grape Corvina and Malbec. At Masi they are really focused on research and development, and they are trying to bring back some of the native grapes from their region and put them into use again.

After here, Anna drove us to lunch at a little pizzeria. I had the most amazing calzone ever, along with mozzarella and dried tomatoes from the local area, and prosciutto and melon salad. And of course everything was served with Masi wine. We really enjoyed our time getting to know Anna, and I don’t think Ryan or I could get over what a treat we were being given. Anna drove us back to our car, where we exchanged emails and said goodbye. We also gave her a bottle of wine from Burgundy that used the Caesar grape, since it is the native grape in Burgundy and we thought it was fitting with all Masi’s research. What an truly amazing visit; thank you Rafaele, John King and Anna for making it so memorable.

From here we drove to Padova where we would stay the night to be close for our appointment the next day. The hotel ended up being not so great, so we decided to get in the car and drive around in search of a nice place for dinner. We were driving along a small river and got to see some of the nicest homes that looked like palaces. After 20km or so we stumbled across a town that had a big event going on outside next to the water. We parked and joined in on the fun. We had drinks and appetizers at an outside restaurant where we got to listen to the music of an Italian band that played all American music (quite entertaining). Somehow though things got rocky between Ryan and I and the conversation went to not so pleasant very quickly. Despite the great surroundings, the night didn’t end well. It’s become clear to me now that it is possible to go a little crazy after sharing all your personal space with one person for so long. More than anything, I think we just needed a little breather from each other. After all, no matter how big Ryan and I have been this year by becoming friends and work partners, we are still ex’s who drive each other a little nuts.

The next day we visited Vignalta winery. I know the owner Lucio Gomiero who lives half the year in California as the Radicchio king, and the other half in Italy producing fantastic wines. Unfortunately he wasn’t at Vignalta when we visited, but his cellar master, Michele, toured us around and we did several barrel tastings. Although Michele didn’t speak very much English, we had a great time and left with a parting gift of two of their bottles.

We headed back to Verona for the night. I was really excited about this because I had been looking forward to a smaller town that had such fun history behind it. Ryan wasn’t in the mood to join me, so I decided to walk the city myself. I got to see the Castelvecchio and Casa di Giulieta. I went to a great modern bar for dinner where I had a steak with potatoes. It wasn’t exactly American steak and potatoes, but it was fantastic nonetheless; plus they gave me all the free bread and raw veggies I could eat. When I got back to the hotel Ryan told me he had been reading our Eurail book and found out there were boats we could take from Italy to Greece. We both knew that our appointment with Vignalta was the last definite thing on our schedule, and we could pretty much go anywhere we wanted after that. I wanted to go to Germany and Paris, but Ryan had gotten pretty excited about going to Greece and then traveling up through Eastern Europe. He decided to take a train to the port the next day when I would take my train to Venice. I was pretty upset about this. I wanted both of us to be able to travel on our own, but it was so sudden and such a big change, I just wasn’t handling it well. I was almost mad at him for being so nonchalant about it, since I guess to me it seemed like the end of a long road for us.

The next morning I had some trouble booking a place in Venice. I knew I had one night there by myself, but the next night I would meet Leilani and stay in the hostel she had booked. But I couldn’t find anything decently priced for a single; everything was nearly 50 Euro a night for just one person! Plus we couldn’t get internet to look for more options, because wireless internet is nearly non-existent in Italy, or if you can find it its 8 Euro an hour. It was getting closer to our train departures and I was stressing more and more. I thank Ryan for seeing this and deciding to get on the train to Venice with me. I just needed a little more time with him and to make sure I was properly prepared to be on my own. It was a nice easy ride to Venice and when we got there we used an internet café to find a place for the night. We got really lucky and got a great deal on an apartment for only 55 Euro. It was in close walking distance to the train station which was good with all the bridged in Venice, plus it had a full kitchen with a washing machine!! We needed to laundry really badly, so it was perfect to cook dinner and do our laundry while watching MTV. By the time Ryan had to leave the next morning I felt a lot more ready to say goodbye. And although it was tearful, I think we both felt more ready to let go and move forward as individuals.

After Ryan left, I had to get all packed up and go on a search for the hostel I was supposed to stay at with Leilani. I had thought she was arriving in the morning, but when I found out it wasn’t until after 5PM, I decided I would just go to the hostel and put my luggage there for the day. It ended up being the worst 3 hours ever! I hauled all my stuff through the labyrinth that is Venice, up and down bridges, hitting dead end streets, and running over people’s toes with my bag several times. When I finally found the place I thought would take me an hour tops, they didn’t even have a reservation for us, and they closed the window on me so they could go to lunch. So I had a little pity party for myself outside in the courtyard, and tried to figure out what to do next. After I wiped away the tears and sweat I pulled my crap to the nearest internet café. I didn’t know if Leilani would be ok with it when she arrived, but I decided to book a hotel for the both of us, and somewhere as close to the train station as possible! I made it there eventually and crashed on the bed for a couple hours. This was another day where eating got overlooked, because through all my trekking around, I couldn’t stop for food since I was trying to reach the hostel before 1PM before they closed. So by 4PM I was pretty hungry. I went to eat at a place next door to the hotel, but once I was there I couldn’t eat anything. I think I was exhausted and upset and suddenly food was the last thing I wanted. I just went back to the hotel to wait until I could meet Leilani at the train station. It worked out well though because as I was flipping through Italian TV stations, I found the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. That really helped me to feel more connected to the world, which was much needed at the time. It also got cold and started raining outside right after I reached the hotel, which explains why it was so muggy!! At least I didn't get drenched in the rain.

In a couple hours when I met Leilani, everything felt a lot better. Plus I can’t think of anyone better to help me find my way through a bad mood or rough patch. Thanks Leilani for being a light when I feel like I can’t find it anywhere else. After catching up, we went on a boat tour of the city, following along with Rick Steve’s as he pointed out all the great buildings I had passed twice already earlier in the day but didn’t even notice. We found a great little restaurant that was off the path of tourists. I had the best meal of polenta and shrimp with homemade marinara sauce; it was a Venetian specialty! While we were walking home we watched the coolest lightening storm over the Piazza San Marco. It was constant flashes of light every few seconds, like a non-stop camera flash. It was neat to watch and we reached our hotel just as the rain came down.

The next morning we went back to Piazza San Marco to visit the Palazzo Ducale, the Correr Museum, the Basilica and the Campanile. In the Piazza there was music playing almost all afternoon, which we could hear as we strolled through the different sights. We hit about 7 major sights in one day, several of which we 3-mountains from Rick Steve's, in fact we broke Mike and Leilani's Paris record of total 3-mountain sights in one day. We strolled along the canal and walked on the Rialto bridge (another sight I had lugged my bags over the day before and cursed for being so many steps) and enjoyed the beautiful view. Most of the houses along the canal were once painted with colorful frescoes, and you can still see hints of them now and then. We strolled though the Mercato di Rialto (where I had been running over people's toes) and bought some world famous Murano glass pieces, and found a nice cheap place for dinner. Then we headed back to the hotel to pick up my bags and put me on a train to Munich. We took our time and enjoyed the cool evening air. We stopped for quite a while on top of the Ponte Scalzi bridge and watched the moon over the canal. I tried to absorb everything I had learned throughout the day, which was actually quite a bit!

I feel that although Italy started rough, it ended wonderfully and I have some great things to take away with me.

Dislikes: Bridges (with luggage), ladies that work in hostels, humidity, loud/crude Americans in nice museums, being lost, flying, pushy Americans and children crying in Italian ("Oh Mama Mia!!")

Likes: Bridges (without luggage), boat tours, live street music, Murano glass, fresh fruit stands, Leilani having the Rick Steve's guide to Italy, Venetian specials, Italian cops, Italian countryside vineyards, royal houses with gardens, hanging laundry outside to dry, free wine, and nice Italians!