Italy is pretty incredible. Great food, ancient sites, lazy days. 

This past week, my friends and I took a ten day break to visit Florence, Cinque Terre, and Rome. In Florence, we saw the Uffizi Gallery (and met Judith), the Dumno, made pasta, and visited the original Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy (just to relax, as long as we ignored the price tags). For our day to Cinque Terre, we went to three of the towns: Riomaggiore, Corniglia, and Vernazza. We hiked up a mountain and wondered through cobblestone streets in downpour. And, finally, in Rome, we cartwheeled in Vatican City, went the Colosseum, the Roman Forum (my person Rome favorite), the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain (at 8AM, the only way to see the sites and avoid the crowds), and explored the food markets (Campagna Amica was the best). And, we walked 11 miles per day, so much that one of my friend’s shoes literally fell apart. 

I really do think all that walking was good for two reasons. First, we did eat a lot of incredible food, a lot. Second, it made Italy into a series of tiny adventures. 

In Florence, we decided to see the city from above. There are two main ways to do that, the Michelangelo Piazza and the Gardens. For our first trek up, we thought we might try the gardens. So, we hiked up the long way around the top of the gardens (because I didn’t follow the map quite right). But we never saw the city along that hike, because the gardens are surrounded by a wall. So, we danced along the path, and, on our aching feet, walked down to the train station. 

In Rome, moving between food markets, we took slightly hidden streets, nearly empty except for us and a few locals. As we were walking, a local couple ahead of us dipped into a small business. I stopped to look in the window and it turned out it was the most incredible bakery. No sign, no real door (more of a curtain), and little pastries sold by weight. It was a bit like Blend Sliv Silk but with pastry, not candy. And these pastries were amazing, so much that I walked the four mile roundtrip to get them a second day! Mini jam tarts, cat’s tongues, ugly meringues, plamiers and more, each just two bites. A truly hidden gem. 

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Walking brought us many other adventures: surprise Churches, great views, beautiful ceramic shops, good food. On the final day in Rome, we decided to return to a restaurant to try some more of their dishes. We set up a reservation for opening hour, seven o’clock (Italians eat late) and at six, the rain began. And not just cute sprinkles, heavy downpour. We walked through rivers an inch and a half  deep, and the rain was so thick my umbrella started to oversaturate, leaving me with occasional rain drops on my head. Our feet were soaked, but the food was so spectacular. Carbonara, fried pecorino, and veal cutlets with sage and prosciutto. And the reason the food was spectacular wasn’t because of any magic chef’s touch, it was because it embodied the rules of good cooking: simple, fresh ingredients, well seasoned, and cooked to chewy and soft. The same rules we had learned making pasta with a Tuscan farmer, the kind of food you could make at home, if given a bit of forethought and four attempts. 

Things I’ve learned so far:

• Dancing, cartwheeling & walking lead to fun times and great stories.
• Good food is simple, and it’s better with friends. 
• Wear supportive shoes, and take your feet, when you can.