Florence: Birthplace of the Renaissance

Florence has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. It's a beautiful area of Italy, known as the birthplace of the Renaissance and associated with social change in art, science, politics, literature and architecture.

My Airbnb is in the middle of the historical center of Florence - an ancient neighborhood listed as a UNESCO Heritage site. Apparently this means there are no elevators and I’m glad I only have my one backpack with me because I’m not sure some luggage would even fit in the hallway. The stairs are steep like a ladder to a loft would be. My place was on the 4th floor…

It’s a simple place with old wood beams and the bathroom reminds me of a travel trailer…the toilet, shower and sink are all just together - but it was completely adequate and comfortable.

There’s tons of restaurants right outside my door so I just picked one that had this Pappardelle al Cinghiale (Ribbon Pasta with Wild Board) that I was told I should try. It was delicious paired with a glass of Chianti. The restaurants are right on this main historical street so the people watching is AMAZING. The pied piper was my favorite.

I almost laugh every time someone asks if I want still or carbonated water because they call it “with or without gas.” Sometimes, even though I want the bubbly water, I can’t bring myself to say I want the gas so I just go with the still.

The Mercato Centrale was steps away from where I was staying and this place was awesome. On the first level people were selling meats, fish, cheese, wine, veggies, etc. and on the second level there were various restaurants where you could get steaks, pizza, wine and beer, desserts, pasta, burgers, Asian food, and more. My favorite was this place that did pizza and sandwiches on focaccia bread that were soooooo delicious. They’d heat them up and the focaccia stayed perfectly crispy, even when tons of fresh mozzarella is piled on top.

Once again, I am in the middle of tourists. It’s very crowded in some areas but I walked around for a while, got lost in the streets, and took in the beauty of Florence. One of the days it rained SO hard all day long so I didn’t get out much (because I had no jacket and refused to pay 25 Euros for an umbrella). 

Salve, Milano

As we began the descent into the Bergamo airport, I started second guessing my remaining time in Italy. Bergamo is absolutely STUNNING! Added to the bucket list but just from the airplane I could see beautiful buildings, lakes and mountains, and then they had a huge video ad in the airport I was dying over. Next time...

And now that I was not flying directly into central Milan I had to get back on a flippin’ bus for an hour to get from Bergamo to Milan. Nothing to note on that trip except that I wanted off the bus.

Central Milan is nuts. Not in a bad way. The motorcycles freak me out though. I’m not sure if I mentioned it but almost every place I’ve been to I’ve seen a very prominent motorcycle training course - and for good reason. So many people ride them in Croatia and Italy but they weave in and out of traffic and between busses…it’s insane.

Once I got to the bus station I realized I would not be walking all the way to my Airbnb. So, time to figure out the Subway and Tram system in Milano!

After fiddling around with the ticket machine I successfully purchased a 90-minute ticket and found the correct Metro to board. I should mention that at this point in time I didn’t know there were both Subways and Trams. The Trams include cute little wooden trolleys that run on the above ground tracks.

I successfully got on the first Subway and then asked an Italian guy if I was transferring to the correct subway…he said yes. He didn’t speak English well though. He was wrong. I was supposed to be above ground at this point. I realized quickly that what I was doing wasn’t correct and got off. I went up to the street level and saw the trolley I needed.

When I finally found my Airbnb the nice woman who checked me in saw how sweaty I was and ran to her apartment and got me the biggest bottle of water. I REALLY appreciated that water.

I took some work calls and then ventured out to find food. I love how late Europeans eat. Strangely I ended up in a bar, eating a burrito, drinking a beer…in Milan. I know, I’m a bit ashamed but both the beer and the burrito were good. After dinner I walked to the Arco Della Pace which was right next door to my Airbnb.

 

The next morning I had to be out of my Airbnb by 11am but I had a ticket to the Duomo at 10am and I knew I’d be there for more than an hour so I decided to find a place to hold my bag. Bounce Luggage Storage is kind of like Uber for your bags, in my opinion. It’s little smoke shops, restaurants, etc. all around the city (they are a lot of places other than Milan) that you can pay about $3-$5 to hold your bag in a secure “back closet” for the day (or more). My luggage place was a little restaurant and they tagged it like at the airport and gave me a retrieval ticket. There were good reviews on that particular spot and my experience was a 10/10.

The Duomo was…stunning. I purchased a fast pass ticket to bypass the 230 stairs to the Terrace and Rooftops and I’m not sorry about that at all. Going down those stairs was slow enough with all the people. I cannot imagine how slow the up was.

The Duomo di Milano, with its Gothic architecture, is the cathedral church of Milan which means it serves as the central church of the Archbishop of Milan (I’m not Catholic-I had to look that up). Construction on the cathedral began in 1386 and was finally completed in 1965 - although it looks like there's constant work being done on it.

You can Google the history of it - I don’t need to revisit it. I enjoyed the visit and took way too many photos that I now have to go through. I would recommend seeing it if you’re in Milan but I would 1. Buy your ticket early; 2. Get there early. Even though I had a fast pass the line to get into security was absurd; and 3. Get a fast pass with the elevator to the roof. It’s not that I mind climbing stairs but you will have people of all ages and physical shape trying to climb with you - unless you have something to prove or really want the exercise, I’d bypass the stairs up.

                

After the Duomo I wandered over to the Castello Sforzesco - a medieval fortification built in the 15th century by the Duke of Milan - it is home to museums and art collections.

 

I picked my bag up from the restaurant and headed to the train station to catch my ride to Florence. When you arrive at the train station the big reader boards don’t always list every train departing because there’s so many. They do it by departure time and mine was not listed yet. 

 

When it finally popped up (5 minutes before departure which is not abnormal) I had to get all the way down to the other end of the train into the Silent Business Class section - I like this section because people can’t be talking on phones or randomly playing Instagram or YouTube videos without earphones on. It’s quiet. And they give you a little snack and drinks.

We start rolling away from Milano Centrale and then we stop like 5 minutes later and the voice comes over the speaker saying there’s a broken down train so we’ll be delayed 50 minutes. Normally I’d be annoyed but I was working on the train ride so it just meant another extra hour for getting crap done.

The ride from Milano took us through beautiful Bologna and down into Florence. As usual, stepping off the trains into these huge stations is like getting punched in the face with sound. They are bustling with so many people and coming from the silenzio car was even crazier.

And now off to find my Airbnb in Florence…

Zagreb, Croatia to Bergamo, Italy

I was supposed to be making a stop on Zadar. I was excited about it. There’s a beautiful hotel there with views of the sea. A strange and wonderful art and music experience called the sea organ, and great architecture and history…But instead I ended up in the capital of Croatia - Zagreb - because my boat off of Lošinj was canceled and it only runs a couple times a week so I would’ve missed more than half of my Italy route.

So after a bunch of scrambling to get a bus reservation, change my flight, and a new hotel…to Zagreb I went.

How was the bus ride? Brutal. When you purchase a ticket it has a seat number but no one except for a handful of people adhere to that so people are arguing about seats at every stop the entire 6 hour ride.

It is bumpy, as mentioned previously, and I was planning on working but was in the very back on the aisle- the only seat on the whole bus with no table. The bus made one stop for a bathroom break (besides the ferry ride). And there was lots of stop and go and windy roads. I wouldn’t choose that method of travel again. The bag situation states you have a checked bag included but they were collecting cash to put bags under the bus- still not sure what that was about. My backpack was just small enough to fit in the overhead bins so I took it with me in the main cabin of the bus.

The positive of the bus was that I did see some other incredible areas of Croatia that I'd love to go back to and spend more time in. After departing Mali Losinj the bus headed towards Cres but before we got there we had to make it over the Osor Bridge because when it closes, it closes for over an hour to let the boat traffic in and out of the harbor. Once we got over to Cres we dropped down into a little town called Merag where we took a ferry to Valbiska and then headed up towards Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. 

The hotels can be a little tricky with how they word things. The hotel I stayed in advertised an “airport shuttle” on their website. Well, when asked I was informed that meant you go back to the bus station (3min walk) and buy a ticket to the airport…I opted for a $16 Euro Uber ride. Kind of done with buses right now.

[Next day] It’s 3:20pm and my flight from Zagreb was supposed to leave at 10:40am. Technical problems apparently. But the delayed departure time was listed as 2:30pm. I'm flying Ryan Air and although their employees are very nice the whole gate and boarding process is a complete cluster, just like the bus. A girl got onto the flight, couldn’t find overhead space for her TWO huge bags so she put them in an empty overhead bin but then just randomly sat in a seat. Then two guys get on and she’s in one of their seats and instead of having her move to her seat they tell the two guys to sit by me. Then a girl who is supposed to sit by me is told to just find an empty seat because neither of the guys would move…you get the picture….all of the seat jockeying probably made us 20 minutes more late.

I didn't get to see much of Zagreb but I hope I'll make it back some day to explore. In the photo below we are taking off out of Zagreb and flying back over Croatia and you easily make out the Vidikovac Limski Canal. 

I ended up flying into Il Caravaggio International Airport (Milan Bergamo) instead of Milano Malpensa Airport (MXP) and I will say Northern Italy is definitely an area I want to go back to. Stunning mountains and lakes (I believe this is Lake Iseo) and beautiful estates perched on green hills that could be seen as we descended into Bergamo...it's another stunning area of Italy.

 
 

We will see how well the renowned travel insurance I purchased worked for trip interruptions and cancellations. I’ll leave this blog at our descent into Bergamo, Italy… Ciao!

Lošinj: The Big and the Small

Well, tomorrow will be my last day on Otok Lošinj. It has been nothing less than magical. Every person who met me on this island asked, "But why are you here? It is such a long journey to come here. Why Lošinj? 

Croatia has been on a bucket list of mine for quite some time. But I had always thought my first experience with Croatia would be Dubrovnik or Split or even to one of the National Parks that is more mainstream. During Covid I realized my neighbor was Croatian and his family was from Veli Lošinj and he, his wife and I got to talking about areas of Croatia they love. As an Enneagram 5, I love researching things and I couldn't begin to tell you how many hours I probably spent over a couple weekends just reading about these little coastal areas in Croatia. A few more years went by before I decided to just do it and go. 

Veli Lošinj

 

Mali Lošinj

Otok (Island) Lošinj is broken up into two main areas: Mali (small) Lošinj and Veli (large) Lošinj. Back in the early days Veli was the area more inhabited but as the years have gone by Mali has actually become bigger. To me, Veli is charming, without trying. Mali feels like they are trying to cater to all the huge yachts and boats docking in the marinas.

My first day in Veli I was walking on a trail by the sea and I heard a motorcycle come up behind me so I moved over to let him by and to my surprise, it was a priest! He jumped off his motorcycle, smoothed out his vestment and went along his way. 

The church bells go off every hour and I love listening to it.

There's a little bakery that I went to often (ok, every day except for one). And I'd get these tomato and olive focaccia bread things that I will probably have to try to recreate because I think I have an addiction. 

And the swimming...I'll admit, I was a little skeptical of the idea of rocky beaches. I mean, we have those on Orcas Island although I haven't done much ocean swimming in the Pacific Northwest since I was little. The first couple days I walked around looking at different spots that were listed in maps but also saw all of these ladders -like you'd see in a swimming pool - attached to huge rock masses leading into the ocean. 

My favorite one (located right around Punta Leva) had some old ruins that served as sort of a hot tub area (at least warmer than the actual sea) and semi-flat rocks you could lay around on. You can image how warm the sun makes these rocks so it was a perfect spot to lay out and dry off after swimming. I did visit a couple of the rocky beaches and found them to be more populated and they were trying to sell you a lounger rental for 10 Euros (pass). I found the little swim holes on the rocks to be much more interesting.

I had to be pretty careful eating seafood in Croatia because in my 30's I gained an allergy to crustaceans (crab, shrimp, lobster that I know of) and so many of their seafood dishes come out with shrimp on it, with it, beside it. And to be honest, I didn't want to be the American that asked them to cook it differently. So I ate a lot of pizzas and things with truffles in/on it...Croatia is one of the largest exporters of truffles in the world (from the Motovunian forests in Istria). They also produce some great wines that I would say rival some of our best areas in the U.S. 

Another thing I love about wandering around Lošinj are the cute, colorful homes with luscious olive trees, fruit trees, jade plants (reminds me of my mom) and tons of what I believe is wisteria that drapes itself over walls creating a wonderful sight and scent. There's another flowering bush that bees or hornets (I didn't stay long enough to determine which) love. The first time I heard the noise I was walking on a back street and thought something electric was being used and then I saw flying things and I ran. My neighbors had told me about hornets nests they had found so again, I didn't need to find out.

One morning I hiked up to St. Ivan's Church. There's a lot of places in Croatia that you can only find for the first time with coordinates. They don't pull up on Apple or Google maps. They don't have an address. They are there for the adventurer to find. This was one of those places because it was nowhere to be found in maps. I Googled it and saw there was an All Trails review on it but it showed that person did a weird loop - they didn't even go up the trail. So I ended up finding this one lady who had created her own Google Map where she pinned places she had gone to in Veli and she had put a pin at the trailhead (I wish I would've bookmarked that b/c now I can't find it to share). In reality, if you just walk uphill (downhill to the water, uphill everywhere else) you would see these painted emblems and arrows showing you where to walk to St. Ivan. The whole thing was pretty clear once you got going. 

It had rained early in the morning and the entire trail was rocky once you got off the sidewalk so it was slow going as I did not want to slip and fall (going down was super sketchy). I loved the walk up. Most of the time you had stone walls with peek-a-boo views of the water. I saw tons of what I believe are Chrysolina coerulans, also known as the blue mint beetles, all along the trail. At one point when I had stopped and was taking a photo I heard something rustling in the bushes (did not like that). I looked over the wall and to my surprise there was a herd of about 6-8 wild (they call them feral) goats! The funny thing is I smelled them. My grandparents had a huge goat farm and business when I was younger and I immediately recognized the smell of goats before I saw them. They weren't super concerned with me and I didn't care to pet them because they looked pretty nasty. 

Wild goats

A quick shoutout to Orcas Recycling Services/The Exchange. They do a lot of zero waste management and sustainability on Orcas Island and I do some freelance work for them. I was asked to look at how these small islands do their waste and one of the first things I saw were these big bins by one of the bus stations. Lošinj asks people to separate out their glass, plastic, paper/cardboard, metal, and then there was one bin for mixed garbage. And you needed a special card to get into it and it charged you money. I asked the local tourism lady what she thought of them and she said they were not working because people didn't want to pay for their garbage so they just threw it in one of the recycling bins (which if you didn't know, contaminates everything in that bin so it most likely all goes into the regular garage instead of being recycled). So now you know.

This week we have had off and on rain and thunderstorms during the night which was AMAZING laying in bed listening to. The not-so-amazing thing about these storms is the awakening of the mosquito beasts. Those suckers love my blood and they are just everywhere now...

And now I'm back to a travel day tomorrow and I got a notice that my boat to Zadar in the morning is canceled due to projected high winds at sea. I'm a little upset because there's this weird sea organ in Zadar that I wanted to see and hear - it's an "architectural sound art object and experimental musical instrument that plays music by way of sea waves and tubes located underneath a set of large marble steps." Alas, another time, Zadar. 

So instead of a quick 2 hour boat ride to Zadar and then a short plane ride to Milan on Monday, I'm doing a 6 hour bus ride to Zagreb (capital of Croatia) tomorrow night where I'm arriving almost at midnight and then hopping a plane to Milan at 10 in the morning. I probably won't have much time to see anything in Zagreb but if I do, I'll let you know.

Next stop...Milan!

Pula: Roman Ruins, Shipbuilding and More

I arrived at the Pula bus station and walked about 6 minutes up a hill to meet my Airbnb host (she was adorable and so was her rental). My Airbnb had the cutest, most comfortable rocking chair (see photo) so if anyone knows where I can get it in the States, let me know. 

I need this chair in my life...

My Airbnb was 30 steps from the Amphitheater/Arena. There was a marathon or something going on that night so it was a madhouse and there was sound equipment and stuff everywhere so it ruined some of my photos. The Arena, built between 27 BC and 68 AD, is the only remaining Roman amphitheater to have four side towers entirely preserved and is among the world's six largest surviving Roman arenas. I’ll have to dig more into the history of this area later. I purchased a ticket to walk around inside and it was well worth it. Took some photos for a group of tourists and heard them exclaim, “ah, professional” as they left (you’re welcome). I believe they also have an underground tour for the Arena but I didn’t arrive in time for that. 

I walked up to the Kaštel (castle) and down to the Temple of Augustus and The Twin Gates. Had dinner at a Street Food joint and a glass of Refošk (red) wine which was excellent! 

I headed back to the Airbnb because I had to be down at the boat docks by 6:30am to check in for my high speed catamaran through Kapetan Luka to Mali Losinj (the tickets were VERY clear about needing to be there 30 minutes before departure). 

I was right on time the next morning, rewarded with a window seat, and was able to watch all the shipbuilding going on in the harbor - another “Pula” thing. But you gotta love the folks who roll to the port at 6:51 ( or even 6:59) when we were asked to arrive at 6:30 and are just strolling. We left some people behind because they were late!

I will definitely return to Pula. I love the vibe and I’d love to walk around more and get out to the Brijuni National Park where there’s a 1600 year old olive tree, dinosaur footprints, and a Byzantine castrum. There’s also a safari but it reminds me of an aquarium so I’m not sure I can get on board with that…

Rovinj: A Stylish Piece of Croatian Heaven

I had never heard of the Croatian area of Rovinj (I've heard it pronounced "rov-VEEN" and "rov-VEEN-ya" in the same sentence so...?) until my neighbors mentioned it. It's on the way to the island of Lošinj so I thought I'd make a stop and check it out. This was a good decision. The boat from Venice, ran by Adriatic Lines by Kompas, dropped myself and many other passengers at the Rovinj dock around 8:00pm - and the place was HOPPIN'. It sounded like we pulled up to a club and there were people just everywhere. Late dinner right by the water, enjoying drinks, or just talking with friends. The place was ALIVE. 

Rovinj at night - photo courtesy of my neighbors, Robert and Elaine.

Note: Everywhere I've gone in Europe so far people are obsessed with American music. And not current stuff - it's older stuff by Whitney, Michael, Guns N Roses, and Eminem. I love it.

I got lost trying to find my Airbnb (no surprise) mostly because not all the little streets are named and when I tried to use GPS it just showed me in a big circle that covers three streets up and three streets over on each side. I used pictures to find my way. I love all the backstreets, but it's easy to get lost. They are narrow and beautiful and there's cobblestone everywhere. There's also a lot of hills and I saw many tourists struggling up stairs and inclines. Just be aware if you ever want to visit. It's lot of uneven, up and down walking.

These streets must get SO slippery when it rains!

I was starving when I finally got to the Airbnb and after getting off a work call I went out to see what I could find. On Google it showed most places open to 10pm so I expected to find something open. But, alas, most places were done cooking. There was a pizza place near me and the really nice owner made me a Margherita pizza even though he was closed. He definitely felt sorry for me and I gladly accepted his pity.

The next morning I got up and walked around a bit before I had to check out of my Airbnb. I walked up to the Church St. Euphemia and looked at the views and listened to music that a guy was playing on a Hang instrument and it was hauntingly beautiful. I walked down to Balbi's Arch - one of seven former city gates of medieval Rovinj built in 1678. On one side there's a head of a Venetian and the other, the head of a Turk. On top is a lion with wings on its back which I have read is the symbol of the Venetian Republic.

Balbi's Arch

I also found their cute little city market, Gradska Tržnica - Mercato Cittadino, and bought some white truffle spread and the owner gave me like 20 samples of different oils, vinegars, and truffles...I would have bought more but I have no room in my luggage (and I ended up eating the entire little jar of truffle spread later on in my trip). I went back to the Airbnb, checked out, and was planning on taking my backpack to the bus station luggage hold where you can pay to have them store it for a few hours. Unfortunately, the lady at the storage said it was full and she wouldn't take any more bags.

Mercato Cittadino

So, I walked down to the marina area and sat in the sun and then decided to get some breakfast - cappuccino, a chocolate croissant (I've eaten my body weight in croissants, pastries, and focaccia bread) and a toasted bread with burrata, tomatoes and balsamic. Every place I went was cash only - so just know that if you come to this area. I had to take cash out and used Google Translate to make sure it was actually a bank machine. I really looked like a tourist.

I lugged my stupid bag around with me to some shops, bought some postcards and then decided I needed a glass of wine. I found a place across the street from the bus station and ordered a refreshingly delicious Croatian rosé - for $4. It's then that I realize I'm like in the Napa or Willamette Valley of Croatia. The Istrian region is known for their wines and so far everything I've tried is great. 

I asked the waitress if the buses were on time and she laughed - "no, rarely." I asked her if they ever left early and she laughed again - "no, never." But I was done with my wine and she seemed like she'd be fine if I left so I went and sat in the sun by the bus station. My bus was at 3pm and at about 2:15 a bus pulls up and a bunch of the people that had been waiting are moving towards it - which makes me think it's my bus, but it's really early...and she said they are never early. I followed my instincts and walked over to check and sure enough, it was my bus. I boarded and that stinkin' bus left - 30 minutes early. 

The Arriva branded buses run constantly in Croatia and are pretty cheap. I took a 40 minute ride from Rovinj to Pula for $6 or $7 Euros. The ride was REALLY bouncy though and those prone to motion sickness likely would have done poorly in this situation. I arrived into Pula on time (we made some odd, off-the-path stops to drop people off) and headed to my next home for the night...I absolutely LOVED Rovinj and will be back some day to visit longer.

Note: I think I’m a smoker now. So much smoking in Europe still - it's crazy. Nothing worse than sitting enjoying a view and someone blows smoke in your face...ok, there's worse things, but it's fun to complain about it and it really is unpleasant when you're not expecting it.

Venice: Wah Wah

Venice has never been part of my Italy bucket list but I needed to be there to catch a boat to Croatia. So I went. I have heard so many conflicting thoughts and opinions on Venice I had no idea what to expect. When I arrived around 9pm (or 21:00 as I should get used to saying) there were people walking around and eating but it was manageable. I found my hotel right by the train station and went out to grab some dinner. I found a little place in a back alley serving pizza, insalata mista and vino. The food was great. The loud, obnoxious, very very drunk group of Americans yelling sexual comments at each other, was not. There was an older couple sitting by me and the woman kept looking back at the group and shaking her head in complete disbelief. I felt like I needed to apologize on behalf of America.

The next morning I left my bag at the hotel and "tried" to walk around the city. It's the middle of September which I thought was kind of the beginning of off season and the streets were so packed I could barely move. There were people struggling with their bags and baby strollers up and down all the stairs. Huge tour groups blocking areas. Everyone and their mother taking a selfie. It was kind of horrible. And it was hot and humid. I got to as many of the architectural places I wanted to see and then headed back to the hotel to get my bag and head down to the San Basilio Cruise Terminal where I needed to go through security to get onto my boat transport to Croatia. But before I grabbed my bag I had enough time to have an Aperol Spritzer and it was refreshing and delicious. 

My waiter that I had been chatting with had told me that the two types of water taxis I was looking at were private vs. public. Public is much cheaper and only takes a bit longer. The private water taxis are much more expensive but take you directly to where you want to go. He suggested doing the public taxi. I agreed. Right before I left he told me I should do the private taxi now because the Italian transportation strike just started. Apparently planned, but I didn't know and neither did the 200 other people wanting to get a water taxi. So I get in the private line and I can feel hoards of people pushing up behind me. Two people from Australia were next to me and we were trying to get the driver's attention to ask about cost and timing. When we finally did his price was 75 euros cash and only when he didn't have a reservation to pick up (you can apparently call by phone to reserve a pick up or drop off). Tons of people started going to the front and getting on the boats and leaving and the Australians and I were like, "What is happening???" The guy in front of us yells, "ANARCHY!" It was chaos!

 

After 20 minutes I made the decision to walk because I couldn't miss my boat and the private water taxi guys were providing no info. I carried/rolled that backpack for 1.6 miles from the taxi stations near the Santa Lucia Train Station to the San Basilio Terminal through the hoards of people and the water seeping up onto the walkways from the rains. I. Was. Exhausted. But I made my boat and although we had some incredible views leaving Venice, I was happy to be on my way to Croatia.