Under the Tuscan Sun, and When in Rome, Do as the Italians Do
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“We write to taste life twice.” — Anaïs Nin. Which is precisely why I’m documenting our Italy trip so I can indulge in every meal once more. Perhaps the excessive amounts of food and wine put me in such a food coma, I couldn’t help but lazily love all of Italy with a satiated stupor by the end of each day. Italy, you really know how to host a holiday… baci xx
Day 1: Bergamo is NOT Milan
We first flew into Bergamo (I repeat, NOT Milan), which beckons as a city in its own right. RyanAir strikes again, not with their nickel and diming hidden fees, but by sending us to Bergamo instead of Milan. An unexacting Google Flights search for “London to Milan” also includes Milan-Bergamo airport, which is NOT in Milan. My bad ;X
This delightful error landed us in a quaint UNESCO world heritage site that boasted Venetian walls dating back to 1561. Because the city was never attacked, the fortress perched high up in the “Citta Alta” remains well-preserved. Breath-taking, stunning, *insert every complimentary adjective*: this describes the panoramic views of Bergamo along the 6km wall.
For dinner, we descended the hundreds of hilltop stairs to a cozy restaurant called La Cantina with basement walls lined with wines galore. We were not disappointed: plates of beef carpaccio and meat grisons, plus a fresh tomato and burrata salad were the most complementary starters. Then we had casoncelli, a plump crescent-shaped meat-stuffed pasta I had never tried before, but was definitely the star of the meal.
Day 2: Firenze Fever
Florence is an absolute treasure trove: every corner cradled a tiny museum, caffe, or architectural marvel. But its crowning jewel definitely was the shimmery Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, a church that is severely underrated compared to all the other hyped European buildings. (It is the world’s third largest church after all!) The rust red and emerald green tiles gleamed like an autumnal Christmas palette.
