Do the Things. And then Do the No-things.
Okay, but like, what have I actually been doing?
Well, when I travel, I like to do a handful of “must do” things (as defined by me), and then spend the rest of my time doing, well, nothing. Walking. Eating. Drinking. People watching. You know, existing.
So, with that in mind, this post is going to be about everything that I did (or was not doing) during my first week in Italy. So brew some coffee or a pot of tea, get comfortable, and read on.
Lake Como
Lake Como was such a sweet landing place for me in Italy. The setting of the lake is stunning. The pace is slow. The people are kind. And the vibe is very ‘George Clooney on a Sunday afternoon when he doesn’t have to go to work tomorrow.’
The hotel I stayed in, Villa D’Este, was completely over-the-top fabulous. Which makes sense because it was recommended by one of the most over-the-top, fabulous people I know. So I knew what I was in for. One of the best parts of staying in the hotel was easy access to its expansive gardens. I spent a lot of time strolling through the property, admiring the plants, flowers, statues, and water features. One day I hiked up to some castle ruins laced along the big mountain which rises above the hotel. You know that scene in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy and her crew are running from the Witch’s guards and they wind up getting cornered in one of the turrets (immediately preceding the best death scene in a movie ever)? It was kind of like that. From up there, I had incredible views of the lake, hotel, and floating pool.
Speaking of the pool—it’s built on a floating platform in the lake, which means that when you swim, you’re basically swimming in the lake, albeit in warmer, cleaner water. I brought goggles with me, so I wound up doing some laps one evening before dinner. It felt surreal to be swimming laps in the middle of this infamous lake. And refreshing!
One day, I took a ferry boat from where my hotel was in Cernobbio to the city of Como. I spent a long time just wandering the streets, enjoying the scenery, and peeking into churches, shops, and bars. But I also came to town with a mission: I wanted to buy stamps to mail some postcards to my family. So, I located a post office. There was a bit of a line and as we were waiting, this old Italian woman in a wheel chair was wheeled up to the door and as she effortlessly glided past us, she said in this deep, rich voice, “Permessssso, Permessssso.” (Which roughly translates to, “Let me through because I’m older and more resplendent than all of you and I’ve seen things you’ve never seen, so I’ve earned the right to cut in line at the post office.”) Naturally, we all stepped aside.
When I finally got to the front of the line, the attendant at the door asked me for my green pass. However, as a non-EU citizen, I’m not able to obtain one of those, so I pulled out my vaccine card (which, I’ve found, is usually enough to satisfy people). However, it did not satisfy this attendant. (I believe because he needed to scan a green pass in order to let me buy stamps? I’m not really sure.) So instead, he recommended that I just go buy stamps from a Tabaccheria (which are these tiny mini-marts that dot every city in Italy.) So, after lunch, I did just that. And it was here that I had one of my favorite interactions in Italy at that point.
Behind the desk of this Tabaccheria were two women. One was standing and helping customers, while the other was seated at a low desk, doing some kind of paperwork. Well, when I came up to the counter, I asked, in Italian, for stamps (“francobolli”). And then, because you all know how much I love giving a backstory, I started to explain that I wanted them so that I could send a postcard to my grandmother in the United States. At that moment, the sitting woman’s head snapped up and she goes (in Italian): “Your Italian is beautiful!” I laughed and blushed and then we chatted for a few minutes about how long I’ve been studying Italian and why I was in the country. It was a really fun conversation and gave me an early boost of confidence in my Italian.
Milan
After a few days, left the sweet serenity of Como and headed into the teeming mass of the fashion-forward: Milan.
After dropping my stuff off at my Airbnb, I headed straight for the Duomo. Once I’m within walking distance of some sort of world-famous site that I’ve only seen pictures of my whole life, I have this compulsion to go see it immediately. As I was on my way to the Duomo, I wound up stumbling upon another world-famous site that I was also excited to see…but had no idea that it was literally RIGHT NEXT to the Duomo: Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (the stunning, glass-ceilinged mall). For some reason, in my mind, I had envisioned these two things fairly far away from each other. But nope. They are next door neighbors. I don’t know why this delighted me so much, but it really did.
Ooh, actually, I do know why it delighted me. One of my favorite parts of seeing world-famous sites is getting to see them in context as well as from different angles. So, for example, when I visited the Taj Mahal for the first time, I was most excited to see the back of it. Because, like, you never get to see the back of the Taj Mahal, right? In the case of the Duomo, it was so cool to realize that it was immediately next door to this other famous site.
My time in Milan was filled with lots of “doing.” I visited the Duomo, the Duomo Museum, the terraces of the Duomo (aka: the roof), Gallerie d’Italia (which was doing an exhibit on “The Grand Tour”), the Pinacoteca di Brera museum (kiiiind of a letdown. Sorry Napoleon.), and Villa Necchi Campiglie (a gorgeous art deco mansion where one of my all-time favorite Italian movies was filmed: I Am Love). All of these things gave me the opportunity to see some incredible pieces of art, stunning views, and learn more about the history of Italy.
Oh, I also saw the Last Supper. Happened to be in the neighborhood. Needed to kill some time.
Can we do a quick sidebar on vegetables? If you’re following me on Instagram right now (@TasteForWords), you know that I’ve been struggling a bit to eat enough vegetables. (Or, I should say, the amount of vegetables I prefer to eat.) Because I mean, I’m eating vegetables, but they are often fried or a small accompaniment to a larger plate of protein or carbs. So one afternoon, I walked by a Barry’s Bootcamp and saw that they had a smoothie bar. I used to go to Barry’s in Boston and love this one particular smoothie they make there. And after only eating a croissant for breakfast, I decided that a smoothie would be a nice way to get some fruit in me. After some back and forth with the person who made the smoothies, I ordered what I thought was a similar version of the smoothie I love. As she was making it, I asked her if she could throw some spinach in it too. As she was doing so, I told her about how I was having trouble eating enough vegetables while traveling and was grateful that she was able to add some spinach to my smoothie. She stopped the blender, turned around, gave me a look of skepticism, and then said, “I’m sorry, but this does NOT count as your serving of vegetables. Nice try.” We both burst out laughing.
My favorite part of my time in Milan, however, was getting to spend some time with real Milanese. On Saturday night, I met up with Christopher and Enrico. Christopher is the brother-in-law of my chiropractor from Portland who I have known for many years. I met them at the Duomo and from there, Enrico, Christopher’s husband, took us on a tour of some ancient and off-the-beaten-path sites of Milan. As we weaved through backstreets on the tour, we also got to know each other and by the time that we sat down for an epic aperitivo in the early evening, it felt like we had known each other for years. After aperitivo, we did some more walking to work up an appetite for a delicious dinner at an old school Italian restaurant, Maruzzella. Our table was next to a rack of wine and during the dinner, servers would occasionally ask me to grab them a bottle of wine that was out of their reach. So at the end of dinner, they gave us a second glass of digestivo on the house (Braulio, which is made from herbs in northern Italy) to thank me for my hard work during the evening. Once a waiter, always a waiter.
And on my last night in Milan, I finally got to meet Michele, my friend who I met via LinkedIn and have been doing Zoom get togethers with for the past two years. He just bought a new place, so we met there. Over drinks and music from his new Sonos Five (available now at sonos.com!), he gave me a ton of recommendations for my next few cities. For dinner, we ordered in delicious Chinese food and ended the night with another digestivo (this time from Sicily): Amaro. It was so fun to finally have the opportunity to meet someone in person who I have only known through a screen for the entire length of our friendship.
After Milan, I set out on, perhaps, one of the most special, meaningful things I planned for my time in Italy. (And I intentionally haven’t talked about it on Instagram, as it deserves more context than social media provides.) So! Next time on the blog, find out what happens when Hertz gleefully upgrades me from the tiny car I had rented to a massive SUV and I head out into the tiny streets of Milan and beyond…