SurpriseFI

My intention is to post the highs and lows of each day and use my own photos as much as possible. Set your expectations accordingly!

Milan, Italy 20 April, 2025

Easter Day in the home of The Last Supper painting by Leonardo da Vinci seems pretty appropriate. Weather was still cool and overcast so I took a walk up to the Duomo to get out of the apartment and get some exercise. Crowds were a lot lighter than a typical day but most everything is closed as well. You have to book way in advance to actually get in to see the painting so here’s a photo from the web. Buona Pasqua to all my friends and family!

Milan, Italy 19 April, 2025

I finally found the right Meetup and the guts to attend tonight. Milano Language Exchange Meetup Group run by Riccardo meets every Saturday night and has done for ~2 years. The meetup was at Next Bar and was only a few blocks from my apartment, everything in English so I really had no excuses to bail. I’m glad I went and got to meet some new people and not feel quite so lonely for a bit.

Riccardo was very welcoming and the restaurant offered a buffet of interesting things along with a drink for €12. I was the only American there, which I found surprising. I ended up talking to people from Germany, Argentina, Italy (of course) and Toronto. Mostly it was people younger than me but I would absolutely recommend to others and go again myself if I’m back in Milan on a Saturday night.

Varenna, Italy 19 April, 2025

The Australian couple I met at my hotel in Florence insisted that I visit Varenna and Lake Como if I had the chance while in Milan. Rain was in the forecast for most of my visit so I decided to go day one. I took the train to Varenna, a quick hour-long ride with views of lakes and hills that made the time pass fast. It was a good thing because it was standing room only on the train.

Varenna itself is small, easy to explore on foot and absolutely beautiful with the mountains, water and clouds. The day was cool and overcast but I think it made it even more scenic because of the low, misty clouds. I wandered the narrow streets, stopped for a coffee by the water and sat for a while just watching the boats.

It was relatively crowded for such a small place that I didn’t feel comfortable stopping to take many pictures (also I’m not a great photographer and photos don’t do it justice). By late afternoon I felt I had seen what I needed to see and caught the train back to Milan. I met a very nice couple who had traveled from Seattle and they, like many others, encouraged me to get moving on this blog.

Lessons learned:
Auto-Validation for Trains
Always choose the non-auto-validate option for train tickets in case you want to leave at a different time. I purchased round-trip tickets and was ready to leave an hour earlier. Due to auto-validate, I couldn’t change my time and ended up buying a new ticket rather than finding a way to kill an hour.

Toilet Paper
This was the first stop where the bathrooms were not being maintained well and I had to buy some tissue before being able to use them. Make sure to always have some on hand.

Florence, Italy 15-18 April, 2025

From Civitavecchia, I took the train to Florence with a change in Rome. It took about 3 hours and I was only a little worried I was on the wrong train out of Rome.

Once there, I took a bus for the first time on this trip that got me closer to my hotel. I was nervous but it turned out to be easy using a combination of Apple Maps and tap-to-pay when getting on. Walking was very easy and the city is compact but with my suitcase and backpack I didn’t want to attempt a mile.

I stayed at Alfieri9, a small, B&B/hotel with very kind people and a lovely, continental breakfast each morning. It was far enough away from the crowds that it was quiet but close enough that it wasn’t a huge burden to get to everything.

Once I dropped off my bags it was much more pleasant to explore.

It was cool and rainy a good portion of the time but I appreciated the temperature after all the walking. I saw David at the Accademia, the Birth of Venus by Botticelli at the Uffizi and made a very quick pass through of the leather market near San Lorenzo. I’m not trying to buy anything other than necessities because my bags are heavy enough as is. The Ponte Vecchio was crowded but worth a quick look. Florence is the kind of place where you can see a lot without trying too hard.