Meravigliosa!  Simply; Italy is Marvelous!

Italy is best described by emotions rather than data. By the heart rather than the mind.  Get lost, observe, feel your way through the back alleys.  Taste the smells at a sidewalk café.  Feast your eyes on exquisite architecture and history.  Soak in the magnificence of cathedrals and artwork, so incredible they take your breath away.  Lull yourself to the heartfelt melodies only Italian lungs such as Pavarotti can sing.   Feel the love between couples, old and young, sitting on a park bench gazing into eternity together.  Time stands still as one soaks up the moment. Meravigliosa!

In our 17+ years of continuous travel around this amazing planet of ours, we have focused mainly on remote, exotic destinations.  Both of us having spent much time in Europe previously, we set our sights elsewhere. My 4 months in Bali healing from a broken leg provided the perfect time to face the challenge of a once in a lifetime look at Italy and Greece, figuring out a ‘first class on sale’ adventure.  Time to dive into “La Dolce Vita.” Or “The Sweet Life” Italy has to offer.

We knew we had entered another parallel dimension when we landed in Roma. The Italian dimension.  Classical music played in the background and as we waited for our flight to Venice we strolled past the shops with live flowers, food stands with tasty Italian delicacies, and then there was that grand piano.  Just sitting there.  The plot thickened and the whole play came together as a random passenger walking by sat down and magically, flawlessly played Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 20, then casually continued to his gate.  Italy appreciates the good things in life.  We had arrived!

Most people stay outside of Venice because of extremely high costs and go in to visit for a day trip.  How does $38 a night for an apartment, for a week, right in the maze of alleys known as the center of Venice, sound?  Fifty feet from a canal, with an inward facing garden courtyard, we followed our greeter down a back alley, retracing the steps of centuries of footfalls.  If only these old stone blocks could speak.  Who has gone before us?  Who has laid their weary heads within these very walls? 

History oozing from every pore, we set out to explore this maze of canals, plazas, and small side streets called Venice.  It is said that Venice is like eating a whole box of chocolate liqueurs at once.  Our goal was to stay in the exact center of the cities we visited and just immerse ourselves in the everyday life of our new neighbors.  We rode the ‘vaporetto’s’ down the canals with Venetians off to work, ate lunch at little cafes elbow to elbow with locals, rested in magnificent cathedrals, toured the kaleidoscope of Venetian glass shops, happened across the Jewish ghetto and a small museum dedicated to non-other than Casanova. Today, Casanova is best known as one of the most famous lovers in history. But the Venetian was supposedly more than a womanizer. “He was a scam artist, an alchemist, spy and church cleric. He fought duels, wrote satires, and escaped from prison more than once.”

When visiting a city or region we always research for special events such as fairs, markets, music festivals or whatever event would draw locals relaxing and just having fun.  How does the annual gondola race on the island of Burano sound?  We wove our way through back alleys to find the right pier to catch the water taxi to Burano.  Past the island of Murano, famous for its Venetian glass studios; we of course got off at the wrong stop on the wrong side of the island.  Taking a shortcut, it turned out to be a ‘rightcut’ through an outdoor modern art display.  Carrying on we passed rows and rows of brightly painted houses snuggled along quiet canals.  The actual town was abuzz with revelers.  We in fact witnessed our first gondola races (men’s, women’s, children’s events), followed by live music and food stalls in the park.  We made it back just in time for the last boat to Venice.  You don’t want to miss your boat around here as there are no roads back home.  Speaking of boats, a trip to Venice isn’t complete without a gondola ride in the moonlight with a resounding chorus of  “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie / That’s amore / When the world seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine / That’s amore.”

High on Italy we happily got lost in the maze of back alleys on our way to famous sights such as Doge’s Palace, Piazza San Marco and Basilica di San Marco, Ponte (bridge) di Rialto and Rialto di Sighs.  I can’t tell you the number of times we ended up on the opposite side of a large canal knowing we had only once crossed a tiny, out of the way bridge a mile back.  We were chewed up, swallowed, and spit out at museums, hidden churches, small glass factories with white hot bellows, shops of all descriptions, and even a chocolate shop with a 15 ft. cascading fountain of molten chocolate, just waiting to cover brazen nuts or blushing naked strawberries.  Didn’t matter where we ended up there was always a gelato shop to soothe our weary bones. In the small plaza at the end of our tiny alleyway were fresh fruit and vegetable stands and a well-stocked mini market for ingredients to cook in our apartment.  Special sunset evenings found us having a romantic candlelit dinner along the Grand Canal in a delicious outdoor restaurant.  Food is meant to be enjoyed with those you love!  Amore! 

And so it goes……………………………Next we hop over to the island of Sardinia, with its nearly 2,000 km. of rugged coastline.   Until then Be ever Thankful, Keep Laughing, Keep Living Life to the Fullest, and remember to “Eat well, laugh often, love much!”  3,000 years of vibrant history can’t be all wrong!    We are glad you stopped by.  Take care!

Love, Light & Laughter, 

xo  Nancy & Joseph