Tag Archives: Italy

Thirty-six hours in Milan

Italy, Travel, , , , ,

Despite my near miss when I accidentally boarded the Tirana to Rome, rather than the correct Tirana to Bergamo flight, we landed in Bergamo on time at 10am. My flight back to Ireland was not until 9pm the following evening. My trip had been extended for a specific reason – I wanted to finally visit ‘The Last Supper’ by Leonardo DaVinci in Milan. This is a painting I have wanted to see since childhood. It’s not an easy undertaking, however. Located in a climate and temperature-controlled monastery, visitors are strictly limited in number. Tickets to see it are like gold dust. I had forked out fifty-four euros for a guided tour of the painting – justifying the price with the realisation that unless I was willing to pay this amount then I’d never likely see it.

I took a bus from Caravaggio Airport in Bergamo to the Central Rail station from there I walked to my hotel which took an hour. This was my first time in Italy’s second largest city.

Milan had never been high on my list of places I wished to visit. Italy is such a beautiful country there always seemed to be a more appealing option. This time was different.

Duomo di Milano

After dropping my bags at my hotel, I strolled over to the Duomo di Milano – the ridiculously ornate cathedral of Milan. It’s an architectural marvel on a par with the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. To take the lift to the roof was more expensive than to take the stairs but it was my chosen option. Having walked an average of twenty kilometres per day while in Albania my leggies were exhausted. I must give props to the Catholic Church – they know how to do a glamourous church.

I spent an hour on the roof and inside the church before exiting on the Piazza Del Duomo and made my way to the Grand Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II on the square. This is an opulent nineteenth century shopping mall housing all the unaffordable Italian designer labels – Milan is a world centre of fashion on a par with Paris and New York. You can tell – the locals are impossibly thin, beautiful, and stylish. I didn’t buy anything. The prices were not visible on many items indicating that it would require a mortgage to buy them.

Grand Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Making my way to La Scala opera house I noticed a queue coming out the door. There was a self-guided tour of the place. I waited in line behind an Italian woman who took about fifteen minutes to purchase her ticket. Why rush I guess. It’s an interesting building with an informative museum included. Not quite on a par with La Fenice in Venice, but in the vicinity.

La Scala Opera

The fifteenth century Castello Sforzesco is located a fifteen-minute walk away. Relieved to discover that its museum was closed on Monday I whiled away an hour wandering about its grounds, before heading back to my hotel.

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Sicily in summertime

Italy, Travel, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

My first trip to Italy as a tourist was in February 2020, just as the world was about to shut down. My first holiday to that country was a revelation. I found Rome to be enchanting. Since then I have averaged two trips a year – never to the same place. Italy is a country where you can pick any spot, and it will be a delight. My favourite place to visit thus far is Venice. But not Venice as most know it. I was lucky enough to visit during the harsh lockdown of 2020 when international travel was strongly discouraged, meaning that my flight to that city was empty and the tourist throngs were conspicuous by their absence.

Palermo

This year I decided that it was time to visit Sicily. . Or rather the Ryanair sale for a return flight in August decided for me. Frugality is a necessity when it comes to travel, as otherwise I would be bankrupt. My return flight cost 140 euros. I was planning to travel alone but as often happens I had an inquiry from a regular travel companion. I wouldn’t mind at all – I like solo travel but given the choice having a co-conspirator is very much appreciated.

Sicily is much larger than I had imagined and has a population of almost five million people. How would we decide our itinerary. Some research indicated that a few stops would be possible. We decided on three days in the capital Palermo; two days in the second city Catania in the shadow of Mount Etna; and our final two days on the island of Ortigia in the ancient Greek city of Siracusa.

Our flight landed on Saturday evening at 8pm and we reached our enormous apartment. It was one of those high ceilinged, old, Italian houses with a complicated floor plan and random doors leading to nowhere. We had an early night. In the morning we had an early start. We were being collected from our apartment at 8am for a day tour. Two weeks earlier I had booked a full day excursion to the town of Agrigento in the south of the islands to see the Valley of The Temples.

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Pandemic travels: Tuscany, October 2021

Coronavirus, Covid-19, Pandemic Travels, Travel, , , ,

The first time I visited Italy as a tourist was to Rome in February 2020, the month before the lockdowns began. I remember leaving Fiumcino Airport on my return home, thinking that the authorities were being a bit paranoid with their haz-mat space suits. Little did we know. I returned to Italy to Venice in October 2020 – an unforgettable experience as I saw the city without the company of the tens of thousands of travelers who would normally be present. For my third time during the time of Covid, I was once again setting down in the great country of Italy. My destination this time was Tuscany.

Thanks to Ryanair I had return flights in and out of Pisa for 100eur. Our itinerary for the trip started in Pisa for one night; followed by Siena for a night; Florence for four nights and then Pisa again to catch my 7.15am airplane home. People often complain about Ryanair for its lack of flexibility and its punitive response to any transgression from its arbitrary rules. I now know how they feel. I was taking an afternoon flight. I worked from home during the morning and had planned to check in. Work distracted me so it was only as I pulled into the airport that I took out my phone to do this essential task. Unfortunately it was now under two hours to take off. For the luxury of my boarding pass I had to pay an additional fee of 55eur. While it is exploitative it’s how that gurning gremlin Michael O’Leary operates. You can’t pretend to be surprised that Ryanair behaves this way. They pride themselves on it. I paid the charge without complaint. Why waste the oxygen?

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Pandemic travel: Venice is calling. October 2020

Coronavirus, Covid-19, Lockdown, Pandemic Travels, Travel, Uncategorized, ,

As this strangest of years draws to a close, I am putting finger to keypad one more time to describe my travels in the time of pandemic. My final jaunt of the year taken before the second lockdown was imposed was to Venice as September turned to October. I will preface this post with my usual disclaimer. While traveling to, and while in Venice, I observed all physical distancing, hand hygiene and mask-wearing guidelines. I observed the fourteen-day quarantine period upon my return to Ireland – which as I have previously mentioned is not that difficult when you live alone. I kept this excursion entirely to myself again, not wanting to hear people’s criticism or judgement of my decision to travel. The only person I was placing at risk by my choice was myself. For the sake of my sanity, I thought my decision was sound.

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