Into Italy, where pasta is king

Revisiting Italy

Whilst our time in Athens had been a pleasant surprise, with the vibrancy, and cheap cost of living, with Italy, we knew what we were getting. Long a favourite of ours, Italy is a country that we have previously explored at length. I will have blogged about it somewhere, I’m sure.

Heading out of Athens there was only one place to start. The Eternal City. Flying into Rome, and transferring to the Termini railway station I immediately felt a sense of calm. Rome is a city that I have explored many times and I never fail to tire of her beauty. Around every corner is something new to stop you in your tracks. Make you pause. And consider the history, and the people that have come before you.

Rome wasn’t visited in a day

Talking of people, Rome was busier than I have ever seen it. True, you may think this of everywhere you go, but this time it was very noticeable. One of my favourite places in Rome to quietly spend a little time is in the Pantheon. Stood in the middle of the vast structure, and staring up through the circular hole, to the sky. With each previous visit I have just wandered in, and around, and taken my time.

When we got there this time, there were long queues, snaking around and around, just like you see when you arrive at passport control in Manchester. No longer were we able to just stroll in and take a quiet moment. We had thought we were travelling in what used to be known as the “shoulder season”. Coupled with the cost of living crisis I keep reading about in the UK and European news, I hadn’t expected such huge numbers of tourists.

Experiencing life through a lens

Things were just as bad at the Trevi fountain. Always a popular spot, never have I been there when you physically struggle to even make your way from one side of the fountain to the other. And the rather sad thing was that most people weren’t even looking at the fountain. They were looking into their phone, on selfie mode, trying to get the perfect picture. Are the days gone where people can just visit somewhere and enjoy it for what it is? As we travel around the world, the great sights are becoming less like places of pilgrimage, and more like Disneyland. Sigh.

Yes, I realise the irony of having a selfie above the last paragraph 🙂

Give me carbonara, please!

One thing that lifts my spirits, when I visit Rome, is the thought of getting Roman carbonara. Around the world there are few dishes as ruined as the humble spaghetti carbonara. Bacon. Cream. What?! Talk about ways to spoil one of the world’s great dishes. But, here in Rome, I know I am getting what I expect. A dish made only of spaghetti, eggs, pecorino romano, guincale, and black pepper. I am getting hungry even writing about it. I could eat pasta every day, and I could eat Roman carbonara twice a day.

Leaning into Pisa

For the sake of my waistline, we needed to move on from Rome after a couple of days. We were back to Termini train station, and heading for a 4 hour journey to Pisa, famous for perhaps the most photographed tower in history. And like everyone else, we did our best to keep it upstanding. Strolling through the Piazza dei Miracoli never have I seen such imaginative photos being taken. The tower being held up. Being pushed over. The tower coming out of ice cream cones. Out of backpacks. You name it, all day there is someone trying it.

Our accommodation in Pisa was only a 10 minute walk from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. A great bed and breakfast in an old building in the Santa Maria district of Pisa. Pisa itself is always associated with the tower, and less seen on photos are the buildings that share the Piazza with it. The Battista is stunning, as is the cathedral. But, people can’t seem to focus their lenses on anything but the famous leaning tower.

My focus was on a restaurant I had seen earlier in the day. Advertising itself as a Roman restaurant, specialising in carbonara, of all things. Guess where we went for dinner that night. And the menu was very simple. Spaghetti carbonara, or Carbonara Imperial, which is double egg and double guanciale. Very simple and very tasty. 

Cash preferred

When it came to paying it turned out there was a “problem with the card machine”, and would I mind paying cash? Without any cash on us, the waiter walked with me to where the nearest ATM was. On the way he was chatting, explaining the “tax is very high” in Italy and cash is better. Ah, I was now beginng to understand why the card machine wasn’t working. That said, the waiter was exteremly freindly, and only charged us 30 euros for dinner, knocking 3 euros off for the “inconvenience”. 

Far from inconvenient, train travel through Italy is fast, reliable, and very efficient. After a couple of days exploring Pisa, and more importantly, having a laundry day, we were setting off to Florence. A favourite city of ours (we could say that about much of Italy), we had a journey of less than an hour, bringing us into Santa Maria Novella train station. From there a short walk had us at our hotel in the city centre.

If it is Florence, it has to be Bistecca alla Fiorentina

If you have been to Florence you will understand why people flock to it every year. It has been 5 years since we were last here and these cities being what they are, centuries old, you soon get your bearings back. With the Duomo dominating the centre, and streets leading down to the River Arno, everything is accessible on foot. One of Mrs C’s favourite spots in the city is Piazza della Signoria, where she can marvel at the replica statue of David.

Last time we were here a recommendation from the AirBnB host had us having our first Bistecca alla Fiorentina at a local trattoria. And yes, we went back this time. Without a reservation, we were queued at the doors, ready for the 7pm opening. Easy we thought. Not so. We were told that the restaurant was full, unless we could eat, and finish within the hour. Absolutely, I said. I don’t feel Victoria was quite as enthusiastic, yet when the steak arrived, a smile crept onto her face. Just like the first time we visited, we were plied with limoncello at the end of the meal, even being “forced” to have one for the road with the staff.

Towering above Tuscany

One place that has been on our list for a long time, having missed the opportunity a few years ago, is the famed town of San Gimignano. Known for the many towers that loom over the Tuscan countryside, we were only a short train ride, and then a bus from San Gimignano so we made our way there.

Back in the 12th century, monied landowners would build towers to display how wealthy they were. It became a competition. A medieval “keeping up with the Jones”. Now, there are a lot fewer than the orignal 72 towers left yet San Gimignano remains a draw for the thousands of toursits that visit every year. We ambled through the old centre and had a great pasta lunch (not carbonara this time) with a glass of wine, keeping away from the biting wind as much as feeding our appetites.

Magnificent Milan

Our last stop in Italy was again to be somewhere we have spent time and thoroughly enjoy. Arriving into Central Station in Milan, I had one thing on my mind. Risotto Milanese. Each region in Italy is renowned for a certain cuisine, (did I mention carbonara in Rome?), and in the north, in Lombardy, risotto is king. Although, I wouldn’t get this dish until tomorrow, our last night in Italy.

The first day was all about re-exploring Milan. The hugely impressive Duomo. The exquisite Gallerie Emmanuel. The Castle Sforzi and the surrounding parks. The elegant cobbled streets of Brera. Meandering through Milan I couldn’t help but notice a distinct change in temperature. The colours in the parks were autumnal, but the temperatures were wintry. We were now having to dig out the few winter clothes we had packed back in June when we left Australia. I was very glad to have my woolly hat to keep the morning chill off my ears.

Our apartment was like the one in Athens, in that it was located in a large, nondescript looking residential apartment block. It was in a great location, just a 10 minute walk from the Duomo, and nearby there were a number of supermarkets, a traveller’s best friend. Each morning we were able to pick up a couple of pain au chocolats and a coffee, all for under 5 euros. A perfect way to start the day.

The day, and sadly, our trip through Italy, was coming to an end. We finished at a cosy restaurant not far from the hotel and the canals of Milan. I had Risotto Milanese with osso bucco and Victoria had the pan fried Risotto Milanese, a way of cooking this northern Italian dish that I hadn’t seen before. We toasted another great country and we looked ahead to what were sure to be, colder days in country number 14.