alone in rome – and loving it!

So my last day in Rome was pretty special, because it was probably one of the first days in my entire life that I’ve been alone in a foreign country with no ties and nothing in particular to do. My day was entirely open and up to me. And that’s a lot of responsibility. Although i was somewhat alone in Tel Aviv, I still had some responsibilities and connections to the people at the hostel. But this was different; a day full of promise. First I’ll describe what I did, and then I’ll address more about why I’m so excited about it.

After my first night in the Alessandro Downtown Hostel (which was a great place to stay; cheap, clean, near the central train station, very backpacker-friendly, free sangria) I got up bright and early to make my way to the Colosseum. Yuliya had visited before I got to Rome, so we didn’t go together. I walked through a beautiful park on my way there.

TRAVEL PRO-TIP: Y’all know I try to be pretty budget-conscious, and after some research, I concluded that the best way to cheaply see the main sights of Rome was to buy a solo ticket and listen to Rick Steves’ free audio tours. Let me reiterate: RICK STEVES IS MY HOMEBOY. My family has used his guidebooks before, and I recently discovered that he has free walking audiotours of many famous sights around Europe. Yeah buddy Rick hooks you up. So really, I didn’t spend my day alone; I listened to three entire audiotours. And it was awesome.

  
  

The Colosseum is obviously awe-inspiring and an architectural masterpiece, but for some reason, the Roman Forum was more impressive to me. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention last time I was here, or maybe it was because the audioguide was so good, but I feel like I learned so much more about it (and got a much better understanding of ancient Rome).

  

One of the things I found most mind-boggling was the Basilica. Originally, that term was used for a Roman public court building; it later became the term for a church. Even though only about a quarter of the basilica in the forum remained standing, I was awestruck by it’s enormity.

After seeing the first two sites, I grabbed a fancy lunch at Emma, a restaurant recommended to me by my friend Ander. I had an delicious artichoke salad and pasta cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper, an Italian classic).

However, since it was my last day, I had to indulge and get a slice of (INCREDIBLE) pizza on my way to my third stop.

Next, I took a tour of the Jewish Ghetto of Rome, a historically-rich area area I had known nothing about. Educate yo-self here (about the ghetto’s creation and the oppression of Jews up to the 20th century) and here (about the suffering of the Roman Jews during the Holocaust). One of the most interesting things I learned is that Roman Jews are neither Ashkenazi or Sephardic – they are descended directly from ancient Israeli Jews. It definitely gave me a kick to see Hebrew on walls and kosher restaurants in this area.

  
  

The rest of my night was chill. I have to say though, I think I’m beginning to understand the beauty of traveling alone. You can pause, breathe, rest, read, move faster or slower whenever you like (not to mention, of course, you get to choose exactly what you want to do). But at the same time, you only have to be alone when you want to be. It was incredibly easy for me to befriend a group of German girls over sangria, and to grab coffee with a new friend the following morning (Juliet, who just came from Verona. How perfect is that?!) While there are dangers associated with solo travel, especially as a woman, I can’t help but think that the benefits outweigh the risk. In addition to you know, seeing awesome places, I think the potential for personal growth is massive; I cannot think of a better way to become more independent and learn about yourself. In the past few months, I’ve met tons of spunky ladies that have either taken solo trips, or are in the middle of them.  Once my time in Israel is done, I would love to spend some time traveling alone, and/or with friends that I just haven’t met yet.

Clearly, I got lucky on my flight home. Also, I will never get over how good the food on Turkish Airlines is.

NEVER.

So this concludes my time in Italy. This was probably the best consecutive week-and-a-half of food that I’ve ever had. I got to travel with some wonderful people, make new friends, and experience Italian culture and life. Italy has firmly cemented itself as one of my favourite places I’ve ever been. Now, back to Israel I go, to begin a new adventure – Jerusalem.

I wasn’t lying when I said I ate my way through Italia – now, GELATO!

So I have a little more to write about Italy, and of course a lot about Jerusalem, but first, I have to do something that I was planning on doing since the moment I set foot in Italy.

Here we go:

THE GELATO POST.

I prided myself on eating gelato (at a minimum) once a day. And now, I present the cumulative results of my time in Italia.

Day One: Grom (Cinecitta)

Salted Caramel & Crema de Grom

Day Two: Giolitti (Roma)

Carmelized Fig & Rice

Day Three: Carraia (Firenze)

Rice & Cocco

Day Four: Eduardo (Firenze)

Zabaione (Eggs and White Wine) & Cannella (Cinnamon)

Day Five: I Gelati di Piero (Lucca)

Melone & Limone

Day Six: Dolce Vita (La Spezia)

Fico, Mango, & Tutto Bosco

Day Seven: Dolce Vita (La Spezia)

Fico & Crema

Day Seven (continued): Midi Bar (Monterrosso al Mare)

Miele y Pesca

Day Eight: Random Place in Rome

Melone

While all of these were incredibly delicious, my favorite was probably La Dolce Vita, in La Spezia. It was so freaking good, we had to go twice while we were there. Thank goodness for good gelato ❤

since when do I go on hikes?

When i first began planning my excursion in Italy, I was skimming a copy of Lonely Planet “Europe on a Shoestring” and my eye caught the words, “the Blue Trail”. Reading further, I found out that the trail is a hike through five picturesque villages on the edge of a national park in the Italian Riviera. I was hooked, and thrilled when Yuliya and our other friend Lorenzo were interested in going.

We booked an AirBNB in La Spezia, a small port city that is a great jumping-off point for hiking in that area (which is known as the Cinque Terre). Since we couldn’t get into our apartment until 5 PM, we spent some time exploring the city and chilling in a park.

The apartment was pretty cute and really close to the train station. We were not entirely happy with it, though. Since we were the first renters, the WiFi hadn’t been set up yet. We also couldn’t figure out how to turn on the hot water until the second day, so it was a bit of a struggle at first.

yuliya struggling

That night, we had a hearty carboload of pasta at Vini Divini in preparation for our long day of hiking the following day. The following day, we woke up early and took a train to the town of Corniglia. One section of the trail was closed, so we couldn’t do the entire thing. This was the view when we stepped off the train:

Pretty incredible, right? The town itself was adorable.

After checking out Corniglia, it was time to begin the hike. We were mildly intimidated.

The hike was harrowing, but when the path opened up to reveal the sea, it made all the blood/sweat/tears so incredibly worth it.

We stopped in the second town, Vernazza, for lunch (more pasta, of course), and Lorenzo went for a quick dip.

We also climbed to the top of a old tower for a spectacular view.

Then again, every view here was pretty unbelievable.

We finished the hike in Monterosso al Mare, where we lounged on the rocky beach until the sun went down. The water was crystalline.

We chased the setting sun back to the second village, Manarola. We sat on the water’s edge and witnessed the perfect sunset.

That night, we headed back to La Spezia where a festival had taken over the port. We drank wine that was made with grapes from the Cinque Terre and danced the night away at a silent disco.

The next day we bummed around, recovery mode from our long day (and night) of physical exertion. In the afternoon, we said goodbye to Lorenzo (who went on to Bologna to begin his semester abroad) and we got a ride back to Roma with a Christian missionary. A few hours later, Yuliya and I parted ways. She’ll be studying in Prague for the next few months, and I wish her the best. We were friends before we started the trip, but I had no idea how well we would travel together. It was a joy to get closer and explore Italy with her.

One more day in Roma, coming up next!

firenze mi ha rubato il cuore (e lo stomaco)

After a thrilling ride via Bla Bla Car with our two new Italian friends, Alessio e Mirko, we arrived in Firenze. Yuliya and I stayed at the apartment of Bader, a Saudi Arabian guy working in Florence. He was a woooooonderful host, his apartment was beautiful, and he was courteous enough to invite us to spend time with him and his friends to see a more relaxed side of the city.

Before I get into what we did, I have to give a special shout out to my friend Daniel – THANK YOU DUDE. Seriously, your recommendations were all on point, and I got so much out of Florence through them. You set the scene for an awesome time by recommending the truffle ravioli at Ristorante Pensavo Peggio.

Later that, we joined Bader and some of his friends for an “aperitivo”, an Italian tradition of a light dinner buffet and a drink at a bar. It’s actually an amazing deal: for 8 euro, you get a drink as well as a delicious assortment of nibbles. We finished the night at Zoe, a sweet hookah bar.

The next day, Yuliya and I saw the sights. We began our day bright and early at the Accademia, the esteemed museum and art school of Florence. The sight to see there is Michelangelo’s David. And I have to say, it was pretty breathtaking. You hear about these monuments and almost expect to be disappointed, like there’s no way it can really great as it’s hyped up to be, but the statue is magnificent. It’s incredibly detailed, realistic and most of all, gigantic.

The Academia also housed some of Michelangelo’s incomplete statues (The Prisoners) as well as a small musical instrument exhibit.

For lunch, we stopped by All’antico Vinaio, another recommendation by Daniel. This was definitely the best-known of his recs (it was popping at lunchtime), and he did not steer us wrong.

In the afternoon, we wandered around and observed the sculptures outside of the Uffizi. Some of them were hundreds of years old and incredibly detailed.

After yet another gelato break, we climbed the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiori, also known as El Duomo. The trek to the top was cramped and claustrophobic. We had some relief about halfway up, where the path opened up within the dome, granting us with a beautiful view of the church ceiling.

However, the view once we got to the top was unparalleled. You could see for miles. The tan-and-burgundy hues of the buildings combined with the lush green of further pastures made for quite a striking panorama.

After a long, tiring day, we laid down for a quick nap that accidentally turned into half a night of sleep. Waking around 1:30 AM, we realized it was the perfect time to hunt for the secret bakery (another Daniel rec). Bader, Yuliya and I followed his directions to a T, and were rewarded once we found an unmarked glass door with the most luxurious scent emanating from its doors. Serious, it smelled like we just stepped inside of a croissant.

We purchased two pastries each from a rather grumpy baker, and walked to the river to eat our treats. One was filled with vanilla creme; one with chocolate; both were divine.

The next day, we day-tripped. First, we headed to Lucca, a small village about an hour away from Florence. Lucca is renowned for it’s medieval wall, which circles the entire town. After a quick lunch, we rented bikes and circled it, taking in beautiful views of the countryside.

The town itself was lovely, as well. We checked out some of it’s churches (and gelato shops, of course).

Our second stop was Pisa. While best known for its tower, the town of Pisa itself is pretty awesome. It’s actually a pretty large college town, and it seemed like there were lots of cool things to do there. We had a very clear goal in mind: eat pizza in Pisa.

Similarly to the David, i was impressed by the tower. The buildings together were a beautiful trifecta of white marble.

Our last stop in Pisa was Keith Haring’s gigantic mural, titled “Tuttomundo”. I had read about it while I was in Tel Aviv, and it piqued my imagination. Seeing it in real life was awe-inspiring.

That night, we raged at Flo, Florence’s most happening night club.

After dancing the night away, we waited through a few chilly, brutal hours at the Piazza Michelangelo to watch the sunrise. The wait was worth it.

The next morning, after sleeping through our first train, we scrambled to pack and ran to the station. The next part of our journey awaits, in the Cinque Terre.

One more time: the biggest THANK YOU in the world to Bader & Daniel! You guys made this part of my trip unforgettable!

andiamo a roma!

First, a small disclaimer for my previous blog post: it was written when I was extremely sleep deprived and slightly inebriated. This isn’t an apology, just something to keep in mind if you read that one 🙂

A few hours after that aforementioned blog post, I boarded a plane from Tel Aviv to Istanbul. The plane was delayed for about an hour, and I became frantic that I would miss my second flight, Istanbul to Rome. If the difference was only a few hours, I wouldn’t have worried. However, the next flight probably wouldn’t be for upwards of thirteen hours… Needless to say, my heart was pounding as I ran through the Istanbul airport to my gate, and the sense of relief I felt when I saw that my second flight was delayed was palpable. (An aside about Turkish airlines: incredible airplane food – no, really – but terrible delays/landings)

  
   
 
Upon arrival in Rome, I was greeted by Yuliya, her cousin Anna, and Anna’s husband Tony. They were gracious enough to pick me up and bring me to Tony’s parents house, where Yuliya had been staying. Tony’s parents, Santina and Giancarlo, live in a BEAUTIFUL villa, and they let us take over the guest apartment in the basement. After weeks of sleeping on a dorm bed, it was lovely to spread out on a full. After a much needed nap, I experienced my first homemade Italian meal. Santina prepared a beautiful spread of pasta with pesto, smoked salmon, mozzarella, and tomato salad. Everything was delicious.

   
 
Their dog, Oliver, seemed to agree.
 
After dinner, we went to the town of Cinecetta for gelato and coffee. Cinecitta is the “Italian Hollywood”; many films were made there. 

   

 

I had my first gelato of the trip from Grom Gelateria, crema di grom and salted caramel (Note: I will be doing an all-gelato post soon). We also stopped by a sweetshop, where I marveled at the elaborate pastries.

  
The next day, we were off to see Roma. We took a walking tour that began at the Piazza di Spagna, ended at the Vatican, and offered a really nice orientation to the city. I visited Rome with my family about six years ago, so while some things looked vaguely familiar, quite a lot felt new. The Pantheon was as awe-inducing as ever.       

 

We met a new friend on the tour, William from Kansas City, and we shared a delicious pizza lunch together.

  

Next, Yuliya and I walked along the river Tiber to the adorable neighborhood of Trastevere, where we paused in the Basilica de Santa Maria, one of the oldest churches in Rome (its floor plans date back to the 340’s!)

   

   

In the evening, Yuliya’s family took us out to dinner at Cosi E Se Ve Pare Hosteria, a incredible Sicilian restaurant. I can honestly say that it was one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. Eggplant-tomato salad, chickpea bread, fried zucchini flowers, seared sesame-crusted tuna, Mediterranean swordfish, pasta and more were all washed down with delicious Italian wine.

   
    
 

Yuliya’s cousins were such incredible hosts. In spite of our language barriers, we were able to enjoy our time together. In true Italian-grandma fashion, Santina sent us off the next morning with almost too many sandwiches to carry. I could not be more grateful for their hospitality, and they truly made my experience in Rome unforgettable. Next up, Firenze!