the many adventures of a family in italy
it's been a crazy couple of weeks! going for my first diagnostics session (which was a nightmare and a half despite the exact that my grades don't reflect how much i suck at it), and then still killing that language science exam (although i'm pretty sure i didn't kick as much ass as i thought i did), and then spending the rest of the time skyping family and old friends while finding time to chill out with new ones (and seeing christmas lights at the zoo and trying food at christkindlmarkt and having sleepovers and staying up way too late and going shopping for shoes and clothes) and going to see cinderella on stage and a midnight viewing of the hobbit and trying new food places and still managing to wrap presents and pack for the trip to italy--
so. lots of fun, but also crazy! and now we're actually here, in italy, and i don't know how i feel about it yet, really. milan was a bit of a disappointment, because we were in the airport hotel about an hour from the city, and we only went to see it once. which basically cemented the fact that my father is a terrible trip planner because he had no idea where to go apart from the main shopping square, and no list of things to see, and hadn't booked anywhere for lunch or dinner, which meant we ended up eating pretty terrible food for lunch and had to wait around till 6pm for dinner despite being done looking around by 3. also the weather's been a little up and down. being in chicago meant that it was pretty warm for me, all things considered, while everyone else was freezing. overall, milan was just fine. the train into the city was delightfully comfortable, and i bought two new scarves from promod and had a lot of fun wandering the streets on my own when the rest of my family got too tired to go on. but for the most part we were confined to the same place and that got a little old pretty quickly. it was really nice to see my entire family together again though, and the novelty hadnt worn off even by the time andrew had to leave to fly home. which is always a plus.
also, our hotel was lovely. at least, the breakfast was. and the service. we ate in the hotel restaurant two out of three nights, and it wasn't spectacular, but it was agreeable, and their rosemary fried chips are on my list of top five foods i ate in italy. it was so good that i requested they fry up two packets for us to take on our drive to venice when we left.
which brings me to my favourite city in italy so far. my dad had reservations about even stopping in venice, and he kept making little remarks about how we could leave early or arrive later if we wanted, since it was going to be gross and crowded and touristy, but as soon as i got there i basically fell in love. IT IS SO GORGEOUS AND QUAINT AND EVERYTHING I PICTURED ITALY BEING IN MY MIND. i know it's a tourist trap but everything about it is so amazing that it more than makes up for that. plus, knowing what we now knew about our father's planning skills, my sister and i set about googling things to do and eat. and WHAT A GAME CHANGER THAT TURNED OUT TO BE. our hotel was on venice itself, rather than being in the surrounding area (THANK GOD) so we had to make a little trek over a couple of bridges with all our luggage, but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT. we had a lovely view from the hotel, although not so from our room, and we decided we were gonna go on a giro di ombre (aka bar hopping), to try all the best food available there.
BEST DECISION EVER!!!!! we took a leisurely walk from our hotel (along what our hotel receptionist told us was the "touristy path") and hit up la cantina first. BEST MEAL WE'VE HAD IN ITALY, HANDS DOWN. we started with oysters, which were pretty fresh, and then moved on to the fish platter. our server asked if we wanted it raw or cooked, and when i asked for her recommendation, she told us she'd serve us a mix. we got a two-person portion, and oh my god, we just about DIED. it was so fucking good, guys. my siblings have photos somewhere, but just thinking about it is enough to make me *__________* and after that we headed to ca d'oro alla vedova, which was tiny and tucked away in a little alleyway that we would've missed if we hadn't actively been looking for it, and we'd been warned that most of these places were "anti-tourist" and could be pretty rude. WHICH THEY TOTALLY WERE, but we knew we were going to be in and out for the polpette, AKA THE MOST DELICIOUSLY FRIED MEATBALL ON THE PLANET HOLY COW. so once we got someone's attention, we ordered two meatballs and walked right out of there...
until we tried the meatballs, and were like OH MY GOD THIS IS DELICIOUS WE NEED MORE. and we headed back in to order a second round. i guess the barmen knew we weren't going to stand around hemming and hawing over the menu and asking about lunch options so they were much nicer this time, and my dad just called, "two more!" over the throng of people at the bar, and we were told we'd have to wait for the fresh batch being cooked. which was fine, because it gave my dad the chance to order a glass of their house wine, which him and my sister promptly gobbled up. we moved along to all'arco next, where they had the tastiest raw fish crostini sandwich i've ever had in my life. i also liked the proscuitto and pickle sandwich, and my dad adored their beef sausage sandwich, so that was awesome. we made one last stop for more sandwiches, but the food was meh and the service was awful, so the store doesn't get a mention here. it was so cheap, though, apart from la cantina. everything cost less than 3 euro. IN VENICE. all the hearteyes for these stores.
my parents were pretty tired by then, but i wasn't going to be satisfied without a gondola ride (HOW CAN I SAY I'VE BEEN TO VENICE IF I HAVEN'T TAKEN A GONDOLA RIDE, I DEMANDED) so we headed over to piazza san marco and paid a hefty sum for a ride, but it was DELIGHTFUL. i had the best time just ooh-ing and ahh-ing over everything, and trying not to be grossed out by the mussels that were growing pretty much everywhere around us. my parents decided to take the water bus thingy back to the hotel after that, while my brother and sister and i wandered around for a bit longer, and then took the "non-touristy" route back home. we had a map, and our concierge had warned us that it was easy to get lost, but apart from a couple of detours and stops to ask for directions, we managed okay! and it was SO LOVELY. we walked the narrowest little paths, stopped in the most touristy little shops, and even got a ginormous slice of not-terrible pizza on the way back to the hotel.
and now we're here, in florence. and i'm only just starting to feel human again after my stomach acted up all christmas day (yay me). but i've already decided this is my least favourite city i've seen, just because it looks like any other city i might visit, and the food here is pretty much the reason i was laid up in bed all day yesterday. i guess i'll have to see if florence redeems itself today!
so. lots of fun, but also crazy! and now we're actually here, in italy, and i don't know how i feel about it yet, really. milan was a bit of a disappointment, because we were in the airport hotel about an hour from the city, and we only went to see it once. which basically cemented the fact that my father is a terrible trip planner because he had no idea where to go apart from the main shopping square, and no list of things to see, and hadn't booked anywhere for lunch or dinner, which meant we ended up eating pretty terrible food for lunch and had to wait around till 6pm for dinner despite being done looking around by 3. also the weather's been a little up and down. being in chicago meant that it was pretty warm for me, all things considered, while everyone else was freezing. overall, milan was just fine. the train into the city was delightfully comfortable, and i bought two new scarves from promod and had a lot of fun wandering the streets on my own when the rest of my family got too tired to go on. but for the most part we were confined to the same place and that got a little old pretty quickly. it was really nice to see my entire family together again though, and the novelty hadnt worn off even by the time andrew had to leave to fly home. which is always a plus.
also, our hotel was lovely. at least, the breakfast was. and the service. we ate in the hotel restaurant two out of three nights, and it wasn't spectacular, but it was agreeable, and their rosemary fried chips are on my list of top five foods i ate in italy. it was so good that i requested they fry up two packets for us to take on our drive to venice when we left.
which brings me to my favourite city in italy so far. my dad had reservations about even stopping in venice, and he kept making little remarks about how we could leave early or arrive later if we wanted, since it was going to be gross and crowded and touristy, but as soon as i got there i basically fell in love. IT IS SO GORGEOUS AND QUAINT AND EVERYTHING I PICTURED ITALY BEING IN MY MIND. i know it's a tourist trap but everything about it is so amazing that it more than makes up for that. plus, knowing what we now knew about our father's planning skills, my sister and i set about googling things to do and eat. and WHAT A GAME CHANGER THAT TURNED OUT TO BE. our hotel was on venice itself, rather than being in the surrounding area (THANK GOD) so we had to make a little trek over a couple of bridges with all our luggage, but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT. we had a lovely view from the hotel, although not so from our room, and we decided we were gonna go on a giro di ombre (aka bar hopping), to try all the best food available there.
BEST DECISION EVER!!!!! we took a leisurely walk from our hotel (along what our hotel receptionist told us was the "touristy path") and hit up la cantina first. BEST MEAL WE'VE HAD IN ITALY, HANDS DOWN. we started with oysters, which were pretty fresh, and then moved on to the fish platter. our server asked if we wanted it raw or cooked, and when i asked for her recommendation, she told us she'd serve us a mix. we got a two-person portion, and oh my god, we just about DIED. it was so fucking good, guys. my siblings have photos somewhere, but just thinking about it is enough to make me *__________* and after that we headed to ca d'oro alla vedova, which was tiny and tucked away in a little alleyway that we would've missed if we hadn't actively been looking for it, and we'd been warned that most of these places were "anti-tourist" and could be pretty rude. WHICH THEY TOTALLY WERE, but we knew we were going to be in and out for the polpette, AKA THE MOST DELICIOUSLY FRIED MEATBALL ON THE PLANET HOLY COW. so once we got someone's attention, we ordered two meatballs and walked right out of there...
until we tried the meatballs, and were like OH MY GOD THIS IS DELICIOUS WE NEED MORE. and we headed back in to order a second round. i guess the barmen knew we weren't going to stand around hemming and hawing over the menu and asking about lunch options so they were much nicer this time, and my dad just called, "two more!" over the throng of people at the bar, and we were told we'd have to wait for the fresh batch being cooked. which was fine, because it gave my dad the chance to order a glass of their house wine, which him and my sister promptly gobbled up. we moved along to all'arco next, where they had the tastiest raw fish crostini sandwich i've ever had in my life. i also liked the proscuitto and pickle sandwich, and my dad adored their beef sausage sandwich, so that was awesome. we made one last stop for more sandwiches, but the food was meh and the service was awful, so the store doesn't get a mention here. it was so cheap, though, apart from la cantina. everything cost less than 3 euro. IN VENICE. all the hearteyes for these stores.
my parents were pretty tired by then, but i wasn't going to be satisfied without a gondola ride (HOW CAN I SAY I'VE BEEN TO VENICE IF I HAVEN'T TAKEN A GONDOLA RIDE, I DEMANDED) so we headed over to piazza san marco and paid a hefty sum for a ride, but it was DELIGHTFUL. i had the best time just ooh-ing and ahh-ing over everything, and trying not to be grossed out by the mussels that were growing pretty much everywhere around us. my parents decided to take the water bus thingy back to the hotel after that, while my brother and sister and i wandered around for a bit longer, and then took the "non-touristy" route back home. we had a map, and our concierge had warned us that it was easy to get lost, but apart from a couple of detours and stops to ask for directions, we managed okay! and it was SO LOVELY. we walked the narrowest little paths, stopped in the most touristy little shops, and even got a ginormous slice of not-terrible pizza on the way back to the hotel.
and now we're here, in florence. and i'm only just starting to feel human again after my stomach acted up all christmas day (yay me). but i've already decided this is my least favourite city i've seen, just because it looks like any other city i might visit, and the food here is pretty much the reason i was laid up in bed all day yesterday. i guess i'll have to see if florence redeems itself today!