Friends, food and football in Milan

The Duomo

Arriving into Milan was significant because not only were we meeting up with Claire's 2 best friends for the whole of our 5 day stay, but this was also the last stop on our travels before we headed to Santo Stefano Roero in Piedmont to be au pairs for the summer.

We arrived a few hours before Jess and Sophie so we scoped out the immediate vicinity and at the paninoteca a few doors down I had one of the best paninis of my life filled with bundles of salami and Tabasco sauce.

We'd both been looking forward to seeing them, but understandably Claire was beyond excited, so when the reunion happened my prediction that there'd be tears came true.

In the evening we headed straight for the center of Milan and to see the Duomo lit up, the famous galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle II shopping mall before heading for giant portions of pizza and wine. The rest of the night was spent back at the B&B on our balcony drinking far too much wine (well, me and Sophie anyway!). It was so great for us all to catch up and also so surreal to have such good friends with us in a new place.

We all decided that during our 5 day stay we would see the major sights of the city, but otherwise we'd be more than happy just to hang out - especially as this was a much needed holiday for Jess and Sophie.

The second day we headed over to castello sforza and stopped just in front if it when we saw there were a whole load of stalls selling speciality beers, wines, sangria and foods from around the globe - all of which were music to our ears. As well as this, just outside the castle is a great big fountain that became a regular stop for us during the stay as it was a great place to dip your feet, enjoy the cool spray and people watch in the 30+ degree heat.
We then headed into the castle and the park beyond it, before heading for more gelato - in fact Jess pretty much became addicted to the stuff and who could blame her!

On the way back, the girls bought cards from a stand so we could play at night over wine on the balcony - but once we got them out later that evening we realised they were not normal cards at all! The cards were only 40 in number and had some strange characters - turns out they are for a popular traditional Italian card game called 'scopa' - of which we have since learnt how to play and really enjoy. Determined to play cards regardless, we figured out a system to use the cards to play 'uno' and so it was that 'scuno' was born!!

We repeated this sequence of fountain, food, drinks, park again on one of the other days, this time having a picnic in the park whilst there was a race going on for runners and their dogs, to which I was very jealous:
a) not to be taking part
b) for not having a dog

It was such a great time as we really got to just hang out and enjoy each others company, with one of the days allowing for the girls to hang out and go shopping whilst I went on my own trip for the morning:

My pilgrimage to the San Siro

Not the prettiest outside but the San Siro is spectacular inside

So I planned one morning to head out on my own to see something I've always wanted to see since I was a kid. As a kid I grew up spending my Sundays watching Italian football on tv as it was on channel 4 and during that time I grew a fondness for both Milan teams. Now I was in Milan I had the chance to visit their stadium which is one of the most famous and impressive in the world - the San Siro.

Heading to it via a combination of metro and bus, I felt like a kid again as I was so excited to be going, something that brought back memories of my first ever football game which just happened to be at the old Wembley of all places. The best stadiums of today are the modern equivalent of the Colosseum - it's where all the action happens and where the eyes of the world are focused and I certainly want to visit as many of my favourite stadiums as possible as each one is unique.

Unfortunately the season had already finished so I couldn't go see a game which is always the best experience, but I still didn't want to pass up the chance for a tour of the stadium and museum.

Just a few of the many famous names that adorn the museum

The museum was smaller than I was expecting but did cover the things I'd expected such as all of the trophies won by the two teams and a walk back in time with all of the most famous players that have played for AC Milan and Inter Milan.

AC Milan changing room

Inter's changing room

Inside the stadium we visited the two teams changing rooms and whilst AC Milan's was plush (not as plush as southamptons I might add), I was really surprised at the contrast with Inter's; while AC had individual bucket seats, screens etc, Inter had just a basic bench and a tiny artwork on the wall as well as their badge. I really expected more but then that's supposed to be Inter's style.

The amazing inside of the San Siro

Then it was time to enter the stadium to the pitch itself and I was blown away by its size and how unique it is. I took a few moments to imagine a match going on and enjoyed the calm of the stadium (even if there were 20 other people on the tour and a team of workers setting the stadium up for a one direction concert).

Before I left I had to ask some Germans for an obligatory photo before leaving very, very happy and with a new resolution to visit more stadiums around Europe.

I returned to the center of the city to find the girls enjoying shopping before we headed for coffee & cream, paninis and more gelato. It was a great day for all!

End of one journey, start of another

A couple of days later we waved goodbye to our friends once again as we headed to the train station having had a great last few days of travelling. Milan was good to us and a great place to hang out in.

As we got on our train we not only headed away from Milan, but away from the travelling part of our journey as we were now off to the Piedmont region an hour away to be au pairs for the rest of the summer. We were ready to begin this new challenge as we were ready to be based in one place again for a period of time rather than a fleeting moment and we were excited about getting stuck into life in the Italian countryside with a family that were happy to take us in with welcome arms...

Discovering original bolognese in Bologna

This was the shortest train journey yet - just half an hour from Florence. Luckily Claire - so often the navigator throughout our travels - had found the way to the hotel by combination of bus and walking.

After the usual dumping of the bags, we headed in to town to have a look around and see if we could sample some bolognese from the region it comes from.

Bologna itself is a university town and has the oldest university in the world. The rest of the place is full of quaint piazzas and walkways under never ending porticoes.

Bolognese from Bologna!

We did sample bolognese both evenings we were there - but both times we didn't have with spaghetti as the traditional way is to have with tortellini, which is shorter, thicker and flat. When the dishes came, I was surprised that we didn't get more sauce as it was quite lacking - but yet again, the traditional way is to have with very little sauce. All of that aside though, both dishes were really, really good and I was very satisfied!

One of the many beautiful walkways that you can find in the heart of the city

On the second day we meandered around, getting a coffee here, a gelato there, before heading up the tower in the center. It was only a few Euros to enter and was much higher than we'd realised from the bottom!

View atop the tower of the city

View from the bottom - quite a climb!

There are two towers next to each other, one smaller and very unbalanced! But you can only enter the tall one anyway. Inside the climb can be daunting if you look down but the views of the city at the top were magnificent. As well as the views of the city you could see into the surrounding hills. After some time admiring the view we headed back down the tower, which was scarier than coming up!

So our stay in Bologna was short and relatively uneventful, yet it was a worthy inclusion in our travel itinerary as the architecture is so easy on the eyes.

Next we head by train to Milan for the last stop on the travel part of our journey before we head to Piedmont to au pair for the summer, but first in Milan we have sights to see and Claire's two best friends to hang out with!

Absorbing art and culture in Florence

Another nice train journey after an early start and we were in the heart of Florence.

The beautiful view of Florence and the ponte vecchio

From the second we stepped out of the station we could see some of the famous sights peeking over tall buildings, beckoning us in.
A short bus away and we were at our accommodation - a lovely little B&B where the host Leo gave us a lovely introduction as well as some great maps and advice about the city. As per the normal drill, after dumping our stuff in the room we were soon straight out the door to explore the city.

I've always known of Florence as a beautiful place to visit that's a haven for art historians due to it being the epicentre of the renaissance, but other than reading about it in the latest Dan Brown novel "inferno" I still didn't know much about it. I knew of the Duomo, the Ponte vecchio and the vasari corridor, but not much else.

On the first afternoon we visited all the major locations we knew of (not the vasari corridor of course as that's not open to the public) and were surprised that we could visit them all so easily in one day - we're clearly to uses to Rome and having too much to see!

During our 4 days here we went to most places at least twice and enjoyed the atmosphere at each of them.

The famous duomo

The Duomo is the stand out attraction of the city, standing tall above it and seeing glimpses of it's wonderfully decorated exterior draws you in for a closer look each time you see it. The Duomo - being a large church - is decorated as you would expect; beautiful stain glass windows, paintings on the walls etc. But the dome itself is covered inside with (insert name) depiction of heaven and hell and its a great sight - even if you do have to severely crick your neck to fully view it! You can pay to climb to the top of the Duomo, but for 8 euros we didn't feel it would be worthwhile.

The ponte vecchio bridge

Head down the road from the Duomo and you'll soon hit the banks of the Arno river, where you'll find the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge, which is full of high price jewellery shops. The bridge and the views of the river are just as I'd imagined - beautiful.

Over the bridge and up a hill is piazza Michaelangelo; a large square that overlooks the whole city and offers the most incredible panoramic views of not just the city, but the surrounding hills and countryside as well. We stood here admiring the view for quite some time - especially as there's an absence of hawkers up there to hassle you so you can relax that little bit more.

As I mentioned, this place is for art buffs - of which I'm firmly NOT a part of - but regardless of this fact to come here and not visit Michaelangelo's David would be seen as almost criminal. He is at the gallery accademia and it's closed on Mondays so we decided eventually to visit on Sunday and buy a ticket that allowed us to return at a set time to enter via the advance ticket line - rather than queue down the street for what must be well over an hour. For 4 extra euros I think that's worth it!

Claire's sneaky photo of David - stupid you can't take photos freely!

The statue itself is very impressive, the level of detail on him is incredible - even if we did both think his hands and feet were disproportionately large! We both couldn't help feel that this particular sight was a bit lost on us though as we don't fully appreciate it, especially as neither of us had known its history or bothered to research it, but we did try to appreciate it while we were there.

What was annoying was that you couldn't take any photos - even without flash - which once we saw the price of the souvenirs in the shop, we realised that it was surely to make more money, needless to say I wasn't impressed given the price we had paid to get in to see one statue!

One day we headed to a nearby park for a run in the sun - which was great as it was also a big family festival in amongst it and as I ran through I could see so much going on from food markets, to jousting, to boxing rings! It felt good to at least burn off some of the carbs we've been gorging on since being here.

In amongst our days wondering around piazzas, enjoying litre portions of wine and beer and yet more amazing gelato, we discovered a little Mexican place called Ebys that became a firm favourite with 4 euro burritos that were huge and delicious - so much so that we returned on our last day.

We left having really enjoyed our time in this pretty city. Whilst it wasn't the best Italy has shown me, it certainly had a lot of charm that wasn't lost on us.

Next up - the home of bolognese sauce in Bologna!

Naples, Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius

We arrived from Rome by train in a carriage with booths - first time either of us have travelled in a booth and Claire said Harry potter travelling to Hogwarts instantly sprang to mind.

Naples

Our hotel was a stones throw from the train station, so we left our bags to explore the city before check in. We headed straight towards the water and hit docks first. The sight of docks and everything around it instantly reminded me of Southampton (where I was born and bred) and we walked until we got to one of the castles that adorn the water here - castel nuovo. We couldn't go in as it was a university's graduation ceremony day there so we just headed central into town before heading back to the hotel. In that time we first wandered about, we both felt a little uneasy here; we both felt like we'd received a few unpleasant glances and overall the contrast in the demeanour of people having come from Rome was clear to see.

Even before we came, I'd always heard Naples had a bit of a reputation for crime and being a little rough around the edges in general, but having spent the week there I certainly saw that reputation come to light and then some! In our first night I popped down to reception to find a host of people consoling a tour guide who was distraught - I could tell straight away she'd been robbed and I daren't tell Claire in case she freaked out. The next day we overheard her conversations though and heard it happened just a couple of streets away and that it was commonplace here where they prey on tourists - which put us on edge. Later in the week, the restaurant next to our hotel had a mass of people consoling another girl - clearly it had happened again and this time even closer to us.

I don't like to write that we felt like we weren't safe outside for most of the week but I'd be lying if I said otherwise. As a result we felt we didn't want to explore the city in it's entirety, just a couple of places and we also decided not to go out in the dark (after 9pm).

Other than our day trips, we usually only left the hotel for pizza - the thing that Naples is famous for doing best. Claire found a place nearby that was famous for doing the best margherita and was the setting for a scene in the film that inspired her travel bug 'eat, pray, love'.

We headed to that place in particular - called pizzeria da Michele - expecting to wait as apparently people often queue for up to 2 hours to get a table, but when we arrived (around 6) we luckily only waited 5 minutes. The place had nostalgia all over it's walls and it'd been making pizza since 1870 - a long time to perfect the art! What's more the menu only consist of two items: pizza margherita and pizza marina.

We sat next to photos on the wall of the staff with Julia Roberts and another with Maradona (who is a god to people here) and all these things meant that as I ordered, I suddenly realised I had never in my life been so excited to try a pizza! When it came it was heaven. No anti climax whatsoever. To describe it would do it injustice, but take my word for it - I've had many a pizza and a lot of very good ones, but although this was just margherita, this was the best I'd ever had. I came back to Italy in hope that one bit of food would give me that rare feeling that makes you actually go on thinking about the food even after you've eaten it and I was so glad I found it.

We went to a couple more places for fantastic pizza during our time here - see this piece from Claire's blog - but for me, this place was hands down the best. We went back again one night and I was every bit as satisfied.

The only other thing we did in Naples itself was visit the archeological museum that houses a vast amount of artefacts from Pompeii. We both enjoyed the visit there as they have mosaics, ornaments, statues, household objects etc. from Pompeii that give you a real insight as to how life was there before the tragedy. There was also a particular part that showed us they had a bit of a fixation with genitalia which was certainly interesting to see.. and giggle at!

Pompeii

On our first ever wedding anniversary we decided to visit Pompeii. We both love ancient sites and to visit one where such a unique tragedy occurred had long been on our wish list.
We got off the train at Pompeii Scavi and as we queued for tickets we could see hundreds of grey things filling the air and we were slightly confused.... Ash wasn't still falling right?! It wasn't and it was just falling from a tree but the illusion added to the atmosphere.

Once through the gate and up the hill, you're immediately surrounded by the remains that instantly give you an idea of what life back then. You've ruined temples, rows and rows of houses, a forum, bakeries, public baths etc.

Unlike other ruins, it feels a lot more obvious what things used to look like here, rather than seeing just a room and being told what it was for. For example - the bakeries were obvious as the gardens still had the instruments that made the bread, as well as hole in the wall ovens. All of this adds to the "frozen in time" effect that this place is famous for (well, not frozen but you get my point!).

There are quite a few bodies that still remain on the site and the detail you can see on them is incredible: from their facial expressions, to their clothes, even down to their toenails. Staring at the bodies didn't feel morbid - it just felt fascinating to see this phenomenon and to know that you can see what really happened all that time ago. It really is a unique thing to see with your own eyes.

What we didn't know was that when the tragedy struck, the place was only just recovering from an earthquake that caused devastation a few years earlier. You could see evidence of this where some parts of houses were in the process of being replastered - so on one hand that's very unlucky for them, but these days we would've seen the quake as a precursor to the eruption!

This place was so much bigger than we'd realised and we ended up spending hours strolling the ruined streets with our imaginations flowing. By the end of the day we'd exhausted our legs on the cobblestone streets and headed for home and celebratory prosecco satisfied at a real glance through history.

Mount Vesuvius

People often do this and Pompeii in a day and whilst we decided not to (to stretch out our week), I can certainly see why people do as if you're ready to do some proper walking then you can.

You get off at the same station (Pompeii Scavi) as you do for Pompeii, get a bumpy couple of buses and then walk the last part to the crater. The day we visited was cloudy atop the mountain which meant being in the clouds themselves and therefore very chilly!

The gases still coming out of a small hole in the mountain

I found the crater itself great, but not the awe inspiring sight I thought it might be. The view right inside looked just like a hillside - there was even a few bushes and trees?! The top of the crater was just what you expected, but the inside was a real reminder that its been over 60 years since the last eruption.

That said, there was an area of rock where you could see natural gases still spewing out - at least a reminder that it is still bubbling down there. In fact we heard that scientists believe another eruption may be due in the next 20 years - so for now it really is acting as a sleeping giant. Funny that as on the way up and down the mountain we saw quite a few 60's style hotels - why build them there when the volcano is still active? It's like they haven't heard of Pompeii or anything...

I enjoyed the visit to the crater, mainly just the little things that remind you of the destructive power that lingers below and at some point will surely arise again.

The end of the week in Naples

As mentioned, we didn't exactly love Naples due to the vibes we were getting and the crimes we'd heard happening around us, but we did venture out on one of the last days to visit the museum which houses a lot of Pompeiian artefacts - and we both enjoyed learning more about it. We were particularly impressed at the mosaics that adorned their houses as some were so intricate that they were nothing short of stunning.

Art from the walls of a Pompeiian house

Other than that though, we took the chance to have a couple of days to recharge in the hotel - only popping out for pizza or local confectionery called "sfogliatelle" which I didn't mind but Claire wasn't keen on.

We left Naples knowing that even in a country like Italy that we've always loved visiting, you can't like every place you visit. Naples is at least ticked off the list though! Next stop - Florence!