Italia!!! (Part 1)

Italy wasn’t in my original plans but let’s be honest, when you get a chance to go anywhere in Italy you go. It has it all. By everything I mean food, culture, mountains, beaches, history, sports, and…did I say food?

There was zero hesitation when Kurt and Katie (finishing up an awesome Europe trip of their own) said join them in Bologna, Italy. I jumped right on www.kiwi.com and did a quick search on the best way to get there from Stockholm. Kiwi is a pretty cool resource because it lets you put in broad searches like “Stockholm” to “Italy” or “western europe” or add multiple cities to check at once. Then once I’ve found the flight, I book it directly with the airline. Oftentimes you can fly into some place like Porto, Portugal for much cheaper and take a FLiXbus for $10-$20 to the city you are actually trying to go to.

Ryan Air is apparently the savior of Portugal (self proclaimed by the walking tour guide we had in Porto) because the budget airline had dramatically improved tourism which helped stabilize their economy. But funny enough, they just recently reduced many flights in Portugal because of high ANAC fees. One thing that amazes me is how inexpensive flights can be in and around Europe if you know how to search. From Poznan (Poland) to Stockholm was priority boarding with two carry-on bags for 38 euro (it was only 14 euro if I had just a small bag) or around 40 euro from Newcastle Upon Tyne to Corfu, Greece last summer. These flights in the US seem to be more like $150-$300+.

I arrived, barely, after they had a plane issue and had to replace a airplane which had 9 less seats on it than the original one to fly (later found out it was the plane that had to land because of high winds). Luckily, I got a seat, two others actually sat in the back with the flight attendants.

Immediately, I walked into Bologna and found Kurt and Katie in the city center and they greeted me with some delicious lasagna and pizza and a 3L tower of beer as we sat on the patio in a typical Italian restaurant/bar. Italy was on the TV playing terribly in the Euro 2024 tournament against Croatia. Not long after, lightning turned into thunder, and then the sky opened up into a pretty steady rain. Katie even bartered to get Kurt (who didn’t pack a rain jacket) for 4 euro from a street peddler. The table next to us (just under the awning) was an international group that was also using English to navigate as their common language. They laughed as we put on raincoats and said in the pouring rain drinking our beer watching the game. They offered to take this photo of “the crazy Americans” as everyone else ran for cover. Luckily, Italy scored a goal in the 95th minute (stoppage time) to tie and give them hope of advancing.

Italy is an incredible destination and I don’t think I have met a human who has gone to Italy and not loved it wherever they went. With that being said, it can be pretty expensive especially in places like Florence, Bolzano, and Milan. I’ve seen recent articles of the government offering to give 30,000 euros for people to buy a home in some of the small villages in Tuscany right now (it has to be permanent residence for 10 years) so check it out for the wine lovers out there. 

I, on the other hand, am trying to travel to all 7 continents in a year, while saving on a teachers salary so I am always up for the budget option. This is what I found in Bologna the day before I arrived for around 50 euro a night with a shared bathroom with 8 rooms. It’s basically a bed in what I can only describe as my freshman dorm room in college at Baldwin Wallace. Safe to say that when you see my instagram stories, it isn’t always the glamorous life. More often than not, especially in Europe, it tends to be a hostel (private room if possible). Notice that it is a fan not an air conditioner as it was in the 90’s. 

The next day we decided to work off some of the lasagna. We set out on a walk that is said to be the longest portico (covered walkway) )in the world. The Portico of San Luca connects Porta Saragozza (one of the twelve gates of the medieval walls encircling the old city) with the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. Interestingly enough, 666 vault arcades stretch out almost four kilometers (3,796 m or 12,454 ft) long (mostly uphill). It was a sweaty walk which deserved gelato at the first chance possible which took literally 30 seconds. 

With the long summer days we had plenty of time to jump on a train to Modena and take a quick tour of the Enzo Ferrari Museum which was pretty cool if you are into sports cars. It had driving simulators, a video about Enzo, and you could also rent a sweet sports car to take for a drive if you so desire.

Make sure you check out Italia!!! Part 2!