Milan
I need to stop booking early flights because they are cheap is a big lesson I have learned. Another early wake-up call landed me in Milan by noon. My next hostel, Ostello Bello Grande, was less hostel-y but still had a good atmosphere.
I had nice roommates, so I didn’t feel too alone here. But I didn’t feel too inclined to do activities with them. On my first day in Milan, I walked around the town for a few hours as per my usual. I took this evening to do laundry and hang out.
On the second day, I booked a Duomo ticket and spent a few hours here exploring the rooftop, interior, museum, and archaeological area. This was followed by more walking around and returning to the hostel to book my next moves.
My final day in Milan included a janky day trip to Lake Como. I missed my initial train to Varenna, so I took a later one to Como. Upon arriving in Como, I got in an hour-long line to buy a ferry ticket to Varenna.
It was worth the wait though! I got to see the towns via ferry and be on the lake for an hour before arriving at Varenna’s port. I walked around Varenna grabbing a gelato and a cappuccino before laying out on a rocky beach.
I walked back through town towards the train station which had a wider dog beach to lay out and read more before taking the train back to Milan. There was only one dog at the beach ☹. I then grabbed the train back to Milan for the day which was full, so I stood the hour back to town.
This ended my time in Milan with a train trip to Venice the next morning!
Venice
I boarded my train to Venice and decided to knock off a night here. My hostel booking was non-refundable, so I took a loss there, but I think I saw what I needed to. Venice felt like a very large tourist trap.
I once again committed to my post-arrival routine of dropping my bags and setting off to walk around the town. Venice was another somewhat flop because St. Mark’s Basilica and Doge’s Palace were under construction. As a touristy spot, everything was extremely expensive, so I opted for a $7.50 water taxi over an $80 gondola ride for just myself.
This hostel was also my least favorite as they charged for everything – even bedding which is almost always included. It served as more of a hotel, so there were lots of families and no hostel atmosphere. The room was nice, but I opted to hang out in the lobby area, eat my pizza, and watch Netflix.
Florence
From Venice, I grabbed a two-hour train to Florence where I arrived at another Ostello Bello. This location was more hostel-y than the Milan one. And to my surprise, I met a fellow Houstonian who was working the reception and told me how she moved to Italy after college.
With two nights in Florence, I spent the first day taking a walking tour around the main sites and coincidentally ran into a roommate from the Milan hostel on the tour. I was wiped out from the sun and walking a few miles, so I returned to the hostel for the night with some pasta from the Florence Central Market.
There was an issue with my booking, so I checked out the following morning to return that evening. I once again spent the day walking around Florence up to the Piazzale Michelangelo to look over the city. I also got told by my Italian server he’s never seen anyone order a salad/cappuccino combo.
I returned to the hostel for my check-in and hung out then grabbed an afternoon train to Pisa to see the leaning tower because why not? It was only an hour train there and a short walk to the tower. As expected, it was overflowing with tourists taking photos, so I grabbed my picture and headed back to Florence.
There isn’t anything else in Pisa besides the tower and church grounds, but I wasn’t going to pay to enter with an incoming thunderstorm. The town also seemed pretty sketchy upon arrival, so I wasn’t trying to stay very long either. The tower looked like every photo I’ve ever seen and with that I probably won’t return to Pisa unless I’m stopping through to go somewhere else.
Exhausted from the day, I had to stay up for an interview that evening from 9:30-10:30 my time. I think it went well but we’ll see!
Now, I am off to Rome to close out this trip! And I still don’t know why we call it Florence but it’s actually Firenze.
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