From the idyllic lake villages of Como to the bustling ancient streets of Rome, Dan and I have been adventuring through the towns and cities of northern and central Italy. We started off staying in Tremezzo on the western shores of Lake Como for the wedding of my cousin Ed to Lisa - what a lovely occasion and what a setting! From here we jumped on the train to head towards to the canals and bridges of beautiful Venice. The weathered buildings really do look like they're part of a flooded city rather than a planned network of waterways - we loved every moment. Next we were on our way to Florence, teaming with tourists gazing up at the marvellous cupola of the Duomo and being gazed upon by towering statues. Picking up our bright little Fiat 500 we sped off into the hill towns of Tuscany and found ourselves up in Montepulciano. With twisting narrow vicolos we felt like locals living behind one of those great wooden doors. From here we explored Siena, Montalcino and San Gimignano, an authentic medieval town. Our penultimate stop was a farm in the little village of Valgiano overlooking Lucca down in the valley. In the city we hired bicycles and had fun riding around the city walls. Finally we were on the train again, heading further south to the city of Rome. We explored the cobbled streets and imagined what life would have been here as Romans thousands of years ago.
Over a thousand photos later we're back home remembering the places we stayed in, all found via
Airbnb, and all the people we met. The best thing was that we were always so centrally located; we went everywhere by foot. We ate in such a variety of places from eccentric performances theatres to local trattorias, from osterias where was sat a big tables with fellow restaurant goers and sometimes just grabbing a sandwich and sitting on some fountain steps nearby. All in all it was a great adventure and soon you'll be seeing more pictures in this here space. For the time being
my Instagram page has a selection of snaps...
