Round two of my Europe recap. Last week I covered London, Paris, Switzerland and Munich. You can catch up here if you missed it! This week I take you to Austria, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome and Pompeii. To break up the tour a bit, we stayed two nights in a quaint town in Austria. While we were there, I participated in a little “extreme” sports. At least it was extreme for me! I went on a 15-mile bike ride after riding a bike for the first time in a decade the previous day. I almost cried when they said we were only at the halfway point, and the next half was the hard part. By the time we finally got to the top, I could have collapsed but the sweeping views were so breathtaking. The downhill ride also made the whole trip completely worth it!
I spent my second longest stint in one country in Italy. I visited 5 cities in 6 days. From Austria, I traveled to Venice, Italy. I think I was most disappointed with Venice. It was so beautiful and I was enthralled with the buildings and terraces full of flowers, but there was trash flying everywhere. I was also a little disappointed to find out almost all Venetians have fled the islands for the mainland to avoid tourists. While Venice was a little disappointing, the food was not. I indulged in a 4-course pasta meal paired with red wine that was phenomenal!
We stopped for a quick touristy picture in Pisa before heading into Florence. We went on a walking tour of Florence, and I become obsessed with the statue of Perseus with the Head of Medusa. Yes not the most glamorous name and yes the replica of the Statue of David is feet away, but the craftsmanship of the bronze statue is simply amazing! There was an amazing outdoor market near the main square where I picked up some pashminas with a little bit of haggling. Later we had a great dinner of spaghetti bolognese with meatballs followed by karaoke! I wanted to sing but I’d lost my voice in Venice and still hadn’t recovered.
My final stop in Italy was Rome. I’ve actually been to Rome on a long layover when I was younger. Since I’d seen the Vatican already, I wandered around with someone else opting out of the Vatican. We ended up having an amazing meal at this industrial yet rustic wine bar! Later I got to see all the sights of Rome. I was excited to throw my coins into the Trevi Fountain. You throw in three coins with your right hand over your left shoulder. One to for a return trip to Rome, the second coin is to fall in love, the third is to return to Rome, find love and marry. After hopefully sealing my fate to marry a nice Roman man and move to Italy, I ate the best gelato of the whole trip at San Crispino. They try to use the freshest most natural ingredients, and you can taste the difference. I had the banana and Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. On an adventure that night, a couple of us returned to the Trevi Fountain and basically had the place to ourselves. It was amazing to see it at night without the crowds. The next day we toured the Coliseum and then departed for Pompeii. Pompeii is a very well preserved city that was covered in ash from Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. It was shocking to see full buildings and amphitheater still standing from 2000 years ago!
Hopfgarten, Austria (from left to right)
top: The group of mountain bikers | Cheesing at the halfway point of the 15-mile ride | Mountain stream
middle: At the top of the mountain | Cows just wandered the streets | Showing off my dirndl around town
bottom: Wildflower square in the middle of town | Carla and I in our dirndls | Austrian goulash. So good!
Venice, Italy
top: The Grand Canal | Loved all the terraces with flowers | My first gelato
middle: Posing with the Grand Canal | Jump! | The only picture from our amazing 4-course dinner
bottom: Gondola ride | The whole “Party Gondola” crew | Sunset over the water
Florence, Italy + Pisa
top: Classic tourist photo in Pisa | Jump! | Ponte Vecchio. Florence’s most famous bridge
middle: Over the Arno River | Perseus with the Head of Medusa | Rubbing the Il Porcellino nose to ensure a trip back to Florence
bottom: Jumping in front of Basilica of Santa Maria Novella | Sweeping views of Florence with the Duomo in the background | Chocolate espresso shot in a mini juice box. We need these in the States!
Rome, Italy + Pompeii
top: Gazing at the Vatican | Homemade fettuccine with pesto and zucchini blossoms | Spanish Steps
middle: Bucket List! Threw my coins in the Trevi Fountain | Best gelato at San Crispino | Trevi Fountain at 2AM
bottom: Sun flare through the Coliseum | Remaining ruins inside the Coliseum | Jumping in Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius in the background
I hope you enjoyed the pictures!
x vanessa
It sounds and looks like you had a fantastic trip! I can’t wait for my own Euro trip 🙂
It was absolutely amazing! I can’t recommend traveling abroad enough!