Wowzers guys! Hasn’t it been a minute. Turns out being a parent to two little ones gets busy sometimes and prevents you from doing things lower on your priority list. Who would have known right?
Anyway! Now that I’ve had you all waiting and checking my blog constantly for my first post on our Italy Trip. Here it is….
What a blissfully and magically wonderful time we had and what a reality check we had. More on that soon.
So, after the numerous vomits, panic attack, tears and extreme anger at the lack of lying down positions available we landed and arrived in Italy. I stepped off the plane and felt relieved. Home in Aus, we were heading into Autumn which naturally means very similar temperatures to Summer. Italy welcomed us with low-teen degrees and a need for those big jackets we packed.
Heading out of the airport we needed to head through customs. The line was SO long. I’m talking HOURS. I wasn’t having a bar of it. I turned to Nathanael and asked him to find a way to get us ahead. Nathanael, of course while feisty when it comes to negotiating the price on a new couch or washing machine for the BEST deal, he is also the type of person content with waiting in line rather than asking. There I was in another country stuck not being able to speak the language and exhausted. Luckily, the worker spoke English and I explained my need to get out of the queue (by whopping out the belly) and she moved us to practically the beginning of the line stating that its my rite of passage to not wait. I like Italian’s already.
Clearing the airport and heading into Milan by train I loved seeing how green everything was. Everything was old and covered in graffiti. Getting off the train in Milan we entered the train station. WOW. We barely have anything as beautiful let alone as old as that building and it’s just their train station. Crazy!
We walked to our apartment and this is where we stopped for some lunch at the corner cafe and I enjoyed my first and possibly the best Ciambella con Crema (Donut with Custard). It cost me one euro and I was gobsmacked by how delicious and cheap it was. HOW? I can barely buy a regular cinnamon donut from Donut King that cheap and this was just… *drools*……anyway. After arriving at our hotel, we planned to go on a walking tour around Milan that afternoon. Jetlag is real, because we had a quick ‘nap’ which resulted in us running through Milan…late, with a phone that died while we were using it for directions, no way of contacting the company, or finding them, which may have possibly ended with us having evil eyes at each other from sheer exhaustion and an over zealous attitude about how much we could fit in and cope with in a day.
Nathanael and I enjoy travelling together because we are compatible travellers. We both like to fit in as much as possible, push the limits and be active in our adventures. So, we were pretty upset when this didn’t go to plan. It’s the only thing in the whole month we didn’t get to do on our ‘list’. For dinner we ordered the most expensive poke bowls ever on Uber Eats and I watched Nathanael trying to eat mouthfuls of it while falling asleep. It’s hilarious by the way. To sleep we went so we could wake up at 3-4am due to jetlag. Hooray.
Our next day we headed to Lake Como. If you’re wondering where it is….Google it. Just kidding. It’s at the very north of Italy and shares a border with Switzerland. Cool hey? It’s about an hour train ride from Milan. We arrived, picked up a map and asked the local travel guide for ideas on where to go and what to do. After a lengthy chat and constant weird looks at me, the guy asks Nathanael if I understand what he is saying. I had NO clue. Just mesmerised listening to Nathanael speak fluent Italian. For a man of few words to hear so many come out so romantically. Let’s just say….. *winks*.
Lake Como was beautiful. It’s uh, set around a lake and was elegant and quiet. The Duomo (Cathedral) was beautiful and the view of the turquoise dome from the top of the funicular was stunning. Lake Como has been used for lots of movies. Some you might know Oceans Twelve, Stars Wars, Casino Royale. Unfortunately, they were not in need of any pregnant extras that day. Lake Como was probably one of our colder days until the mid-afternoon sun warmed it up enough to just wear a jacket. Today was also the day that Nathanael strongly encouraged me to keep walking so we could see a waterfall. Almost 2km in and the road finished and all that was left was a cliff and no waterfall. Just a little statue with a drizzle coming out of its mouth. Thanks Hun!
For lunch we decided we would take the short bus trip over to Switzerland. How cool to be able to say that we went there. We ordered lunch and it was very…..Italian. haha. They spoke Italian, the food was Italian. All that was different was that you paid in Swiss Francs. So although very Italian, I can claim I’ve been to Switzerland.
Something else about Italy that can be confronting are the beggars and ‘homeless’. In Lake Como I had one lady wanting me to buy a bracelet. Nathanael had gone for a walk to check something out and after 7hrs+ straight of walking this 29 week preggo was happy for him to do a solo experience. Nathanael had his wallet and any money we needed, so I wouldn’t have even been able to buy anything if I wanted to. The lady was so persistent and I just sat there not being able to speak the language to refuse or explain. She got quite worked up and started coming closer, speaking loudly at me and getting frustrated. I couldn’t really get up and walk away as Nathanael and I only had one sim card for our phones so I needed to stay where we had assigned. Eventually she left but it was scary for a small moment.
What a fantastic day we’d had with amazing views. All I needed to do was to walk the 1.5km or so back to the train station. My feet were burning. This was something I experienced often. Would do a full day of walking, get to see pretty much everything I wanted and then within just a few minutes my feet were aching and walking was extremely painful. I was also still struggling with some pelvic pain from the flight. Being so confined shifted my hips and pelvis and it took a good 2 weeks to be able to walk without lots of pain at the end of the day.
Heading back, we packed up and got ready to catch a 3hr+ train to Rome the next day…..after Parkrun of course. Did I mention that while we were away Nathanael was still training for a marathon? Which means I needed to stay in the hotel and have an extra sleep in while he ran. Shame hey? Nathanael actually set his Parkrun PB while in Milan. For those that don’t know what Parkrun is it’s a community event held each Saturday morning typically at 7am, where they time a 5km run. It is held all over the world. Nathanael clocked a time of 21:05 for his 5km. Why he didn’t just run 6 seconds faster….Jks. I was probably still in bed eating pastries or left-over pizza. On ya Babe!
So on the train to Rome we went. Just one more sleep and we would attend the dedication of the Rome, Italy Temple. Years and years of waiting and we were just ONE SLEEP AWAY.
Can’t wait to share it with you all! It was really special.
Love Sarah Kay, xx
