Florence, Bologna, Venice

Food, history, walking tours, rain, injury, memories, trains, shopping and more. Our holiday in Italy was grouped into little blocks of days spent at one location and travelling daily from there.

We were staying in Florence for 3 nights and venturing out each day somewhere new. When we arrived in Florence, we walked to our air bnb and checked in. This little air bnb was cool. It had a modern kitchen and bathroom with a fun classic tile on the floor.

Very large ceilings and a little seating loft Nathanael enjoyed as a man cave. I’m sure he chose it on purpose because of the stairs knowing I wouldn’t be bothered to climb them. Once I was making a snack and stood on a dining chair and passed it through the bottom of the rails rather than climb the 15 or so steps. Haha. Resourceful I tell ya!

After arriving we got a few groceries (by which I mean more custard cups) and then headed to our first walking tour. This time we left early enough to make sure we would be there on time. It was a cooler day, but with a lovely afternoon sun. There were lots of places on our holiday that Nathanael had visited on his mission. Florence was the first one we came to and it was enchanting listening to Nathanael tell stories about places he had been, climbed, explored and all the experiences that came with it. Florence was such an interesting place.

There is so much history to discover. Our walking tour was fantastic as we got to learn about the different rich families that lived there and so many little details about the city. We love walking tours because they are free to go to and you simply tip at the end what you thought it was worth. We are always generous for ‘our’ budget but don’t have to miss out.

It started raining right at the end of the tour so we stopped for a meal. This was the best Italian meat dish (wild boar) we had the entire holiday. Well it was Nathanael’s choice, but you can bet I enjoyed it too. Yum! We also tried their ‘bread’. It is made without salt. When Florence was in disagreement with Pisa, Pisa refused to sell them salt and so they needed to make the bread without it. Many of the people still eat it like that and have come to like it that way. The rest of Italy call it ‘stupid bread’ and it was just that! Why? Yuck. Grateful for salt!

The next day we were headed for Bologna. Yep you guessed it. The place where bolognaise was invented. When we did our research for places to visit, I had seen so many people say to go here. Lots even indicated they would be staying for a week. I felt a lot of pressure going into this day as it was my pick and I didn’t want to end up feeling like we had wasted a day here. Bologna is 30min train trip from Florence. We left early in the morning and would be arriving home late. When we got there the place was pretty empty. Apparently Italians don’t like to rise early here. We got something to eat and arrived at the walking tour only to be told that it was cancelled due to not enough participants and that it might be on in the afternoon if more turned up.

The tour guide recommended some things for us to see while we waited. At this point I was sure the day was going to end up being a fail. However, as we visited places it was apparent that Bologna had such a unique history. We got to see where surgeons would teach students how to operate and become qualified in the oldest university in Europe (founded in 1088). The architect throughout the streets was exquisite and we found the most gorgeous Italian children’s bible book in a little bookstore.

Stopping for lunch we enjoyed the most delicious bread of our entire holiday. It was so yummy! Although perhaps it just tasted nice compared to the ‘stupid bread’ the night before. Let’s just say I was very happy for the free bread baskets they provided. What ruined our lunch was when we ordered mortadella. Translated as some kind of cheese mousse platter. We decided to splurge on it and it was FOUL. Oh, the worst thing I have ever eaten! We came to learn later through the walking tour that it is a famous delicacy in Bologna, so we were happy we ‘accidently’ tried that experience.  

We were really grateful that the afternoon walking tour was able to go ahead because we learnt so much about the city. One word that comes to mind when I think of Bologna is BARBARIC. Being central to contention, it oozed with it in the history we learnt. The city was not a fan of the pope hundreds of years ago, and so you could see which buildings were for and against him, depending on the shape of the roof tile. There was also a famous man whose family controlled the palaces. The twisting stories and events were intriguing.

The Duomo there is unfinished. As beautiful as it is, it was only built to about a 6^th of its planned size when they stopped. The plan was to make it larger than St Paul’s in Rome, but the catholic church didn’t want that so they bought all the land behind it so it couldn’t be built any further. Due to this they stopped pouring money into it and left the façade unfinished as it could no longer be in competition as the biggest cathedral.

Fun fact! Did you know in Bologna there is a tower that actually leans more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa? It’s just not as high so doesn’t quite has the same affect. Something we really enjoyed was climbing the bell tower next to it. It was hundreds of stairs and the climb really zapped my energy, but we enjoyed being able to experience the things we normally wouldn’t have, even while I was pregnant. It felt completely unsafe but since surviving it, we loved the experience.
Overall, we were really impressed with Bologna and were glad we put it into our itinerary. Phew. It was a crazy city and the stories we learnt are ones that will stay with us.

The next day we were spending in Florence again. Nathanael headed out early that morning in the rain to complete a half marathon as part of his training. I think throughout his entire marathon prep he ran 9 half marathons. His only other run in Florence a couple of days later, he injured his knee, which saw him miss a couple of weeks of running. It remained injured for most of the rest of the trip. This was our coldest and wettest day. Luckily my auntie had lent me a big coat which made all the difference. I only wore it that once but it would have been a miserable day without it otherwise. We went to the markets where I was able to buy some great souvenirs. Nathanael bought some stunning ties. That was something I loved about Nathanael when I met him, the quality of his church ties. He got them from this same market in Florence and we had returned for more! Too bad we can’t just place an order online next time. We also stopped for the best kebab in our holiday! Two kebabs cost us about $12AUD. So basically half price to what they are back home. It was so filling and warming, at just the right time. Florence involved so much walking, so many toilet stops I couldn’t take because of the lack of them and so many memories. I thought Florence was great until I went to Venice the next day. Woah, that was something else!

Wow! I never knew a city like this existed! Venice was something else and I’m so glad that I got to see it before it gets ruined. Venice has been affected by floods in recent years and there are more tourists who visit there every day then there are residents. Venice is so unique! There are no cars, no motorbikes, no bicycles, nothing! There are only two modes of transport in Venice. Either you walk or you take a boat.

Venice is built on hundreds of little islands which are connected by bridges. Each house has two entrances, one from the street and the other from the water. The street entrance used to be for servants as there were often gardens and produce growing in what is now the street. The main entrance was by water. In Venice still today their emergency vehicles are actually boats. Seeing all of these boats with either an ambulance, police or fire logo on them was fascinating! I felt like they were pulling my leg. Surely people were not still living here that way!

The tour guide we had for this tour was the best one of the whole trip. She was knowledgeable, professional and a local. We got to know the history behind Carnivale and some famous locals like Casanova. Fun fact about Venice. Each little island needed to have it owns church on it so there are almost 150 churches and only 55,000 locals. Although Venice was a 2.5hr train trip each way from Florence it was completely worth it for the day spent.

The more time that I spent in Italy the more I came to appreciate the culture, lifestyle and history of this amazing country. I enjoyed the lessons each of these cities were teaching me and the appreciation of the human race and its complexity and evolution.

Although I was sad to be leaving these places behind, knowing quite likely that I will never see them again, our next stop was Naples. This is where I was promised to have the best pizza of my life. The real question was…..would it deliver? (Pun intended, haha)

I hope you have been enjoying our journey through Italy so far. I’m loving being able to relive these memories and share them with you all….especially the next part where I saw the most amazing views I am sure I will ever see in my life. Oh and the worst bus trip of my life too!

Stay tuned!
Love, Sarah Kay xx