On Satruday, April 3, since Florence does not have a major international airport, we took the train from Florence to Milan but not before stopping at the Mercato Centrale to get a couple of those tasty sandwiches packed for our train ride.   We arrived to a wet and cold Milan on Saturday.   We did not feel too much in the mood for touring Milan, so we just went for a quiet dinner, watched a movie, played another game of Scrabble and went to bed.

During dinner we discussed our favorite parts of the trip.   We both agreed that our escape from the crowds of Florence to the non-touristy Tuscan hill town of Lucca was our best day.   Biking along the ramparts and chatting with the friendly residents about the Tuscan life made our trip most memorable. 

We loved our wine tour of Chianti where we ran into a couple we had met at the Florence train station two days before.    The company was agreeable and the scenery stole the show from the delicious wines.

The ancient city of Siena was another highlight.   We so much enjoyed sitting around the Piazza del Campo with some Italian cookies, sipping our cappuccinos.   I know it is a cliché to say something is “breathtaking” but the view of Siena and the surrounding hills from the terrace of the  Museo dell'Opera del Duomo truly was breathtaking.  

We loved Florence and Rome. However, we think we would have been better off visiting when there are less crowds. And as I understand it, we were not even there during “peak” tourist season.   Next time I go I want to be able to get a clear view of Michelangelo’s Pieta and not having to be put in the position to decide not to see the Uffizi Gallery because of the pressing crowds. 

The food was consistently good throughout Italy. In the tourist areas, many restaurants offer tourist menus as bargain prices.   However, after cover charges, service charges, and miscellaneous charges for things like bread, most of these restaurants costs us over 60 euros for two with house wine. But if we went to a restaurant just a few blocks outside of the tourist area we found ordering a la carte was less expensive and the quality of the food was significantly better.     We found the sandwiches from the Mercato Centrale in Florence to be outstanding.   We visited enotecas in Florence and Lucca that served free delicious appetizers with a 3 euro glass of wine.   We also found the enotecas to be very social. We met travelers from Germany, the U.S., and other parts of the world.

We found the Italian people to be extremely friendly, accommodating, and polite.   Even in the markets when we did not purchase something from the vendors, they continued to be polite and courteous. English is very widely spoken. In most museums, the signage is in English as well as Italian.

Train travel in Italy is top-notch. It is cheap, the trains run frequently, they are clean and quiet.

All in all, the trip to Italy was very hard on the feet some days, but relaxing on others. I think we enjoyed escaping from the crowds the most and taking in the people and scenes of Italy.

And yes, I did throw more coins in the Trevi Fountain on this trip. As the legend says, I will return to Italy.