We are in Italy! Our itinerary and what we plan to do for the next six weeks

Well, it was sad, but true, the time had come to leave Greece. But, we were super excited because we were off to spend six weeks in Italy! It was going to be the first time in the country for both us (well, kind of, explained below), and more importantly, we were excited for our first dose of slow travel during this crazy around-the-world adventure. And, I love the below picture of Damian on one of the buses to go from the gate to the plane during our journey from Greece to Italy!

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When we were planning our trip we knew that after a whirlwind six weeks in Brazil, and then a week in Greece, by this point of the trip we would be itching to have a place with some downtime. A place where we could just live life and not feel the pressure to see and do a million things every day.

And, since we were following summer and leaving from Greece as our previous destination, we thought, why not Italy? In all the movies and TV shows you see the dreams of living in an Italian countryside villa and we thought, well, what better place to experience slow life than the land of beautiful views and delicious eats?

Damian had never been to Italy before and I had one sad, very limited visit to Italy. In 2012 I spent a month “backpacking” around Europe by myself (I use that term loosely because I was still staying in hotels using my hotel points from consulting). I was in Berlin and had Munich and Rome left on my list. However, in Berlin I was feeling unwell so decided to cancel Munich and go to Capri instead. Which ended up being an extra blessing in disguise when I got super sick the next day (which I later found out was C. Diff.).

I was so sick to my stomach that I wasn’t able to keep any food down, but luckily the medical system in Germany is very good so a doctor was able to come to my hotel and give me some shots and prescriptions to help the worst of the symptoms. In retrospect I probably should have just gone home at this point, but my stubborn side still wanted to keep traveling. So I headed to Capri, and after a few days there I was just done and still left to go home early (skipping Rome). Probably was the right call since it took about nine months for my stomach issues to be fully diagnosed and treated.

BUT, the fun part of this story is that I also kept a tiny blog back then to keep my friends and family apprised of my travels. Below is the header from that (a skydiving picture) and an excerpt from my time in Capri. If you want to read more about it the posts are here, here, and here. How cute was that little blog back then?

The plan for Italy

So, even though the below list looks like it’s a lot of places it still will be quite slow travel (yes, I am partially telling myself that to stay calm). Here’s where we’ll be:

What’s on the list

Obviously even though all the places in Italy have so many good things to offer (i.e., amazing, fresh pasta everywhere), below are some of the highlights we are most excited about for each of our stops

• Three major cities (teal circles): ~3 days each
  • Florence: Architecture and aperitivo
  • Rome: Historical sites
  • Bologna: Food and college town-ness
• Three countryside villas (teal triangles): ~11 days each
  • Montecarlo region: Relaxation and home-cooked food
  • Chianti region: Wine and rolling hills
  • Reggio Emilia region: Parmesan and Balsamic and food
• One random stop (teal square): 2 days
  • Tons of natural thermal baths (free!)

What’s not on the list

Again, to keep it manageable and stick to our goal of slow travel we had to be diligent in narrowing down the list. So, even with six weeks, we cut out the North (Milan and Venice), the South (Naples and the small islands of Capri, etc. down there) and the Islands (Sicily and Sardinia). Even though driving times in Europe are way shorter than they are in Brazil, we still wanted to minimize travel and really enjoy and explore, especially in the villas!

Up first!

The order above is not the order we are going in (for some reason I feel weird putting that on the internet, even though like thirty people read this). But, I will tell you we are currently in the Montecarlo region of Italy at an amazing agriturismo (villa/apartment that is on a working farm). I can’t wait to share more with you about it, but until then, here is the view of the countryside from our property. So much Italian farming and goodness!

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Read more about our time in Italy using the links below:

• Italy Country Recap – What we loved (and didn’t love) in our six weeks there
• Italy – The plan for our six weeks here (you are here!)
• Italy – Visiting Pisa – the Leaning Tower and the Luminara festival
• Italy – Our day in Lucca
• Italy – Life on an agriturismo in Italy Part 1: Montecarlo (Tuscany)
• Italy – Four days in Bologna
• Italy – Life on an agriturismo in Italy Part 2: a vineyard in the Chianti region (Tuscany)
• Italy – Wineries and wine tasting in Chianti
• Italy – One day in Siena!
• Italy – Life on an agriturismo in Italy Part 3: Emilia Romagna
• Italy – Parmigiano Reggiano cheese factory and Balsamic Vinegar producer tours
• Italy – Hiking Cinque Terre
• Italy – Our three days in Florence
• Italy – Brunello wine tasting and visiting thermal baths
• Italy – Our three days in Rome