(9/10 – 9/28/2024)
Rei and I wanted to hike Alta Via 1 (AV1), which would take about 11 days to complete. Because we also wanted to hike in the other Dolomite regions and do some sightseeing in big cities, we have decided to only hike the northern portion of AV1, which also has better facilities than the southern portion. Many mountain huts in the southern section had only dorms.
This was also a family vacation. Our daughter, Sister, enjoyed hiking. However, she couldn’t do a thru-hike, so Sister would join us in Cortina d’Ampezzo after our AV1 hike to do some day hikes. Our younger son, Cutie, who liked big cities and shopping, would join us in Milan. The older son, Brother, declined.
Day 1: Arriving in Venice
We flew TAP that had a stopover in Lisbon. The connection was rather confusing. Fortunately, there was enough time, and we were able to have a quick meal and custard tarts at the airport before continuing to Venice.
We have been to Venice twice previously, so we didn’t plan to spend more time there. We would only stay overnight in Mestre. There’s an Airport Express Bus ATVO going from the Venice International Airport to the Mestre train and bus stations, which was very convenient. We recorded the transportation information and sent it to Sister, since she also needed to travel from Venice to Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Day 2: To Cortina d’Ampezzo
We stayed in a hotel close to the Mestre train and bus stations, so it was only a very short walk to get there to catch the 11:00am Cortina Express bus. The bus ride to Cortina was very scenic.
It was drizzling when we arrived in Cortina in the early afternoon. Hotel Alaska Cortina was only a short walk away from the bus stop. There were some construction works going on in Cortina, because it’s a venue for the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics. Our hotel room was spacious with a living quarter, a sleeping quarter and 2 bathrooms, even though the decoration was a bit dated.
Even though there was light rain, we still went out to explore the town a bit. We stopped by the visitor center to ask for information about the bus we would take tomorrow morning. Afterwards we stopped by a coffee shop to have coffee and dessert.
The restaurant we wanted to dine tonight only had space after 9pm, so we decided just to have some pizzas. We had to pack tonight for the 4-day AV1 trekking.
Day 3: To Lago di Braies, then Rifugio Sennes
We didn’t want to arrive late to miss the bus, so we checked out of Hotel Alaska Cortina shortly after 7am, stored the extra luggage in the hotel, and walked to the bus station. Since Rei and I already scouted the location yesterday, we had no problem finding the bus station this morning. When we arrived around 7:30am, we were the only people there. Other hikers started to arrive shortly. We were able to board the Bus 445 early and got two very good seats. Many tourists and hikers boarded the same bus, and everyone managed to find a seat.
The bus ride was quite scenic. People were all busy taking photos on the way. Mr. Bus Driver was kind enough to make a quick stop at a place where Tre Cime was visible, so we were able to take some amazing photos.
Almost everyone on that bus was connecting on Bus 442 to arrive at Lake Braises. Upon arriving around 9:30am, we decided to go for breakfast first. There was a nearby cafe, where we had coffee, croissants with jam and an apple strudel. Lake Braises was marvelous! A lot of tourists were taking or posing for photos. Fortunately, the lake setting allowed us to take wonderful shots without including other tourists inside the photos. We spent quite some time there taking many pictures and didn’t start walking until 10:30am.
The first part of the hike was along the lake. After a short detour, we arrived at the AV1 trailhead around 11am. Most people were just spending their time at Lake Braises. Only a handful of hikers continued the AV1.
There was a lot of snow on the trail. We heard that there was a big storm the previous week. It caught most people by surprise since we were just in mid-September. Some hikers we met on the road warned us that the pass might be closed. It was a difficult climb due to the snow, especially since we didn’t carry crampons. Some sections were treacherous and extremely slippery. We managed with our hiking poles and still had a few slipping and falling. Our previous experience of hiking on the snowy trails in the Eastern Sierra and Alaska certainly helped! Some hikers decided to give up and to return to the lake.
When we finally reached the pass, it was not only full of snow but also very windy. We could see Rifugio Biella from the pass, but it still took us about half an hour to reach it due to snow and ice on the trail. When we eventually arrived, it was already almost 3pm! Rei and I had tea and coffee and shared a ham and cheese sandwich before continuing.
The hike started with a section of “military” road, but we had to turn to Trail 6 after 20 minutes or so. Trail 6 was full of snow, and we didn’t see many foot prints, so it was worrisome. Moreover, it was very windy. I felt like almost being blown away. Luckily, my heavy backpack added substantial weight. We finally arrived at Rifugio Sennes around 5:30pm. This entire day we were hiking like one mile per hour!
We managed to take a quick shower before going to the dining hall for dinner. There weren’t a lot of people there. My mushroom pasta was very delicious. Rei had dumplings after he saw fellow diners ordering them. The dumplings were very tasty too.
Day 4: To Rifugio Fanes
Breakfast started at 7:30am. Many hikers were already in the dining hall. We had coffee, bread, cheese, cold cut meat and canned fruit. The breakfast was good by hut standard.
Today’s weather was gloomy. There was some fresh snow on the road, so we were all understandably concerned. Everyone was checking the weather on the phone. Nobody rushed to start the hike. We were all waiting for someone else to open the trail. We finally checked out around 8:45am. The trail started with a broad “military” road with a gentle slope. However, there was plenty of snow and ice on the trail, so we progressed cautiously. The view was excellent; we also spent extra time stopping to take photos. This entire place was just like a winter wonderland!
Soon we turned into Trail 7A. It’s a narrow mountain trail covered with deep snow. I slipped once even though we progressed very slowly. The narrow trail turned into a broad road, and we were able to see Rifugio Pederu. Even though the road was mainly free of snow now, the gravel surface was still very slippery, and I fell a couple more times! We met many day hikers on the way.
We finally arrived at Rifugio Pederu before 11am. Since the rifugio was right in the middle of today’s hike, many hikers stopped there for a break. Rei and I had coffee and tea and shared cheesecake before continuing the hike.
The previous section was mainly downhill, but the trail to Fanes involved a lot of climbing. We walked slowly on the zigzag trail. Then we decided to switch to the alternative military/bike road because it was broader and gentler; moreover, this alternative trail would pass a lake.
We had a snack break at the lake, then continued the Mountain Trail 7. We had to take a break from time to time while ascending, but the hike itself wasn’t too difficult. Though there was plenty of snow on both sides of the trail, the trail itself was almost snow-free.
Very soon we could see Utia Pices Fanes, a small farmhouse-like building by a free-flowing river. Then we reached a fork with the left trail leading to Rifugio Fanes. It was only a short hike before we reached the rifugio around 1:35pm. After check-in, we went to the restaurant to have a soup lunch. Due to the poor weather and icy trail condition, there wasn’t much for us to do besides resting in the rifugio.
Day 5: To Rifugio Lagazuoi
We finally had some sunlight today, but the trail condition remained the same. The cool mountain air in the morning was invigorating.
For today’s hike, we had to decide between taking Trail 20B and climbing the dangerous Forcela di Lech or taking an alternative lower but longer Trail 11. A female hiker told us that the lady in Rifugio Fanes suggested the alternative trail. Moreover, we would be able to take a gondola ride to reach Rifugio Lagazuoi instead of climbing up. Rei’s eyes glinted with excitement when he heard “gondola”! So, we decided to take Alternative Trail 11.
Trail 11 was very scenic. We passed through Col de Locia, which provided a great viewpoint. After the Col, the trail was mainly downhill until we reached Cap. Alpina, where there’s a small cafe. When we had coffee in the cafe, another hiker informed us that we would have 2 options from here. We could either take a bus ride and then take the gondola ride to reach Rifugio Lagazuoi, or we could climb Trail 20 to reach the rifugio. Rei liked the “bus+gondola” option, but I preferred hiking. Both turned out to be bad options (more later).
Because I insisted on hiking, Rei decided to accompany me. We continued the Trail 20 to reach Rifugio Scotoni. The ascending was modestly difficult. We saw some alpacas when we reached the rifugio.
The trail became very challenging past the rifugio. We met some hikers walking down, and they warned us that the climbing would be slippery and dangerous without crampons. I seriously considered going back to take the bus, but this time Rei decided that we should trudge forward.
Now we really progressed extremely slowly, and were very careful not to slip and fall, which could be fatal! We met some more hikers walking down Trail 20, including a family with children! The view was amazing despite the icy trail. I saw some frozen waterfalls on the way.
We finally reached the joining place of Trail 20B from Forceladi Lech and met several hikers coming from that direction. A hiker informed us that there was a spot a short distance away where we could see a great lake, so we went there to take a few photos before continuing Trail 20. Now we were at around 7,000 ft and it was very windy. We continued trudging on the windy ridge trail toward Rifugio Lagazuoi. There were only a few other hikers on the same route. The scenery was amazingly beautiful.
We continued walking on the trail, with some parts of the road obscured by the snow. Though desolate, this region was full of history. There were many WW1 defense ruins on the way.
Even though Refugio Lagazuoi was visible high above, it still took us several hours to reach it. It’s not easy walking on the snowy and icy trail with an unclear direction. The last part of the hike was even more challenging. It involved climbing on a very slippery trail to the rifugio. We didn’t arrive until after 5pm, and we only had time to take a quick shower before dinner. At the refugio, we learned that they had stopped the gondola rides due to the strong high wind. The only way to reach Refugio Lagazuoi was by hiking up!
Rifugio Lagazuoi, situated at 2,752m, was the highest point of AV1. It provided superb panoramic views of the surroundings, especially at sunset. Most people in the dining room stopped eating dinner at some points to take photos either from inside or going out to the patio.
The dinner was delicious, and we had tiramisu for dessert tonight. There was nothing else to do after dinner besides going to bed.
Day 6: Returning to Cortina d’Ampezzo
We went outside early around 6:30am to take pictures from the outside patio. There were already many people there also taking photos. We finally had sunny weather today, but it was still freezing.
A very buttery aroma wafted from the kitchen. Surely, we had freshly baked croissants, pains au chocolat and cakes for breakfast. I tried everything! They also provided freshly cooked scrambled eggs and bacon. We all had a very fulfilling breakfast.
We were leaving AV1 today. After hiking on the very snowy and icy trails the last few days, I was certainly glad about this decision. We checked out around 8am, and intended to hike down the Galleria Lagazuoi, a WW1 tunnel, down the mountain. The tunnel entrance was supposed to be very close to the cable car station. However, we couldn’t locate it. Rei said the tunnel entrance was a long walk away from our current location based on Google Map. Two hikers walking in front of us were also trying to find the tunnel entrance, so we decided to follow them, which turned out not to be a good idea, because we all completely missed the entrance! At some point, we found an entrance into a tunnel, but there were no signs at all. Because we didn’t want to risk getting lost in an unknown tunnel, we decided to continue walking downhill.
The trail was turning farther away from the cable car station. We realized that we must have missed the tunnel entrance, and the information on Google Map probably pointed to the other end of the tunnel. Rei insisted that Google was always right, and it was my fault that I didn’t tell him which end of the tunnel we were looking for! We ended up hiking for two and half hours on dangerous and difficult trails full of ice and snow, and we both slipped and fell a few times.
When we were near the bottom of the mountain, we could see that the cable cars were running. We made a crazy decision to ride the cable car up (paid 17 euro each) to try to locate the tunnel again. There were many other tourists and hikers on the same cable car: some planned to hike through the tunnel like us, while others just wanted to see the gorgeous view from high above.
This time we found many people at the cable car station above. After asking directions from a worker in the cable car station and receiving helps from other hikers, we finally found the correct route to the tunnel upper entrance. This involved a very dangerous route hugging the cliffside with many sections of via ferrata. It was truly scary because this narrow trail was again full of snow and ice.
It was already noon when we finally entered the tunnel. We were well prepared with a headlight, since there was no light inside the tunnel. The hiking down in the tunnel was not difficult because there were iron cables all the way. We just needed to make sure not to bump our heads. The tunnel wasn’t very long. There were only several hundred steps or so. We finally reached a ledge and got lost a bit. After some search, we managed to find the trail down. It was an open trail along the cliffside before entering another shorter tunnel.
We met another couple from Chicago walking in the other direction. We traded trail information and wished each other good luck before continuing. After another hour of hiking on a downhill trail covered with snow and ice, we were back to the cable car station down the mountain.
It was already 2pm, and there was no direct transportation back to Cortina. Travel using public transportation would involve taking 3 buses and it would take 4 hours! Therefore, we decided to walk down Trail 424 instead. Rei kept complaining that Cortina was 15 km away!
Trail 424 eventually crossed a highway, where there was a car coming by with 2 ladies inside. Rei asked the ladies whether they were going to Cortina (yes, they were) and whether they could give us a ride (yes, they could). We were very grateful and overjoyed to get a ride (so that I didn’t need to hear Rei complaining for hours). The ladies were from Prague, taking a vacation in Italy hiking via ferrata! When we finally reached Cortina, they dropped us off near a church. We both thanked the kind ladies again and again before walking back to our hotel.
We reached Cortina Centro to find Sister doing sightseeing there. We went together to have a quick lunch at Janbo. The grilled chicken was very delicious. After lunch, we all decided to return to the hotel to wash up and rest.
Cortina Alaska Hotel had dated but very spacious rooms. Our room had a separate living area that can be closed off. Sister’s bed was set up there. The room had two separate bathrooms, so Sister could have her own bathroom. It was very convenient.
Rei already made a dinner reservation at Il Vizietto Di Cortina (the restaurant we couldn’t get a reservation several nights ago). Sister ordered Taglietelle Nonna, I ordered seafood pasta, and Rei had mixed grilled seafood. We also shared tiramisu and semifraddo for dessert. It was a great but expensive dinner.
Day 7: Seceda Hike
We got up early and had breakfast at Bar Cafe Embassy. I have arranged a private transfer with Taxi Cortina Sci to take us from Cortina to Ortisei. The private transfer was quite costly (270 euro in total). However, if we wanted to use public transportation, we would have to make several transfers, and it would take the entire day. Moreover, it wouldn’t have been practical with all our luggage.
The route through the mountains was very scenic. We could see Rifugio Lagazuoi perched very high on top of a mountain from the car windows. When we told the driver that we were there two nights ago, he was very impressed. I took many photos on the way. The mountain road was narrow with many hairpin curves. Rei was glad that we booked a private ride, because he wouldn’t feel comfortable driving on this road.
It was only around 11:10am when we reached the Seceda Cable Car Station in Ortisei. There was a not-very-official looking luggage storage place. The guy in charge there looked at the 3 bags and one backpack we wanted to store and charged us 20 euro in total. We had a short coffee break and then took the cable car up the mountain (45 euro each). The first part of the journey was by a small cable way, and the second part was by a large gondola car. Sister pointed out a deer grazing on the slope on our way up.
I had never heard of Seceda before planning this trip. However, this seemed to be a very popular place. The place was very crowded. The view from the top was beyond gorgeous! Even though most of the trails were covered by snow, it didn’t prevent people from hiking around the area.
We did a loop hike to the “dragon ridge” area and took numerous photos. There was a restaurant by the cable car station, where we had a quick pizza lunch after the hike. The restaurant was overcrowded, and the waiting staff weren’t very attentive, but the food itself was fine.
We returned to Ortisei around 3pm to walk to the apartment rental for the next two nights. Though the apartment wasn’t very far from the cable car station, it wasn’t easy to drag our luggage on the gravel road to reach there.
Enrich Apartment was a house. The owner himself lived downstairs. Our lodging upstairs included 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, 2 dining areas, and multiple living areas across two levels. There was a washing machine in the bathroom, which was very convenient, though we had to hang our clothes to dry after washing.
While I was doing laundry, Rei and Sister went out to do grocery shopping. They bought pasta, gnocchi, pasta sauce, salad and dessert from a supermarket, and we had a homecooked dinner tonight.
Day 8: Alpe di Siusi Hike
Rei went to a nearby bakery to buy croissants, and we made our own coffee in the apartment. We had a relaxed morning and started out late because we only planned to hike in the Alpe di Siusi today. Today was a beautiful sunny day. We took the Seuc Cable Car up after 9am. There was an interesting sign inside the cable car telling dog owners that their dogs were not allowed on the seats.
Alpe di Siusi was the largest alpine meadow in Europe. Unlike the Seceda trails we hiked yesterday, the trails in the meadow were all clear of snow, so we had an easy hike. Since the trails in Alpe di Siusi were pretty flat and offered easy walks, we saw many senior hikers on the route. Even though the hike was easy, we still walked very slowly because there were too many photo opportunities! We actually got to see some wildflowers today, which were amazing. There were also cows and horses grazing. Due to the slow pace, we didn’t reach Compatsch until around noon.
After a short lunch break, we decided to hike Trail of the Witches. It was recommended that we hike counterclockwise. The first section of the trail involved a lot of climbing, then the trail leveled off. There were many other hikers on this trail, and many of them were seniors.
There was a giant witch’s broomstick at the Puflatsch Gondola Station. People all stopped to ride the broomstick for photos. Rei and I both sat on the broomstick to pose for pictures.
Engelrast (“Angel’s Rest”) was marked by a high rod with an angel perched on top. The place was considered dangerous because the Angel rod became a lightning rod during the storms! The view from Engelrast was amazing.
There were many other viewpoints on this trail, which provided gorgeous mountain views around and beautiful valley views below. The walk was undemanding though it wasn’t a short stroll. We had a snack break at Arnika Hut before continuing walking back to Compatsch, where we took the cable car down to Siusi, and then took Bus 720 to return to Ortisei.
We all enjoyed the homecooked meal last night, so we stopped by a market to buy more gnocchi, pasta sauce and mushrooms to make our own dinner tonight. (We still had some leftover pasta from last night.) We had more laundry to do and needed to pack our luggage. We’re going to Milan tomorrow.
Cutie arrived in Milan tonight. He’s going to do some sightseeing and shopping in Milan by himself tomorrow while waiting for our arrival.
Day 9: Travel to Milan
Today we would have a long trip from Ortisei to Milan. We had a breakfast in Haiti Café near the bus station, then took the 9am bus to Bolzano first. Many people were waiting for the same bus. A careless guy suddenly pulled his luggage in front of Sister. Sister tripped and hurt one of her knees badly, which seriously affected her mobility.
We had a couple hours in Bolzano before the 12:30pm train rider to Milan. Sister remained at the train station to look after the luggage due to difficulty walking. Rei and I explored Bolzano a bit and took some photos. The town center was small. The most beautiful building there was the Duomo di Bolzano, which had a beautiful roof with polychrome tiles. We brought back some very good pizza and pretzels to share with Sister.
The train to Milan required a transfer in Verona. This was a regional train, and it became very crowded with many young commuting students. The train ran late, and we ended up missing our connecting train to Milan! Therefore, we took a slower train and arrived in Milan about one hour later than our original schedule. Our apartment Residence de la Gare was very close to Milan Central Station.
Cutie had already arrived in Milan last night and stayed in a different hotel nearby. He informed us that he has already done some (expensive) shopping and made a lunch reservation for tomorrow. We went together to Mamma Rosa for an expensive dinner with wine. Rei was very satisfied with the dinner.
Day 10: Milan
I had a reservation for 3 people to view The Last Supper this morning. The reservation was made before Cutie decided to join us for this trip, and it was not possible to secure another reservation for Cutie. This was fine by him, and he decided to be alone this morning and only to join us for lunch later.
Rei, Sister and I left our lodging around 8am, and took the metro to Sforza Castle. On the way, we stopped by a small café to have breakfast. Coffee and croissants were cheaper in Milan compared to the same food in Cortina and Ortisei.
The Sforza museums and panoramic walk wouldn’t open until 10am, so we only toured the castle grounds and took pictures. There was a fountain in front of the castle with a great view. Since it was still very early, there weren’t too many tourists. Since our reservation to see the Last Supper was at 11:30am, we didn’t have enough time to visit the museums.
The Last Supper Mural was in S. Maria delle Grazie, which was about 15-minute walk away from Sforza. We arrived too early, so we went to another nearby coffee shop to have coffee and dessert. We also walked to the Basilica di Sant’ Ambrogio; however, there was a celebration event going on, and we couldn’t enter and could only tour the courtyard.
The 11:30am reservation was for a guided tour, which was excellent. The guide provided us with a lot of information. However, the visit was too short, and we felt very rushed.
After that, Cutie joined us to visit the Sforza museums. The Museum of Rondanini Pietà displayed one of the Pietà statues by Michelangelo. The statue was unfinished; it was rough but still impressive. There were also other museums with statues, weapons, tapestries, and glass arts.
Cutie made a 1:30pm lunch reservation for 4 at Gloria Osteria, and that’s where we had lunch. The food was delicious and the service very efficient. After lunch, we walked to Duomo (The Metro was on strike!) just in time for our 2:30pm reservations.
This was Milan fashion week. There were lots of activities, and the place was packed! Fortunately, we had reservations and didn’t need to wait in a long line. The Duomo rooftop was exquisite. However, there were scaffolds in many places due to a restoration effort (in preparation for the 2026 Olympics?). This unfortunately affected the great view.
It was very warm on the rooftop. Afterwards, we walked down to the Duomo interior church area. This was a very big church (the 4th largest) with many-colored stained-glass windows. Our tickets also included visits to the Archaeology area and the Duomo church museum. Cutie was still jet-lagged, so he gave up and returned to his hotel room to rest.
The three of us continued to the Canal District (Naviglio Grande). The area was more like the San Antonio Riverwalk than the Venice Grand Canal. Originally, we planned to have dinner there, but Sister was tired. So, we just had gelato at Amorino and then returned to our apartment. Instead of going out to dinner, we simply bought pasta and pizza to go.
Day 11: To Rapallo and Portofino
This morning, we took an early train ride to Rapallo. We arrived before noon and were able to leave our luggage at Hotel Cavour before taking a ferry ride to Portofino. Rei has seen Portofino on a TV show (he watched a lot of TV!) and wanted to visit the place.
The ferry ride was very interesting with splendid views. The bay has become a playground for the super-riches as we saw several private superyachts there. Portofino used to be a small tranquil seaside town many years ago, but it’s now a popular destination overrun by tourists. The place was overcrowded! The weather was very warm today. So, after lunch and ice cream, Sister and Cutie decided that they would take the ferry back to Rapallo to return to the hotel.
Rei and I enjoyed walking, so we decided to walk from Portofino back to Rapallo instead. There weren’t a lot of hikers on the trail, and it’s definitely more peaceful than the overcrowded Portofino. The view from the trail was stunning! The trail passed through a few beaches and some harbors. We could even spot fish in the water! When we reached Santa Margherita Ligure, we had a gelato break (better than the gelato we had in Portofino). Then we continued walking before finally reaching Rapallo.
Tonight, we had a pizza and seafood dinner at a nearby restaurant.
Day 12: Cinque Terre
The plan for today was for us to visit the famous Cinque Terre. After breakfast at the hotel, we took the 8:29am train to Levanto, bought our Cinque Terre train passes, and rode the train all the way to Rio Maggiore.
Via dell’Amore (Lovers’ Lane) just reopened about 2 months ago. It required an extra 10 euro per person and a booked time slot to walk. The lady at the TI office suggested that we should spend some time sightseeing in Rio Maggiore first, so she booked the 11:30am time slot for us.
We walked south through a tunnel to reach a spot near the Harbor. The view was magnificent! However, it was overcrowded! There were so many tourists everywhere even though it’s already late September. I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like in the summer high seasons.
Via dell’Amore wasn’t as crowded due to the assigned time slots. It was an easy walk on a flat, paved road with a gorgeous ocean view on the left side of the path. It only took us less than 30 minutes to reach Manarola.
When we were there, the three of them decided that it’s time for lunch, so we dined at Café il Porticciolo, a restaurant recommended by Rick Steves. We had seafood, pesto pasta and focaccia. Rei and Cutie especially liked the mussels. It was again super crowded in Manarola. There were long lines everywhere.
Cutie wanted to get into the ocean. Since we couldn’t find a good beach for him, we decided to take the train to go to the next town, Vernazza. Cutie found the small beach at Vernazza underwhelming, so we took the next train to Monterosso. At Monterosso, we finally found a nice beach and rented an umbrella and a beach chair for Cutie to use. Even though Sister did not want to get into the water, she decided to stay in the area with Cutie.
Rei and I decided to hike from Monterosso to Vernazza. This was not an easy hike. It involved a very steep climb at the beginning, then the trail leveled off before a very steep descent to Vernazza. The first session of the trail wasn’t too scenic, but from the point we could see Vernazza, the view was spectacular! It took us about 2 hours to hike this trail, including taking many photos. This was a popular trail with many hikers.
We then returned to Monterosso to pick up Cutie and took another train ride back to Rapallo. Sister already returned to the hotel by herself.
Overall, we weren’t too impressed with Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre used to be a tranquil place until over tourism completely ruined it.
Day 13: To Lucca, then Florence
We again took the 8:29am train south and then transferred to another train to Lucca. We were staying in Florence tonight, but I wanted to visit Lucca on the way. We arrived in Lucca around 10:30am, deposited our luggage at the TI office, then started sightseeing.
Originally, we planned to walk the entire city wall (2.5 miles), but Cutie didn’t agree.
“Mommy, your vacations involved too much walking!”
Moreover, when he saw many people biking on the ramparts, he said that we should have rented a bike for him. So, after walking about less than half of the city wall, we walked down to Piazza dell’Anfiteatro. A light rain started; therefore, we decided to take a lunch break.
It was still drizzling after lunch, so we did a quick Lucca tour of San Frediano, San Giovanni, and the San Martino Cathedral before returning to the train station. We had a gelato break before taking the 3:29pm train to Florence.
We were staying in an apartment, La Firenze Sogna. Our apartment had 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, living room, kitchen, and a washing machine with dryer. The place was super clean. The hostess Francesca was very nice. She prepared a lot of snacks, bakery items, fruits, and treats for us. The refrigerator was stocked with milk, eggs, ham, yogurt and cheese. There was also a bottle of Chianti wine! Rei was very impressed (the wine certainly helped).
It was still raining. Sister and Cutie decided not to go out for dinner, so we bought two pizzas instead.
Day 14: Florence
Francesca provided a lot of food in the apartment, so we had a great breakfast with toast, eggs, ham, pastries and fruit.
Florence, considered by many as the art capital of the world, had many museums with art works done by renowned Renaissance artists (“All the Ninja Turtles,” someone joked). I made a reservation for four people at the Uffizi Gallery at 10am, so we departed around 9am, and strolled along the Arno River to reach the museum. Even though the gallery had crowd control with timed entries, the place was still swamped with visitors, especially since there were many large groups.
There were always too many people in front of a famous painting or sculpture (such as “Primavera” and “Birth of Venus” by Botticelli), often with more than one guide trying to explain to their groups. There was an extremely long time to take photos of Venus de’ Medici, so we decided to wait in a shorter line for the side view only. It still took quite a while, because everyone decided that since they waited so long, they might as well take multiple photos.
Finally, we existed to Piazza della Signoria. Cutie was impatient to go to a famed sandwich shop, All’Antico Vinaio, so he went ahead to wait in line while the rest of us took pictures. (You could guess where he got the gourmet gene from.) When we arrived at the sandwich shop, there was a very long line of people waiting (which qualified as an excellent eatery by Rei’s standard). It took us about 30 minutes to get our order. When we were about to leave, we saw the line getting even longer – those people probably needed to wait an hour for their sandwiches.
Afterwards, we were trying to get gelato from Perchè no, but the place was closed today. So, we went to Edoardo near the Duomo instead.
Cutie wanted to go shopping, so Rei went with him. Sister and I went to visit Santa Croce, where many famous Italians (such as Michelangelo and Machiavelli) were buried. The church had a beautiful facade and a Dante statue in front of it.
We regrouped at 2:30pm for the Duomo Dome climbing reservations at 3pm. The famous dome was designed by Brunelleschi, an engineering genius, in the 1400’s. The dome consisted of two layers: an internal layer and an external one. The climbing would pass between the two layers. We would need to climb more than 400 steps to reach the top. Fortunately, the ascending was broken into several sections, which allowed us to take short breaks in between. The view of Florence from the top of the Duomo was truly amazing! Climbing down wasn’t as difficult though one could get dizzy walking down the spiral staircases.
Entrance to the Duomo was free; therefore, the line was extremely long again. We decided to skip that (we already had a glimpse of the interior before the climb) and went to the Baptistery instead. The Gates of Paradise was intricate though the area always had a big crowd. The inside of the Baptistery wasn’t too impressive, especially with renovation going on and some parts were closed.
After that, we walked back to our apartment to rest and to do more laundry before our 7:30pm dinner reservation. The Florentine steak dinner at Trattoria Enzo & Piero Florence was superb; everybody was very satisfied. Rei also ordered wine.
Day 15: More Florence
The original plan for today was a day trip to Siena. However, we were all very exhausted by now, so we simply decided to stay in Florence. Staying in the same place for a few days did provide us with more flexibility.
We used the Duomo complex tickets to visit the places we missed yesterday like the Duomo Museum and the Campanile. The Duomo Museum had many treasures, including the real “Gates of Paradise” door (the one outside was a replica) and another Pietà by Michelangelo. The Campanile climb wasn’t as high as the Duomo, but the view from the top was nevertheless splendid too.
Cutie took us to another sandwich shop to get lunch. This one was, however, not as good as the one we went yesterday. After lunch, we stopped by Perchè no to get gelato. Their gelato was indeed excellent! We had a good timing, because after we got our gelato, there was a long line forming after us.
Our Uffizi combined tickets also included entrance to the Pitti Palace and Boboli Garden, so we decided to take full advantage of that and to visit the two places in the afternoon. We visited the Royal Apartments in the Pitti Palace, saw many impressive paintings in its art gallery, and checked out the Museum of Costume. We also strolled in the Boboli Garden. By this time, everyone was exhausted and ready to go home.
We liked the Italian jelly candies that Francesca provided in the apartment, so we scouted the stores to purchase many bags for friends and relatives. The candies weren’t expensive, and they were very tasty. Everyone who received a bag of candy from us loved it.
Day 16: Last Day in Florence
We checked out of the apartment around 9:40am, thanked Francesca for her great hospitality, then walked to the train station to deposit our luggage. This was our last day in Florence. This morning, we had a reservation for Galleria Accademia at 11:15am.
On the way to the Accademia, we passed the central market, and Cutie was hungry again. After checking around, he got a roast beef sandwich from a famous stall. Accademia was only a few blocks away from the market. There were a lot of people waiting in line just like other famous Italian attractions.
Academia was famous for several sculptures including Rape of the Sabine Women, Prisoners, and the famed David by Michelangelo. There were many other paintings and sculptures, but people all clustered around David to take photos. The David sculpture was truly amazing. The fear in the eyes was palpable. You should make the effort to see the real thing; the replica in Piazza della Signoria just wouldn’t cut it!
There was also a Musical Instruments Museum in the building displaying interesting musical instruments from old times. Accademia was relatively small, so we were done in less than 1.5 hours.
Rei managed to get a lunch reservation at Za Za at 1pm. Rei’s spaghetti looked very impressive, but he said it was too salty for his taste. My pesto pasta was good. The three of them wanted to do more shopping after lunch, while I decided to go to the Medici Chapels by myself.
The Medici Chapels weren’t as famous as other Florence attractions, and therefore, there were only a few visitors there. This was a burial site for the rich Medici family. The grandeur of the hall was awe-inspiring. The place also had many sculptures by Michelangelo (“Night and Day” and “Dusk and Dawn“).
We regrouped at 3pm to go back to Firenze SMN station to retrieve our luggage and then took T2 to the airport for our return flight home. This ended our Northern Italy vacation.
Afterthoughts
Trips to Italy required careful planning. Many popular attractions required advanced reservations that needed to be made months ago. All our AV1 lodgings were booked almost a year ago. Even with the reservation systems, those attractions were still overcrowded. On the other hand, secondary attractions didn’t get as many tourists and would allow spontaneous visits.
Places like Portofino and Cinque Terre suffered over tourism. Tourists also swamped cities like Milan and Florence. (We were not sure whether the Milan crowd was also caused by the fashion week.)
On the other hand, the mountain areas were really charming, even though places like Cortina d’Ampezzo still attracted many tourists. Rei loved the Dolomites very much (even with all the snow and ice on the trails) and has already suggested having more hiking trips there.
We also loved Italian food! Pastries, pastas, pizzas, sandwiches, seafood, steak, coffee and gelato were all super delicious.
Amy 'n Rei 