Our trip started early. Alarms set for 6.00am on the 17th November and By 7am we were on our way to Birmingham airport.
The flight was as expected when choosing Ryanair. No frills, but low prices. Ryanair had in fact just changed their baggage policy. All passengers are allowed to bring a small bag (think the size of a medium sized ladies handbag) for free and if you wish to take a larger rucksack or wheely case then priority must be purchased for an additional cost prior to the flight.
As we were only taking hand luggage in order to eliminate the waiting around time for the baggage carousel, we opted for the priority pass.
Security was swift and the usual mundane mandatory waiting around in over priced airport. Then the charge for the gate begun once the flight number was announced “Ryanair flight to Verona”.
The boarding queue was theoretically split into two lines. One for non priority and one for priority. No surprise with the new baggage allowance the priority queue was twice the size of the standard queue. What was rather worrying was the amount of people in the non priority queue that appeared to be transporting rather large cases and rucksacks.
There appeared to be little advantage to paying the extra cash for priority. Both lines were processed at the same time, meaning that actually the non-priority boarded well before half the priority passengers and very little notice was taken by the staff at the large cases that were making their way onto the aircraft.
By the time we made it onto the plane and managed to secure our bag in the overhead compartment a stewardess removed johns bag and informed him that it would have to go under his seat in front of him, eliminating all foot room and pretty much voiding any reason at all for paying the premium price. Rather annoying!!
We were sat several rows apart, meg located more towards the rear of the plane and John a couple of rows ahead. The flight itself was pretty smooth and only marginally late arriving.
The only issue was about ten minutes prior to landing a young child sat adjacent to meg decided he couldn’t contain his breakfast. Aged about 10 years old he promptly brought the morning meal back up all over his dads suitcase and causing a large spattering of vomit across the three seats. As we were already in decent there wasn’t a great deal that could be done besides a few napkins handed out and waiting to land.
With the smell of vomit filling the plane, the pilot brought us down safely. Everyone disembarked the aircraft and was filed onto a small bus to transfer us approximately 20 meters to the terminal.
The usual chaos ensued. Everybody desperately trying to gain extra places in the queue so they can all go and wait at the baggage collection first?? The system at Verona border control was lacklustre to put it politely. Over an hour to get one plane load of people through seemed a little excessive.
The airport was equipped with the new automatic passport gates. The ones where you scan your passport yourself, step through the gates, have a scan and then on your way. Unfortunately due to the poor signposting passengers without the microchip capability were accessing the self check out and causing further delays as they couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working.
Once the passengers had finally been filtered out, John went through the gates with no issues. Quick scan of the passport and through. Unfortunately meg managed to get through the first set of automatic gates but then the machine refused to recognise her. Leaving meg trapped in between two little doors. Unable to go forwards or backwards. We had to wait for one of the border control officers to finish with the other passengers before pressing a button to let meg escape her little prison.
Finally through all the security checks. We headed for he buses. Again not great with the sign postage. We figured where we had to be and began queuing. It was only when we spotted someone with a ticket we asked if we required a ticket before boarding, to which the answer was yes.
Back into the terminal we went. Looking around we managed to locate the bus ticket machine. If we thought the security checks were slow, We think this ticket machine was running on a hamster in a wheel. Not to mention it only give a maximum of 1 euro change, resulting in is having to process the tickets individually rather than together.
Tickets in hand we headed back to join the queue for the bus. Running approximately every twenty minutes, it was the shortest we had to wait all day. We witnessed several people getting rejected from the bus due to a lack of a ticket, so we were pleased we had figured this out before this happened to us.
The tickets were rather overpriced and the trip itself takes about 15 minutes. The airport is only located about 4-5 mile outside of Verona with one drop off which was outside the train station.
The drop of location was ideal for ourselves as we would be using the train later that day to get us to Milan. By starting our day at the train station not only could we get our tickets sorted but also knew where we were heading when it was time to depart.
By now the time was 1:30pm local time (we had lost an hour as Italy is an hour in front of the UK time) but still with plenty of time to explore he city and be back to catch our 2hr train to Milan at 18:00.
One of the main attractions of Verona is the fact it is the setting of a rather famous Shakespeare play. That of Romeo & Juliet. So with a personal invitation from Juliet herself we went off to visit the famous balcony.
The balcony is located down a small alley that has been inscribed by many of loved up couples signatures. Following down the alley opens up into a small courtyard, greeted by a statue of Juliet and the balcony in the far right corner.
Apparently it’s good luck to touch Juliet’s breast!
Unsurprisingly, space was at a premium. We managed to locate ourselves on a couple of steps opposite the balcony and grab a few snaps before joining the queue to touch the bronze statue. Touching the bronze statue of Juliette is said to bring good luck so couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
The rest of the day was spent wondering the ancient streets of Verona, including walking around what we assumed to be an old fortress located on the river. 
Racking up over 11 miles we had a pit stop at a McDonald’s. A common theme throughout Italy is the total lack of public toilets, and if you do happen to find some, expect to be paying between €1-€2 per person. This is a rather annoying cost as the toilets are poorly kept and leaves you wondering what the extra tourist tax the Italian government has imposed is actually covering?
At least this meant the advantage of having a quick bite to eat at McDonald’s was the use of their toilet. Once you had purchased your food there would be an access code at the bottom of the receipt which you then use to enter the bathrooms. Normally even in fast food restaurants the toilets are kept to a fairly high standard. Not here. Locks that don’t work, no toilet seat, no toilet paper and a flasher handle half hanging off with urine pretty much everywhere except in the actual toilet bowl. The less time we spent in there the better!
Refuelled, we headed back to the train station and it wasn’t long before we were on our train and heading towards Milano.
The trains were good. Large seats, comfortable, charging points and little bins at each set of chairs to keep the carriages clean. Unsurprisingly meg fell asleep for two hours and woke up with the announcement we were pulling into Milan.
The central station in Milan was comparable to that of central in New York. The multi stories and layout echoed the same vibes we had experienced a few months back in America. Very lively, lots going on, people rushing about their day to day business.
We disembarked the train and headed for the tram. We actually ended up working about another mile to catch the tram and only realised later we could have caught the metro from central station to the tram stop.
As we arrived on a Saturday evening about 8pm we were expecting it to be a little more lively on the main streets. During our brief walk to the tram we only saw a handful of restaurant open with a handful of patrons eating. But non the less it was still an enjoyable stroll around the city at night.
Hoping on to tram number 11, it stops about 10 meters outside our hotel, Hotel Raffaello.
The short walk was much appreciated after knocking up over 12 miles for the day. We handed our passports in for scanning, signed for the room key and made our way to our room located on the 3rd floor.
The lift was cozy and sort of reminded us of the tower of terror. No more than two people could possibly fit and the lift would bypass the requested floor by about 6 inches and have a sudden drop to compensate. Rather unnerving the first time when it’s so unexpected!
The hotel itself was gorgeous and the staff were very friendly with a good understanding of English. Our room was a large double with a king size bed and a modern en-suite bathroom.
One of megs favourite parts of the hotel was the shower. Very modern and with about 25 functions. It wouldn’t be out of place in Japan. A particular favourite was the steam room option, where the shower boils water and emulates a steam room. There were also options for a “Scottish shower” which turned out to be extremely cold jets of water from the ceiling and a spray booth option which lightly dusted you in a mist of water. The shower also came equipped with a built in radio and light mooding which alternated between five colours.
After a wonderful nights sleep we had breakfast included which surpassed our expectations. A selection of hot & cold foods. Bacon, sausage, toast, fried egg, scrambled egg plus an array of cold foods such as cereals, ham, cheese and even cakes and croissants. The freshly squeezed orange juice and thick hot chocolate were a particularly nice touch as well!!
Well fed, we both went up for seconds, we headed into the heart of Milan and to the Duomo.
The Duomo is a sight to behold. Taking over 600 years to construct the sheer size and the level of detail is impressive. The entrance fee is extremely reasonable being only €3 but the queue was almost lapping the cathedral. 
The impressive Milan Duomo
Located next to the Duomo is a gelato counter. The artistry in the ice cream was worth buying a cone alone. You select three flavours and then watch the masterpiece been put together. John opted for chocolate, hazelnut and caramel while meg went for pistachio, chocolate chip and hazelnut.
After admiring the Duomo we moved a little further out using the metro and went to visit the canals. The canals were originally designed by non other then Leonardo da Vinci and apparently most of the city was connected via a canal system but as time progressed roads were built over them.
It was a popular spot for locals and tourists alike. With the sun shining many, including ourself, enjoyed a picnic with the ample seating dotted around. Finishing up lunch we opted to walk along the canals and find our own way back into the city centre. 
Milano been at the forefront of the fashion world many unique outfits were been advertised in the abundant designer shops. If you can name the brand, it was in Milan and with the price tag to match. Gucci, Prada, Tiffany’s to make a few.
We took part in some window shopping as we walked through the arcade adjacent to the Duomo. I’m not sure how a patchwork tracksuit is fashion let alone worth €1,200, but then again living out of a backpack so what would we know.
Designer shopping centre by The Duomo
After checking out a few more tourist spots we headed back to our hotel. We ended up falling asleep by 7pm and waking up 11 hours later!
Filling up on the equally impressive breakfast as the day before, we checked out and headed back to the main train terminal to catch our afternoon train to Pisa. The scheduled time was just over a four hour journey.
The train wasn’t quite the same standard as the one we rode on earlier in the trip, but still of good quality and comfortable. This time we were sharing a small table with two others. We both got a window seat opposite each other but as the sunsets around 5pm and nothing but darkness can be seen, there wasn’t much of an advantage.
The people sitting next to us rotated round every few stops. It appeared we were one of the only few who were on the train for the long haul. A couple of the more memorable characters was a slightly older lady and gentleman, probably in their 50s who somehow managed to maintain a conversation for almost two hours without a single breath. This wouldn’t have been too much of an issue if their breath didn’t wreak of stale coffee and cigarette, which turns out to be the staple of the Italian diet.
One other lady of note was of an older generation, knocking on he door of 70 if not past. Who despite not breaking the 5ft mark appeared to take up the entire two seats with John pinned to the window. She leant on the centre divide and craned over to read her book in the most unusual position. At least she was comfortable, John certainly was not.
The stops passed by and the terrain slowly became empty. By the final stage it was just us and a couple of others who would be departing. It didn’t help that the train journey was scheduled to be just over 4hrs and ended up been five and a half.
Pisa was a lovely little quaint town. Walkable from one end to the other in no more than half an hour. This also meant our walk from the train station to our Airbnb apartment didn’t take any more than ten minutes.
The host greeted us very pleasantly and guided us to the apartment. All the buildings have an old charm about them. We passed through a hall way and into a courtyard and finally into our apartment. Our host supplied a little breakfast basket and gave us a few local tips on places to eat and visit.
As the time was already closing in on 10pm, we soon turned into bed ready to be up early the following morning to go and visit the famous leaning tower.
Enjoying the breakfast left by our host, we didn’t hang around too long. We packed up our stuff and was on our way. As we were already in the heart of Pisa it was only another 10-12 minutes before we were in the grounds of the tower.
Originally designed to be a bell tower the foundations began to sink which gives the tower its iconic lean. It has since been re-stabilised but maintains its classic pose. We obviously joined in with the standard tower pictures, acting as if we were pushing the tower over. 
Due to how renown the tower has become, the other buildings on site appear to get overlooked but are just as impressive. Thanks to our host we were informed that it is possible to climb the old wall that surrounded the city of Pisa between the two forts on the river. 
If it wasn’t for this local piece of knowledge it would have been impossible to tell or find the fact that you can walk along the wall around the city. We were armed with the information and still spent 30 to 40 minutes trying to locate it. We asked at information that couldn’t give concise directions along with a few other random shop owners who appeared to have no clue, that or they didn’t want to help.
Finally venturing into a remote part of the grounds. The far, far top left hand corner, over some grass which looks like you’re not allowed to tread on, round the corner of a building is a walled tower with a very small door. That was the entrance. No signpost, no signs. But we found it!!
There was a €3 price tag attached to the walk, but was well worth it. Not a single other person was on the wall and we had a unique overview of the tower and other constructions on the grounds.
The wall stretched out in one direction, so we followed it. And followed it. And followed it. Mile after mile ticked by. The wall was far longer than either of us had anticipated. The went through a few strange places, like through a university but seeing the change of scenery made the distance past quickly.
Oddly enough, after about two and a half mile of seeing no one, we came across a young girl sat in a chair. It was obvious she worked for the group that the leaning tower fell under by the attire she was wearing. Her entire job was to tell you to take the next left to continue along the wall.
The wall stretched around the entire perimeter of the ancient city and we walked it all. We were a little upset when the wall ran out and we descended down a modern wooden tower. But we crossed back over the river and headed to go and find some lunch.
As we hadn’t tried any original Italian dishes we were eager to try some spaghetti. We decided on a small restaurant and was invited inside to have a seat.
We browsed the menu and both opted for the tagliatelle and shared a 1 litre bottle of water. The dishes were okay and maybe that is been generous. The portion sizes were laughable as it would struggle to fill a child up and the cheese to accompany the dish was served in 10g packet.
When we wrapped up the meal, which didn’t take long the cost was £25. Turns out we had also been charged for sitting inside, we were surprised not see a charge for the air we were breathing. It was a little steep for two spoons of pasta and a glass of water.
Before long it was time to board our 1:15pm train from Pisa heading to Florence, where we would be spending the next 3 nights. The journey was a short hop, with us pulling into the station at 2pm. Once again we collected all our belongings together and headed towards our accommodation for the evening.
The apartment was a little disappointing. The photos displayed on the web were definitely showing the place in its best light. It was a lot more dated than the pictures would have you believe, a tad on the cold side and not really a warm atmosphere about the place. It was sparsely decorated with only the bare essentials. On the positive side we had the entire place to ourselves and an ideal location. 10 minutes from the centre of Florence and 5 minutes from a local supermarket.
As we had arrived early in the afternoon we capitalised on the extra time and made our way up to the Michelangiolo plaza which gave stunning panoramic views of the city.
As it happens we were situated on one side of Florence with the view point been located on totally the opposite side. This equates to about a 2 mile one way trip with the last 500 meters been a steep uphill incline and stairs. But the effort is most certainly worth it when greeted with the views over the city. Unfortunately, with the overcast weather we didn’t quite get to see a spectacular sunset, but still incredible and the extremely pleased with what we did get to see.
With the weather threatening to become even worse, we called it an evening and made the trek back to our apartment. We added in a slight detour, pit stopping at the local supermarket to grab some food for the evening along with breakfast ready for tomorrow
Returning back to our apartment we were reminded that it was a little on the grim side. Located three floors up a smell of stagnant water filled the stairwell. This unpleasant odour would not be leaving for the duration of our stay!
The heating was theoretically on a timer. The most peculiar timer. It appeared to be off for pretty much all of the day, resulting in waking up in a rather chilly room and always seemed to be off when we arrived home on the evenings. The only time it did kick in was about midnight and would roast you alive.
The following day we woke up from the sauna sleep and took a walk out to see Florence’s Duomo. Just as impressive as Milan’s cathedral. The red dome really stands out among the Florence backdrop as we found out At Michelangiolo plaza.
The street beggars and touts circled the periphery’s of the ancient structure, attempting to place bracelets on your wrists for “free”. Even a stern “no” was sometime hard to discourage them from continuing to trying to flog you some tat.
Admiring the detail and architecture of the Cathedral, while keeping a close eye on any valuables we finished up walking round and headed to the most famous museum in Florence. The Uffizi.
As we are in low season, (difficult to tell with the amount of crowds) the museum Uffizi operates on a two season ticket banding. High season €20 and low season €12. This might have been the first year they are trialing the different price brackets, but worked out nicely for ourselves.
Due to the value of art housed in the Uffizi, security is that of an airport. No liquids, all coats, belts and jewellery off to be x-rayed on a conveyor belt, step through a metal detector and no bags allowed. Bags were to be stored at the cloakroom, where you received a tag to collect your belongings later.
The museum was large. Three large floors of spectacular art work and statues. One of the largest exhibitions was of a modern Chinese artist, GUI Xiang. All his art work was created with the use of gun powers and setting them alight. Maybe it was the smell of the gun powered but there was most certainly a funky smell in the five rooms dedicated to Xiangs work.
Probably the most famous piece of worked housed in the Uffizi is that of Botticelli. In particular, The birth of Venus. Having seen the painting both in books and on tv it was quite something to see it in person. Luckily we didn’t suffer from Stendhal Syndrome.
Unfortunately, the Uffizi doesn’t host the statue of David. That honour belongs to university in Florence. The statue used to be in a public space for all to see, but was relocated to protect it from pigeon droppings. Unfortunately they also added a price tag, so we looked at the replica on the street and gave David a miss for another time.
Our final day in Florence was short but sweet as we had to catch our Flix bus at 1.05pm to Venice (€12 per person). Think megabus for the UK. We did attempt to go and walk around gardens but apparently they were reserved for he guest of the four season hotel. Sorry for being poor.
The coach journey was about 4hrs, with a pit stop about half way through. Due to some sort of regulations, no passengers can stay on the bus without the driver present so everyone had to disembark.
The service station operated a one way system, so as soon as you entered you were swept along. A similar process to that of Ikea. Through the gift shop, through the cafe, through the restaurant, down the stairs, through the supermarket and out. Better hope you didn’t forget to pick anything up at the start.
We were surprised at the amount of business the services were doing. The prices seem to reflect that of post war Germany. £5 for a bar of chocolate. Luckily we had already stocked up on a few snacks before we departed Florence.
The coach dropped us much closer to our next apartment than we were anticipating. Venice is now split into two parts. The island, which is what everyone classed as Venice and the mainland. The mainland is connect to Venice by about a 4km bridge, called liberty bridge. We heard the bridge was commissioned and opened by Mussolini.
For our stay we would be residing on the main land. For the primary reason of the cost, and would commute across via the local transport for about €1.50pp.
The vast majority of venetian now live on the mainland. The popularity of Venice have caused house prices to become unrealistic for the average person so now live across the river. From what we understand from talking to the locals one meter square in Venice is worth about £80,000. I don’t think we could even afford to be homeless in Venice for then prices!
When booking the tickets for the Flixbus the final destination was indicated to be on the island of Venice. This was no real concern as it would have just meant jumping on a bus back across the river. However, as luck would have it, the bus also makes a stop at the mainland. Stopping about 100m from a supermarket and an 8 minute walk to our apartment!! Wins all round!!
We grabbed the necessities from the store and made he short stroll to the apartment. Our host was there to greet us and gave us a tour of the place. Much nicer than the Florence stay but just as cold.
The electricity in the place was comparable to that of an hotel. You have to put a card in the slot to have any sort of power and once removed everything switches off after about a minute.
Once the tour had finished, we were informed to drop the keys in the letterbox with no name on check out and given some local tips about busses and Venice which were much appreciated. The host did hesitate a little on his way out, everyone having said their goodbyes he sort of loitered in the hall way and we were unsure whether to be like “okay, bye”, kicking him out of his apartment. We didn’t, we just waited the extra minute or two for him to depart.
The following day we took up the local advice given to us the day before and purchased a 24 hour travel card for €20 euro each. This would give us access to both buses and water taxi as many times as we like within the 24hr period.
If we had managed to do a little more research we could have actually gotten a three day pass for busses and boats for only €22 each as Venice operate a youth card for those aged 16-29. That’s right, all the way up to 29. John was pleased to still fall under the youth category. But unfortunately we came across this information too late.
Anyway, with our 24hr passes in hand we thought it was most beneficial to utilise the ferries. A one way cost on a ferry is €7.50 so you can really see the saving in the €20 card.
One of our first trips was take a ferry all the way down the grand canal. The grand canal is largest canal in Venice and meanders it’s way all the way through the city. It turned out we stepped on board the express ferry so only made the two stops. One at the beginning of the canal and one at the end. We were even lucky enough to secure two seats outside be boat to enjoy the view.
Venice was suffering with high tides during our stay and because of this factor, some ferries couldn’t operate the set route. The tides were so high in fact, that special raises platforms were been rolled out across he city as the water overflowed the banks around the town.
The changes to the ferry schedule didn’t overly concern ourselves. We were quite happy jumping on and off any ferry and enjoying the views. Despite been low season, we only managed to get a seat on a Ferry once. The rest of the time we were confined to standing and in one instance we were in the luggage hold!
With Venice been made up of over 100 islands one of the more famous ones is that of Murano. Famed for it glass. If you want to buy Murano glass, word of advice, don’t buy it from Murano. The prices are super inflated and much cheaper on the mainland.
The trip over to the island of Murano turned out to be a little awkward. As mention before due to high tides, the main ferry which transported passengers from the primarily hub to Murano was not operating. This meant you had to get to the other side of Venice and then catch a ferry that was going across the straight.
A couple of ferries and some walking later we reached the opposite side of Venice and could see Murano just a stone throw across the straight. We waited patiently for the ferry that would transport us across the water and right on cue it turned up. Boarding the ferry we were on our way.
The island of Murano was getting smaller. We had boarded the ferry going back to where we had just come from. Anyone that has been to Venice will tell you that the sign postage is rather lacking or confusing.
To give you an idea, you use the same boarding area for travelling both ways and in busier areas they have piers called A,B,C,D etc all with the same boat numbers arriving and departing but going different ways. Very strange. We were glad we were not the only lines struggling as we saw plenty for tourists confused by the layout.
An Asian couple were ahead of us trying to board the same ferry we were also heading towards. Numbers match, time tables matched, pier D, all seemed well. As they went to board, the captain asked what they were doing and that actually we are suppose to get the boat from B and not D. Very confusing.
Having to do a switch of boats we eventually landed on the shores of Murano. A very peaceful section of Venice. We spent time wondering the streets and admiring all the glass works. We must have walked past over 100 shops all selling slightly different varieties of coloured glass.
The next day we had booked onto a €85 private gondola ride with a lesson in riding the boat lasting 90 minutes. Our air BnB host had recommended this group, Row Venice instead of the standard half hour gondola ride you get for €80.
Reading trip advisor reviews the standard gondola ride can be very hit or miss, with more than a fair share giving 1 star reviews. Complaints about gondoliers just talking among themselves, chain smoking and on mobile phones, with a common census of rides lasting between 20-25 minutes rather than the 30.
The operators state that the time begins once your foot hits the boat not when they start paddling and that the fares for the journeys are set by the government. €80 for 30 minutes and €120 for 45. If you wish to have a romantic ride after 7pm got sunset the prices are hiked once again. Not willing to take a gamble on the quality for the price paid we opted for row Venice.
We had a fabulous time. You get a 5 minute safety and training brief before you’re on board paddling.
Yes it was rather difficult to remain balanced whilst stood up steering. Both of us were wobbling all over the place and the technique is much harder than one would believe.
We had two teachers on our boat, so received one on one training along with the option to paddle at the front or at the rear and could switch anytime we wanted. We both had a go front and back and both concluded that the rear of the boat was far more difficult and scary.
We came out of the quiet canals and ended up in the large lagoon area that had high tides and high waves. We both looked like Bambi when we were trying to steer the gondola from the rear in open water. On more than one occasion we thought we were in the drink!!
The time flew past and we got the full 90 minutes which we were impressed by. The last challenge was getting out of the gondola. Having to balance on the nose of the boat you make a leap of faith to dry land. We are pleased to report we both made it but wouldn’t recommended you choose us as your next gondoliers!!
We timed our ride almost to perfection. As we floated into the harbour the heavens started to open. We jumped into a near by boutique hotel which we were allowed to use, apparently, as there are not public toilets near by and if you’ve used row Venice you just mention the name. Not to sure what impression we must have gave, standing in a high end boutique hotel in damp clothes. But we didn’t mind, we had a great time, so we dried off, used he bathroom and headed on our way.
The final day we spent walking the many streets of Venice. We were not surprised to hear that even locals find themselves lost occasional. A labyrinth of small ancient streets, some greeted by dead ends, other water and others that go on for miles.
We made sure to go and visit the famous bridge of sighs along with the large courtyard. The story goes that prisoners crossing the bridge were on their way to execution and the last sights they see before it’s all over were of Venice and as they crossed the bridge they gave out a sigh and that’s how the bridge is said to have received its name.
Although we couldnt walk across the bridge of sighs an equally impressive bridge that we could walk across was that of Rialto which was one of our last actions for the day and for Italy. A truly beautiful country and I’m sure we shall be back on our travels here to explore the heart and south of Italy.
John & Megs continued adventures around the world 