One day, I was hanging out at Lanny’s place when the topic of her upcoming trip to Italy with her flatmate randomly came up. We joked about how fun it would be if I tagged along. Long story short, Lanny (my BFF), her flatmate (Alejandra), her flatmate’s BFF (David), her flatemate’s boyfriend (Julian), and me proceeded to plan for an Italy get-together. We were hyped from the very start—Lanny even made friendship bracelets with scusi written on them. To prep for the trip, we started learning a few Italian phrases like non parlo italiano (I don’t speak Italian), which, as it turns out, was surprisingly helpful at times.
Meet Up in Milan | 19-20.10
I arrived in Milan in the evening—right in the middle of a public transport strike. The only way to get to the city center was by taxi, but luckily, I found a group of people willing to share the ride with me. And so, the first little adventure of the trip began. We made it to Piazza Cinque Giornate, and the taximeter showed €20.60. Surprisingly, the driver only asked for €20—guess he was having a good day, especially with the endless line of customers thanks to the strike.
From there, I hoped to hop on a tram to my accommodation and meeting point, but no luck—the strike had that covered too. So, I ended up walking my way downtown, taking in my first sights and sounds of the city. By the time I reached the accommodation, it was around midnight, but still only Lanny and Julian had arrived. We waited for Alej and David to show up, and when they finally did, our first Italian meal together was… a panino kebab. Not exactly classy, but was very effective. Lanny and I wrapped up the night with a short stroll around the area, soaking in the late-night Milan vibes. And just like that, our Italian adventure officially began.
On our second day (well technically first full day) this somewhat mixed group of five people began to slowly get to know each other. The weather was rainy but we made the best out of it in exploring what we could in Milan. With Alej’s birthday coming up the next day on Sunday, Julian was secretly preparing a few surprises. That evening, we went out for a fancy dinner. While the atmosphere was great, the food was not really the best food experience I had in Italy, but the price was definitely the heaviest out of everything I ever digested.
Fun Fact: The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan is one of the oldest examples of a modern shopping mall, combining shops, restaurants, and public spaces under one roof. It was built in 1867, with a four-story structure made of marble, iron, and glass and inspiration for many more buildings to come (wantedinmilan).
Inside, there’s a mosaic of a bull on the floor, and tradition says that placing your heel on its “private parts” and spinning three times brings good luck! (eatery)
On Sunday we all woke up way too late for brunch, which was reserved at the other end of the city. Julian and David also prepared a after-lunch birthday cake to surprise Alejandra. Thus, we ended up at the park area at Bosco Verticale for a small make-shift picknick.
Later that day, we split up. Julian headed back to Switzerland and Alejandra was escorting him to the main station. After a quick nap, Lanny and I decided to explore on our own. Along the way, we stumbled across so many fascinating old structures—just casually scattered in the heart of the city. Meanwhile, David had gone ahead to check out the Navigli district. Later in the evening, we all regrouped there for dinner, and planning the next steps in our little adventure.
Cinque Terre | 21-23.10
On Monday, our original plan was to make a stopover in Genoa on our way to Monterosso, but a certain someone didn’t make it in time for our early train (looking at Alejandra). So, we decided to skip Genoa altogether and take it easy. We left later in the afternoon and arrived in Monterosso to blue skies and summer-like temperatures. We had our afternoon aperol and were slendering around town. There was just enough time to enjoy a beautiful sunset before we settled in with some convenience food at our accommodation. The next morning, we woke up early to catch the sunrise, then got ready to check out and head to Vernazza by noon.
When we arrived in Vernazza, it was dark—not just because of the rainy clouds, but because the whole city had no power until 3 PM due to some energy repairs. What a coincidence?! At lunch, we tried to plan the next few days in Cinque Terre, but heavy rain outside the restaurant interrupted us. Still, we didn’t let it get us down. After heading back to our accommodation for a quick shower, the rain had already cleared up, so we set off on a hike to the next city, Corniglia. We had dinner there and made our way back to Vernazza in the late evening, arriving around 10 PM. However, Lanny was still full of energy and wanted to do one more project—a trending Halloween ghost costume reel. This kept us busy until a little past midnight. Afterward, we actually had planned to visit an iconic viewpoint along a hiking trail, but by then, it was so pitch black (and spooky) that it felt too risky and dangerous to go.
Beginning of the end | 24-25.10
The next morning, I hastily made my way to that viewpoint we’d skipped the night before. On the short hike, I was greeted by a friendly Italian man who informed me there was a fee to use the trail. Turns out, every hike in Cinque Terre actually requires a fee—to help preserve the nature, I assume. We had just gotten lucky on our way to Corniglia because it was raining so heavily that no guards were around. After I explained that I only wanted to take a few photos, he kindly let me through without any trouble.
By early noon, we were ready to head to the next city—Manarola, which again only took around 5 minutes of train commute. We had lunch there and took a short hike around the city, which offered unique views of the town surrounded by mountains.
In the afternoon, we then proceeded to go to Pisa for just one specific reason: to snap the infamous picture with the Leaning Tower. As it turns out, the Leaning Tower really is the main attraction—the rest of the area mostly looked like residential neighborhoods. Additionally, heavy rain also made a longer stay pretty unappealing. So, within two hours, we had our quick layover in Pisa, took the iconic photo, and moved on to our final destination for the day: Florence.
When we arrived, I desperately needed a hot shower—my feet were soaked from the rain, my body temperature sunk and I felt a bit sickish. After everyone got cleaned up, we headed out for dinner. I ordered a super fantastic Italian carbonara. It was so good that we went back to that same place three more times over the next few days. Their pizza was also amazing: thick on the outside, thin on the bottom, perfectly topped, and affordable. Just perfect.
In Florence, we each went our own way a bit—mostly because David and I had been here before—but we always met up for lunch and dinner. While David and Alej focused on the cultural side, visiting various museums, Lanny and I kept things more relaxed. We wandered around town, checking out the most famous sightseeing spots.
On Friday, we had our final breakfast together in Italy before going our separate ways. David planned to explore more of Europe, while Lanny and Alej headed back to Frankfurt from Florence. As for me, I made my way to Bologna to catch a flight to Berlin and eventually return to Dresden. But before all that, I made sure to get my last carbonara serving =)
And with that, our very short but eventful trip came to an end. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical at first about how it would go. I didn’t know Alejandra or David beforehand, and David didn’t know me or Lanny. In retrospect, even though it rained almost every day, the true sunshine was in our hearts all along. The trip turned out to be most enjoyable, filled with great memories and fun scusi moments.
