VENEZIA / VENICE

Natalia Vignola March 5, 2024

Venice, our last stop before flying home. I’m writing this from my couch the morning after landing back in Canada, and going through these photos I almost can’t believe I was there. Venice is one of those places that feels utterly fictional even when you’re physically there. It’s beautiful and dreamlike - and it’s also a functioning city with a whole life of its own that continues around you as you walk the maze of streets in a haze of wonder.

It was very hard to pare down all the photos we took here to just the million below, so I will let them speak for themselves…

We had a big train day from Cinque Terre to Venice, with a stop in the impressive Milano train station.

First day in Venice, wandering the streets and canals

The Grand Canal that snakes all the way through the city

La Scuola Grande di San Rocco is a museum and organization dedicated to San Rocco, the patron saint of plague victims. For hundred of years the organization has performed charitable works in Venice, as well as housing incredible works of art done by its members over the centuries. Most notable of these is Tintoretto, who lived and painted in the 1500’s. Most of the painting in this building is by him, with a few contributions by other artists of the time. This is the staircase, lined with huge paintings depicting the plagues that so decimated Venice starting in the 1300’s.

The main hall, one of the most incredible rooms I have ever set foot in,

The room is lined with these amazing wooden sculptures, the likes of which I have never seen. Really really interesting!

We finally wound our way through the streets to Piazza San Marco and the amazing St Mark’s Basilica. Wow!

Back in the day, Venice was not recognized as a proper city because it didn’t own the physical remains of any saints. When things started to really roll here Venetians had to do something about this, so they took the corpse of St. Mark the Apostle from Alexandria and in 828 built the Basilica di San Marco to house him. It has been almost constantly worked on throughout the centuries as pieces of art, sculpture and other riches were brought here from all over the world and placed in and on the building. Even after all we’ve seen, this place blew our minds.

There are over 4,000 square metres of mosaic in this place, most of this seems to be in gold and lining the ceilings

The original horses! The ones standing atop the entrance outside now are replicas, as these are so old they needed to be better preserved.

This is the entrance to a hotel, reachable by gondola for the fancy types :D

The shop windows in Venice are next level. Wild, weird and amazing!

Day 2 was a trip to Murano, one of the many little islands just off the main city. Murano’s big thing is hand made glass art. You see it all over Venice, and it’s incredibly impressive. We had so much fun looking at all the shops and windows full of colourful and creative glass stuff!

An electric guitar made of solid glass. Presumably it’s legit, the strings and bridge etc all looked pretty real

We took the sea bus from Murano over to Venice’s cemetery - an entire island dedicated to this purpose. It was Napoleon who decided to make this happen in the 1800’s, as the city proper has never worked for burials due to there being famously very little dirt there. As far as European cemeteries go it’s very young, but so interesting and there’s some gorgeous stonework to be seen…

The family plots and mausoleums are the most unique I have ever seen. You can really see how they were built with the intent to be somewhat comfortable to visit and pray in - though many have now gotten overgrown or otherwise gone unvisited over the years.

Sea bus on the Grand Canal after a long day of island hopping

Day 3 starts with the best coffee and cornettos in town, right around the corner from our bnb. We went here every day :D

Unbelievably we got several hours of blue skies and sunshine on our last day, and we just strolled the streets.
Thank you Venice!

Espresso to go - the teeny tiny paper cups kill me :D!

Risotto and pizza - one of the best meals we had on our whole trip, which is saying a LOT cause the food is so damn good everywhere

Masks are a big Venice thing. Creepy ones too.

The smallest elevator ever, in our bnb building

Very moody skies as we leave for the airport at 3am

The Stairs of Cinque Terre

Natalia Vignola March 3, 2024

Cinque Terre is beautiful. Quaint, colourful, adorable little towns perched on peaks and steep hillsides above the ocean. Sunsets to die for. But mostly we will remember the stairs.

This is the perfect place for amazing hikes, and there are gorgeous footpaths that connect all 5 towns. Unfortunately for us, not a single one of the more direct town routes were open - all being closed for maintenance or damage of some kind. No wonder, considering the blistering amount of tourist traffic this place sees every year. It’s just that we weren’t gonna NOT hike while we were here - despite what the first entire day of biblically torrential rain and cataclysmic wind had to say - so all that was left to us was the secondary routes which wind waaaaaaaayyy up into the mountains and involved an eye-watering amount of ancient and very tall and steep stone stairs.

We were sore for days. In fact as I write this in Venice the night before our flight home, my calves are still aching and have been punishing me with every single one of the insane number of tiny bridges I have traversed in the last four days.

All to say, we had an amazing time in Cinque Terre! 10/10 would recommend.

Not much to do today except wander the wet streets of Corniglia and find coffee :D

Day 2 dawns much nicer, and we are off on an adventure to the two southern towns of Manorola and Riomaggiore

Corniglia and the ripe oranges and lemons I could never reach - ARG!

The monorail system local farmers use to get up and down their incredibly steep crop fields

High above and not even kinda almost there

Super having a good time! We love to sweat

This climb literally took all four limbs

Worth it though, amiright? Riomaggiore :)

We took the train home to Corniglia, and ended our journey with the million steps from the station to the town. Awesome finish and feeling strong!

Orange liquor with the sunset. Me and Cloé used to drink limoncino here, so it’s kind of tradition now.

I know it looks like I’m doing weird things to this cat, but we were actually very good friends!

Lucca With Friends

Natalia Vignola March 2, 2024

This is where things get a lot less detailed. We are down to the last couple days in Italy and squeezing every bit out of it. So without much more ado, here’s some pics of our wonderful time in Lucca!

Lucca is a very pleasant walled city just outside of Florence. We picked it as a nice place to spend a few days with Chris and Leah, high school friends of Cory’s who now live in the UK. Chris and Cory are both celebrating their - gasp! - 50th birthdays this year, so the timing was ripe for a fun meet-up somewhere cool.

First up in Lucca was the Torre Guinigi - the Forest in the Sky. Forest is a pretty loose term, it’s not a lot of square footage up there, but very cool nonetheless. This tower was privately owned by some super rich family, in a time when the super rich were all building themselves nice little towers to show off how awesome they were - much like in San Gimignano. Very few of Luca’s towers remain, but luckily this is one of them. No one knows when the trees were planted up there (Holm oaks, for those of you paying attention), but there is evidence showing they already existed in the 1400’s.

It’s a fun climb of 233 steps to reach a very small little garden with a tight walkway all around to take in the amazing views.

After the cool tree tower we strolled the streets and hit up a few cathedrals, as you do. Lucca has a couple that house full mummified bodies, so I was keen to see at least one of those. We chose Santa Zita, whose story is one of the nicer ones for a saint of ye olden times.

Zita is the patron saint of Lucca, and also of domestic servants, maids, food servers, and lost keys. She lived in the 1200’s and began her domestic servitude at age 12. She worked as a domestic servant for many years, known for her sunny demeanor and work ethic. She was also known to give leftover bread from the richies’ kitchen to the poor. Legend goes that one day a fellow servant ratted her out for smuggling bread out of the home she worked at, but when the homeowner confronted her and demanded she open her apron, a whole bunch of flowers fell out instead. BOOM!

By all accounts she lived a full life and died at age 60. At the moment of her death, church bells spontaneously rang out across the city.

Fast forward a few hundred years and we exhume her body in 1580, only to find that it has been miraculously mummified, though no specific mummification treatment was originally applied. In Catholic terms, this means her body is classified as ‘incorruptible’ and a sign of her saintly status. She was officially canonized in 1696. Why the wait? I don’t know, and neither does Google.

As is tradition, she is now on display in the very same church where she devotedly prayed during her life. So we went, and the church is lovely and old and amazing. Photographing her corpse felt crass this time, so I didn’t, but I can attest she is indeed there and mummified. If you’re madly curious you can find photos online pretty easy. We did however photo lots of other stuff in the church, and also in the few others we visited in Lucca.

And then here’s a few randoms…

Our rooftop patio which we used quite a lot, to the surprise of everyone - the weather was supposed to be much worse than it in fact was.

Couldn’t quite reach the knocker this time…

Strolling into the piazza, minding our own business, and then…

Rolling Stones bobble heads be alarming when unexpected

Last dinner together. GIANT TRUFFLE RAVIOLI

Hot Springs Eternal

Natalia Vignola February 27, 2024

Southern Toscana is full of natural mineral-rich hot springs. One can access them generally one of three ways: pay money for the hotel spa fancy ones, hike until you smell something weird, or see something incredible from the highway and pull over.

In the interest of research, we did all three - though technically the last one was a destination and we didn’t just stumble across it while driving. But we COULD have.

We’ve already seen the first one, Bagni Vignoni just outside San Quirico d’Orcia, where we paid for an afternoon of bliss in the sunshine and hot waters at a posh hotel we could never afford to sleep in. Totally worth it.

The next two were of the free bushwhacking variety, though if you’re familiar with the ones in the Kootenays and such places, these were both fairly literally a walk in the park to get to.

First up, Bagni San Filippo! A tiny town in the forested hills famous for exactly this. A short walk through town and there is a path into the forest. Setting foot on the path, you are almost immediately assaulted by a strong odor much like a very bad fart from someone who has eaten a whole plate of boiled eggs. This is the part that requires courage and perseverance, as you can’t possibly imagine being able to relax with this air repeatedly entering your body. But persevere we did, and the smell dissipated quickly as we walked down to the actual waters.

We crossed a little river, with waters of aquamarine that were warm from the mix of river and mineral spring water. You can jump in right here, and there were pools everywhere where people had carved out spots to collect the warmer water coming out of the mountain. We continued on around a corner and this is what we saw:

Mountains of mineral and limestone formed over countless years have created a cascade of small hot pools that mix with the river water as they pour down from the earth. The pools are hotter the higher up you go, so with great care we climbed the weird and amazing formations until we found the perfect pool just for us. Here we sat for about 2 hours with the sun peeking through the trees and the sounds of the hot waterfall all around us. It was AMAZING.

One can’t imagine a reason good enough to leave this place.

We had to experiment with the different pools to find just the right one. Some were too small to be shared.

Forest view, looking from the mineral mountain back to the path we took to get there.

Full relax mode. The water in this one was almost too hot.

The pools are lined with mineral-rich super soft white mud that makes a great facial. Or so I assume. It seemed like a good idea, and I knew my mum would have done exactly this.

We stopped by here on our way to Pitigliano, and continued our journey with the mineral mud on our skin, feeling amazing.

The day we left Pitigliano was dark and rainy. We were on our way north to Lucca, but wanted to stop by what is probably the most famous - and objectively gorgeous - free natural hot spring in the entire world.

Research!

Two of my besties will be coming here in summer, so I wanted to be sure we had thoroughly scouted the spa situation so we could report. This, friends, is Saturnia.

Driving the highway, we rounded a corner and - SERIOUSLY - this is what we saw:

I’d done the online research, I’d seen the photos. BUT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE THIS. I didn’t truly believe it would, but it does. I can’t say this enough. It ACTUALLY looks like this.

And it’s free.

Of course we were extremely lucky in our timing: it’s full off-season, it was about 8am when we got here, and it was a blustery rainy day. In the busy season, as you would imagine, it’s standing room only. If I were to come in summer (ahem, Jenna) I would try to hit it up in the middle of the night, which would be magical but you’d want to bring light, or incredibly early in the morning.

This is what passes for a highway around here. And this is the road to Saturnia on this wet morning

The main entry point to get into the warm pools

The old abandoned mill, doings its part to contribute to the scenery

The roaring water made for a much needed shoulder masssage

The bottoms of the pools are all these little white mineral rocks, tumbled for centuries to make pleasantly satisfying handfuls

And then we had to get out of the warm water and change as fast as possible into our dry clothes in the rain. This is me rinsing my feet before stepping into my socks, somehow without falling over.

I know it’s the most beautiful place you have ever seen. I know. But out of the two free ones we visited, both Cory and myself preferred Bagni San Filippo. And in high season that would be the one with fewer people, and/or more different pools and places to go to have space to yourself. I loved being in the forest. I loved climbing the mineral mountain to explore the different pools. I loved the soft mud that somehow felt so clean and nourishing. I also loved having so many different options for temperature, and overall San Filippo is much hotter. Saturnia is warm, not hot. But in summer it would probably be perfect.

Our super legit research concludes that one should definitely do both.

Pitigliano Wanted Us

Natalia Vignola February 27, 2024

It started with AirBnB - a photo of an actual legit cave dwelling flashed on my screen and I clicked on it, obviously.

Neither Cory nor I had ever heard of Pitigliano, to us it was just another ancient hilltop town somewhere in southern Toscana. There’s a few, they are all amazing. We noticed it was close to a lot of natural hot springs, so that seemed cool, idk.

When it came time to settle on where we were going, this one literally came down to a coin toss and we booked it as a result.

Fast forward to the middle of our trip, and we are in Alberobello looking at the coming days in Toscana and wondering if we’d have been better off with an extra couple days in San Quirico d’Orcia instead of packing up again and doing the two in Pitigliano. We both had it in our heads that San Quirico was to be our slow down time, but it turns out we didn’t have a lot of extra time there at all - somehow we messed up.

We’ve been moving a lot, and generally that’s not how I like to travel. You see so much but it’s exhausting, and I usually like to settle in a place long enough to have a favourite coffee shop, time to wander with no itinerary, imagine I actually live there, that sort of thing. Many times I have gladly foregone seeing more sights in favour of slowing tf down in this way.

Realizing our mistake we decided to take a look at the cancellation policy on the booking to see if we could switch up our plans, only to find we had missed the cancellation deadline by 12 HOURS. Every other AirBnB I’ve booked on this trip allows free cancellation right up to like 2 days before arrival, hilariously this was the one exception. It was out of our hands, and it felt like fate. We were going to Pitigliano.

Pitigliano is indeed an ancient hilltop town, and dates back to approximately 2,300 BC. It is carved out of and built up from the volcanic tufo rock that is prevalent in many places we have visited - much the same as Matera and even Napoli. It’s relatively easy to carve and dig into, hence why many of these places began as cave dwellings for ancient civilizations. It is also very strong, hence why these amazing structures have endured for millennia and still form the foundations of entire cities.

In the 1500’s it was owned entirely by one family, and its independent status made it a refuge for Jewish people fleeing systematic expulsion from Rome, Florence and other cities. The Jewish community grew and stayed for centuries and in 1841 made up over 11% of the entire population, higher than any other city in Italy before or since. It wasn’t always great - there is a ghetto area that survives to this day where Jews were confined for a time - but evidence remains of a vibrant community.

Walking the streets is an incredible experience. They are small, narrow, steep and winding. There are cats everywhere. You have to press yourself into doorways to avoid getting clobbered by passing 3-wheeled vehicles. So far, so Italian. But somehow this felt different. Maybe it was the fact we first walked it at night. Maybe it was the wine we drank in the sun that afternoon, or the insanely good meal eaten in a cave restaurant just prior. I mean, probably it was the wine. In any case, this town thoroughly captivated us both from the first moments.

Pitigliano is enchanting. This place welcomed us completely, gave us our best day yet, and left us both satiated and wanting so much more. We will be back - and we will take all the time we need.

After checking into our cave, we decided that aperitivo in the sun on our stoop was a must. We hit up the first little store we came across, just steps outside the old town, and it was AMAZING. The shopkeeper/owner was an awesome woman who helped us find what we needed, and when she saw us gawking at her back room (above) she beckoned us to another area that led to this ancient wine cave under the shop. WHAT!! SO cool!

Obviously this is also a great wine region, and this cellar was probably dug in some century BC for just this purpose.

Aperitivo on our stoop looking out over the walls of Pitigliano.

Next stop: dinner. We found an epic little restaurant in a cave, and the food was amazing.

Incredibly fresh carpaccio atop crunchy phyllo pastry with a full salad underneath :D! The rest of the meal was much simpler but even better, and involved truffles.

We wander the streets of Pitigliano by night…

This gorgeous tree stands over the main piazza. It’s stunningly beautiful and has such a presence.

We wander the streets by day, see some stuff

Toscana and Val d’Orcia

Natalia Vignola February 24, 2024

We have been so lucky with the weather since we’ve been here. I don’t know what it’s usually like in February, but the sun has been out in full force and it feels like every day is the perfect spring day. The air is fresh, the blossoms are out, birds sing and bees buzz.

It’s obvious why people fall in love with this landscape - in every direction it’s the same, and it’s stunningly beautiful.

We’ve done a lot of hiking. We’ve visited a few of the ancient cities that perch atop so many of the Tuscan hills. We have spent time with wonderful humans and animals. We’ve eaten well and drunk the coffee and the wine. We have drowned ourselves in olive oil and we have walked through truffle groves. For me this is heaven, and I almost can’t believe I’m here.

Basking in the afternoon sun after our big hike, on the way to a surprise olive tour and tasting and wonderful Italian hospitality. We made some new friends, through our new friend Airleas, who make olive oil and do tastings and cooking classes out of their beautiful farm just outside San Quirico d’Orcia. They are not yet open for the season, but they had us over anyway; took us through the olive trees, then fed us several courses of olive oil, bread, wine, cheese, meats, biscotti, vin santo and coffee all on a sun-drenched patio with two cats. I was in heaven. AND I got to use my very weak Italian in a situation with no English speakers, which is exactly what one needs in order to finally step up and butcher a new language in the interest of communication. I’m very proud.

Farm cat Rosso. Very sweet. Loves cheese.

Getting the perfect shot of the lone tree on the misty hillside

Photographing the famous little chapel that sits on a hill between the towns of San Quirico d’Orcia and Pienza. The story is that a young shepherdess (that’s a female shepherd, lesser known sub-genre of sheep care specialist) saw a vision of the Virgin Mary on this spot some few hundred years ago.

Bagni Vignoni, an ancient mill town in an area of rich mineral hot springs. One of many such towns in southern Toscana, and we tried a few.

This is one of the ones you pay for, but we decided we deserved it. Worth it for the huge clean pools, one hot and one warm, plus the napping chairs laid out in the sun…

Napping with a huge ancient castle on the hill in the distance - can’t see it well in this, but it really looms over you in person.

Losing count of the days, but this lil Toto dog watched us leave San Quirico for another adventure…

Montepulciano and some weird sculptures outside the fortress. Most of this town was closed to us due to the off-season and it not being lunchtime yet, but we loved it anyway and vow to return to explore the cave cellars and other cool stuff we heard whispers of…

As far as public sculptures go, it’s a choice.

And our last afternoon in the Val d’Orcia region - an incredible ride through the Tuscan hills with a lovely horsewoman and her beautiful horses. Heaven!

We rode through a long-abandoned ancient farmstead / manor ground that was just gorgeous.

Ending the day with a tasting of the local Brunello wines :)

If Beetlejuice Designed a Cathedral

Natalia Vignola February 19, 2024

Next stop - SIENA

I love it here. I stayed a few days with my friend Chris in 2009, and it was just so cool. And hey, it still is!

When one is touring the sights in Italy - most of Europe I suppose, but certainly Italy - one quickly realizes that it’s going to be one mind-blowing cathedral after another. It’s amazing, it’s very Catholic, and you embrace it. They are full of history, amazing and innovative architecture, and dripping with ancient art. They’re on every other block, and you go into all of them. It gets to the point where you’ll walk into a building that would make you stop everything and stare for hours in amazement if you saw it back home, and now you go ‘wow, very cool’ and you walk out.

The Siena cathedral though, it’s next level. Visually it’s almost an assault, it’s so intense and there is so much to see. But it’s so incredibly impressive that you quickly forget your shock and move straight to awe and gawking.

A little history: Siena’s cathedral stands over an existing church that was itself built on top of a 9th century temple dedicated to the Pagan god Minerva. Wish I could find out more info on that, but my cursory internet search reveals very little. Anyway. Construction of the ‘new’ cathedral began in 1200, and the following couple centuries saw a few stops and starts due to ambitions vs money, and of course the plague in the 1300’s. The final product, though! It’s full of sculptures by famous artists and designers of the day, a chapel by Bernini, different coloured marble everywhere you look. Possibly the most important and interesting work is the floor: 56 different marble inlays carved by 40 different artists showing different bible stories (naturally, not all of them pleasant). Often the floor is covered over with wood planks for protection so you can’t see them, but - miracle! - they were all visible when we were there. And seriously, wow.

Obviously a few photos aren’t going to do any kind of justice here. But we took some anyway, so you may as well have a look.

San Gimignano - Tuscan Tower Madness

Natalia Vignola February 19, 2024

Our home base for this week is the Val d’Orcia region of Toscana, a tiny ancient little town called San Quirico d’Orcia that is gorgeous and surrounded by the most beautiful countryside you’ve ever seen. Rolling Tuscan hills, kissed by spring sunshine, dotted by ancient farmhouses, chapels, and cypress trees. Sigh.

Our first full day here we decided to hop in the car and take a trip to the famous towns of San Gimignano and Siena, both of which are comfortably close for a pleasant journey. First came San Gimignano, a town that legend dates back to 63 BC. Between the 11th and 13th centuries noble families and rich merchants took to building fortified tower houses to show off their wealth and power. Many of these are still standing, resulting in a charming collection of very tall, very old buildings and a few VERY tall bell towers.

In 1353 San Gimignano experienced a massive decline due to famine and plague that largely decimated the town. The dramatic decrease in population led to a loss of independence, which actually helped to preserve it as its new status under Florentine control prevented the urban renewal that transformed so many Italian historical places after the Middle Ages. Yay for preservation of cool stuff!

Piazza della Cisterna, with the big town well. Today home to 4,000 different gelaterias.

Courtyard with ancient frescoes - varied, weird, and beautiful.

You gotta walk through the cool door. Every time.

Alberobello. Trulli Bello.

Natalia Vignola February 18, 2024

Alberobello is an adorable little town characterized by the trulli - little stone huts constructed from roughly worked limestone that is so plentiful in this area of Puglia. This is a prehistoric building technique that has been used for thousands of years, but it was in the 14th & 15th centuries that it was most prevalent. Historians believe this is because of an edict out of Napoli that imposed taxes on new urban settlements during this time. People needed buildings that could be easily demolished to avoid paying up. When the king’s delegate would show up to collect the taxes, one could simply remove the keystone and the house would quickly be reduced to a pile of rubble.

Because it is such a simple - and irresistibly adorable - technique using materials so plentiful to this region, people continue to build trulli in much the same way to this day. Driving through southern Puglia, we constantly see them dotting the landscape. Little sheds are trullo sheds. Farmhouses are a collection of little trulli cones. I even saw a trullo doghouse. These people clearly found something that worked and stuck with it, with incredibly cute results.

The main bit of Alberobello is a dense collection of trulli, most of which were built from the 14th to the 17th centuries. Of course most have been updated with the modern amenities so one can live or run a little shop very comfortably. Walking through the trulli neighbourhood, which is comprised of several little steep and winding streets, is genuinely like walking through a fairly tale. You can’t help but expect to see all kinds of creepy and magical characters come out at you - and they do, in the form of cats who act like this place was built entirely for them.

It’s become a fashion to paint astrological and esoteric symbols on trullo roofs to ward off evil and bring good fortune. Like everything else around here, the result is picturesque af.

Trullo garden shed in a small olive grove.

Liquid gatto has had enough of your bullshit.

Holding up this trullo with the force of my mind…

This lil Toto dog trotted by us every day we were here. Either that, or there is an identical dog on every block in Alberobello…

Matera

Natalia Vignola February 14, 2024

We picked up our lil rental car in Salerno and drove inland to Matera through torrential rain. Matera is the third oldest city in the world, after Aleppo and Jericho, and is now famous for its Sassi - ancient houses dug into the rock. There is evidence of human occupation as early as 7,000 BC.

Matera gained a reputation as the shame of Italy due to the living conditions of thousands of poor people who occupied the ancient ruins and cave dwellings of the sassi area right up until the 1960’s. These people were living in single room dwellings in families of 10 people on average, and sharing this space with a couple small farm animals for food and most often a mule. The mule was a big thing. He was used for transport to and from the farm sites where the men worked every day, about 10 miles away, and also for said work. Additionally he was a welcome source of warmth in winter inside the damp stone dwellings. Unfortunately he was also the main source of disease for these people, as mules attracted hoards of malaria-carrying mosquitoes which wiped out many, many people every year.

Guys, this is the mid 1900’s. One neighbourhood, easy walking distance from the downtown of a very modern Italian city. Look it up if you don’t believe me, it’s truly fascinating.

Finally a few important people caught wind of the situation in Matera, and laws were passed and money was spent and all these people were relocated to housing projects close to the farmlands where they carried on working. They tried to do it right, by all accounts. There were the usual government men who ran the whole show, but there were also artists and creative types with influence whose hearts and minds were captivated by the lives and stories of these people. Perhaps most importantly, there was one woman: a psychologist from Bari who spent time with the people to learn their way of life and the communal living that was so important to them, with the goal of replicating that as much as possible in the transition.

Matera has a lot to say these days. It is proud of its efforts to relocate and help the poor inhabitants of these neighbourhoods, and of course many lives have been saved by improving the living conditions for these people. But of course not everyone would have gone happily or quietly. It has to be acknowledged that this was a forced relocation, however necessary, and those are never wonderful for all involved. This is some conjecture on my part, as the official story is different, but it feels fair.

The Sassi area was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1993, and has undergone a revitalization that is still very much underway. I’ll be very curious to see how it evolves and changes over the next little while. Right now it’s gorgeous, there’s amazing places to stay - including our wonderful AirBnB - great restaurants and cafes tucked away in caves, and beautiful stone streets to meander through. Genuinely, it’s a bit mind-blowing and feels like a very special and unique place. Highly recommend.

Also there’s this, the church of Purgatory. I mean, it was my first, is this a thing? Very interesting, just a weird lil church with skulls everywhere and bleak imagery…

Then we found a little museum dedicated to ancient olive oil production. This facility was unearthed with most of the equipment still in it. It’s entirely carved into the rock, and contains a small stable area for two or more mules so they could take turns running the big wheel grinder that made the olive paste. The big screw devices are the presses and are made entirely of wood.

Our awesome place - come on!

Me enjoying a lovely cocktail in the outdoor rock bar (not what that usually means) where we saw the Pegasus flying above us

This badass pizza oven makes good pizza

Amalfi in February

Natalia Vignola February 14, 2024

Quick nap on the beach to snooze off the nausea of the drive from Pompeii…

Cause this is what the roads look like here:

We took a lil hike into the mountain above Amalfi on day 1. Mostly we were lost, but we found some trails eventually and it was lovely walking past all the ruins and lemon groves…

Amalfi is about lemons. So, so many lemons. Lemon everything. And lemons are harvested in February - OH YEAH. They’re fresh, and they are everywhere! Bliss.

Amalfi of course has its own big and beautiful cathedral…

Day 2 we hike the Path of the Gods, high above the Amalfi Coast…

We tried to beware of the gatto, but she won us over immediately. And we were only halfway down the longest staircase EVER as we descended into Positano. She gave us some much needed fortification, via loud purrs and soft fur, so we could continue the painful journey…

Positano is gorgeous. Not much going on in winter though, and it was rough trying to find anywhere open for pranzo. Which we needed after our hike. Finally found delicious panini on the beach before heading home via Praiano…

Gelato on our lil balcony overlooking the piazza

Next day, the Maritime History Museum. This old shipbuilding facility was built in 1059 AD when Amalfi was one, and arguably the most important, of four main ports of Italy and a major military hub.

Pompeii!

Natalia Vignola February 14, 2024

Not to much to say that you don’t already know. It was a big and bustling port city. It was entirely taken out in one day.

What I did not expect before walking the streets of this long-dead city was that I could feel how alive it once was. The evidence of the everyday is everywhere. The small shops, the street vendors, the noble houses, the town square, the bath houses, the brothels, the theatres. The street itself, with its pedestrian crosswalks and wheel ruts worn into the paving stones. There was so much human life here, and in the centuries since nothing and no one else has moved in to overwrite the city that once was. It just stopped.

I have a memory from when I was young: my friend Lesah - whose father is Italian and made the best pesto in existence - told me about visiting Pompeii. When she said she went to a place that was destroyed by a huge volcano I could not BELIEVE she would be brave enough to go anywhere near there. She said it hadn’t erupted in ages, and to me that just meant it was closer than ever to going off again. To my little kid brain, her dismissal of the obvious danger in favour of seeing an incredible ancient city ruin just did not compute. Lol, right?

Turns out I was kinda right. They actually don’t know when Vesuvius will erupt again, but they do know that when it does it will be huge and cataclysmic in scale, much the same as when it destroyed Pompeii. Seems fine, yes? Let’s go check it out.

Catacombe di San Gaudioso

Natalia Vignola February 14, 2024

Trigger warning: acknowledgement of death and descriptions of some gross stuff.

I love a cemetery. I love an underground network of rooms and passages, creepily lit and smelling of mildew. I love learning about how different people have chosen to honour, celebrate, and physically inter their dead. Literally everybody dies, and over the course of history people have dealt with death in such a fascinating myriad of ways.

The San Gaudioso Catacombs began in about 452 AD as the resting place of the saint, who was a bishop from Tunisia. Over the centuries the remains were removed by Rome, and finally returned to Napoli - but somewhere else. In the meantime, these catacombs were used to house the remains of other priests, bishops, as well as nobles and richies willing to pay to have their places in heaven more assured by being interred close to the holy men. In fact, the monks who took over the site used this money to build an elaborate and huge cathedral around the small (but still gorgeous) original one. This was done in order to protect the burial site and the holy men interred there, as well as provide the monks with a nice place to conduct their business.

Many nobles and their families were laid here, their bodies undergoing a bleeding and cleaning process that left mostly just bones to be laid in the dug out walls and rooms. There were frescoes painted to show who these people were in life - a famous painter, a swordsman, a magistrate, and - shown by the poofy dresses - women. These personal frescoes would be painted below a hole in the wall where the person’s actual skull would sit. Today there are just holes, which looks super weird, but imagine!

This is an amazing place to see, to feel. There are no bodies here anymore, all the bones have long since been removed. But the space powerfully brings to mind what it was created and used for. Death. The physics of dealing with the bodies. Grief, but also the hope of something more. And the desperate things we humans do to somehow assure ourselves of that.

It’s a pano, so a bit confusing to look at, but this shows the cathedral built above and around the smaller one you can see in the centre. It’s huge, with towering ceilings and chapels down the sides. The staircase leading to the organ surrounds and protects the smaller, much older church that sits above the catacombs.

The hole in the floor of the original church is where the bodies would be passed into the catacombs after the funeral. ‘Death Slaves’ would then process the body for burial. They did this by puncturing it multiple times to facilitate drainage, then breaking the longer bones so that they could be compacted into draining compartments dug into the walls. They placed jars underneath to collect most of the body fluids to be disposed of later, but of course it was a messy and very dangerous job due the risk/inevitability of disease. Death slaves didn’t last long, and so this job was given mainly to people already judged and condemned to death.

Napoli Street Scenes

Natalia Vignola February 9, 2024

With only one full day in which to explore Napoli, trying to see it all was never an option. Instead of cramming in as much as we could, we instead opted to wander about on foot through our neighbourhood and the Spanish Quarter, stopping for caffe, food, or interesting things as we came across them. One thing was immediately clear: the street art game in Napoli is strong.

Our single true destination was the San Gaudioso Catacombs, and that was so awesome it will get its own post. For now, enjoy the streets of Napoli…

…and then we come home :D

Napoli, Napoli, Napoli!

Natalia Vignola February 8, 2024

We blew into Napoli with a mission - the Series A football game Napoli vs Verona. It’s mid season, but the energy was high and the crowd was rowdy. Lots of singing, chanting, waving of flags, all the fun. After a lackluster first half, Napoli let in the first goal and then used that shame to propel them to an exciting and very satisfying 2-1 win. Yahoo!

First we had to locate our BnB, right in the heart of the old part of Napoli. Check out this DOOR!!

Some light bullshit from the first half. Worth watching for the response :D

Rome wasn’t photo’d in a day…

Natalia Vignola February 8, 2024

…but since I’m starting this blog a week into our journey, in the interest of efficiency, here’s our entire Roman experience at once. Very old stuff was seen. Friends were made. Minds were blown.

Cory’s jetlag face. First steps out our door and down to Trastevere.

Our new Italian friend Airleas, who greeted us and showed us an amazing time while we were in Rome. She is our AirBnB host for the place we will be staying in Tuscany, and also the best and most knowledgeable guide to Rome ever!

Day 2: Vatican City. Cory takes his first steps inside Basilica St. Pietro. It’s big, you guys.

The underside of the duomo. Pretty sure I took this exact same photo when I was 29, but I can’t help myself.

We climbed up inside the dome for this view over Rome. No regrets.

Throwaway art at the Vatican Museum. Just a lil sign embellishment.

My favourite room in the Vatican Museum: the Map Room. Just one of many breathtaking ceilings to see as you’re beating down the tourists to the Sistine Chapel. I mean, the Sistina is incredible, but just never stop looking up cause it’s one ceiling after another with this place..

Day what, 3? Starts with a visit to the non-Catholic cemetery. Le sigh.

Cemetery kitty. Very slutty cemetery kitty.

Pranzo near il Campo di Fiori. Super fresh cod swimming in olive oil with pears, olives, pine nuts, other yummy stuff. Omg.

Also may have taken this exact photo when I was 29. I was obsessed with this bridge, with all the stone angels made by students of the master sculptor Bernini. Isn’t she a beaut?!

Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza built around 1650 by Italian architect Francesco Borromini.

Slow season at the Trevi Fountain. One tour guide we talked to literally said ‘there are absolutely no people in Rome right now’. Well, all the people that DO exist in Rome are at the Trevi Fountain. Just imagine this photo at the end of August :D :D :D :D!

Last day in Rome. Quick stop at the Cathedral Santa Maria Maggiore. We love us some Illuminati representation.

Santa Maria Maggiore. A lot of gold in this place. This is one of the side chapels, no big deal.

He’s always watching, and he isn’t always in a good mood…

Quick panino before our guided tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Seeing this thing in person is something else, seriously.

Hard to describe the feeling of being inside. Pretty intense, and obviously amazing to see. But one can’t help but imagine all the blood and death that occurred here. To the delight of thousands. Humans are gross.

The Roman Forum. This captures well my impression of Rome: old-ish, piled on old, piled on older, piled on older, piled on f-ing ancient. It blows my little mind, and I love it so, so much.

Arriviamo in Italia

Natalia Vignola February 7, 2024

Technically this is a blog, which implies regular and well thought out contribution. I promise nothing. I do intend to post photos and the occasional thought herein as we travel through this beautiful country. Cory may also contribute. Comments are welcome, and questions will be answered with no promise of timeliness :D

Benvenuto a tutti, and enjoy!

VENEZIA / VENICE

The Stairs of Cinque Terre

Lucca With Friends

Hot Springs Eternal

Pitigliano Wanted Us

Toscana and Val d’Orcia

If Beetlejuice Designed a Cathedral

San Gimignano - Tuscan Tower Madness

Alberobello. Trulli Bello.

Matera

Amalfi in February

Pompeii!

Catacombe di San Gaudioso

Napoli Street Scenes

Napoli, Napoli, Napoli!

Rome wasn’t photo’d in a day…

Arriviamo in Italia

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