A 12 day trip to Italy and Slovenia in October, 2017. My husband, Harsh, and I spent the first half of the trip with friends, covering Tuscany and Cinque Terre, while the second half of the trip saw just the two of us exploring the Dolomites, a bit of Slovenia, and the cities of Venice and Rome.
The trip began with us landing at FCO where we met our friends (two couples), and we straightaway headed to Tuscany in our rental car. We'd booked a beautiful property overlooking the rolling Tuscan hills for the night. The homestay came under Italy's Agri Tourism program, and was a delight. We had endless glasses of Tuscan wine and bantered late into the night.
Day 2 saw us leave Tuscany and venture into the Italian Riviera, into Cinque Terre. Named so because of the cluster of five seaside villages it consists of, Cinque Terre is the cheaper and more charismatic cousin of Amalfi. Colorful houses, pebbled streets, quaint shops, terraced vineyards - this place is an Instagram lover's paradise.
We spent two nights in Manarola, one of the villages of Cinque Terre, at the cutest AirBnB. On Day 3, we did a short hike from Monterosso to Vernazza (two more villages of Cinque Terre), and then spent the evening at a bar in Manarola which had the BEST sangria in the whole world and also the best cold cuts platter.
Day 4 saw Harsh and me break away from the group to go to Lake Garda. The fact that we had chosen a hotel with an excellent view did not matter since the weather played spoilsport and we couldn't see anything! It was such a bummer. :(
We left for the village of Santa Maddalena in the Dolomites on Day 5 morning. The Dolomites are basically the Italian Alps, but have a very different character. Steep, craggy and pale, they are a sight to behold, especially in the fall when they are surrounded by yellowing trees.
We regrouped with our friends for one last evening here. Since it was cloudy, we drove around Funes and then had a lovely dinner where we discovered various kinds of Grappa, one of Italy's most famous alcoholic drinks.
We left Santa Maddalena on Day 6 morning, and headed deeper into the Dolomites. Our destination for the day was Lake Misurina, a small village half an hour away from the biggest town in the Dolomites - Cortina d'Ampezzo. To say that the drive on this day was stunning would be an understatement. It had snowed two nights ago, and the combination of the fresh snow and fall colors was heart achingly beautiful.
We reached our beautiful hotel at Lake Misurina after lunch. After a quick check-in, we left for the most anticipated hike of the trip - the Tre Cime Lavaredo loop.
By this time it was nearly 3 pm, and biting cold. Not wanting to give up on the hike, we started off, only to be confronted with super slippery black ice 5 meters in. We still continued, and started walking on the snowed out track. The wind was crazy, and so was the cold. We hiked for about 45 minutes, and reached the first landmark - Rifugio Lavaredo. From here, the three peaks or Tre Cime were clearly visible. Not wanting to cause more discomfort to ourselves, we gave in to the hostile weather, and headed back to our car. The snow all around was beautiful, but I wish there was a bit less of it so that we could have hiked more and seen more.
We went back to our hotel, and had some grappa and a huge dinner to get ourselves warm and cozy.
The unusually cold weather had made us cancel all our planned hikes, so Harsh came up with the idea to explore the many lakes around on day 7.
We drove around a bit after this hike, and then ended the day early.
Day 8 saw us venture into Slovenia, where first up was the famous Vintgar Gorge. The one hour hike (one way) into the gorge was beautiful, and Harsh stopped at several places to click pictures of the flowing water using a tripod.
We reached Lake Bled, one of Slovenia's most popular destinations, by evening and checked into our hotel - the lovely Pension Mlino.
We then drove an hour to reach Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, and walked around the main square to get a feel of the city. Post dinner, we drove back, and ended a rather long and tiring day.
Day 9 saw us wake up super early to catch the 10 am tour of the famous Postojna Cave. While we'd seen similar caves before (Carlsbad in New Mexico), the sheer size of this cave was what enthralled us. We rode into the cave on a train for TWO KILOMETERS and then started exploring on foot for an hour or so. Humongous is the word!
After Postojna, we'd planned to go to another well known cave - Skocjan. However, we felt very rushed, and instead opted to sit at a cafe overlooking the charming Predjama Castle.
Post Predjama, we drove non-stop for three hours to reach Padova and checked into our AirBnB. After resting for a bit, we left for our evening in Venice.
We'd heard mostly bad reviews about Venice from people who'd been there, and were disappointed to see that we too ended up with the same opinion. Over hyped, very touristy, not worth it.
Day 10 dawned, and we sped off to Rome, where we first returned the car we'd hired at FCO, and then took an Uber to our AirBnB in the city. After checking in, we bought a 24 hour metro pass, and embarked on our exploration of the Italian capital.
Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and some shopping later, we ended up for dinner at what I would call my favorite restaurant of all time. La Prosciutteria is a cute little place near Trevi Fountain and has the BEST cold cuts of all time. A must visit for anyone who likes cold meat and is in Rome!
Day 11 was all about the Vatican and the Colosseum.
