Things I Learned While Traveling in Italy

Posted on by LeAnne Notabartolo

This is the first in a series of posts about our recent trip to Italy. There was so much awesome food and so many amazing experiences that I couldn’t fit it all into one without you all losing interest.

Take me Places and Tell Me I’m Pretty

In case you didn’t know, I became a travel agent right before COVID hit. Not my smartest business move ever, but after traveling to Egypt, I decided I needed a kickback on our travel. Since that time, we have explored different cruise lines, countries, and areas of the US in new ways. When you are ready to travel, be sure to reach out so I can share my experiences and expertise with you.

Italy was AMAZING!

We just returned from two weeks in Italy. While we had stopped in a few ports of Italy on a cruise, we had never really spent a lot of time in Italy. For me personally, two weeks was more than enough. We flew into Florence, stayed a few days, then drove to Cortona, then back to Florence on the way home. One of the things I learned was that I will never fly into Florence again, that airport is a shit show.

Here’s a run down of some of the things I learned:

  • Tuscan bread has no salt. It’s pretty awful. Except for the focaccia. More on that in the next post.
  • I don’t care for most of the red wine in Tuscany.
  • They take their food SERIOUSLY!
  • They take their coffee very seriously. John didn’t have a bad cup of coffee the entire trip. And don’t order a cappuccino after 11 am.
  • Pici is my new favorite pasta, and I am hoping a certain restaurant in my ‘hood will make it a special one of these days. More on that soon.
  • Wild boar ragu and Chianina ragu are amazing. I knew about the wild boar, but it was astounding in Italy! Chianina was a whole new thing for me. More on that soon as well.
  • In the center of Florence, the streets are so narrow and none of them paved (all stones) that the cars, bicycles, and pedestrians share the streets. The drivers honk or ring a bell to get you out of their way.
  • Michaelangelo’s David is truly marvelous.
  • The Birth of Venus by Botticelli made me incapable of speech it was so gorgeous.
  • I’ve got to learn to pack lighter! None of the places we stayed in Italy had elevators, and dragging suitcases up steps is my idea of horror. I think all of the accommodations we enjoyed were in buildings over 200 years old.
  • Getting back your VAT is a pain the ass and not worth the trouble unless you buy a LOT of high-end goods.
  • I ate more truffles in two weeks in Italy than I did the entire past year.
  • White truffles should only be eaten raw as a garnish and black truffles should always be cooked. More on truffles and our truffle hunt soon.
  • The Perugina chocolate factory MAY in fact be the first factory to have on site childcare! When the men were called to war in WWI, and the women went to work in the factory, childcare was set up on site. Even though the factory has a new location, the childcare center still exists on site.
  • Pistachios and Pecorino are good on nearly everything!

Stay tuned for more of our adventures. In the meantime, go check out my Facebook page or my Instagram to see pics of the adventures! Oh and BTW – did you know you can SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a spoonful? Well, you can…and I don’t share your info with anyone.