Talley Your Adventure – The Blog

High on most people’s bucket list is crossing off the magical land of Italy. Talley Your Adventure was able to do this back in 2010, and boy! Did we have the time of our lives!

Italy is a large country that will take you more than just a couple days to explore. At the time, we had the Eurorail Unlimited passes for those under the age of 30, and it was an amazing experience. We upgraded into first class tickets, which really meant for us we were guaranteed a place to put our backpacks. Many of the trains that are used throughout Europe, while fast and reliable, don’t necessarily account for space for a large backpack. If you do plan to travel internationally out of a backpack, be sure to take these things into consideration.

To visit Pisa, we ended up taking a train for a day trip to the town and walking around until we found the leaning tower. It was a little strange to walk into an open field while navigating through a busy neighborhood to see a leaning tower that really isn’t as big as it seems in the pictures…but definitely worth the experience! Don’t be afraid to take the local transportation for a day trip to see sites near large cities. We only stayed in Venice, Florence, and Rome when we visited Italy but still were able to go out during the day to see other parts of Italy. Find a home base!

One of our home bases was Venice, which was a gorgeous city with winding stone streets and gorgeous building facades. The store fronts hold majestic Italian leather purses from all sorts of designers – and you know they are authentic. I could really believe that the designer himself was living behind the stone walls of the store, waiting for an independent order to come through for a personalized designer purse.

Walking is highly encouraged in the city of Venice – and try not to be on an agenda. Strolling through the streets and getting truly lost is part of the experience of visiting Venice. You feel like you end up on different parts of the city or maybe circling for a period of time – in any case, the people, the sites, and smells are worth the adventure.

One of the places that your strolling should bring you is to the Rialto Bridge. This expansion of stone covers the Grand Canal. Spend time not just next to it, but walking over it and stopping to watching the gondolas float by is amazing! We did not end up going on a gondolas ride, but we did enjoy watching them in various places during our time staying in Venice.

Another city on our list while spending a couple days in Italy was the beautiful city of Florence. Some tips – even if you do buy the Eurorail pass, be sure to make sure that you know which train or bus to take and be very patient and understanding if you end up in the wrong place and have an officer approach you. This happened to us while traveling through Italy – they simply want to check your ticket and if you are in fact on the wrong train or bus, they will direct you accordingly. You can always get off at the next stop and wait for the correct transportation! This is part of the travel excitement, but don’t let it bring you down during your travels. Even if you get a ticket or charged extra or end up in the wrong place (we have stories!) it will be okay! Keep calm, cool, and collected when trying to solve any of your travel problems.

When we did end up in the correct city, one of our goals was to see the statue of David. We ended up standing in line, chatting with travelers from all over the world as we waited about two hours to finally enter the Accademia Museum to see Michealangelo’s masterpiece. While we ended up waiting in line, you could take a faster approach and book a tour where you usually get to the front of the line with a group. We have done this in many different cities, but chose to wait in line and chat with people in line this time around. It was a lot of fun getting to know Italians from across their country and other international travelers during our wait.

Italy, even in the winter months, is a busy place that is popular not just for Americans, but for fellow Europeans as well. Say ‘excuse me’, be polite, and don’t be afraid to wait in a line – you might see something really cool! I still need to write about our time in Rome – make sure to continue following us so you can read more about our adventures!