Our Top 12 Experiences

Today marks exactly a year since we landed in Italy. And what a year it’s been! We’ve covered a lot of territory in that time, and seen and done many wonderful things. But if you asked us has it been what we expected, the answer would be yes … and no.

Certainly we expected to love Italy – ancient cities, great culture, fabulous food. What’s not to love? It’s all been amazing.

But what we hadn’t anticipated was the difference people would make. We’ve formed some lasting friendships here, which has been both surprising and wonderful. And we’ve also been touched by many kind, generous and funny people we’ve met along the way. It’s those relationships and interactions that have had the biggest impact on us.

It’s not surprising, then, that when we reflect on the things we’ve enjoyed most over the past year, many of them involve people. So here – in no particular order – is the list of our top twelve experiences of the past twelve months.

Rome in the Snow
In January Rome experienced its most significant snowfall in decades. They’re not used to snow in the capital, so what for other cities is standard winter weather, instead brought Rome to a standstill. While it was an inconvenience for some, it was a once-in-a-lifetime event for many others, including us.

Raw Prawns
In Puglia we ate our fair share of delicious, fresh seafood, but a couple of experiences stand out in our memories; on the wharf in Gallipoli following the lead of a local fisherman and popping raw prawns straight off the boat into our mouths, and in Monopoli watching the divers gather sea urchins from the harbour and lining up a couple of hours later for a delicious ricci lunch.

Singing Nuns
One Tuesday afternoon in October we sat in a dark chapel on the outskirts of Ferrara, waiting. At exactly 3.00pm, in a private chapel on the other side of a small metal grille, the Sisters of Sant’Antonio in Polesine began singing the Prayer of the Ninth Hour. Only about a dozen nuns remain in the closed monastery today, and many of them are elderly, but to hear those women raise up their voices in prayer, just as others have done in that place for 800 years, was an experience we won’t forget.

A White Christmas
Christmas markets and carol singers, sparkling snow under bright blue skies, hands warming around a steaming cup of spritz caldo, catching snowflakes as they fall from the sky, beautiful voices singing ‘Stille Nacht’ at the end of midnight mass. We loved our first white Christmas in Ortisei in the Dolomite Mountains.

Food with Friends
We’ve had many fabulous meals here in Italy but without doubt, those we’ve enjoyed most have been shared with friends…

• Borgosesia, Piedmont, in the home of the wonderful Piccios (our beautiful family away from family) who prepare delicious local dishes for us from recipes passed down through generations
• Lucca, Tuscany, in the garden of friends, at a long table under the wisteria, sharing conversation, wine and pizzas straight from the wood-fired oven
• Bologna, Emilia Romagna, at a favourite little restaurant behind the city’s famous Towers, with Patrizia and Franco and Tina and Antonio, dear friends who are generous and loving
• Gallipoli Puglia, at a restaurant serving some of the best food we’ve eaten, when a planned early night turned into a very long and enjoyable one shared with three shipwrecked Norwegian sailors (really!), and
• Montalbano, Sicily, with Zia Pina and Zio Nicola, dear relatives of some Australian friends, at a tiny trattoria where the owners brought out plate after plate of delicious local foods we’d never heard of but couldn’t stop eating.

Mosaics and Frescoes
There must be more lavishly decorated buildings per square kilometre in Italy than anywhere else in the world. We’ve visited so many and with each one we think, ‘surely it can’t get any more elaborate than this’? Yet somehow it often does. There are a few, though, that we find ourselves reflecting upon most often; the extraordinary mosaics of Ravenna and Brescia, and the spectacular indulgent beauty of Palazzo Te in Mantua.

Hiking in the Alps
There’s something about hiking at altitude (apart from being short of breath). It’s good for the soul to be standing in silence, surrounded by soaring peaks and deep valleys, and it inevitably delivers a perspective check. We love joining the Piccios on their regular hikes in Piedmont and the simple, delicious lunches we enjoy along the way are always an important part of the day!

Milan
We expected so little of this major northern city, and it delivered so much: the amazing Duomo, great architecture, clever integration of old and new, fine art, pretty Christmas markets, football in the snow and endless window shopping (who can afford to buy anything in that city?).

Abruzzo
We seem to have a ‘thing’ for Abruzzo and, in particular, for the village of Pescocostanzo. We arrived there by almost chance, following a suggestion by a man we’d met in another region. And then also by chance (at least by Google accommodation search) we happened upon a little B&B called La Rua. What followed was several days of exploring the towns, lakes and national parks of this spectacular region. But it was the people of Pescocostanzo who made it a special experience, people who’ve lived in this small village all their lives and who welcome visitors as though they are family.

Churches
It can sometimes seem a bit like ‘seen one, seen them all’ when it comes to churches – certainly that’s true for Greg – but even he acknowledges that we’ve visited some extraordinary churches. And it’s not just about what is sometimes jaw-dropping opulence. Great architecture has made many of these buildings works of art in themselves, elsewhere the masterpieces are contained within the churches. And some of the most memorable have been simple chapels carved into rock a couple of thousand years ago.

Spettacoli
We’ve seen a number of great shows here in Italy but two that stand out are the Pavarotti Tribute Concert in the Roman Arena in Verona, and a performance of Euripides’ tragedy Heracles at the ancient Greek Theatre in Syracuse, Sicily. We understood scarcely a word, but the actors were so accomplished and the staging so good we were enthralled for the entire performance.

Bologna
The more we see of Italy, the more we appreciate Bologna. Certainly there are bigger, more important and, possibly, even more beautiful cities, but Bologna is our anchor in Italy. It was our landing point, our ‘first’ city. All the reasons we chose Bologna still hold true; it’s the right size for us, it’s a University town so there’s a great culture and vibe, it’s a city that values its history, it’s the centre of fabulous Italian food and it’s an ideal base for exploring. We’re heading back to Bologna for a few months towards the end of the year and we know it will feel like coming ‘home’.

Our Top 12