here is the view that made me forget i didn’t take a shower for 4 days :)
well, i just came back from italy. 4 days, 6 cities, 0 hostels. basically homeless in a country i don’t speak the language.
and it was best trip of my life.
getting there
i didn’t really plan this trip. i just booked a flight to bratislava. then i found another cheap flight from vienna to venice. and it’s only 1 hour by bus between bratislava and vienna, cheap and fast. in total it was much cheaper than a direct flight to venice. so i thought why not.
well, everything was going smoothly until i was waiting for the bus from bratislava to vienna. it never showed up. just didn’t come. if you wonder, it was the green bus company, you know the one. while i was waiting, i realized my vienna to venice flight was in a few hours. no panic, maybe a little :)
then i immediately took a city bus to bratislava center. then i got a slovaklines bus to vienna. i arrived but it was almost too late. i ran through vienna airport to my gate. my headphones were playing “laisse tomber les filles”, and after that moment the bassline of this song always feels like being in a rush.
made the flight though. that’s what matters. to be honest, i was lucky to have only my backpack with me. i always travel with just a backpack, but this time it was a lifesaver.
btw, i recommend using “vaporetto” in venice. i used it from the airport to the san marco square, and it was also a great experience.
the plan
as i said, there wasn’t one. venice, milan, rome, florence, pisa, la spezia, cinque terre (manarola, riomaggiore). all in 4 days. sounds insane when i write it, and it actually was. slept on buses every night between cities. that’s why i usually took the long-distance buses.
was it a good idea? maybe. comfortable? absolutely not. my back still hurts. but in the end it was worth it, because the experience was priceless.
the only exception was the first day. i arrived in venice in the evening, and i was planning to walk around until morning to see the sunrise. but let me tell you what happened :)
i bought a local beer from a random shop and the owner was a turkish guy. we started talking, i met his friends. they were super friendly and one of his friends, ibrahim, invited me to his place in mestre, it’s the mainland part of venice. i ended up sleeping on his couch. that was the only night i slept in a bed during the trip.
the reality
no shower for 4 days. ate whatever was cheap, though i spoiled myself a few times :) walked until my feet hurt, then kept walking.
but rome at 6am with empty streets? but manarola at sunset? venice and florence before tourists wake up? you can’t buy that. i watched the sunrise at piazzale michelangelo in florence, and it was one of the most beautiful things i’ve ever seen.
the worst conditions make the best memories somehow. the lack of sleep, the hunger, the exhaustion… to be honest, i didn’t even care about them when i was there. i didn’t even realize how tired i was until i got back home.
how can i forget this moment? after a tiring day, i was just chilling in front of the colosseum, and then i started singing “bosvermisim dunyaya” by ajda pekkan. i can’t describe the feeling, it was just… perfect.
my bus to florence was in 1 hour when i recorded this, but i didn’t even care. i just wanted to enjoy the moment, and i did.
the construction site incident
after singing in front of the colosseum, i took metro to tiburtina bus station. i was hoping to find a toilet there, but no luck. went to the tiburtina train station right next to it, but toilets were closed. checked the metro station toilets, also closed. in an hour, i was about to take a 4-hour bus to florence. i mean, you can imagine the situation.
saw someone cleaning the metro station nearby and told him i needed a toilet. he didn’t say much, i followed him. he took me to a construction site surrounded by iron fences. he knocked on the iron door, and a worker came out.
they started speaking in italian. he didn’t look happy about it, but the cleaner tried his best to explain the situation. so, he let me in. there was a portable toilet inside a container. so yeah, that’s how i found a toilet in rome :)
honestly, i wonder if any other tourist in italy has ever experienced something like this. maybe some other backpackers too, but not everyone, i guess.
anyway, i don’t know why i told you all of this, but let’s just say it saved my life. then i took the bus to florence, and the story continues…
the rest
well i really want to write about all the days, other unforgettable moments, the people i met, the food i ate, i mean everything but it’s too much to write in one post. i mean, how much i’ve experienced in just 4 days, it’s incredible. writing this makes me want to go back already :)
just one thing though, la spezia was the highlight of the trip. it was the only city where i didn’t feel like a tourist. it was the only city where i felt like i could actually live there. it’s a pure-italian city, not much tourists (most of them are just passing through to go to cinque terre). just pure, authentic italy. i’ll definitely go back there one day.
so don’t pass through la spezia just to go to cinque terre. cinque terre is amazing, but i really recommend you to see la spezia first, then go to cinque terre. you won’t regret it.
what i learned
sometimes you need to be uncomfortable to feel alive. sleeping in beds is overrated anyway.
also, italians are way nicer than people say. it’s very easy to have a talk with them. but you should probably not order a coffee with caramel. because when i did, the waitress just looked at me and said “are you french?” lol.
though, she was super nice and gave me a free “sfogliatella”. that’s why i love italians. they’re just… nice :)
would i do it again
already planning the next one. if you’re reading this and thinking “i could never”, you probably could. you just haven’t tried yet. i mean, i’m not an expert at this stuff. i just booked a flight and went. that’s it. everything else just happens. you figure it out, and that’s the beauty of it.
best 4 days of my life. i mean it. i really do…