Hotel Reviews: Milan, Florence, and Rome

Something I never write about on here is where you should stay if you're visiting Italy. That's because I usually bop through a town in one day; being the stingy traveler that I am, I'd rather walk around for 7+ hours and cram everything into one day than pay for a hotel or hostel. But in traveling with my family over the past week, hotels were obviously necessary. We spent two and a half days based in Milan, three and a half days based in Florence, and four and a half days based in Rome - plenty of time to decide whether or not the hotels we stayed in were worth a recommendation or not.

Like many of my travel decisions, I turned to Rick Steves for his God-like advice while choosing hotels, and 2 out of the 3 we stayed in came from his Italy book. I began booking for our late-December trip in mid-October, and I wouldn't suggest waiting much longer than that if you plan to visit during a busy tourist time (unfortunately, Christmas/New Years is definitely a busy tourist time).

Milan - Hotel Palazzo delle Stelline

Palazzo delle Stelline is a good choice if you prefer to be farther away from the busy, touristy city center of Milan. Because 99%  of Milan's main attractions are clustered around the Duomo, so are 99% of the hotels. The majority of these are gimmicky and overpriced. You might think you're getting a good deal given their location, but you can save 100 Euros by choosing something a little less flashy and a little further away.

Palazzo delle Stelline is a quiet hotel in Milan that used to function as a monastery. You won't wake up next to the Duomo, but you will be right across the street from Santa Maria Delle Grazie, home of Da Vinci's Last Supper, and a ten minute walk from Cadorna Station, where you can access any of Milan's three metro lines and an express train to Malpensa Airport. To get to the Duomo area, it's just a 15 minute walk in more or less a straight line. You'll be amongst locals and have plenty of bars and cafes to pop into along your way - you'll notice that they're considerably less expensive and less crowded further away from the Duomo area.

TripAdvisor has been a bit too harsh to Palazzo delle Stelline, in my opinion. Most complaints are directed towards "boring rooms which lack charm," and "meager breakfast offerings." Like I said, if you want a lavish room, book near the Duomo, but be prepared for a lavish price. Our rooms at Palazzo delle Stelline were tidy, clean, had comfortable beds and functioning bathrooms. You don't need much more when you're spending the entire day outside sightseeing, anyway. As for the breakfast, I think we all agreed that Palazzo delle Stelline had a pretty good spread. You'll find the typical Italian breakfast fare; croissants and pastries, slices of cheese and ham, coffee and orange juice - but there's also a good selection of American fare, like bacon, eggs, cereal, yogurt, and fruit.

Single room: around 100 Euros/night
Double room: around 175 Euros/night
Suite: around 205 Euros/night

Florence - Locanda de'Ciompi

We were all rather impressed with Locanda de'Ciompi. With only 5 rooms, it's less of a hotel and more of a bed and breakfast. I'm surprised we managed to get two rooms during the busy holiday time.

The owner is Alessio, and we all found him to be incredibly warm and welcoming. He clearly would have been quick to answer any of our questions - had we had any. The rooms are spacious and very charming, and the bathrooms were very nice as well.

The best thing about Locanda de'Ciompi is its location. It's a very quick ten minute walk to Piazza del Duomo. Located right in the piazza, the hard to miss cathedral of Florence is a good orientation point for getting around. The main streets that you'll take to get to other sights in the city all fan out from the piazza, making it very easy to walk anywhere. From the piazza, it's another ten minutes to get to the Santa Maria Novella train station. This is very convenient if you plan to do a day trip from Florence, or, if you're coming/going and have lots of luggage, it's only a 10-15 Euro cab ride to/from the hotel.

Breakfast was complimentary at the cafe next door and included juice, your choice of a form of caffeine, biscuits, and croissants. Not as much selection as other hotels, but I think everyone shares my sentiment that you'll want to save your calories for dinner, anyway.

Prices fluctuate depending on whether you're visiting in the midst of tourism season or not.

Single room: 50-60 Euros
Double room: 60-85 Euros
Triple room: 90-130 Euros

Rome - Hotel Portoghesi

If you've ever seen Eat, Pray, Love, the scene where Julia Roberts gets out of a cab in Rome for the first time is shot right outside Hotel Portoghesi. Like our Florence hotel, what we liked most about this one was its fabulous location.

Rome can be incredibly confusing at first. It's rather vast and depending on where your hotel is, getting to a certain area for sightseeing can end up being costly or very time consuming. From Hotel Portoghesi, however, we were able to walk to each major area of Rome without much difficulty. It's situated right on the river and takes about 15 minutes to get to the Vatican, 30 minutes to walk to the Colosseum/ruins area (longer if you stop along the way to look at other things) and about 20 minutes to get to the north Rome/Spanish Steps area. You could feasibly walk to the Roma Termini train station as well, but with luggage, we found it easier to take a cab.

The rooms had slightly more charm than those of Milan, but lacked the character of our Florence hotel. The bathrooms were nice as well, and breakfast was average (assortment of carbs in the form of pastries and cereals, various juices, milk, and coffee). Nothing overly spectacular, but again, it's not like we planned to spend our time in the hotel anyway. With Hotel Portoghesi, the price is definitely due to the location.

Single room: 160 Euros
Double room: 200 Euros
Suite: 260 Euros

All bathrooms included complimentary soap, shampoo, and hairdryers.
All hotels charged an extra tax: about 2-3 Euros per person, per night.

I Tried Venice Again And I Still Didn't Like It

After I visited Venice in September, I thought perhaps I was a bit too harsh in what I said about it. It is a gorgeous Italian city, after all; full of history and fantastic scenery and charming buildings. Maybe I was too mean when I called it the Wisconsin Dells of Italy.

So, when my family was here last week, I decided to give Venice another chance. After all, it is one of those bucket list things - it's cool to be able to say you've seen Venice. I thought we might regret not stopping by... we were in the area, after all.

So, Milan got the short end of the stick (one rainy evening and a few hours the following morning) so that we could spend the majority of the day in Venice. We arrived around 2pm and had tickets back to Milan booked for 8pm. This was about the same amount of time I had there on my first visit.

To refresh, what irked me about Venice the first time was how fake it seemed. The massive influx of tourists on a daily basis has forced Venice to adapt; thus, 90% of stores, restaurants, and sights on the tiny island cater towards an international audience at the cost of their Italian authenticity. Food is overpriced and souvenirs are mass produced. None of this was any different the second time around.

Another major negative to Venice are the crowds. My first visit was in late September, near the end of the summer/fall tourist rush. Even then, it was freakishly crowded. The second time around, it was late December - also a busy tourist time, and there were even more people packed into Venice's narrow streets than before.

Nevertheless, we plodded through the crowds and hopped on a water bus, which my mother likened to cattle being herded into a pen. Really, there was not an open space on that boat. The boat took us down the Grand Canal, which after trudging through the streets of Venice a few times now, I'd have to say is the way to go. You'll be able to see Venice's charm and beauty without the stress and confusion of navigating the hundreds of twisting alleys by foot. If I ever return, I think I'll just ride around on water busses all day and venture onto dry land only for food. Another perk of the water busses; the price. Venice is known for its gondola rides, which cost upwards of 80 Euros per hour. A water bus gives you more or less the same views of Venice - albeit with a few strangers along for the ride - but at a much lower price; 5 Euros for an hours' worth of bus transfers. You can also get a day long or 3 day long pass - each of which are still cheaper than one hour on a gondola.

We boated to Piazza San Marco with the thought that we could then spend the remaining time ambling back to the train station. The first time I visited, I would have loved to climb the tower in Piazza San Marco, enter the Dodge's Palace, and go into the Basilica of San Marco, but the massive crowds pretty much ensured that those things would only be accomplished if I stood in line for the remainder of my twenties. This time was no different; the line to climb the tower stretched back ridiculously far, as did the line to enter the Dodge's Palace. The entrance to the basilica was quite crowded as well, but we squeezed in for a quick look.

I didn't know quite what to expect, given the exterior's very Byzantine look, but whatever I thought the interior would look like, it certainly wasn't pure gold. Nearly every surface of the inside was covered in gold and mosaics - it was all very stunning.

A quick panini and gelato later, we began the confusing task of getting back to the train station. Venice's streets are utterly infuriating - at least for me. I'm pretty sure the rest of my family was getting a bit annoyed as well, whether it was with my inability to properly navigate, or the disorienting state of the streets themselves. Probably a bit of both. In any case, if you plan to visit Venice, I suggest actually studying the map beforehand, and using whatever sort of GPS feature you might have on your phone. You can try to follow the signs on buildings, which will direct you a certain way for a sight. The problem is, however, that with such twisting streets, there are about a hundred and one ways to get to any given place, and the signs tend to lead you around in circles a few times before you actually reach your destination.

After wandering around somewhat aimlessly among the hordes of people for the better part of 4 hours, we were all ready for a rest and some dinner. Now, I'm sure there is a beautiful, delicious, reasonably priced gem of a restaurant tucked away somewhere in Venice - somewhere that only the locals are aware of. We did not eat at that mystical, unknown place.

Rather, a waiter took advantage of our exhausted, slightly perturbed state and lured us into his... er... fine establishment. Imagine one of those Party City stores in the U.S. that sell cheap, flimsy decorations for any sort of themed party you can think of. Now imagine you're walking down the Italy aisle of that store, and that will give you a spot-on idea of the interior of the restaurant we ate at. At that point, it was all we could do to just embrace the metallic silver streamers hanging from the ceiling and cardboard palm tree cutouts on the wall.

Like in my last post about Venice, I do have to give it some credit. I think everyone agreed that it's a very charming city, and at the very least, it's clear why so many people flock there. The buildings are full of character and the canals make everything utterly picturesque. Given enough time and patience, I'm sure the historic sights and museums are well-worth a visit, too. And, though overpriced, the food is certainly delicious.

If you have been to Venice and loved it, I am envious of your ability to do so. If you are planning to go at some point, don't listen to my cynical opinion because it really is just that - an opinion. I want to love Venice, and I want others who go there to love Venice. So here are my suggestions: give yourself two days and one night to allow for a more relaxed visit and plenty of time to accidently get lost (it will happen). Also, avoid visiting from May-October and over the holiday (end of December-beginning of January). Like most of Italy, Venice should be quieter and far less busy around November/early December, and late January to April. I really think that fewer crowds would make a big difference in the experience. Finally, understand that you're getting a manufactured Italian experience, not necessarily a real one. That doesn't make it bad, it just makes it... like the Disneyland of Italy. There, that's less harsh than comparing it to Wisconsin Dells, right?

Instagram Recap: October

Time really is a strange thing... my second month in Milan has flown by, yet I simultaneously feel as though I've lived here forever. The weather has gotten a bit chillier - meaning, it's consistently in the low 60's instead of the high 60's. It's also rained quite a bit. Apparently, it doesn't snow here until mid-December. Coming from Wisconsin/Minnesota, the lack of snow will be a welcome change! Here are some Instagram favorites from October. 

Halloween in Italy: Greta and I made these pumpkin cupcakes to take to her class on Halloween. Yes, they do celebrate it in Italy, but apparently it has only just gotten popular in the past decade or so. A few storefronts were decorated and I saw a couple kids running around in costumes, but overall it's not quite as big of a deal as it is in the States.

Fall in Italy = squash, pumpkins, and chestnuts at the market down the road from my apartment. Are roasted chestnuts a thing in the States? I feel as though they must be in the bigger cities like New York, but I've personally never experienced them until coming here. All of the little street foot carts around the Duomo sell roasted chestnuts. If you've never had them, they taste...kind of like ham.

My coffee prayers were answered when I stumbled upon Arnold Coffee.

Countdown to Christmas by the ever so artistic Tobia! He loves Christmas as much as I do, if that's possible, and he's filled me in on all the holiday festivities in Milan. I'm looking forward to an enormous tree in Piazza del Duomo and lights and decorations all over the city. I also learned that in one of the buildings surrounding the Piazza, somebody plays Christmas carols from a window and is joined by a new instrument every day leading up to Christmas, until there's practically a full orchestra on Christmas Eve.

InterNations threw a party to celebrate 1,000,000 members. Or maybe it was their 10 year anniversary. Or maybe... honestly, I have no idea what it was for. I went with a friend at the last minute and therefore didn't RSVP for the event. I feigned ignorance at the door when they told me I wasn't on the list and somehow managed to sweet talk my way in. I'm glad I did, because the cake pictured above was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten.

"Madonna and Child" by Andrea Mantega. This is a wonderfully restored original in the Bergamo art museum. Mantega was a Renaissance genius and all, but I can't help but think Jesus looks a bit...odd? Like he's all strung out on heroin or something. Maybe the Three Kings brought too much frankincense.

Sample of the words Tobia had to memorize for an English spelling test. As hard as it's been for me to truly learn Italian, it's always interesting to see it the other way around. English really is a difficult language, and trying to figure out how to explain to Tobia why coffee had a C and not a K reminded me of that. Or, as he put it: "But so many rules! Why can't one sound come from one letter?" Though I did applaud his creativity with "coke" - good use of the "ou" combination.

Ceiling frescoes in the Bergamo cathedral - definitely one of the most beautiful cathedral interiors I've seen to date.

Castelvecchio selfies in Verona

Eerie trip to the Monumental Cemetery in Milan. Multiply this photo by 1,000,000 and you'll have the massive burial ground that is the Monumental Cemetery. All of the crypts and statues are a photographer's dream. (Post coming soon!)

Pure joy after trudging up an ancient mule track to reach the crumbling ruins of the castle in Vezia, overlooking Lake Como...

...and this awesome view from the top!

Speaking of awesome views, here's Verona from the top of the Lambert Tower.

And the inside of the Verona Arena, where concert prep was taking place.

Baking chocolate chip cookies with the kids. My first baking attempt here was definitely a learning experience. First of all, measuring in grams and mL was an odd change from using cups and tablespoons. Second, the oven in the house is absolutely ancient. You have to turn on the gas and then physically light it with a flame. It pretty much just has an on/off setting; no temperature options. Needless to say, these cookies came out pretty burnt.

Finally, some confusing live street art on Via Dante. Always a good way to end another month in Milan. Really though, how is this happening...?

Bergamo: Citta Alta

Bergamo is a small Italian town just 40 minutes north of Milan. It's popular in the winter for skiing due to its location at the foot of the Alps. It is divided into two parts: the lower, more modern area, and the upper area, or Citta Alta. The Citta Alta area is one of four towns in Northern Italy that is still completely surrounded by its old, Venetian walls.

Citta Alta is full of twisting, winding streets, small specialty shops, and stunning views of the Alps and lower Bergamo. A piece of real estate in Citta Alta is some of the most expensive in Italy, and its small size makes for a competitive market. It's a cozy, private little town and people flock here, especially in the winter.

But for history lovers, the real draw is the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.

It's one of the more unusual cathedrals I've come across and can best be described as a hodge podge of architectural styles built over and around each other, all piled upon the original site: a Roman temple to the goddess Clemence dating back to the first few centuries.

Portions of the ancient Roman foundation can be seen in a basement-level museum underneath the cathedral. It's not much to look at via a computer screen, but to literally walk among the thousand year old artifacts, floors, walls, and columns is eerie and humbling.

Around the 8th century, a small church dedicated to St. Mary was built over the original Roman site. Fragments of frescoes are still visible from that particular renovation.

In 1137, the foundation for the majority of what still stands today was began. A bell tower was added in the 1400's, the final portal was completed in 1521, and after a few 17th century modifications, the cathedral was finished. Though it still looks a bit unfinished, don't you think? Kind of looks like it's in the midst of an identity crisis; unsure as to whether it wants to be simple and medieval or fashionable and gothic.

In any case, the interior is pretty magnificent. The frescoes are gorgeous and everything is trimmed with gold. The majority of the inside work was done in the 17th-18th centuries, so it has a lighter, less depressing look to it, as opposed to the dark, gloomy cathedral interiors of centuries prior.

Bergamo also has a number of bell towers, one of which you can climb up to the top for spectacular city views (I feel like I use some variation of "spectacular city views" in nearly every post...)

But really, how else am I supposed to describe these views?

If you're into skiing, I could see why Bergamo is a great place to stay for the winter. Otherwise, it makes for a good day trip. The train ride from Milan is short and cheap, and it's just a fifteen minute walk from the Bergamo station to the lift that takes you up to Citta Alta. Aside from the cathedral, there's also a small but impressive collection of northern Renaissance art, a castle-turned history museum (closed when I visited), and enough shopping and dining options to fill out the day. All in all, a charming little town.