8 Lessons from Italy
For as often as I’ve traveled to Italy, my latest trip offered a completely new experience – for many reasons.
In the darkness of recent events, I hit pause on my newsletter. Anything I had to say seemed trivial to what is happening around the world. Last week, I considered sending a quick note to remind of the lightness in the world – sharing blurbs of happy news to give a moment of reprieve from the tunnel of helplessness that many of us feel stuck in as we watch the horrific headlines. Instead, I felt it was more important to pause all together as none of my words or reassurance was going to help.
I decided to go ahead with this week’s newsletter as for many of us, travel heals; it’s a genre that’s common ground and I’ve been wanting to share some of my new findings from my latest trip to northern Italy. When I look at this list, it, again, feels trivial in this time of hatred – and this is certainly not a disregard of current events – but it’s also a reminder to be grateful for the moments that might seem small but in hindsight are actually quite meaningful. It’s a reminder not to take travel for granted, nor health, family and love. It’s a reminder of how great the world can be when we accept cultures and humans for who they are and open our hearts to learning.
For as often as I’ve traveled to Italy, my latest trip offered a completely new experience – for many reasons. Namely: I was traveling with my family (i.e. not for work for the first time in a very long time) and we visited a new region – which meant many “new” factors, including regional customs, ingredients, cuisine, drinks, and landscapes. So instead of sharing my two-week itinerary with you (which will soon be available for sale should you be interested), I wanted to share this mixture of realizations – some silly, some enlightening, some sentimental.
Our path consisted of Portofino (flew into Milan) - Monforte d’Alba - Torino - Lake Como. Prior to traveling, we were anxiously watching the weather apps as the weeks leading up to our trip were an utter wash out, complete with downpours and thunderstorms. Luckily, we were pleasantly surprised with the weather throughout our entire trip to northern Italy. From the coast to Como, the sun’s heat felt stronger than mid-70s and the evening only brought a chill that warranted a light sweater, never a jacket. Of course, weather is unpredictable but I was in Rome and Tuscany around the same time last year (the last week of September into mid-October) and it was just as balmy. The Italians call it Ottabrata Romana, or “second summer” as it’s a consistent period where the extreme heat drops off; crowds wane and it reassured that shoulder season is the best time to visit should your schedule allow.
Another overarching theme of the trip: As much as I love hotels, there are some spectacular Airbnbs out there. Staying at an Airbnb has a number of benefits – they can be stunning, allow groups to capitalize on their time together, provide laundry services (which comes in handy for longer trips), and are often more locally-central, which promises a more immersive travel experience. As much as I try to stray from tourist zones when I’m at hotels, there’s still an extended feeling of foreignness when you return to an accommodation where everyone around you speaks perfect English. There’s also elements you don’t perceive until you’re staying around locals. For example, in Torino, we stayed in a very local neighborhood that was about a 20-minute walk from the main center – we were treated to local customs (and prices) which forced us to live at the pace of la dolce vita. Usually, at hotels, I wake up and automatically sloth over to the in-room coffee machine or grab one and go, but in this part of town, we had to wait for cafes to open – around 10 a.m. – and when they did open, many of them were traditional so they encouraged you to sit and stay awhile. This wasn’t a bad thing, just a reminder that life doesn’t have to be so hurried.
Surrounded by pesto Moving onto regional specific findings… We started our trip in Portofino, more specifically, Santa Margherita Ligure (SML), so we were in the heart of pesto-land. The basil, garlic, pine nut and olive oil-based paste originated in Genoa – and as a commune of Genoa, everywhere we went in SML featured pesto on the menu (traditionally served with tajarin pasta). As one of my favorite pasta dishes, admittedly, I loved learning that this region was its native. But, I also learned that – just like in the U.S. – not everyone uses pine nuts in this paste. Locally, the saying goes, “if you don’t make your pesto with pine nuts, you should be kicked out of Genoa,” but we still found a surprising amount of restaurants and purveyors who used a mix of nuts – namely walnuts. They do this as it’s cheaper to make by the mass, so it was particularly common in tourist-trodden venues. Now, why am I going on about this? Well, I am allergic to walnuts – it’s a very specific allergy as I can eat pine nuts, almonds, etc. – but walnuts are a no go. So, everywhere I went, I asked just in case. And I’m so glad I did! The first spot we ate at (when I was hangry and jetlagged nonetheless) used walnuts, but the silver lining was my fresh clam linguine, which tasted perfect adjacent to the sea. Even if you’re not allergic, you should ask – it’s a hyper-local dish that the region is known for, and you want to order quality so if the restaurant you’re at isn’t using pine nuts in their pesto (this could be applied to any popular dish), what else are they skimping on?
On a controversial note, I wasn’t impressed by Cinque Terre. It’s so over-run by tourists that there is a lack of authenticity or personality. I didn’t find individuality in each town and it was a little upsetting for as many articles I’d bookmarked about the “must-see region” from some notable publications. I’d go as far as recommending to skip it for towns that feature similar architecture like Santa Margherita Ligure, Camogli or Rapallo.
The rolling hills and villages of Piedmont A highlight of my Cinque Terre trip was discovering Marinara pizza. While I love cheese, I try to limit my dairy intake when I can. A trip to Italy is not a time to do so, but, when we came across this beachside pizza restaurant that offered a tomato-based pie with garlic oil, shaved garlic and oregano, it seemed like as good as time as any to revert to no dairy. I became obsessed and realized it’s not novel, but I just didn’t know what it was on other menus – so I started trying it everywhere I saw it. None were quite as delectable as the beachside pizza, but I highly recommend it for a lighter meal or for anyone avoiding dairy.
Moving onto beverages… As a wine writer, I’m constantly learning of new grapes and varieties. I can never turn my brain off, even on vacation, so I was thrilled to be in this region and to taste some of the famed wines I was used to, like Barolo, Barbaresco and Barbera d’Asti, but also to learn about and become entranced by lesser enjoyed varieties in the past. A few that I was really taken by included: Pigato (a crisp, dry white that made for perfect sunset sipping in SML), Dolcetto (a medium-bodied red made with juicy fruit), and Lugana (a mineral forward, lesser produced style by Lake Garda).
The view from our Lake Como Airbnb Meet Larry. After a dip in Lake Como, we decided it was a good time to check what creatures lived in the lake. To our surprise, likened to Scotland’s Loch Ness, Lake Como allegedly has its own lake monster, Lariosauro, aka Larry for short. We didn’t see Larry during our four days there, but it was an interesting tidbit that became a hot dinner topic.
Last, and certainly not least: I missed traveling with my whole family. Since I started traveling professionally, I’ve been fortunate enough to have individual members tag along on trips but I haven’t had the chance to travel with all my family in nearly a decade. The trip was a belated celebration from 2020 for my mom and brother’s milestone birthdays, and even though we used that as a reason to travel, we all agreed that we don’t want to wait for those “reasons” anymore. It had been too long since we’d all been together experiencing a new part of the world and all the novelty that comes along with it. Yes, big celebrations deserve big trips, but even a couple days or small weekends in a new place here and there are so important. Don’t forget to travel somewhere with your loved ones, whether your family, friends or partner.
Some recent clips:
8 Unique Red Wines to Enjoy as the Weather Cools Down
Celebrate Life’s Major Milestones in the Caribbean and Latin America