It has been a few days and we are relaxing in the sweet mountain town of Clusone. We departed Florence with heavy hearts as we had grown very attached to that sweet little city. Our AirBnb host was so accommodating (i.e. getting us mosquito repellant tabs) and very kind to us. Our apartment was lovely and became 'home' to us for a week's time. We even popped in to say 'hello!' to David. I did take notice of how much more respectful visitors were in this museum. It was PACKED but people were more aware of each other as we enjoyed the artwork. It was DANG HOT on our last full day there and those dark stones held onto the sun's heat and you could feel the bake when you went out in the evening. We decided to have our last supper at one of the first places we ate at upon our arrival.
Earlier in the week, we ventured to a restaurant that I had been eyeing up since arriving and we took our chances to see if we could get a table without a reservation. Tratttoria da Tito was spotlighted by Rick Steves many times - it is one of his faves and he was JUST THERE FOR DINNER on June 12 - two weeks before our visit. They were so accommodating and seated us right away. The food was delicious and the service was rambunctious. It was also the night I drank the most alcohol in quite some time. We were required to drink a shot of limoncello before we could leave and for some reason, I 'had' to have two!
We also visited the
Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella which dates back to 1221! Although it is based on Florence, there are boutiques around the world and if you want something special when it comes to either perfume (does anyone wear that anymore?) or foot lotion and you want to treat yourself, order a boxed set!
I had heard about a 'must do': enjoy a cocktail at the
Arno Roof Bar. Of course, it was too blazing hot to sit out on the rooftop, so we sat in the very warm indoor dining room to enjoy our beverages of choice and an
aperitivo (which I am going to replicate when I return back to the U.S.). If you do visit Florence during much more pleasant weather, I encourage you to pursue the experience but do not freak out when you see the bill as the drinks cost $20+ each. You are paying for the
experience. 😀 The view of the Arno is spectacular but it is the other side that was closed during our visit that you see the city view at its finest.
Our train ride from Florence to Bergamo was very calm and peaceful. Since we booked Lila's ticket after mine, we ended up in different cars but after a short while, she was able to join me in first class. I have no idea why she was such a grumpy face! 😆 I, on the other hand, was happy as a clam to sit down in an air conditioned vehicle for 3 1/2 hours and enjoy some free snacks on the way to our next adventure as I reflected on our spectacular time in Firenze.
My colleague, Lisa, met us at the Bergamo station with a car to transport us to our apartment in Clusone. Lisa and I work with
Lo Schiavo Genealogica, an agency that provides expert services on Italian genealogy and Italian dual citizenship services. If you even think you might qualify, contact Melanie for a free discovery call to find out if you might qualify! I just heard from another friend that 'googling best places to live outside of the US shot up by 6000 %' after the recent Supreme Court activities and one of the countries listed is Italy. Sign me up, baby!
The village is east of Milan and the first thing that I noticed is the much cooler temperatures. This is such a treat after the scorching days in Rome and Florence. It is heavenly cooler here. The other thing I noticed is the mountains! I haven't seen craggy peaks in quite a long time and I gasped at each sighting. Our apartment faces one of the ranges and offers a gorgeous view.
Being here is way low key. This is a tourist destination for Italians who live in Milan. Super cute homes, shops, and restaurants. We went out for a fabulous dinner (*) to celebrate our arrival (and thank Lisa for meeting us at the train station to escort us to town).
At the time of this writing, I haven't walked around town too much but we are going on a walking tour tomorrow but we have explored a few spots...
Lisa introduced me to one of our clients, Steven, who is in the process of securing his dual Italian citizenship and all of us headed to nearby Lovere and Lake Iseo for a fun lunch by the water. The town is so sweet! In 2018, Lovere was the only Lombardy town to finish in the top 20 of Italy's most beautiful towns. It is very clear why. I did manage to stick my tootsies in that water!
We came home with full bellies and a deep need for siesta. I took a little nap and then knocked out this blog post. As this trip of a lifetime winds down, I am really trying to stay in the moment and not fall into thinking too much about leaving. This country has been a little piece of heaven to me. The people....the food....the colors....the history....just wow. I thank you, dear reader, for being part of the adventure. Tomorrow, we tour Clusone and on Monday afternoon, Lila and I jump back on the train and head to Milan. We are staying in one of the airports by the hotel before I fly to Boston (wah) and she hops back on the train to continue her European Grand Tour in Venice.
Ciao!
Final Florence photos can be found
here.
To check out Clusone photos, you can find Day 1
here and Day 2
here.
(*) Those fried yummy goodness were deep friend gnocchi - YUM!
