You have just arrived in Italy, taken your first train ride and are now walking to your accomodation. You find yourself dragging your wheelie bag across cobblestones that were laid before your great-grandparents were born, the clatter echoing off Renaissance walls. At the same time, locals glide past in their linen pants and leather loafers, … Read more
Italy is one of the most visited countries in the world, and its major attractions—the Colosseum, the Vatican Museums, the Uffizi, Pompeii—sell out days, sometimes weeks, in advance. The system is complicated, the websites are confusing, and the scams are everywhere. I’ve made some of these mistakes myself, and I’ve watched countless other travelers make … Read more
Some travel experiences show you a place. Cooking classes let you taste it, knead it, and bring a piece of it home. There’s something deeply satisfying about standing in an Italian kitchen, your hands dusted with flour, learning to make pasta from scratch from someone who learned the exact same technique from their grandmother. It’s … Read more
When you step out of the metro station and see it looming against the Roman sky, you understand why it has survived for nearly two thousand years. This was no mere building. This was a statement of power, a monument to Roman engineering and ambition, and a stage for the most brutal and spectacular entertainment … Read more
When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, it didn’t just destroy this Roman settlement—it preserved it. The ash and pumice that buried the city acted as a time capsule, protecting buildings, frescoes, and even everyday objects from the elements for nearly two thousand years. What you’re walking through today is not a reconstruction. It’s the … Read more
The Vatican Museums are a city unto themselves. More than seven kilometers of corridors weave through this sprawling complex, past ancient sculptures, Renaissance frescoes, medieval tapestries, and modern art. It’s overwhelming in the best possible way. And at the very end of this marathon of masterpieces waits the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo’s ceiling, his Last Judgment, the … Read more
Most museums are collections of art. The Uffizi is something else entirely—it’s the reason Renaissance art exists in the form we know it today. This wasn’t built as a museum. It was built as a power move. When you walk through those long corridors, you’re tracing the footsteps of the Medici family, the bankers who … Read more
The Vatican Museums, for all their glory, can leave you shell-shocked, shuffling through endless corridors with a thousand other travelers. The Borghese Gallery is the opposite of that. It’s intimate, curated, and feels almost like a secret—even though it houses one of the world’s greatest art collections. Built as a lavish party villa for a … Read more
There are train journeys, and then there is the Bernina Express. This is the one that makes you forget about your phone, press your face against the glass like a child, and utter the same phrase over and over: “Look at that.” My wife, who usually spends long journeys with her nose in a book, didn’t turn … Read more
One of the great joys of staying in Milan is realising that some of Italy’s most enchanting destinations are just a short train ride away. Within an hour or two, you can trade the sleek skyscrapers and busy boulevards for serene lakes, medieval hilltops, or the romantic streets of Shakespeare’s Verona. The beauty of these … Read more