Can you believe it’s been four weeks since we left New Zealand? Time flies when you’re having fun! This week has been a whirlwind of Italian lakeside adventures, hiking, extra strong cocktails and more laughs than I can count.
They say that you glow from the inside out when you’re living a life you love. It’s cheesy, yes, but I feel as though the sun is shining out of every one of my pores and radiating this soft, happy, golden light. I understand what they mean now, and I want to remember forever how I feel – more content than I can put into words and so grateful for the insane amount of privilege I have that has allowed me to travel.
So, I wanted to start this week by saying if you’ve been part of the stepping stones that have helped me get to this point in my life (I’m looking at you, Mum and Dad!!!), thank you – I wish I could give you a big hug through the screen!
- Wednesday 7th June
- Thursday 8th June
- Friday 9th June
- Saturday 10th June
- Sunday 11th June
- Monday 12th June
- Tuesday 13th June
- See you this time next week!
Wednesday 7th June
After almost a week in Florence, we woke up, packed our bags (early – it’s a theme) and left our lovely little home. We said goodbye to our newfound travel routine and hazelnut/stracciatella combo ice creams and went to the train station.
Not wanting to repeat our “Home Alone” style run for the train (or, in their case, plane) at 8am, we opt to arrive at the station early. However, our efforts are in vain as we’re told that our ride has been delayed by 45 minutes. Typical – the one day we’re on time.
To make matters worse, Mathew hasn’t made a miraculous recovery overnight and is still sick. I think it’s starting to dawn on him that eating orange-flavoured gelato isn’t really the same as taking a Vitamin C supplement, nor does it replace nutrients from actual food. Oh well, I like your enthusiasm love.
At long last, our train arrives, and Mathews’s brain just about implodes when he sees the amount of legroom he has. Unfortunately, public transport hasn’t been kind to him (seeing as it wasn’t built with 6-foot-3 humans in mind), and I’m surprised his knees aren’t flat. Legs fully stretched, we pull out of Florence station and begin our journey.
Before packing up and leaving New Zealand, we spent months going back and forth, planning our travels.
Now, if you know me, you know I’m very type-A. I like to plan, have things in order and know where I’m going. Mathew, on the other hand, is a bit like that part of Katy Perry’s song, ‘Firework’, where she sings “, Do you ever feel, like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind.” He’s easy to please and seems relatively happy to go wherever the wind blows him. However, he insisted we make an effort to get to Lake Como (go on, twist my arm) to visit the Padme and Anakins wedding set in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.
As you can expect, it took approximately 0 seconds to convince me to visit one of Italy’s most stunning resort towns. And five hours, a big writing session and a Star Wars marathon later, we were pulling into Como San Giovanni. I’m not lying when I tell you that I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Mathew, you did well.
Our first impression is that Lake Como is a bit like Queenstown on steroids, except it’s warm, colourful and full of Fiat 500s.
It was a very short 3-minute walk from the train station to Ostello Bello Como, our home for the next two nights. We’ve been mostly staying in apartments and Air Bnbs so far, so a hostel was a nice change of pace! Upon check-in, we’re told that the hostel offers unlimited free snacks, tea and coffee 24/7 for their guests as well as free pasta, family-style dinners and a breakfast buffet. Corrrrr.
(Coming back post-stay to say if you’re EVER in Como, PLEASE do yourself a favour and stay here. The staff were so nice, the space was clean and welcoming, and we had the best time ever).
Spirits high and sun shining, we race back into town in search of one thing. Cocktails. More specifically, two very large (and very strong) Mojitos.
This was another one of those “yep, we’ve definitely made the right decision coming travelling” moments. I’ve had them now and again, but they’re always really specific.
Here are a few others:
- Standing in the middle of Krakow Old Town on our first night listening to a saxophone group play, the sun shining, music contagious, and just knowing I would be so happy here.
- Running through Krakow to get impulse-matching tattoos with Johanna.
- Sitting on a bridge in Florence on our second night, eating ice cream at our new favourite Gelateria and waiting to watch the sunset.
- Walking through Florence and stumbling upon a couple singing “O mio babbino caro” by Puccini. This was too perfect and could have made me cry.
That evening, we had dinner (thanks for the free pasta, Ostello Bello!!) and mingled; me on the terrace with the girls, Mathew downstairs with the lads. I felt like I was on Love Island.
The girls on the terrace came from all over the world (namely Sweden, America, Australia and Japan). After a few more drinks, the conversation moved to each country’s drinking culture. America’s drinking culture is almost non-existent. Meanwhile, I seem to have persuaded each of them to come to New Zealand after explaining “Crate Day” and the legend that is the Yardie.
If you don’t know what a yardie is either, it’s a 3-foot-long (yard) glass. On the evening before one’s 21st, you fill said glass full of beer, let it go flat overnight, and the next day, the birthday boy (or person, for that matter) drinks it as quickly as possible. Delightful.
And with that, it’s off to bed. Good night!
Thursday 8th June
Another day, another early morning. But this time, I’m bouncing out of bed on the promise of a breakfast buffet (if you know, you know) and a trip to Bellagio.
We caught the bus from Como bus station and drove an hour to the other side of the lake. This bus trip is obviously why the cars in Lake Como are all Fiat 500s. The roads are narrower than my road back home (which is only just wider than a one-way street), and the rate at which the drivers hoon down them is out of this world. Every turn was a near-miss, and it’s a fluke no one lost a wing mirror.
Adrenaline pumping, we arrive in Bellagio. This town is supposedly the ‘jewel’ of Lake Como, and I’ve got to give it to the authors of Wikipedia – they’re not wrong. Crystal-clear blue water, colourful flowers, brightly coloured buildings and cobbled stone streets make this town look like a fairytale.
After filling my camera roll and gawking at the scenery, we head down to the waterfront to unpack our picnic for an early lunch. I’m not often speechless, but I genuinely have no words to describe how beautiful this place is. So instead I’ll leave you with some photos.
All I can say is that you MUST come here if you get the chance. Go out of your way, change your travel plans, fight tooth and nail and book a flight to Milan stat. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and after spending the better part of three weeks in capital cities, the sound of birds chirping and the water lapping the shore was like music to my ears.
In the afternoon, we jumped on a ferry from Bellagio to another of Lake Como’s picturesque towns, Mennagio. It’s been SO hot whilst we’ve been here (and honestly, boiling since we landed in Italy two weeks ago), and we heard that Mennagio was a good place for a swim.
Maybe I’ve got an old version of Google Maps because I was surprised to find that although there is water as far as the eye can see, there aren’t so many ‘obvious’ places to swim in and around Lake Como. That’s one of the greatest things about where I live in New Zealand – you are never far from the water; lakes, sea, estuaries or pools – the Kiwis will find a way to swim in it.
But after some research and a reasonably long walk, we found somewhere to cool off. The last time I went swimming in a lake was in Queenstown in October 2020, and the water was FREEZING, so my expectations for what this would be like were fairly low. But it was delicious.
Once our need for a swim was adequately fulfilled, we headed back into town for the bus back to Como. Buses around the lake are easy to use but only run once every hour. So if you miss it, you’re up sh!t creek without a paddle. At 5:30pm, you can imagine the horror on our faces when our bus back to Como went zooming past us without stopping for us to board. Our theme of running for the bus is back, and this time, an epic 1km sprint.
There’s something so human about running for the bus. All shred of dignity you once had goes straight out of the window, and you care about nothing other than the task at hand; getting your backside back home. Having spent the day pretending to be some chic tourist, I’m sprinting full tilt down a winding Italian street, flailing my arms like a crazy woman. Oh well, we made it to the next stop just in time.
Lungs burning, we sat silently on the ride home before cheffing up another free pasta meal back at the hostel. The day’s excitement has temporarily wiped us, and it’s time for a quick sit down before venturing back out to enjoy golden hour by the lakeside. I love how late the sun sets here. It’s little moments like these that I wish I could send home to my family; my Mum would love this.
Friday 9th June
After the excitement of yesterday, we’ve decided to reward ourselves this morning with a lay-in. The next few days of travelling will be BIG, so a bit of extra shut-eye is a reallllll treat.
Ostello Bello Como put on a pretty great breakfast in the morning, complete with all of the usual suspects and the cherry on top of the cake – Nutella. Mathew and I usually stick to good old fashion jam at home, so this was like being a kid in a sweet shop. Slices of toast spread thickly with glossy chocolate spread, and we sat at our breakfast table giggling like school children. As you can tell, I’m coming home from travelling as a #healthqueen.
Hyped up on sugar, we packed our bags and said bye-bye to our tiny hostel home before catching the bus to Lenno – another gorg small town. As I mentioned earlier this week, Mathew only had two bucket list items that he wanted to tick off whilst travelling. One is driving on the Autobahn in Germany (see you later this year for this, Johanna ;)), and the other was visiting the Padme and Anakins Star Wars wedding set.
Today is the day, and we arrived at Villa del Balbianello for the MOST iconic Lake Como views.
But what they don’t tell you on the internet about Villa del Balbianello is that it’s not a piece of cake to get here. Either you catch a ferry (or rather a cute shuttle boat) to the villa from the port in Lenno. Or, if you don’t want to fork out 8 euro a piece, you walk. A dusty, undulating path winds you through the forest and past shrubbery before you arrive at the villa’s front door.
After paying our entrance fee with a hefty discount (being a student does have some perks), we’re wandering around the villa’s grounds. This place is impressive, and I could have wasted hours sitting on the patio watching the world go by. The most beautiful wedding happened at the same time as our visit, which looked like it was cut straight from a fairytale – ah, how the other half live.
Once we had seen all there was to see at Villa del Balbianello (and Mathew had taken his obligatory balcony photo), we said goodbye. We made our way back to Como to revisit Ostello Bello. Upon checkout, they held our bags and invited us back to use their facilities and drink coffee. Score! With time to kill before our overnight bus (more on that to come), we got ourselves comfy, and I tucked writing and caught up on some remote work.
The clock struck 09:30pm, and we bid farewell our short but oh-so-sweet trip to Lake Como. I felt like my heart would burst as we raced out of the hostel and went to the bus station for our overnight trip to Venice.
Some of the destinations on our itinerary are big ones on my bucket list, and other places are on Mathews or gorg stop-offs in between. During our time in the latter, I’ve made a big point of trying to live in the moment.
Something that makes us all so human is looking for “the next thing”. Whether it’s the next holiday, weekend, job promotion or Saturday night drinks with the girls, many of us spend (or rather waste) our time wishing for the days to pass faster.
Until you stop and realise that weeks have passed in which you were living on autopilot, not fully present in the moment.
Before I started travelling, one of the things I promised myself I would do was slow down and not wish for the next thing or destination to come sooner. And it’s been a good way of staying present and finding joy in life’s little moments. But I can’t lie – I am SO excited about our next location.
Catch up tomorrow!
Saturday 10th June
One of the best parts of being budget travellers is gamifying finding any way to reduce your costs. Tonight this meant sleeping on the bus instead of forking out for another night’s accommodation, and blissfully unaware of European budget transport, I thought, “How bad could it be”.
I’ll leave you to fill in the blanks, but we arrived in Venice at 5am, tired and delirious but ready for the next leg of our adventure.
The bright side of arriving so early in the morning is that Venice was deserted. The last time I was here was September 2018, and the streets were gridlocked with people in every which direction. This time, however, there was not a single tourist in sight (except us!). It was magical, and as the sun rose, we saw the city wake up from its sleepy slumber.
After soaking up some early morning sun, we went to the airport via an extortionately expensive airport transfer (20 euro!!!) in search of some breakfast. 6 euro bought us an orange juice, cappuccino and croissant and I have to say, that’s a bloody good deal.
As 9:30am rolled around, we headed over to the opposite side of the airport in search of “Alamo”, an Italian rental car company that (up until this point) I was sure was a scam. Never fear, I put my money in the right hands, and we were taken to a dinky little Fiat 500, our stylish chariot for the next week. Eager to get on the road, we flung our baggage in the car and tore out of the car park, only to remember that they drive on the right-hand side of the road in Italy. Ah.
One anxiety session, a relationship test that could rival building IKEA’s flat-packed furniture and a car park lesson later, and Mathew is a European driving pro. I, on the other hand, assumed the position of passenger princess and DJ. It’s a hard life.
The drive from Venice to our accommodation in Kastelruth is 3 hours and takes us through the rolling hills of the Italian Alps and past more tiny villages than I can count. I’ve been here less than a day and can already tell I will love it.
Once we arrive in Kastelruth, we beeline for the grocery shop, only to be hit square in the face with the price of groceries here. We’ve been living in a cheap food bubble over the last four weeks, but clearly, there’s a cost of living crisis in the Dolomites because I haven’t seen prices like these since we left home. $7 NZD for ham? No, thank you very much.
The Italian Alps are about as expensive as it gets (except for maybe Switzerland and coughNewZealandcough). Bank account well and truly beaten, we return to our new home for a dinner of microwave pasta (gourmet, I know) and an early night.
See you tomorrow!
Sunday 11th June
As I said, getting up at dawn is a running theme these days, and this morning was no different. I am hell-bent on squeezing every second out of our time in the Dolomites, so it’s a 6am wake-up for our first hike.
If you’ve seen photos of the Dolomites on social media (or wherever you get your travel inspiration), you’re likely to have seen an image of the dramatic Seceda Ridgeline in Val di Funes. This view made me fall in love with the Dolomites, so it was a no-brainer to tackle it as the first hike on our trip.
Unfortunately, due to the extraordinary amount of wild weather Italy has copped recently, the Seceda cable car was closed. Boo. But as I am sure you could have guessed, there was no way we were coming all the way to Northern Italy without seeing this mountain range up close and personal. So it was back to the drawing board, and we discovered (or rather, I found, much to Mathews’s dismay) that you can circumnavigate the cable car by taking the Col Raiser gondola and hiking vertically up the ski field. Wonderful.
The first part of our hike lulled us into a false sense of security with rolling hills, farmland and more than one sighting of cows with bells. There’s just something about hearing cowbells that is so magical. The landscape was beautiful, and being back in the open air and green space made me so happy I could have burst.
Our bubbles quickly popped once we looked at the summit and the track taking us to the viewpoint. With the inactive cable car taunting us from above, we began the gruelling climb to the top fuelled by Werthers Originals, and a young outdoor-lovers dream.
It was so, so worth it.
Seceda is one of those once-in-a-lifetime hikes you must see to believe. This place has everything from dramatic landscapes and mountains to rolling hills and glacier pools. Not even my burning lungs could distract me from the sights in front of my eyes.
I can show you photos of the views and try to describe them, but nothing can encapsulate what it feels like to see it in real life. It was almost too vast, beautiful and out-of-this-world for my brain to compute. I feel like I spent much of the walk feeling dumbfounded and overwhelmed, unable to believe that places like this exist. It was one of those beautiful moments where you sit back (or rather stand back) and look out at the world in front of you and try to wrap your head around the fact that you get to be a human on the planet at a time where this is all available for you to enjoy. We’re so lucky it could make me cry.
The rest of the hike took us over rocky paths, past my new favourite sight in the world (mountain rifugios) and more farmland before we began to descend back to the Col Raiser gondola.
Our early start meant it was only lunchtime once we reached the car, so we headed into Kastelruth to explore the town before heading home for a lay down. I’m pooped!
Monday 12th June
Today’s adventure took us on a 45-minute road trip to the Adolf Munkel Trail. I read a travel writer’s blog post about the best walks in the Dolomites a few months ago, and this trail was named one of the region’s hidden gems. I’m all about exploring quieter paths, so the Adolf Munkel trail went straight to the top of our ‘must-do’ list.
The drive in itself was a treat for the eyes. Everywhere you look here is picture-perfect. I’ve just about filled my whole camera roll with different mountain ranges, not wanting to forget the feeling of looking out of the car window to see the sun hitting its jagged peak.
We arrived at the start of the trailhead before another soul was in sight, except for a wonderful Norwegian couple we got friendly with. Their eyes just about popped out when we told them we were travelling for a year. I suppose I don’t think about it all that much, past the day-to-day planning, because it’s our reality. We’re having so much fun living in the moment and getting to experience all of these firsts together. But I try to stop now and again and think how lucky I am to be here with Mathew. The privilege is almost overwhelming, and I will never, ever be able to express the gratitude I feel for having these experiences.
Whilst we were chatting with our new European friends, we discovered that we were not, in fact, on a ‘hidden gem’ hike but instead on our way to one of the most photographed locations in the Dolomites – Geisleralm. Our walk to this beautiful mountain hut took us through forests, over a river crossing and rolling hills before reaching a gravel path and seeing the cabin come into view. Blimey, I know why it’s one of the most visited spots. Geisleralm has officially confirmed my newfound love for mountain rifugios. It is undoubtedly one of the best scenic landscapes I have ever seen.
Unfortunately, we were visiting on a Monday (their only day off – typical), so there was no impromptu apple strudel. We did, however, take advantage of the fully reclining wooden deck chairs and dig into our packed lunch at 10:30am. All this sightseeing has worked up an appetite.
After taking in our fill of the scenery, we continued on the trail towards the next viewpoint. Our days so far have been almost exclusively fuelled by Werthers Originals, and today was no different. I have shiny gold wrappers in every corner of my backpack, and I am sure my sponsorship notice will be coming in the post any day now.
The rest of our hike took 3 hours, with many stops for photos (and more snacks) before we returned to the car park. But not before we stumbled upon another field of cows and soaked up the sound of cowbells jingling in the distance. Like I said yesterday, there’s just something SO magical about it.
Yesterday I thought that Seceda was about as good as it gets. And whilst the dramatic mountain ranges and vast open landscapes that come with hiking Seceda are beautiful, this trail blew it out of the park. Nothing beats being fully immersed in nature in the middle of a forest with only the sound of running streams and cowbells to disrupt the silence. The Adolf Munkel trail has officially climbed the top spot in the ‘Dolomites Hikes Offical Chats: Notes to Home Edition’. There, I said it.
With another hike in the bag, we returned home for Mathew’s obligatory afternoon nap. Pasta is on the menu again tonight for the 10th night running, and if I’m not careful, we will both turn into pieces of penne. But, you know, when in Italy, right?
It’s Monday night, which means tomorrow morning, I’m up early to speak to my family. Some children talk to their families now and again, while others speak very often. My family and I have always been insanely close, and I’m one of those ‘need to call my Mum every 5 minutes to update her with the latest details of my life’ kind of people.
Something I think about a lot is how funny and strange it is that all through your childhood, you take living in the same home with your parents and siblings for granted. And then, one day, with almost no notice, it’s your last night sleeping under the same roof together. One day we woke up, and life changed forever. My little brothers are all grown up now and have made lives of their own (one even moved away from home), so catching up each week is something I REALLY look forward to.
So with that in mind, I’m off to fall into my cosy bed before we embark on the next leg of our Dolomites adventure tomorrow. Goodnight!
Tuesday 13th June
This morning started with my lovely weekly catch-up with family back home and a coffee in bed. What a life. I’m still finding it difficult to believe that travelling full-time means that on a random Tuesday morning, I wake up and plan a day full of ridiculously cool adventures. I’ve wished to travel for as long as I can remember, and so far, it’s surpassed all of my wildest dreams.
Today we checked out of our first Dolomites accommodation in Kastelruth and drove to Dommege di Cadore, our home for the next four nights. I’ll miss our first house; it was in the BEST location and had these insanely soft, squiggly pillows that made you feel like you were being engulfed in a cloud as you drifted off to sleep.
But the show must go on, and instead of taking the quickest route to our next spot, we opted for a scenic tour via the famous Sella Pass, a switchback-filled road featuring sweeping mountain views.
It was stunning, to say the least, but by the end of our journey, I was bloody pleased to get out of the car. Unfortunately, our little Fiat 500 doesn’t quite live up to the majesty of someone of the other vehicles on the road (we must have seen about $100 million worth of race cars today), nor does it have the power to get up hills without one manically changing gears from 2nd to 3rd and back to 2nd every five seconds. Not to mention that, as someone who gets car sick, I was beginning to feel as though I was dangerously close to losing my lunch.
However, it was not all lost as I introduced Mathew to the world of Harry Potter audiobooks, and we spent three hours engrossed in the world of Hogwarts. He’s watched the movies (who hasn’t), but they don’t compare to the books. So, we’re currently chomping through Stephen Fry’s narration of the Philosophers Stone. He is terrific, and there’s no argument that the audiobooks wouldn’t be the same without his voice.
I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, and when I was little, my parents played audiobooks in the car on long road trips. There is something so familiar and nostalgic about listening to them again now, and one day, I hope I’ll get to do road trips with my own children and let them experience the same magic my parents gave me.
On route, we stop in Cortina d’Ampezzo, a large resort town full of designer sportswear brands, department stores and views of Britain (or rather, Italy). Lunch is on the cards, and today is no different to any other, a supermarket picnic washed down with a heaping of any water we can find.
That’s one thing about Europe that I’m not loving; the lack of drinking water for which you don’t have to sell a kidney. In New Zealand, free drinking water is about as readily available as oxygen. You can find it anywhere – parks, beaches, restaurants. The Kiwis want nothing more than to keep you hydrated. And obviously, drinking an excessive amount of water comes with needing to use the restroom. That’s another thing NZ has plenty of. But in Europe, drinking water and toilets are few and VERY far between. I am about as dehydrated as they come now, and if I have to fork out another 1.50 euro for the ladies, I might scream. Too much information, but I feel it’s my duty as your unfiltered, blunt “travel blogger” to give you the low down on the good, the bad and the unavailable. So, if you’re coming to Europe this summer, for god’s sake, stock up on some electrolytes.
Late lunch done and dusted, we wander around town and stock up on souvenirs before driving the last 45 minutes to Dommege di Cadore and cooking up a storm in the kitchen. With another big day on the cards tomorrow, it’s off to bed (no squiggly pillows tonight) for some shut-eye, an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the life I get to live at the moment and a dream of frolicking through European fields like Frauline Maria.
See you this time next week – Hannah x
See you this time next week!
As always, I’ll speak to you this time next week. The next 7 days will wrap up our time in the Dolomites and take us streaming through Venice and into the South of France. I can’t wait.
Notes to Home 