Italy Archives - sateless suitcase

Five Essential Things To Do in Venice

I really thought I understood Italian cities by now. After my week-long art history field trip to Rome back in 2006, which was my first visit to Italy as a grown-up, I had returned to Italy's capital in 2014 for several days and then visited Florence last year. I can order food in basic Italian and I know the correct time frame to drink a cappuccino by now. Thus when I booked a super spontaneous trip to Venice with my mom back in March, I didn't think about buying a guide book or reading many blogs beforehand. Partly because I didn't [...]

By Julika|2021-12-13T20:57:18+01:002016/05/10|Categories: Destinations, Europe, Italy|Tags: Europe, Italy, Venice|8 Comments

How to Avoid Tourist Crowds in Florence

Florence is easily one of the most touristy places in all of Europe. You can't blame people for picking Florence as a must-see destination in Italy though: It's an absolutely gorgeous city and it's a dream to visit -- for anyone who loves art, architecture, history, food, and scenic views. Florence is the essence of what Italy dreams are made of. It's every bit as beautiful as you'd think. It looks just like the movies, but better. And that's what people come for. Millions of people. This is what the Piazza del Duomo looks like at 10 am in the morning. On [...]

By Julika|2016-03-08T08:54:20+01:002015/05/27|Categories: Destinations, Europe, Italy|Tags: Europe, Florence, Italy|15 Comments

The Best Food Finds in Florence

Of course, I wanted to go to Florence for the art, the architecture, and the Renaissance history. But I can't deny that I was looking forward to eating all the food. I mean, it's Italy, right? Give me Italian pasta and gelato, and I'm a happy girl. Despite all my excitement though, I knew it wouldn't be easy to find really good Florentine food among all the tourist traps with multilingual menus. When I visited Rome last year, I realized that you just can't just find the good places by accident. If it hadn't been for my Walks of Italy food [...]

By Julika|2015-08-26T11:32:33+02:002015/04/23|Categories: Destinations, Europe, Italy|Tags: Europe, Florence, Italy|14 Comments

The European Capital Curse

For some travelers it's the one of the worst travel sins, but I'm absolutely guilty of it: Visiting (European) capital cities. Prague, Czech Republic Budapest, Hungary How often have I had a conversation with someone from England that went something like this: "So, have you been to England at all?" -- "Yes!" -- "Oh great! Whereabouts exactly?" -- "Only London, to be honest." -- "But you do know that London is not England, right?!" London, UK Okay, so besides my linguistic inability mimic a real Brit, these people are right. Of course I have no right to say I've been [...]

By Julika|2014-12-29T14:19:41+01:002014/08/13|Categories: Czech Republic, Destinations, England, Europe, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands|Tags: Europe, Germany, thoughts|31 Comments

Catching my Breath in Rome – The Cimitero Acattolico

We all want to be travelers, but we don't want to be tourists. "Those" tourists. We don't want to be a part of the crowds that line up in front of sights and information desks. Those people who just visit the Louvre to take a selfie with the Mona Lisa, and those who pose to have their photo taken "leaning" against Big Ben. The people who suddenly stop in the middle of the street to look at a map. But the thing with tourists crowds is that most of the time the places where the tourists go are actually worth [...]

By Julika|2014-05-05T23:50:01+02:002014/05/05|Categories: Europe, Italy|Tags: Europe, Italy, Rome|10 Comments

Exploring the Flavors of Rome

Until a few years ago, I had never really cared about food abroad. As a picky pescetarian, my options have always been pretty limited anyways. Back in 2009 I didn't care about croquet in Amsterdam; back in 2011 I didn't care about goulash in Budapest -- because these dishes are not vegetarian, but also because I just really didn't care: Why eat authentic food when there are more familiar options I trust, like my oh-so-beloved French fries? Before you leave the blog in shock: I changed my opinion about food abroad. In the fall of 2011, after a few weeks into my semester [...]

By Julika|2016-03-08T09:06:01+01:002014/04/11|Categories: Destinations, Europe, Italy|Tags: Europe, Italy, Rome|9 Comments