Talk about bad blogging! I know it’s been a while since my last post, New Year’s Eve to be exact! A lot has happened really, and if you were paying any attention to my previous posts, you’d know that I’m now living in Italy. I don’t think you need to know the details of my arrival other than jet lag was a bitch, I’m officially a student aaaaand a worker in Rome. Life has been so good to me, and aside from my constant complaining about not being able to get any Mexican food ingredients here in Rome, I’m happy. I mean really, truly, genuinely happy.
Anyway, despite having a tight schedule with work and school, I’ve been trying to keep myself sane by getting out of the house as often as possible with my roommate; not just by going out for weekly dinners and drinks, but also by taking a few trips to places outside of Rome. I’m saving a post of Rome for later, so today I’ll leave you with a post about the towns I’ve visited since my arrival in Italy.
TERNI
The first one was a little town just outside of Rome named Terni. It’s the birthplace of Saint Valentine and where the Valentine’s weekend celebration Cioccolatino takes place. We went for Valentine’s Day weekend and spent our day buying sweets from the tents at the Cioccolantino festival, admiring the heart shaped lights that decorated the town, and pretty much getting lost and walking for miles in order to find the Basilica; If Saint Valentine doesn’t find my roommate and I love this year, we’ll be pretty pissed, because that was some pilgrimage we went on.
SPELLO
While searching for “tiny towns in Italy” on Pinterest (I spend too much time on it), I came across a photo of Spello and immediately clicked on it. I fell in love because everyone had plants and flowers on their balconies, their porches, and pretty much anywhere outside their houses. Spello is known for their yearly flower festival called L’Infiorata, celebrated 60 days after Easter Sunday, when neighbors team up to try and create a flower carpet with intricate designs made from flower petals. I went a few months before that, so the town was a bit silent, but still beautiful. I’m planning to visit during L’Infiorita some time in the future! If you ever visit, don’t miss
La Bottega di Teresa while you’re there!
FOLIGNO
Spello was so tiny and we explored it in such a short amount of time that we decided we’d hop on over to Foligno, a town just a train stop away from Spello. This town was full of young people, lots of shopping areas, a few churches and some really nice neighborhoods. I’m sure there were more things to see but we had to catch our train ride back to Rome.
CATANIA, SICILY
Our trip to Sicily was probably the most memorable because we spent an entire weekend there doing a lot of walking and spending as much time outdoors as possible. We stayed in Catania and let me tell you, I’m now considering their University for a Master’s program. While I was there we dressed up and went to a Mexican restaurant called
Carlito’s, that actually satisfied my Mexican food cravings. Some delicious nachos, some enchiladas, a pitcher of margaritas, and I was good to go. I was stuffed, buzzed and happy that I swear I even said thank you to the cute kitchen staff!
TAORMINA, SICILY
An hour train ride from Catania and we were suddenly in Taormina. We were dumb to think we can pretty much climb a freakin mountain to get to the city center and be fine…we got lost, then gave up and took a cab. Such a great little town with narrow roads, tons of little shops, and a breathtaking view of the ocean!
I can honestly say these are the little trips that are making me fall more and more in love with ALL of Italy, not just Rome. I look forward to showing you future adventures and keeping my wanderlusting heart happy! I also thank my roommate Christina for being my adventurous buddy throughout these trips!
P.S. I’ve officially become a collector of plants. Mostly succulents and cactus that I’ve named after all the towns I’ve visited. Here are Terni, Spello, Foligno, Catania, Taormina and of course, Roma.
Love Always,
The Wanderluster
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