Matthew Albertson, SPT · Pavullo · Winter 2025
A weekend ranking of Italy
I've decided to do a personal weekend ranking for each of the places in Italy I saw during the trip. This is not really based on any objective data; these were just my own personal preferences.
Dolomites / Bolzano
Very long weekend — took a bus from Pavullo to Modena, a train from Modena to Bologna, and then a train from Bologna to Bolzano. Spent the night at a hotel in Bolzano, left in the early morning for an hour bus ride to the Dolomites the next day, and spent all of Saturday skiing the Dolomites. Sunday was a lot of traveling on the way back, but it worked out since it was rainy that day anyway and it gave me some time to finish a practice board exam. I also met a cool English teacher for Italian citizens learning English on the way back from Bolzano.
The mountains out here were absolutely breathtaking. The Dolomites are a beautiful landscape along the Alps that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. They look like a little winter village built outside of the North Pole. I'd love to see what they look like during Christmas time, and what the place looks like in the warmer months for hiking. At nighttime the town looked beautiful with all the lights in the cabins. The skiing itself was fantastic — the mountains were so huge that I skied myself so far from where I began that I needed to take a bus to get back to the start. The concept of just walking around a city and ending up at a gondola that can take you up the mountain to ski was super unique and cool to me. The history behind South Tyrol was fascinating to learn about and see, with everyone here speaking German and Italian and in some cases even more languages. Of all the places I saw here, this is the one I could most see myself living. There is even a PT clinic there.
Cinque Terre / Sestri Levante
What a beautiful place. This probably has the best views I've ever had from a hike, and maybe the most beautiful beach I've ever been to in terms of the view and the cleanliness of the water. The concept of a giant mountain next to the coast is super cool, not to mention the weather and water were perfect this weekend. Beautiful coast, great hiking, great walking, and great overall vibes. Sestri Levante was a hidden gem that I ended up spending several hours longer in than I had anticipated. I went on a more strenuous hike than I expected up to the Punta Manara and got a really great view of the town, then went back down and walked over to an all-you-can-eat sushi place for lunch. The gelato I had the night before was among the best I've had since I've been here.
Although I enjoyed meeting up with my colleague in Milan the night before, part of me wished I had gone Friday night to Cinque Terre so I could have seen all of the parks and Sestri Levante. We were very sleep deprived most of Saturday, having been up late and taking many trains through the morning. I felt like we were disorganized in our travels, which gives me more motivation to come back with the knowledge I obtained. I enjoyed the train rides through the towns, which showed there's a lot more to explore around these areas.
Naples / Pompeii / Capri
Naples has so much to do. You can take a ferry from Naples to see surrounding coastal areas like Capri, Amalfi, or Sorrento. From Capri you can see the blue grotto underwater caves, which I would have loved to do but unfortunately the tide was too high that day. You can also take a day trip to Pompeii or Mount Vesuvius — or in my case both — not to mention seeing the whole town of Naples. Every day in this area got better and better. I had one of the best pizzas I've probably ever eaten at a popular restaurant with a Michelin star; it had a long wait and was a bit pricey, but was worth it. I saw most of Naples's attractions on Saturday, including the Santa Chiara temple, the duomo, and the Bosco di Capodimonte. That evening I went on a crawl of local pubs and restaurants hosted by volunteers at the hostel and met probably my favorite group of people from the whole trip.
The next day I went to Capri, one of my best friend's favorite places in the world. I wish I could have explored more, but I was not feeling well and the blue grotto caves were closed. Still, Capri was a beautiful island and I got some nice pictures. That evening I tried what was voted the second-best pizzeria in the world, which did not disappoint and made me conclude that Naples may just have the best pizza in the world. The following day, feeling much better, I made a day trip to Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii — both beautiful in totally different ways. Vesuvius is an active volcano, which was exciting to experience, and Pompeii was a super cool park, arguably cooler than a lot of the history in Rome. I feel like I wasted a bit of its potential being sick on Sunday; with one or two more days I could have made more of it, since there is so much to do here and in the surroundings.
Rome
Rome did not disappoint at all. This was my first real trip outside of Pavullo, and it quickly started my turn toward never spending another Saturday evening there. Rome has tons of architecture that has been standing for thousands of years. It's a crazy place — you'll walk through a normal-looking city area and then stumble across the Pantheon, which has been standing for centuries and looks so out of place with the rest of the city. Lots of tourists from all over, and lots of English speakers and Americans. One of the funny highlights was helping a lady parallel park through the window of the place my colleague and I were eating at. Food and drinks were great, among the better cuisine selections of most places in Italy. It's a huge city, so I did a ton of walking — probably 20 to 25 miles between Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Friday evening we hung out at a karaoke bar in the hostel. Saturday we saw the Villa Borghese gardens, the Trevi fountain, the Pantheon, the Vatican, the Colosseum (which I paid to go inside), the Spanish Steps, and Piazza Navona. I barely missed the opening for the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill that day but saw them and the inside of the Pantheon for free the following day for first Sunday. It is Jubilee this year, which only happens once every 25 years, so it was kind of cool to be in Rome to experience that. I would go back and spend a more prolonged time there so I don't feel quite as rushed.
Rimini / Riccione / Ravenna
I genuinely didn't have high expectations for this place. People spent all kinds of time talking down the water quality at Rimini beach, and it barely got any attention from online recommendations. There was also a poor weather forecast. Despite all of that, Rimini didn't disappoint at all — a very peaceful city to relax and walk around. The forecast was incorrect and the weather was perfect. The food here was the best I've had in Italy: a ravioli lasagna with a Parmesan Alfredo sauce for lunch, and a black seafood pasta in Riccione for dinner that may have been the best pasta dish I've eaten in my entire life. I got to see Rimini Park just beyond the Ponte di Tiberio, the Arch of Augustus (huge in person), and the Tempio Malatestiano, which I went inside for free. On Sunday I took a train to Ravenna on the way back, where I walked through the park, saw Dante's tomb, and saw the UNESCO buildings from the outside. And, as I said earlier, the weather was terrific.
Appennines / Mount Cimone
This was also a hidden gem that I would highly recommend. The hike I went on provided the most rewarding view I had ever seen on a hike — when I entered the clearing halfway up the mountain I had to stop and catch my breath just to admire everything. Unfortunately the temperature dropped and the snow started coming down, so I couldn't reach the peak due to the unsafe circumstances. In hindsight, the danger of it makes it fun to look back on. I got to pet a nice group of dogs on the way up and down, and there were cool old huts up the mountain you could walk in and out of.
Sunday I skied Mount Cimone, which was a little more expensive than it needed to be, but the mountain was a good time overall — probably of a similar caliber to any skiing in the USA. I found a nice set of slopes that I enjoyed, so I spent a lot of the day doing those over and over as it had gotten foggy. At first I was scared to go down with that much fog, since I literally couldn't see anything, but then it became less scary and kind of exciting. It turned into a game of how well I knew the mountain I had just gone down, and that game was quite fun to play. They had après-ski going on at the bottom, which I'd never seen before and thought was a cool and unique idea.
Venice
Venice itself is pretty and has a lot to see. On Friday evening my roommate and I walked around the canals, and on Saturday we explored the town while Carnivale was happening. We went inside the bell tower, drank inside the oldest coffee shop in the world, and met up with one of my classmates and her roommates whom I hadn't met yet. On Sunday we did a little more exploring, and I took a boat ride through the canals as a sort of ferry, which honestly may have been the highlight of the weekend.
I had high hopes for this weekend, but although Carnivale was cool to see, it wasn't quite as much fun as the hype built it up to be. Venice is a fascinating place — primarily a man-made island you walk on, where there's really no sand, grass, or dirt. It's expensive here: an exorbitant amount on a hotel, the meals, and a coffee shop charging 17 euros for a small hot chocolate. Outside of that, it was tough to find much more to do. I will say it was great to see my classmate again, and the food, despite being more expensive, was higher quality. Overall it was still a lot of fun.
Verona / Lake Garda
Not the fault of Verona, but this was the weekend I took the PEAT, so that was probably my least favorite Friday night in Italy — but Verona itself was cool. I liked the walk up to Castel San Pietro, the bell tower, Juliet's castle, and the Verona Arena. The food was quite good. Sunday I ventured out to Lake Garda, which unfortunately was a disappointment due to the fog and cold, so it's a place I may visit again on a warmer day; the water was extremely clear and I'd love to see it in better weather. I liked solo traveling and being by myself this weekend. With Verona being so close to Lake Garda, it stands out a little more and gives tourists plenty to do.
Florence / Pisa / Viareggio
Florence and Venice feel like the two places that disappointed me most relative to what I was expecting. Florence, like Verona, doesn't really have something that distinguishes it significantly from other places in Italy, and it was probably the most overhyped place to travel. My roommate loved it, most of my coworkers loved it, and the people I spoke to loved it — but I honestly don't quite see it. I liked the Ponte alla Carraia, the steps outside the Piazzale Michelangelo, and the duomo was fascinating to see in both the daytime and the nighttime. The food was pretty good. But for what people made Florence out to be, it fell below my expectations.
I enjoyed Sunday much more, when I went to Pisa and Viareggio for Carnivale. The Leaning Tower of Pisa sure was leaning alright, and the two hours I spent in Viareggio gave me a better Carnivale experience than the entire weekend in Venice. The floats were so unique — enormous in person, nothing like I've ever seen before. I enjoyed the alone time in Pisa and Viareggio more than the company in Florence, so maybe if I'd spent the whole weekend solo I would have enjoyed it more.
Milan
This combines the Friday evening I spent here with my colleague before heading to Cinque Terre with the separate weekend I later spent in Milan. Friday night at Alcatraz was enjoyable, and I enjoyed seeing the duomo, meeting other Americans, and doing that silly bull-spin thing in the town center. I wish Alcatraz wasn't quite as expensive a cover, and that we'd slept a little longer that night.
Getting a tattoo on the Saturday of "Milan 2.0" was a pretty surreal experience I wasn't certain I'd pull the plug on, but I'm glad I did — the design came out cool. The shop was apparently the oldest tattoo parlor in Milan and the second oldest in Italy. The following day I walked around and saw the Bosco Verticale and a couple other cool buildings. The weather was terrible this weekend, very rainy and gross, and it's a large metropolitan city that can be a little inconvenient to metro around instead of just walking like everywhere else. Milan does have some novelty as one of the more modern, city-like places, without nearly as much of the ancient history you'll find in Rome, Florence, or Verona. Hopefully, with Milan hosting the Winter Olympics next year, it brings in more revenue and tourists — I'm jealous of the class next year that gets to be up here for it.
