Good friends are hard
to come by and great friends are practically myth, but somehow Justin and I
have been lucky enough to develop a friendship with several absolutely amazing
people here in Switzerland. Justin and I
have mentioned Hanna and Roberto in prior posts, and they will probably
continue to be frequent characters in our journey here and hopefully beyond. A
few months ago, and unbeknownst to Roberto (oops!), Hanna invited us to join
them on their two week vacation to Italy.
Of course we accepted with zero hesitation, I mean, who wouldn’t? We
spent the next several months convincing Roberto that we wouldn’t ruin his
vacation, discussing the plans that Hanna was making for our “power sightseeing”
drive down through Italy, what to expect and what to bring, and all the other glorious
details. And finally, June 16th arrived and despite how excited we
were, we still remained oblivious to how absolutely incredible the trip would
be.
Day 1:
Soon we arrived at our first
destination, the Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano). Milan itself didn’t provide the first
impression I expected, as it was mostly an old city that had a huge
garbage/litter issue. However, looking
closely you can see that the architecture hidden beneath the piles of trash was
lovely. The gold and yellow buildings lining
both sides of the street stood around three to four stories high and were
riddled with beautiful terraces and beds of flowers. The roads were small,
quaint, and were clearly conceived in a time before the SUV. We parked and
walked to the Milan Cathedral and had our breath stolen from us instantly. It was stunning and far from mundane. The abundance of decadent steeples and
intricate detailing protruding from every curve and corner made it seem almost
alien. It was incredible to behold and the moment you stepped inside you felt
the centuries of history that seemed woven into the foundation. We walked
around silently observing and taking the church in, and I managed to steal a
few without-the-flash-doesn’t-do-it-justice pictures. Being the 4th largest cathedral in
the world, it was a lot to digest. There
were hundreds of monuments and aisles of pews that seemed to be endless. The mummified remains of Archbishops were on
display in glass cases and they quickly sent chills down my spine. The Vigil
Lights provided the only light aside from the light coming through the enormous
stain-glass windows. It was hard not to feel calm and moved by the church and
we all lit a candle before heading out to get coffee and continue our drive south.
Hanna was keeping us on
a tight schedule and was slightly disappointed when we arrived in Florence
about 20 minutes later than planned.
Florence was beautiful despite the murky river that seemed to idly sit rather
than flow through the middle of the city. We searched for the statue of David,
but were sent in 3 different directions by locals. We later discovered that there is one
original and two replicas so people were innocently sending us in various
directions. We eventually gave up and just went to see Ponte Vecchio which is an old
bridge that cuts across the river. It is
incredibly rare because it still has shops built along it, as was once common.
The shops were mostly jewelry stores and art dealers, and the stores were
loaded with people speaking incredibly fast and heavily animated Italian. It
really was a unique experience and I’m happy we got to see it. We stopped at a
small restaurant and got a sandwich before leaving a little off schedule.
After Florence things stopped going as
smooth. We got turned around for a while
and got double hit by some of the tolls, but eventually made our way through
the beautiful countryside and finally arrived at the island off the coast of
Tuscany that would be our final stop.
When we arrived in Monte Argentario Justin and I were speechless. The view was like nothing I have ever seen.
Hanna finished the drive through the windy roads of the island and it seemed
like every turn held its own treasures. Around one corner we would see a sandy
beach loaded with people, another and see enormous rocks and crystal blue
waters, and another we would see small towns surrounding large harbors. We
arrived in time to go to the grocery store, eat a delicious dinner, and head out
for a late swim in the sea. Hanna and
Roberto welcomed us properly by having us jump of a large rock into the clear
and refreshing water. By nightfall we
were exhausted and slept soundly.
Day 2:
The property in Monte Argentario that we were
to live on over the next two weeks on is owned by Hanna’s family and can only
be described as a paradise. The first
thing you notice as you drive down the steep hill and onto the property is that
there are many buildings. There are two smaller quaint houses that are built of
stone, each of which has a queen size bed and bathroom ready for guests. There
are also two larger houses one of which included a small kitchen, bedroom,
living room, and bathroom. Justin and I
stayed in that one, while Roberto and Hanna stayed in the other. Their home
included the main kitchen and dining room where we cooked and ate our meals,
two living rooms, the bedroom, bathroom, and the patio where we spent many
mornings sipping on coffee and gazing at the blue water down below and the
neighboring islands in the distance. The three other structures on the property
included a large shed to hold the beach and activity equipment, a car port that
was topped with bamboo, and a large covered patio that included a Foosball
table which would make an excellent venue for an outdoor party. 
The next thing I noticed as we drove onto the
property was the plethora of flowers, gardens, and trees that made the place
look tropical. There were olive trees
for making olive oil, tomato plants, tons of herbs, a palm tree, and many
beautiful beds of flowers in every color. Because of the variety, an incredible aroma
hits you when you step out of the car.
Most notably, the smell of rosemary, basil, and salt water filled the
air.
The last thing I noticed was the panoramic view
which is something you have to see to believe.
The property sits on the more private and secluded side of the island
and so it seemed like we had the place to ourselves. From where we stood we could see the curve of
the island as it veered towards the sea, large rocks protruding from the water,
clear water spotted with the occasional dark spots of sea weed or coral, blue
skies void of clouds, and a small ruin on the top right corner of the
island. Waking up to the view and the
sea breeze every morning was incredibly relaxing.
evening.
Day 3:
The guys had to suck up their pride and cook
us breakfast while we enjoyed some hot tea outside on the lounge chairs. It was excellent. The breakfast they prepared was the
traditional breakfast we had each morning, including: toast (and I mean LOTS of
toast) with jam, honey, cream cheese, or just butter, fruit, fried eggs, coffee
and tea, and Hanna’s “It taste better in Italy” yogurt.
Once we were nice and stuffed and in our
bathing suits we went to a large rock that would become a frequent destination
for us. We brought along some chair cushions to lay on, umbrellas, snacks, and
our snorkel gear. It was incredibly relaxing and if we got too hot all we had
to do was jump the 2 meters off the rock and into to the refreshing water. We all would randomly repeat this routine
multiple times throughout the day. Occasionally we would change things up with
snorkeling, but for the most part we simply let the perfect weather consume us.
Spending the day on this rock is how I imagine Italy when I think about it now
that we have returned. Then, I just have to smile and be envious of my past
self.
When we returned that evening we all took outdoor
showers overlooking the island. That night we also gave Roberto his early
birthday present which was an authentic soccer jersey from Italy’s national
team. As expected, he threw it on for the evening’s Italy game right before we
headed into Porto Santo Stefano, one of the small towns on the island, to watch.
Before the game we had dinner at a nearby restaurant where we met a very nice
Italian family. The son who was about 9
years old was surprisingly interested in our group and they ended up sitting
with us and getting some gelato during the public viewing. Italy defeated
Ireland 2-0, and afterwards we headed home and went right to bed.
Day 4:
After the market and a quick coffee we decided
it would be a good day for renting Vespas. Justin and I had no idea what we
were getting ourselves into. We rented two Vespas and road as pairs all the way
around the island. We made frequent stops during our journey: several random beaches, a bar to get a midday
beer and lunch, a couple scenic overlooks, and a hiking trail that lead to a very
old tower.
This particular tower was technically off
limits to the general public and once we made the hike down we knew why. It was
obviously a ruin that was barely standing. Someone had stopped repairing it and
left the rafters circling the outer wall. The inside had massive holes that led
to a dark pit and everything about it screamed fragility. We climbed up the
construction rafters on the outside and made it all the way to the top. Navigating the loose stairs and creaking
metal flooring was well worth it to see the incredible view of the island, one
I’m sure hadn’t been seen in some time. From the top of the tower we noticed
that the beach didn’t seem too far away.
Hanna said there was about a “twenty minute” hike down the cliff to the
beach below. After several hiking excursions we all started to joke that
“twenty minutes” was Hanna’s go-to answer for any time we asked how long
something would take. In this particular
case, twenty minutes was a gross understatement. At some point we evidently
veered right when we should have veered left. This “hike” turned out to not
have a path and was covered with thick bushes that included briars and thorns.
Somehow our “twenty minute hike” turned into about an hour and a half journey
to the bottom. Eventually, however, we did make it to a remote beach with a
large rock alcove and an endless supply of skipping stones. After depleting our
water bottles and having a quick snack we then decided to head back to the Vespas.
Did I mention it was almost an hour and a half long hike down? Well, going back
up was a bit harder on the lungs, but it didn’t take as long to go up since we
used the same path as the way down. Hanna and I did do a small detour where we
ended up stuck in some briers and had to turn around and get back on the
original path. But fortunately, we survived. By the end of it all we all were
covered in scratches, filthy, thirsty, salty, sore, and ready for a break. Despite the difficult journey, looking back
it was a fun adventure finding our way down to the secluded beach.
On the way back we made a few more scenic
stops and swung by one of the local harbors and picked out our future mega-yachts
while they were at anchor. In all, when
we finally arrived back home to have dinner, shower, and go to bed we realized
we had been touring with the Vespas for about 12 hours. Don’t worry mom, I wore
sunscreen.
Day 5:
After breakfast, we returned the Vespas to the
store. We packed snacks and went out to “our” rock to lay out and swim. It was in insanely hot day and we had spent a
lot more time in the water. We didn’t
stay out on the rock as long as we typically did because we knew we had a extra
special dinner ahead of us that would take a while to cook...
On the back of Hanna and Roberto’s house there
is large brick over made especially for cooking pizzas. Cooking homemade pizza in Italy sounds too
good to be true, but it was everything Hanna had talked it up to be. Hanna made the pizza dough from scratch and
rolled it out onto four separate pizza pans. We each created our own using an
assortment of toppings that we had picked up from the store earlier. Just so you can better imagine how delicious
these pizzas were, the toppings we used to create our personal pizzas included
olives, peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, onion, artichokes, salami,
prosciutto, anchovies (only Roberto used these), and of course cheese and
sauce. Roberto and Justin spent a couple of hours prepping the fire in the
brick oven and getting it perfectly hot for cooking. While we waiting we played
some more Foosball. Unfortunately the
guys won this time and the prize was massages. Hanna and I still haven’t given them their
massages, so I guess they are nicer than we are. 
Hanna had suggested that we go for a hike up
to the highest peak on Monte Argentario and we all, even Roberto with much
reluctance, agreed. After the challenging hike earlier in the week we were all
a bit reluctant to get lost in another adventure again, but this hike was only supposed
to take about two or three hours round trip, but that estimate may have been a
bit inaccurate. The path that we chosen during our advance planning was working
beautifully until suddenly a large fence blocked off the path and we had to improvise
an alternate route. At times this new
path was more of a hunting trail through the thicket than an actual hiking path.
The scratches on my legs were finally looking better from the last hike we
took, but that didn’t last long. Thorns tore through us as we made our way
through paths that probably haven’t been pruned in years. We saw approximately a thousand shot gun bullet
casings and even a wild boar skull. The hike was tedious and exhausting and
yet, it was exhilarating to stand at the top of the mountain and know we were
seeing something that few people had.
At the peak there was a strange gated cellar
where cold air was blowing from. We tried to figure out what it was with no
luck, but stood there cooling off nonetheless. We headed back down and
Roberto’s GPS watch told us that we had hiked about 20 kilometers that day. Since our hike ended at a different point
than it began, Roberto decided to hitchhike back to the car so he could come
pick us up. Despite my reservations with allowing him to do this, it was so
nice to be picked up by the air conditioned car cutting off a couple more
kilometers of hiking.
That evening we had hamburgers and French
fries for dinner. Then, us ladies headed for bed while the guys went down to
the sea for a night swim. The next day we found out they had seen glowing
plankton moving around their bodies as they were swimming. It sounded pretty
wonderful.
Day 7:
Today we slept in later than usual and had
brunch rather than breakfast. We spent the entire day at the rock enjoying the
perfectly clear sky and cool water. That evening we went to the fish market and
bought some fish and mussels. Roberto made some the greatest steamed mussels
I’ve ever had as an appetizer. Then we
had grilled fish, ratatouille, and polenta. The meal was tasty as usual. Later
that evening we went Porto Saito Stefano to watch Germany beat Greece in
soccer. Hanna sported her Germany jersey
and cheered on her favorite team. We enjoyed some gelato and sat and talked the
remainder of the evening. It was an uneventful, yet relaxing day.
Day 8:
Today we went to a different market in
Bortello which is the on the main land across from the island. This time we
were able to take our time a bit more and the guys found a coffee shop to sit
in while we walked around. Hanna and I both found some great deals of clothes
and jewelry and splurged slightly.
That evening we headed back to Bortello for
dinner at the cutest little restaurant. We had pizza that didn’t stand up to
the quality of the homemade pizzas at home, but were still very tasty. After
dinner we headed to a nearby bar called Bar Russl and watched the Spain versus
France soccer game. Justin was rocking his Spain jersey and it paid off because
Spain played brilliantly and won the game. We then headed home and went to bed.
Day 9:
Today was rather uneventful, but don’t mistake
that for anything less than perfect. We slept in, laid on the rock all day, climbed
the rocks from our rock to another beach nearby, cooked and ate some
scrumptious lasagna for dinner, and watched the Italy vs. England game in town.
Though our rock climbing was fun, I did manage to slip and scratch my stomach
and let on some jagged rocks.
Fortunately, this wasn’t enough to keep me from jumping off the largest
rock yet and into the cool water below.
Day 10:
Hanna has very ambitious ideas and she really
was the one to plan and facilitate our events. Sometimes we moaned and groaned
but in the end we always ended up happy with our journeys. She had this idea of
taking the four-person kayak out for a long tour around some of the island and
to explore a few of the many caves. We started off from the beach nearby and
headed east along the coast. Roberto and Justin did most of the paddling,
although Hanna and I would try to paddle sporadically, inefficiently, and never
for more than a few minutes.
At almost every small beach that we spotted we
would pull the kayak ashore and do a little relaxing and exploring before
beginning the trip again. Each time we came around a curve there seemed to be
something new and exciting to behold. The best part was undeniably the caves. The
mouths of some of the caves were enormous and sharp and would wind back into
the darkness of the mountain behind. Each
cave was covered in stalactites and stalagmites and the caves carried a cool, refreshing
breeze in their alcoves. Hanna, Roberto,
and Justin were a bit more daring that I was feeling and were constantly
searching for the perfect rock ledge to jump from. They would find one, snorkel around the make
sure it was deep enough, climb the rock, and fearlessly leap to the water
below. It was quite intense watching
them make jumps that very few people, if anyone, had ever made.
We never stayed anywhere long and were
compelled by our desire to see and experience more. We regretted not bringing
the camera with us because of the endless photographic moments we encountered. After
making it to the final cave that Hanna had set as a goal for us, we then turned
around and paddled back. The wind had decided to pick up and we were suddenly
battling some choppy waves. Poor Hanna
had to brave the bow of the boat where she was slowly being drowned by the
vicious rapids. The guys with their sore arms, Hanna with her chilled body, and
me with sunburnt skin pulled ashore exhausted and ready for some more homemade
pizza and a night of card games.
We played a card came called Asshole. If
you’ve never played the game before let me know and we’ll show you how it’s
done. But essentially, the objective of
each round is to get rid of all of your cards first. If you do, then you are name “President” and
the ranking continue down from there to the last place person who becomes the
“Asshole”, hence the name of the game.
The President has supreme power over everyone and after two consecutive
reigns can make a rule for the following game. We all made rules when we could,
but Hanna somehow always came up with the best (and cruelest) of ideas. The one
that was most memorable was the one where she said we weren’t allowed to say
the work “like”, or we would have to strip and run around the building. I wish I were making this up, but I’m not.
Justin was the first to fail at this endeavor and actually was actually the
only person who caught his mistake. He
went outside in the dark and ran around the house completely naked. It was priceless. Up to this point I hadn’t said “like” because
I was choosing not to speak at all. Asking an American to not to say “like” is
like (see?) being asked not to breathe. The one sentence that I tried to say I
failed and also had to run around the house.
Don’t worry everyone, nobody could see us because it was completely
dark, but it was still quite embarrassing. Roberto finally slipped as well and
had to endure the punishment. Hanna, the
President, came out flawless and was able to enjoy the spectacle. The evening
was full of laughter and fun.
Day 11:
That evening we did a small hike to some nearby ruins and had an apero picnic. It was not surprise that the view was breathtaking, especially when we watched the sun set over the horizon. We ended the evening by going out to eat and enjoying the beautiful weather. Hanna, Roberto, and Justin even jumped in the water for a little late night, skinny dipping with the glow in the fluorescent plankton still visible in the water.
Day 12, 13 and the journey home:
The entirety of day 12 was spent on the rock
soaking up the sun and wishing it wouldn’t go by so quickly. We cooked dinner and played cards until our
bodies collapsed in bed with exhaustion.
The following day, after our usual visit to
the rock, we ate dinner and then headed out to watch the semi-final soccer
match at one of the local bars. Italy was playing Germany with Germany favored
to win. Regardless, Roberto and I proudly sported our Italy gear, Hanna had her
Germany jersey, and Justin decided to cheer for Germany since his team, Spain,
was already in the finals. After a hard fought match, which sometime seemed one
sided, Italy pulled off the win. The
locals were so excited over the win that there was an absolute riot of fans in
downtown Porto Santo Stefano. People were stripping down and jumping in the
water, tearing street signs out of the ground, driving the wrong way on one-way
streets honking their horns, dancing, and chanting. Justin managed to catch all the excitement on
video and even he and Hanna couldn’t deny that seeing the aftermath of Italy’s
victory was a lot of fun. We all went home to pack, get a night of sleep, and
make the drive home on the following day.
