November 23, 2022

I don’t love Italy. I know, people rave about Italy. Okay, there are some beautiful places to see, but I have to believe those fans of Italy have never been to Spain or Portugal. I know I’m biased, but who isn’t? And this is about my experiences, so here goes…

I passed through Italy in the 1980s while doing the college kid-backpack-Eurail Pass thing. My friend and I were traveling from December through early February, so we were looking for warm weather after spending some time in France. (Christmas in Paris was amazing!)

We first passed through Italy on our way to Greece, taking a ferry from southern Italy. Didn’t really see much of Italy except what had passed by the train windows.

Then we made a point of stopping in Rome on the way back from Greece. The great snowstorm of the century hit Rome the day we arrived; On top of that, my friend had acquired a cold through our travels. She was absolutely miserable! I remember leaving our crappy little hotel room to find her some soup. Sadly, we didn’t get to see any of the sights. The city had shut down.

About 14 years ago, I traveled to Italy with my then-husband and two kids. We had a fabulous trip! We spent four days covering as much of Rome as possible by foot. We splurged on a private tour of the Vatican. We stayed at an Airbnb that had a view of the Pantheon. Then we drove along the Amalfi Coast and spent a day in Pompeii. It was a short but sweet sampling of Italy.

Eating was problematic with my celiac disease, but everything else made up for that.

On my current journey, I had the opportunity to rent a one-bedroom condo in Tuscany for a great price. Everyone raves about Tuscany. How could I pass up the opportunity to finally see it? A friend who had been to Tuscany before offered to drive. Great! I absolutely, positively will not drive in Italy.

We made the most of our six days in Tuscany. The scenery was picture-perfect. The hilltop towns are enchanting despite the sometimes-treacherous narrow roads one must drive to get to and from them. I completely understand why people love it.
What I didn’t like was that I felt everyone was after my pocketbook. Prices were high compared to Spain and Portugal. Gluten-free restaurant food was challenging to find. And I swear we sometimes paid the “tourist price.”
Most Italian restaurants add a service charge of anywhere from one Euro to 3.50 per person. You’re basically paying for your utensils and bread, and it doesn’t matter if you don’t eat the bread.

Then it got worse: Venice. Okay, Venice is unique and full of beautiful buildings. It’s delightful to watch the gondolas making their way through the canals. But do you know how much a gondola ride costs? Eighty Euros for thirty minutes! Yes, that is for up to five people in a boat, but thirty minutes? That’s it? No thanks. I can live without ever riding in a gondola.

Restaurants are expensive, and some pull some ridiculous moves. We encountered heavy rain and 50-mile-per-hour winds on the second day in Venice. It wasn’t the best day for sightseeing. We first went to the Doge’s Palace. Then we saw a café advertising hot chocolate (I’m a huge fan of Spanish and Italian stuff—dark, rich, and not too sweet.) We walked up and asked for one. The nicely dressed waiter told us to come in and sit down. It was a swanky café with red velvet cushions on the seats. My friend figured she would order a cup of tea. Then we saw the menu. Hot chocolate with a cookie: ten euros. What??? I asked the waiter. He said without the cookie, it was only eight euros. I asked about the 3.50 price posted by the door. He said that was takeaway only. We got up, and I took that hot chocolate away in the pouring rain.

That same day, we decided we needed to continue to brave the cold and sideways rain to get a hot lunch. We tried our luck at the nearest restaurant. They had some gluten-free items. Okay. We noticed that a man was eating some soup and asked about it. No gluten. Great! It was a traditional Italian broth-based soup with beef, cabbage, onion, cauliflower, and kale. I would call it peasant soup. It was simple and delicious. We each had a bowl and shared an entrée of chicken and vegetables in a white wine sauce. Also, very good!

Then we got the bill. He charged us 16 euros each for the soup! What? I can’t think of a gourmet restaurant in the US that would demand that much for soup. And the chicken entrée was 17 euros. It didn’t make sense. I asked the waiter if it was correct. He gave me that look, like, of course it is, you stupid tourist. I wonder if that other guy paid 16 Euros for his soup.

And the final “I can’t believe you are charging that much” price was the cost of climbing the San Marco Tower. Ten Euros! Nope. I can get my exercise in other ways.

I understand that costs may be higher in Venice because of its location, but groceries were inexpensive. Just saying…
I’ll stick with Spain and Portugal, or at least I won’t return to Venice anytime soon.

Here are some more photos of Italy. My friend and I had a fantastic time despite the few instances of price gouging.