Solo Tripping in Italy
“I booked a flight to Italy on a whim and somehow it became the best thing I ever did”
I’m not going to tell you that the road to Italy was easy. But somewhere between the 6 hour flight there and sitting on the rooftop of my hotel overlooking the Duomo, while sipping a glass of Chianti, a rich red wine native to Italy, I finally took a breath. And not one of those shallow breaths or puffs of air you take after quickly climbing the D.C. escalator stairs so people don’t think you’re out of shape. I took a deep breath, one that acknowledged everything that brought me to Italy while simultaneously releasing the fear of the unknown.
Despite staying at one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever seen or quite frankly that might exist throughout Florence, Hotel delgi Orafi, I’m not going to pretend like I wasn’t a little rattled at times to be a solo traveler in a country where I technically didn’t speak the language.
I also won’t pretend like I didn’t pack an anti-theft purse, undershirt wallet, and pepper spray (only after figuring out I couldn’t take my taser). But despite my hidden fear, I found that for everyday I woke up, took a breath, and explored that my fear subsided. And with each breath I felt a little bit more renewed. Perhaps my favorite part was going where I wanted, when I wanted, and leaving whenever I got tired!
I visited Florence and Venice and I can’t wait to go back. It was an amazing experience and I met so many people who talked about how they wanted to travel and to them I say “YOU HAVE TO.” It is sooooo FREEING!
If you can’t tell already I basically am saying that I 100 PERCENT recommend solo travel
Each day I started with my handy dandy guide book and marked out where I wanted to go, but I didn’t put too much pressure on myself. If I found myself in a completely different place I just went with the flow.
Now Let’s Get to Why You’re Really Here……The Wine
I can’t say enough about wine heaven, aka Italy. As I get older, I find that some red wines seem to be a little bit too acidic for me. However, Italian wines had no such effect. I devoted a whole day (“read: not nearly enough time”) to a wine tour in Tuscany and boy did I have a great time.
I visited Castello Sonnino, a traditional Italian vineyard owned by Baron Alessandro and Baroness Caterina de Renzis Sonnino. Their vineyard and home is also used as one of the official Gucci locations! Here, we tried traditional Italia wines like Chianti.
Chianti wine indicates that the wine is from a specific region in Italy and has the government seal indicating it was made with the specific requirements to be considered Chianti.
This place is seriously gorgeous and the wine is an ode to the traditional taste of Chianti with rich red wines that pair perfectly with great meals.
You can purchase some of Castello Sonnino’s wines online, which is a great way to bring Italia to you.
Next I visited the Fattoria di Poggio Capponi Vineyard, which had my favorite wines of the trip. I even bought some to have shipped back to the states. So if you’re interested in sipping on some of their wine here in the States, they’ll probably ship it to you.
This vineyard is also looking for people to move to Italy and taste wine so If I up and move to Italy, this is where I’ll be!
For me the overall best wine winner was the Chardonnay from Fattoria di Poggio Capponi.
This chardonnay is delicious, with hints of vanilla, warm chestnut flavor, its super smooth and kind of reminds me of butter! I can’t say enough about how great this wine is
I could talk for another hour about the wine, but I won’t. Instead! I’ll wait until my next month’s blog post where I’ll be highlighting lots of the Italian wines on Instagram and Facebook. Make sure you’re following us!
As you can see from my review I had the PERFECT time in Italia and it’s so fitting that my first blog post is about conquering fear because everything about traveling, launching a blog, managing social media pages, and letting people in my world through pictures and words is a practice of conquering fear. But just as with my solo trip to Italy revealed conquering my fear could be fruitful, I hope that something you read on this blog, about my journey will inspire you to conquer your own fears.
So if you been waiting to launch a blog, quit a job, start a new relationship, switch careers, or just generally live life, NOW is the time.
Until Next Time: Peace, Love, and Chicken Grease,
—-Lola
