Wow. Italians are in general the RUDEST people I’ve ever encountered. From all of the lovely Italians that I’ve met and known in the past, I expected the exact opposite. I understand that it’s the luck of the draw with who you get but I pretty much got abused for two weeks by every single service attendant. Absolute arseholes. They don’t even lift. I even work in an Italian cafe back home and I’ve realised I’ve been doing it ALL wrong. I should be constantly rude, condescending and try to rip off my customers if I want to provide an authentic Italian experience. I’m still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.. Australians.
I was burnt out by the time I got to Torino so I just slept. The city looked beautiful from the bus though.
Milan can be done easily in a day or two. For me, the highlight of Milan was the hostel - Ostello Belle Grande. Free breakfast (including scrambled eggs) and free dinner. I met a lot of good people here. I spent the day with a really lovely old lady from my hostel. The heat wave began sometime around here.
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Cinque Terre is beautiful. I met up with two Americans I met in Milan and hiked through each of the villages. I had never sweated as much as I did that day. The heat wave was picking up. I don’t usually get burnt but it’s hard when it’s 1 million degrees. We cooled off with a swim and cliff jump in Manorola and watched the sunset in Rio.
Amazing.
Bed bugs aren’t great though. Back and hips got wrecked.
Only a quick stop to get this pic.
“Did we just walk into Hell?” - Alex B.
Florence was pretty much a furnace. Like ridiculously hot and humid. Beautiful buildings though. I spent my time here with my friend Andrea (the only nice Italian) who introduced me to Italian apertivo’s (small buffets that are meant as just drinking snacks). If you’re offering up a buffet and you expect me to not eat myself silly, you’re kidding yourself mate. I didn’t get to see Michaelango’s David but I saw the replica’s wang.
When I was young(er), Angels and Demons was one of my favourite books. Imagine my excitement following the Path of Illumination. It was just as hot as Florence. The Trevi Fountain was undergoing maintenance and looked like trash. I wonder if my magic coin will still work. Anyway, Rome is overrated. Not what dreams are made of. Bernini is brilliant though.
“Sing to me, Paolo”
This technically counts as a new location. The heat, narrow corridors, hordes of tourists and lack of air-conditioning made the Vatican an unpleasant experience. The line to get in took forever (2.5 hours). The Vatican will sell out no matter what so I can understand why they don’t care about their visitors. Taking photos of the Sistine Chapel isn’t allowed.. It is magnificent.
The Blue Grotto is a clear example of a tourist trap. People I talked to in the hostel spent about +70 euros getting there and back. I made friend/formed a crew and we rented our own boat, saving ourselves a fortune. Found ourselves our own little blue grottos around Capri and swam inside THE beautiful Blue Grotto after hours. Also, drove a boat.
Perfect day.
Venice is cool. I swear there are no locals at all, just tourists. Per recommendation, I just got lost and walked through the back streets. It was absolutely dead. I also went to an Asian restaurant because I wanted decent service for once.
Venice has no soul.
Italy is an amazing country. The people though, we’ll see.
Really behind on posting, already in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
© 2026 Justin Tang
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