What happens when you choose your vacation destination purely by plane ticket fare price? A local med student winds up in Italy, dazzled by glass blowers and Alpine views. East Falls Local was there! (sort of…)
(As told to East Falls Local)
Hi, guys! Here are some pictures of my trip to Italy last month — a destination I picked cause it was literally the cheapest flight to Europe I could find. And I’d been to Italy before, so I knew I’d love it already.
This trip, I stayed in the northern part of the country, visiting Murano and Milan, two very walkable cities with lots of history and gorgeous architecture. And some cool glass!
A favorite site was Duomo, a cathedral in Milan — one of the largest Gothic churches in the world. The cathedral roof has 135 spires, and is crawling with statues and gargoyles. The guidebook said on a clear day you can see the Alps — and we could!
Murano was beautiful, too — and all the glassblowers reminded me of Sherman Mills. This island near Venice has been famous for its amazing glass for centuries, going all the way back to Egyptian times. I should say “islands” though — there are seven of them, linked by bridges.
Although a canal city like Venice, Murano has a quieter, more laid-back vibe. It’s got its own Grand Canal lined with shops and cafes. Beautiful glass is everywhere. Glass factories offer demonstrations, where artists work molten glass into delicate, colorful shapes. (Loving to ride as much as I do, I took home a glass horse figurine as a souvenir).
Really pretty city, especially loved their car-sized blue glass starburst sculpture by a 19th century stone tower (pretty much every tourist gets their picture taken here).
Oh yeah, also, while I was overseas I got a text from my dog Tucker’s microchip service, saying he’d been turned into a vet! Funny… I’d just gotten off the phone with my mom who had been watching him, and who somehow failed to mention he’d escaped that morning…
Of course I freaked out, but he was fine. My mom accidentally dropped the leash when he shot off after a squirrel, and he just kept running. Some lady on her way to work in the next town over saw him dashing along the highway — when she pulled over to check on him, he hopped right into her car.
Gotta thank her, she knew to just drive him to the closest vet where he was scanned, and ta da — they found me in Italy. I texted them my mom’s info and everyone took care of Tucker from there.
That was the only drama. A fantastic trip otherwise. It was a lot of fun bringing EFL along. Let me know if you have any questions, I love to talk travel!
— Lori Rhodes, Bowman Street
Got a cool trip coming up? Take EFL along and we’ll post your pics — (even if you don’t pose with them in every shot like Lori did, ha)! Email us at editor@eastfallslocal.com
Be the first to comment