Newby to Expert Traveler

Points Check December 2024

Posted on January 16, 2025January 16, 2025 by David Cox

December is always a month to get together with family and friends to celebrate the holidays. For a lot of people there is holiday travel, but this has always been a time for us to stay home. Now that we’ve been traveling more, this is time that I get a chance to slow down and think about next year’s travels.

While children dreamed of Christmas morning, I was dreaming about where we are going in 2025. Over the last few years, we have done a great job of building up our point balances in a variety of programs, and that opens up a lot of possibilities for our 2025 travels.

It has been tempting to think of places in South America or Asia, but right now, we really love going to Europe. Even though it can be a challenging distance to fly, it’s still close enough that a seven to ten day trip isn’t dominated by flights and the accompanying jet lag. The infrastructure of subways, high speed rail and airports makes getting around in Europe without renting a car easy.

Europe is beginning to feel like an easy destination, where I don’t have to worry too much about how to get around, where to stay or for that matter the language barrier, since so many Europeans speak English well. Plus, we have so much left to see in Europe. Because of that, we have three trips to Europe in 2025 in various stages of planning.

Redemptions Galore

I went on a bit of a booking spree in December. It started with me noticing a great deal on an American Airlines flight to Nice at the perfect time for the UTMB Nice Cote d’Azur Ultramarathons. I wanted to do the 54 kilometer trail race, but I also wanted to make sure that I could get a decent price on a flight before I committed to it. We booked the way there from Moline for only 19,000 American Airlines miles and $11 each. Getting home wasn’t quite as affordable as going to Nice, so I ended up booking a flight out of Dublin, Ireland instead for 19,000 American Airlines miles and $47 in taxes.

That meant we needed to book a flight from Nice to Dublin which we were able to secure on Aer Lingus for a 6,500 Aer Lingus Avios and $37 each. We transferred Amex Membership Rewards points to Aer Lingus Avios at a 1:1 ratio to acquire the necessary Avios. So in the end, for Jenn and I to fly to Nice from Moline and then on to Dublin for a couple days and then back to Moline, cost us 76,000 American Airlines miles, 13,000 Amex Membership Reward points and $190 in cash.

In November, we had booked a flight for Jenn and I and our two kids Alex and Emma from Chicago to Porto, Portugal for 48,000 Virgin Atlantic miles transferred from 35,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points and $702 in taxes and fees.

We did however, need to get back so we booked 4 flights from Madrid to Chicago for 88,000 Iberia Avios and $512 dollars in taxes and fees. Those points were transferred from American Express Membership Reward points and we used 50,700 Capital One Venture miles at one cent per point to wipe out all but $5 of the taxes and fees.

So in two months we booked four flights from Chicago to Porto, four flights from Madrid to Chicago, two flights from Moline to Nice, two flights from Nice to Dublin and two flights from Dublin to Moline. These flights in total cost us 101,000 Amex Membership Reward points, 76,000 American Airlines miles, 50,700 Capital One Venture miles, 35,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points and $897 in cash. I was able to redeem $875 in cash back to help out with the cash for taxes and fees, so out of pocket these flights cost us a grand total of $23. I’m not mad about that at all.

The cash value for the flights from Chicago to Porto were $433 each on KLM. The cash value for the flights from Madrid to Chicago on Iberia was a shockingly high $901 each. The whole Moline to Nice to Dublin to Moline itinerary had a cash value of $1,253 each. The grand total for all of that would have been $7,842 so to only fork over $23 isn’t bad. The 262,700 points and miles we used ended up netting us over 2.6 cents per point in value which is way above what they are actually valued at, so we did a tremendous job of redeeming those points.

A Couple of Bonuses

The $875 in cash back didn’t appear out of thin air. I happened to finally get my $750 sign up bonus for hitting the required $6,000 in spend in the first five months of opening my US Bank Triple Cash card. I actually spent a little over $6,400 and the total cash back was over $850. That meant I got around 13.3% cash back for all of that spend on the Triple Cash over the first 4 months. That’s pretty good, I’ll take it.

Jenn also hit the signup bonus that she was working on. She signed up for the Citi Strata Premier card, which had a 75,000 Thank You point bonus after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months.

This leaves us with no current credit card signup bonuses we are working on, so I’ll have to make a decision about how I’m going to go about building up our points balances after using so many in the last couple of months.

Never Forget Those Credits

I’m supposed to be an “expert”, right? Well, I was listening to a podcast (It was probably Frequent Miler on the Air), and they mentioned that you need to make sure to use up the credits that were expiring at the end of the year. One of the credits that they mentioned was that many Delta Airlines credit cards have hotel credits that can be used once a year. I knew Jenn had a Delta Airlines Business Gold card and so I checked out the credit. Sure enough, there is a $150 annual hotel credit if you book the hotel though Delta Stays.

We used the credit to do a short trip to Iowa City for an Iowa Hawkeye Women’s Basketball game – Go Hawks! We also use this as an opportunity to use up the $50 semi-annual Resy credit that comes with my American Express Gold card.

This was a huge reminder to me to make sure that I not only understand all of the benefits of the credit cards we have, but to actually use them. Most travel credit cards with annual fees will have some benefits or credits that will expire if you don’t use them. It’s important to remember to use those, or you’re not getting the full benefit of a card you’re paying for.

On to THe POint Check!

We didn’t stray too much from the cards that we were working on for a bonus this month. Most of the spending that we did on cards not earning a signup bonus was on recurring charges like utilities, insurance, streaming services, etc. The good news is that you can get a pretty good return on that spend and we were able to get a fairly impressive 7.1% return on all of those recurring charges last month. I’ll take it.

Card Used	Spend	Points Earned	Point Value	Points Per $	Return on Spend
Ink Cash	$463	2,317	$47.50	5.0	10.3%
Wyndham Business Earner	$450	2,591	$28.50	5.8	6.3%
Venture	$345	690	$12.77	2.0	3.7%
Total	$1,258	5,598	$88.76	4.4	7.1%

This month’s spending not devoted to earning a signup bonus

Besides the spending listed above, I also spent a little over $2,200 on my US Bank Triple Cash card earning $37 in cash back as well as the $750 sign up bonus. Jenn spent a little over $2,800 on her Citi Strata Premier card and earned almost 5,600 Citi Thank You points as well as the 75,000 point bonus on that card.

After earning two bonuses and having a whole lot of points redeemed for flights, we were left with:

199,600 American Express Membership Rewards Points
176,700 Chase Ultimate Reward Points
142,300 IHG Points
113,900 Citi Thank You Points
99,700 American Airlines Miles
71,900 Marriott Bonvoy Points
49,700 Wyndham Points
19,600 Hyatt Points
5,100 Delta Miles
2,700 United Miles
$105 in Cash Back

According to the valuations published by The Points Guy, the total value of our points, miles and cash back is $12,950. That is a significant drop from November when the total was worth $15,600, but that’s fine. We are using those points wisely and have all of the flights for two trips to Europe out of the way. I just need to book a summer trip and all of our plans are ready for 2025. It’s going to be a fun year.

Exploring the Duomo in Florence

Posted on January 12, 2025 by David Cox

The most famous building in Florence is the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, known commonly as the Duomo. It is an architectural and engineering wonder built as Europe was transitioning from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.

The Duomo at Sunrise taken from Piazzale Michelangelo.

History of Construction

The Duomo dominates the skyline of Florence. It is 376 feet tall at the dome and the campanile is 278 feet tall. Most buildings in Florence are three to five stories tall and are a fraction of the Cathedral’s height. The Duomo is so much larger than the rest of the buildings in Florence that it’s impossible to miss.

The Campanile is an impressive 278 feet tall.

As was the case with many cathedrals built throughout Europe, building the Duomo was a multi-generational project. The project began in 1296 overseen by the architect Arnolfo di Cambio. By 1337, the project had expanded and the plans were changed to include a dome, even though they didn’t yet have plans on how to build it. In 1418, the Architect Brunelleschi solved the dome problem and his design was chosen to finish it. The dome was completed in 1436, finally finishing the construction on the cathedral that had lasted 140 years.

Painting the dome started in 1572 when Georgio Vasari was commissioned by the Grand Duke Cosmio I d’ Medici to depict the Last Judgment. Vasari died in 1574 and left the frescoes incomplete. Frederico Zuccari was commissioned in 1576 to finish the project which he did in 1579.

The facade of the Duomo is a striking combination of white, green and pink marble. Interestingly, the exterior is relatively new, with the work having begun on the exterior in 1871 and was completed in 1887. All of the marble was sourced nearby with the white marble being from Carrera, the green marble from Prato and the pink marble from Siena.

The intricate marble design covers the entire exterior of the Duomo

Even though the Baptistry and the Campanile have extremely similar marble exteriors, they had been clad in marble for centuries when the exterior work was done on the Duomo. Because of the similar marble exteriors, the Baptistry, Campanile and the Duomo feel like one cohesive project, but in fact, the Baptistry was completed in 1059 and the Campanile was completed in 1359.

Ticket Options for the Duomo

The Brunelleschi Pass provides access to climb the stairs up to the top of the dome, as well as the bell tower. It also provides access to the museum, the baptistery and the crypt of Santa Raparata. That pass is available at the Duomo website for 30 Euros.

The Giotto Pass provides everything the Brunelleschi Pass provides, except access to the top of the dome. The Giotto pass costs 20 Euros.

The Ghiberti Pass provides access to the Baptistery, the Museum and the Crypt of Santa Reparata. It costs 15 Euro. If you don’t like hiking up a ton of stairs or heights, this might be the option for you.

Countless statues adorn the outside of the Duomo

Because we didn’t have a ton of time in Florence we decided to do none of those things and just walk inside of the Cathedral. This option is completely free and can be done simply by standing in line. Even though the line was long, it moved fairly quickly and we were able to make it inside in about 20 minutes.

It’s Not as Flashy as You would Expect

When you look at the outside of the Duomo, it’s beautiful, but it’s a quite showy. The front of the Duomo has dozens of statues in the facade, along with the three toned marble exterior. The doors, the windows, every single inch of the exterior of the Duomo is intricate.

Stone archways and ribs hold up the impressively high ceiling of the Duomo.

However, once we walked inside, the amount of plain light tan walls everywhere was surprising. The gray stone archways and ribs holding up the high vault ceiling are beautiful, while seeming strangely plain. There are also some beautiful stained glass windows letting light in from the outside.

Choir area to the left of Brunelleschi’s Dome

There are a series of twelve marble statues inside the Duomo, created by a variety of artists in the 16th Century. These are marvelous pieces of art and fairly large. However, because of the size of the Duomo, they aren’t immediately obvious.

Compared to many of the churches and cathedrals that I’ve visited, the inside of the Duomo seemed understated. I think that’s what I liked so much about it. From the outside, every inch of the exterior is covered with an elaborate marble cladding. The front of the Duomo has statues everywhere and the doors are enormous and elaborate.

But inside, it’s beauty is in the relative simplicity. Sure there are still stained glass windows, statues and tapestries, but when taking it in as a whole, those things complement the cathedral well instead of overwhelm it.

Statue of Pope Eugene IV on the front of the Duomo

The one element of the inside of the cathedral that is a bit showy is the painting of the Last Judgement in Brunelleschi’s Dome. However, you need to position yourself underneath it in order to view it. You would never see it while seated in a pew during Mass.

It’s actually a perfect example of the purpose of a Cathedral. For the citizens of Florence, this is the center of their community, it is a source of their pride. The exterior shows off the craftsmanship and labor of centuries of artists, artisans and laborers. But the inside, that’s for worship. Despite, the frescoes and the statues, the focus is most definitely on the altar and the priest performing Mass and ultimately that is the most important function of a Cathedral.

Points Check November 2024

Posted on December 27, 2024December 28, 2025 by David Cox

November was a pretty good month for us. Why? Well we were in Italy for a couple weeks of it. Italy is a magical place where climate, landscape, food, culture and history all come together to make an incredible place to visit. There is no doubt why it is one of the most visited countries in the world and it did not disappoint.

We stayed in Florence, Venice and Rome and we also had a nice day trip to Cinque Terre. Rome and Venice were repeats for us. Rome is fine, I’m sure we will visit again, but I’m amazed by how much we’ve enjoyed Venice. Before we went the first time, I thought Venice would feel extremely touristy. It turned out to be quite different than I imagined. It really felt more authentic than the other places we visited. That being said, I think we spent more time on the side streets away from the tourist traps than the other cities we visited. It’s a reminder to us to actively get away from the main tourist areas of a city.

I’m determined to revisit Cinque Terre, hopefully for a few days. I’d love to hike the trail between the five towns and really spend some time exploring each of them. A day trip just wasn’t enough to fully appreciate Cinque Terre. As far as Florence is concerned, it’s the most beautiful city I’ve visited thus far, but even during the off-peak travel season, it seemed overrun with tourists. I might have appreciated Florence more if we would have wandered out of the main tourist areas.

A Couple of Redemptions

We have three trips planned for next year. The first is a spring break trip to spend a week on the Portuguese route of the Camino de Santiago de Compostella. The second trip is a summer trip where we haven’t determined locations or dates. The third is a trip to Nice France to participate in a UTMB trail running event where Jenn and our friends Bill and Theresa will be doing the 22 kilometer race and I will be participating in the 54 kilometer race.

In November, we started the planning of these trips by booking a flight from Chicago to Porto. Virgin Atlantic was charging 12,000 miles and $175 per ticket to book the flight but with a 40% transfer bonus from Chase it ended up costing us 35,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points and around $700 for four tickets.

In cash, those flights would have cost $433 each. That means that we ended up getting a little over $1000 value for those 35,000 Ultimate Rewards points. That works out to 2.9 cents per point value, when Chase Ultimate Rewards points are typically valued at 2 cents per point so I’m pretty happy with the redemption.

We also used 38,000 Capital One miles to wipe out the cost of some train tickets from our trip to Italy. This isn’t the best use of Capital One miles, because we just get one cent per point on reimbursement for travel purchases. However, my goal is to use all of Jenn’s Capital One miles so she can cancel her Venture Card and then I will apply for one. Capital One allows people to get a bonus every four years so I think with the two of us working together, the smart thing is for us to alternate every two years who is carrying a Venture Card. That will allow us to maximize signup bonuses for Venture cards.

Barclays Aviator Red Bonus

I had one signup bonus hit in November. I received the 70,000 American Airlines mile bonus for signing up with the Barclays Aviator Red card, which is scheduled to no longer be with Barclays in 2026. This is part of an exclusive deal between American Airlines and Citibank, making Citibank the exclusive bank of all of the American Airlines credit cards moving forward. Customers who hold American Airlines cards issued by Barclays will probably be transferred to Citibank and I would assume that the Aviator Red card will no longer be taking new applicants. Therefore if you if you want sign up for the Aviator Red card, the clock is ticking, and I would assume that some time soon, Barclays will no longer be taking new applications.

On to the Point Check

I’ve been working on a signup bonus for my US Bank Triple Cash card and I had some issues with it that really boils down to me not paying attention to what I was doing. Without getting into the boring details of it, I’m an idiot and I ended up having to get new credit cards issued, with the correct business name on it. This happened right before we went to Europe, so I basically wasn’t using the card for most of the November billing period.

Card Used	Spend	Points Earned	Point Value	Points Per $	Return on Spend
Amex Business Gold	$889	1401	$28.02	1.6	3.1%
Amex Gold	$817	2,148	$42.96	2.6	5.3%
Venture	$752	1,504	$27.82	2.0	3.7%
Citibusiness AAdvantage	$698	698	$11.17	1.0	1.6%
Ink Cash	$459	2,298	$47.11	5.0	10.3%
Wyndham Business Earner	$422	2,288	$25.17	5.4	6.0%
Total	$4,046	10,337	$182.25	2.6	4.5%

This month’s spending not devoted to earning a signup bonus

My spending primarily got put on my Amex Gold and the Citibusiness AAdvantange, where they didn’t take American Express, which was in a lot of places in Italy. It wasn’t really ideal, and that’s why my non-bonus spend only returned a disappointing 4.5% last month. I ended up spending less than $500 on my Triple Cash card and earned about $8 in cash back.

Jenn has been working on her bonus for her Citi Strata Premier card and spent less than $1,500, earning over 2,500 Citi Thank You points.

Between the points earned this month and the redemptions the total value of our points went down slightly. We finished the month with:

298,200 American Express Membership Rewards Points
175,700 American Airlines Miles
174,300 Chase Ultimate Reward Points
142,300 IHG Points
71,900 Marriott Bonvoy Points
48,900 Capital One Venture Miles
47,100 Wyndham Points
19,600 Hyatt Points
5,000 Delta Skymiles
2,700 United Miles
$227 in Cash Back

All of these miles, when using the Points Guy’s valuations, add up to around $15,600. That should give me plenty of room to do all of the travel planning that I need to do for 2025. That’s the fun stuff, I can’t wait!

American Airlines Continues to be Great for Booking Award Flights From Small Airports

Posted on December 18, 2024December 28, 2025 by David Cox

I love my local airport. It’s MLI, sometimes known as the Moline Airport or as it’s officially called, the Quad Cities International Airport. What is great about this airport is that you can pretty much roll into a parking spot 20 minutes before boarding and be alright. I personally am not brave enough to try it, but I’m certain you’d be fine. TSA normally takes less than ten minutes and you can literally park just a couple hundred feet from the front door. There are only a dozen gates, so it only takes a couple minutes to get to your gate. Whenever it’s feasible, we try to fly out of MLI. If we can’t, we generally fly out of Chicago O’hare.

On the other hand, I really hate the whole experience of going to Chicago O’hare. It’s a three hour drive and the last hour is in white knuckle traffic. Then we have to park something like a dozen miles away and take a shuttle to the airport. Getting to O’hare is usually a four hour ordeal for us and we have to leave at least two hours for security and getting to the gate. There is nothing pleasant about having to leave your house six hours before boarding.

Booking award flights out of MLI however, is a little tricky. Flying to Europe on points, we usually find the best deals on KLM/Air France Flying Blue or with either Aer Lingus or Iberia Avios. None of those airlines fly out of MLI, but they all have direct flights from Chicago O’hare to Europe. There are only three airlines that will book with points out of MLI: United, American, and Delta.

This leaves us with three choices. The first is to book with one of the European carriers and deal with the whole ordeal of driving to Chicago. This isn’t great, not only because of the way there, but generally that means we’re trying to stay awake while driving home after a seven hour time change when returning from Europe.

The second option is to book a separate award flight to get to Chicago and book with a European carrier out of Chicago. The problem with the second option is that if something happens to your first flight, such as a delay, the second flight doesn’t care that your first flight is delayed, since it’s not their fault and frankly not their problem. When I’ve done this in the past, I’ve booked a day early just so we could make sure to get there in time.

The third option is to book the whole trip with one of the American carriers that fly out of MLI. The problem with the third option is that it’s often a whole lot of points. United Airlines consistently charges a premium for flying to a small airport, and I usually just look at their prices and laugh. Delta rarely has good award prices and when you find a deal you need to book them as a round-trip ticket to get good rates. American Airlines, however, continues to surprise me with great value on award flights out of MLI, although you do have to hunt a little for them.

Punishing Myself in Style

I’ve been a distance runner for about eight years now and I’m turning 50 next year. I decided that as a challenge to myself, I would run my first 50K during my 50th year. But let’s face it, I’m a travel hacker, if I’m going to do a 50K, of course I’m going to do it with a little style.

I decided to do the 50K which is one of the UTMB ultramarathons that are taking place in Nice, France. The race in the 50K category in Nice is actually a 54K with around 7,000 feet of elevation gain. This is going to hurt – honestly it’s probably bordering on self-torture. But hey, If I’m going to torture myself, why not do it in the hills overlooking Nice, Monaco and the Mediterranean Sea, right?

Searching for Flights

Now that I knew what I wanted to do, I needed to get there. I started my search the same way that I always do, by searching on PointsYeah from Chicago to wherever I want to go, in this case the Nice Airport, NCE. Right away I noticed that American Airlines had a 19,000 mile award from Chicago to NCE.

If I see that any of the major American carriers have a cheap flight from Chicago, I instantly change it to MLI, just to see if they also have a cheap flight to the Quad City Airport. Sure enough, American tacked on an extra leg and it was still 19,000 points and $11 in taxes. I immediately jumped on that.

Flying home, the best I could find was again an American Airlines flight from NCE to MLI for 30,000 points and $130 in taxes and fuel surcharges. Honestly, that’s not bad, but I decided to look around a little bit. I went on Flight Connections and filtered down to see where American Airlines flew directly from Europe to Chicago, knowing that there are multiple flights from Chicago to MLI every day.

I then used PointsYeah to check each of these cities to MLI to see if American Airlines had any other great deals. I wound up finding a flight from Dublin to MLI for 19,000 American Airlines miles and $47. This of course means that we will have to get from Nice to Dublin, but Aer Lingus is available for 6,500 Aer Lingus Avios and $37 in taxes.

Why would we position ourselves to a different country just to fly home? Well, I always like a bargain, but this also means we can spend a day or two in Dublin. I love the idea of having a stopover like this, because it really gives you a quick sample of a city so that you can know whether or not you would like to return later. Honestly, I feel like being cheap can actually make your trips better.

What We Are Paying Vs Cash Flights

Once we book the flight with Aer Lingus, which I’ll book for 6,500 Amex Membership Rewards points transferred to Aer Lingus Avios and $37 in taxes, we will have essentially booked the entire trip for 38,000 AAdvantage miles, 6,500 Membership Rewards points and $95 in fees for each ticket.

Booking the American Airlines portion of the flights with cash would have cost $1,091 if we booked it as a multi-city flight with an open jaw (a flight itinerary where you fly back from a different city from where you landed). The cost of the Aer Lingus flight was $162 for a one way flight from Nice to Dublin. Together, the itinerary was $1,253 booking with cash. That means we got a value of 2.6 cents per point for our award flights. Considering The Points Guy values American Airlines miles at 1.65 cents per point and Amex Membership Rewards points at 2 cents per point, I’d say we did pretty well on that redemption.

Creativity and Thrift Wins Again

When we first started travel hacking, we didn’t have a lot of points to throw around for our trips. On our first trip to Europe, we had to fly back from Stockholm because that was the only flight we had enough points to book, even though we were going to be in Italy. We ended up having to book a separate flight from Rome to Stockholm to make it work. It turned out to be great though, because we got to experience Sweden for a few days. It taught me that thinking outside of the box can allow you to enhance your trips while essentially being cheap.

This time we had the points to fly back directly from Nice, but by being creative with how we booked our flights, it allowed us to retain more of our valuable American Airlines miles and we were able to tack on a side quest to Ireland. Enhancing our trip while getting great value is a win win, even though after running the 50K, I probably won’t be able to walk by the time we get to Dublin.

Exploring Vernazza: A Seaside Gem in Cinque Terre

Posted on December 13, 2024March 5, 2025 by David Cox

Vernazza is a gorgeous village along the coast in the Liguria Region of Italy. It is one of the five towns that make up Cinque Terre which is both an Italian national park and a UNESCO world heritage site. It has a population of about 700 and dates back almost a thousand years. Traditionally, Vernazza was a town that relied upon fishing, olive oil and wine production. Although those industries still exist today, Vernazza is now mostly a tourist destination.

Getting to Vernazza

The only practical way to get to Vernazza is by train. Technically you can drive to Vernazza, but it takes twice as long and parking would be a challenge. To enter Cinque Terre National Park, you must enter the park through La Spezia on the south end of the park or Lavanto on the north end. You can buy a day pass for unlimited rides on the Cinque Terre Express in either of those towns. You can also buy them through the Trenitalia app.

Buildings were built into the hillside in Vernazza.

During high season (basically April through October), trains run every 20 minutes. During the off season, they run either every 30 or 60 minutes. You should keep a general idea of when the next train will arrive so that you don’t find yourself waiting too long for a train between towns.

For up to date timetable and prices for the trains in Cinque Terre, visit the official website.

Experiencing Vernazza

The Cinque Terre Express lets off right in the middle of the town. From the moment you descend from the train platform, you are surrounded by four story buildings on either side and terraced vineyards behind you. In front is Via Roma, the main road through Vernazza that slowly descends into the Ligurian Sea.

Walking down Via Roma, there are restaurants and gelato shops on both sides. What caught my eye was the focaccia shops. Who doesn’t love focaccia after all?

Bell Tower at Chiesa di Santa Margherita d’Antiochia

It doesn’t take too much of a walk down Via Roma before you reach the harbor which is the centerpiece of the town. There are no large boats in the marina, it’s mostly just small fishing boats.

Directly in front of the marina is a plaza lined with restaurants, bars and shops. To the right is a church from the middle ages called Chiesa di Santa Margherita d’Antiochi. In the front of the plaza is a small beach and to the left is a walkway on the wing dam that protects the harbor. The boats are tied to the walkway on the wing dam.

Doria Tower

Standing in the plaza by the marina, I noticed a sign pointing up an alley that said something about a castle and I was curious. Four of us decided to find out what that was so we walked up a lot of steps through the alleyway and ended up at a ticket booth where a guy was selling entrance tickets to Castle Doria for 2 euros. We paid the two Euros and proceeded up into the castle.

The castle itself isn’t terribly impressive other than its location. It is built in the 11th Century as a defense against pirates. It was last used during World War II, when the Germans stationed anti-aircraft weapons there.

It mostly consists of a single tower and a stone platform. What makes it great is that it is perched on the side of the cliff next to Vernazza and makes for tremendous views. It not only provides a great view of Vernazza but you can also see Monterosso when looking North along the coast.

Chiesa Di Santa Margherita D’Antiochia

Following our trek to the top of Doria Tower, we walked across the plaza by the marina to take a look inside the Chiesa di Santa Margherita d’Antiochia.

The Chiesa di Santa Margherita D’Antiochia is a church built sometime around 1,300 AD. It is built directly on the marina in Vernazza. The church has gone through a series of renovations over the years, but still maintains a fairly rustic feel.

What I love about this church is the stone walls and the large stone archways holding up the wooden ceiling. I think the thing that is most striking about the church is what it lacks. You won’t see any of the giant stained glass windows, frescoes and statues that are so typical of European cathedrals and churches.

Crucifix at Chiesa do Santa Margherita D’Antiochia

What you do notice are some plain crucifixes, some small shrines, and a fairly basic altar. There are some plain wooden pews lined in rows on a stone floor. It’s dimly lit and has only a couple of arched window openings, although without glass. It is precisely what I would imagine a pre-renaissance church to be like. It was truly a treat to visit.

Windows at Chiesa di Santa Margarita di Antiochia

Leaving too Early

After visiting the church, we stopped in for a drink at a bar by the marina. We took a table in the plaza and it was an lovely day to do so. Even though it was in November, the temperature was in the mid-60s, the sun was shining and there was very little wind. It was an ideal day to sit and enjoy a beer. We also snacked on some fried frutti di mare, which had a variety of fried octopus, squid, crab, and fish served like street food in a paper cup from one of the local shops.

After the drink and a snack we decided that we wanted to go to Monterosso for lunch so we hopped on the train to go there. That turned out to be something that we regretted a little. Monterosso is a bit of a beach town and I think visiting it in November probably isn’t seeing it when it’s at its best. Its lovely but in the end it just didn’t seem to have the same charm as Vernazza, and we quickly started to wish we had stayed a little longer in Vernazza.

Cinque Terre Should Be More Than A Day Trip

We only had three full days in Florence and we devoted one of those days to this day trip to Cinque Terre. I’m glad we went, but in the end, I think we really need to devote three days to Cinque Terre to fully appreciate it. We only visited two of the five towns and it felt rushed.

Hillside Vineyards overlook the marina in Vernazza

There is an old trail that connects the five towns and I would love to spend three days hiking between the towns and really getting to know each town more than what you can in just a few hours. Each town has it’s own unique character and breathtaking views of the Ligurian Sea.

If you plan to visit Cinque Terre, but you only have a single day, I would suggest that you pick just one town and really enjoy as much as you can. I thought Vernazza was a beautiful place, and would be a great choice if you were going to select just one town.

Cinque Terre itself, however, is one of those bucket list locations that any world traveler should visit. The old world charm, the beauty, and the fact that these amazing towns are precariously perched on hillsides overlooking the Mediterranean Sea demonstrate why this area is both a National Park and a UNESCO world heritage site. It’s just an amazing place to visit and I can’t wait to return.

Mercato Centrale in Florence is Fantastic!

Posted on November 29, 2024 by David Cox

We usually make it a point to visit a local market when we are traveling. For example, we’ve visited the Viktualienmarkt in Munich, the farmer’s market in Grecia Costa Rica and the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto. Of all of the markets that we’ve visited, Mercato Centrale in Florence is my favorite. If you’re planning to spend some time in Florence, this needs to be one of your stops.

Where is Mercato Centrale?

Mercato Centrale is about a 5 minute walk northwest of the Duomo in Florence. It’s also about a 5-10 minute walk east on Via Nationale from Santa Maria Novella Train Station.

Just outside of the Mercato Centrale is San Lorenzo Market. This market surrounds Mercato Centrale on three sides. It consists of leather vendors selling jackets, backpacks, purses and belts. These vendors tend to get a little aggressive as you’re walking through, but not too aggressive. From what I can tell, and I’m no expert, but the leather vendors appear to be primarily selling high quality leather goods made in Italy.

The Ground Floor is for High Quality Groceries

You will have to go through San Lorenzo Market to get into the Mercato Centrale building. The building is a huge two story iron and glass building with massive amounts of space for a variety of vendors. On the ground floor there are fishmongers, butchers and produce vendors as well as specialty stalls selling wine, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Unless you’re visiting Florence for a long period of time, and will be buying some groceries for your Airbnb, this area won’t be that useful. It is, however, fascinating to see the kinds of fresh fish, meats and produce that are available in the market. Fishmongers sell a variety of fish, as well as prawns, octopus, and clams.

Some of the available fish at a Fishmonger stall

The butchers, of course, are ready to cut meat to order. As a tourist, however, you might be more interested in picking up some cured meat that you will see hanging from the top of many of the stalls. You will also find cheesemakers in the market selling a variety of cheeses that are local to Tuscany. If you pick up a baguette from a baker at the market you can probably put together one of the best sandwiches you’ve ever made. By the way, if you have a long train ride out of Florence, putting together some sandwiches for the trip can make that train ride extra enjoyable.

If you’re bringing a checked bag, and would like to bring a bottle of wine home, I would suggest checking out the wine shop. Any wines that are truly local will be marked with a designation of DOC or DOCG. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata which basically just means that it’s up to quality standards for a wine of that region. DOCG essentially means the same thing but it adds ‘Garantita’ (guaranteed) to the end meaning that it has higher standards than DOC. Also, if you don’t have room in your checked bag, you can always just drink a bottle or two, no one’s stopping you, you are in Florence after all.

The more likely thing you might want to pack in a checked bag would be balsamic vinegar and olive oil. If you’re used to the olive oil that you find at an American supermarket, Italian olive oil is an eye opener. I’m used to the flavorless olive oil from Aldi, and essentially every restaurant we went to in Italy would have a bottle of olive oil sitting on the table that was just outstanding. People who brag about the quality of olive oil in Italy aren’t lying, seriously, grab a bottle, throw it in your suitcase, you won’t regret it (unless it breaks during the flight of course).

The Second Floor is for Prepared Food

All of that being said, we didn’t spend much time on the first floor. We weren’t planning to cook and I didn’t bring a checked bag, so the place that I really loved was the second level.

The second level is primarily devoted to prepared food. It’s a great place to get a snack or a full meal.

Cafeteria seating on the second floor with additional seating on the third floor

The first thing I noticed, and immediately went to, was the bar. I love craft beer, and when you’re in Italy, it’s not the easiest thing to find. However, the bar at the market has a number of beers on tap and even more in the bottle. The owner of the bar does an excellent job of choosing beers that not only cover a variety of styles, but also compliment the prepared food by the other vendors on the second level. He also has chosen beer that is of good very good quality, including some Trappist ales.

We sat down at one of the tables, and a server came out to take a drink order. I think you can order food from the vendors from the table, but we just chose to get up and look around and order it from the counters. I wanted to get a good look at all of the available food, anyway.

Scattered around the second level you will find vegan options, sushi, barbecue, and burgers. If you are looking for something a little more Italian, you will find crostini, arancini, and lots of sandwiches made with schiacciata and focaccia.

Sandwiches, Quiche and Baked Goods at Mercato Centrale

We visited the Mercato twice during our trip, and the first time I grabbed an arancini on the way out of the door. It was so good. It had just a little bit of ham and some cheese rolled up in a rice ball and fried. That was the first arancini I had ever tried and after that I was grabbing one wherever I found them.

On the second trip to the market, I grabbed some smaller arancini made with meat and tomato sauce and some fried stuffed olives. They were good as well, but I definitely preferred the arancini with the ham and cheese.

Lorenzo de Medici Cooking School

Also on the second floor is the Lorenzo de Medici cooking school. The cooking school offers two hour classes that instruct students on how to make a Italian Dishes. These dishes include pasta, bread, and desserts. Most of the classes cost 80 euros to attend, but some are a little more expensive. A full list of the classes being offered can be found on their website.

Visiting Mercato Centrale is a Must

If you are going to Florence for longer than a couple of days and you love food or wine, you absolutely have to go Mercato Centrale. If you will be in Florence for a week and have access to a kitchen I would absolutely pick up some groceries from the first floor of the market. They are of high quality and you will have an opportunity to talk with the vendors to get some input on how you should use their products.

If you are like us and only have a few days in Florence, you still should go, but the second floor is where you will probably want to spend your time. There is a variety of prepared food that should allow for you to do some taste testing and really try some foods that you might not normally order in a restaurant. And, of course, if you’re a beer lover, you’ll want to check out the bar. It’s got a great selection of beer and will be a nice change of pace from all of the Italian pilsners that you’ll drink while in Italy.

Also, if you have time, you might want to check out the cooking school. If we had been in Florence longer than three days, I might’ve done a class. Who doesn’t want to learn to cook like an Italian after all?

Points Check October 2024

Posted on November 23, 2024 by David Cox

Much of our time in October was spent preparing for our trip to Italy. Our trip included our good friends Bill and Theresa and Jenn’s Parents. None of them had been to Italy before and we wanted to make sure that they had a great time. I spent a decent amount of time researching places to visit, things to eat, train tickets, etc.

Meanwhile, Jenn spent a good deal of the month making ensuring that our kids had everything they needed to survive while we were gone. Emma and Alex are 19 and 15, respectively and they are definitely at the age where leaving them for another continent is questionable. I am, however, a firm believer that giving children challenges is a great way to turn them into functioning adults.

I can tell you that Emma passed this challenge with flying colors. She was not only responsible for taking care of Alex while she was gone, but she also was working, going to school and taking care of Jenn’s Parents’ dog. On top of that, she was coaching a youth basketball team. She took care of all of that and made sure that our house didn’t turn into a scene from Lord of the Flies. We couldn’t be prouder of her.

Citi Strata Premier Card

Right before we left for Italy, Jenn applied for, and her application was accepted for the Citi Strata Premier card. This is Citibank’s premier card and it’s a pretty good one. It has a $95 annual fee and has some pretty good bonus categories.

10x on Hotels, Rental Cars, and Attractions booked through the CitiTravel.com
3x on Groceries
3x on Restaurants
3x on Gas and EV Charging stations
3x on Flights and Other Hotel Purchases
1x on Everything Else

Getting 3x on groceries, restaurants and gas means means the cardholder can get 3x on a large portion of their spending without worrying about using one card for dining, and one card for gas, etc. It is a great credit card for people who don’t want to think too hard about points and miles.

This card currently has a 75,000 point welcome offer when the cardholder spends $4,000 within 3 months. Citi points are valued at 1.8 cents per point by The Points Guy, so that bonus is worth $1,350. In order to get that 1.8 cents per point value, you would need to use one of Citi’s transfer partners, including some of my favorites like Air France/KLM flying blue and Avianca Lifemiles.

It has a $100 credit on a hotel purchase of $500 or more using the Citi Travel site. It also has some trip protections and no foreign transaction fees. Overall, it’s a really solid travel credit card and especially good for people who don’t want to manage multiple cards.

Ok, On to the Point Check

This was not a great month for spending on non-bonus cards. We’ve gotten a little lazy about what card to use. For the vast majority of the month, Jenn didn’t have a card where she was working on a signup bonus. She is usually the one yelling at me that we need to sign up for a new card, because she can’t stand not working towards a signup bonus. Because she didn’t have a signup bonus to work towards, she just used her IHG Premier and her Amex Business Gold, neither of which were particularly great choices.

Card Used	Spend	Points Earned	Point Value	Points Per $	Return on Spend
Amex Business Gold	$1,143	1,310	$26.20	1.1	2.3%
IHG Premier	$814	2,695	$13.48	3.3	1.7%
Ink Cash	$561	2,783	$57..05	5.0	10.2%
Venture	$372	745	$13.78	2.0	3.7%
Wyndham Business	$284	1,588	$17.47	5.6	6.2%
Total	$3,174	9,121	$127.98	2.9	4.0%

This month’s spending not devoted to earning a signup bonus

Because of that, the return on spend on cards where there wasn’t a signup bonus was 4%. I like to keep that number above 5% and lately we’ve been over 6%. Note to self – make sure Jenn has a signup bonus to work on.

Besides the spending on the above chart, I spent over $3,200 on my US Bank Triple Cash card, earning a little under $50 in cash back. That puts me more than halfway to the $6,000 in required spend to earn the $750 bonus on that card.

That meant that we finished the month with:

296,700 Amex Membership Reward Points
217,000 Chase Ultimate Reward Points
141,700 IHG Points
104,800 American Airlines Miles
85,400 Capital One Venture Miles
71,900 Marriott Bonvoy Points
30,400 Citi Thank You Points
11,300 Hyatt Points
5,000 Delta Miles
2,700 United Miles
$220 Cash Back

Using the Points Guy’s valuations, all of this totals to an all-time high for us of $15,800 in points, miles and cash back. We have some pretty big travel plans for 2025, so we’re going to need a big stash of points available. Hopefully I see some Black Friday deals so I can lock in some plane tickets!

We Loved our 25 Hour KLM Stopover in Amsterdam

Posted on November 21, 2024November 21, 2024 by David Cox

Amsterdam is a city that I’ve dreamed of visiting for decades. The center of Amsterdam is a magical area where the canals and the buildings that line them are practically frozen in the 17th Century, when merchants trading goods from Asia brought wealth to the Netherlands. It was amazing to visit Amsterdam, even though it was a short stopover.

Taking Advantage of KLM Stopover Rules

We had the opportunity to take a 25 hour stopover on our way to Rome. When we planned our trip to Rome, there was a flight we liked from Chicago to Rome, but the layover in Amsterdam was only a little over an hour. That was a dangerous connection since we would have to go through immigration and security. We might’ve made it, but any delay would have made it close to impossible.

Our solution to the short layover was to fly in a day earlier and use KLM’s stopover rules to our advantage. KLM gives flyers the ability to stop in Amsterdam for up to 12 months on flight itineraries that stop in Amsterdam. This adjustment meant that we had a day in Amsterdam to defeat jet lag and do some wandering.

Check out this post for more information about how we booked the KLM stopover in Amsterdam.

Arriving in Amsterdam

The KLM flight from Chicago to Amsterdam was comfortable and we landed at the airport without incident. Amsterdam has fantastic train service at the airport and in less than 20 minutes we were at Amsterdam Centraal for about 5 Euros a ticket.

We stayed at the Kimpton De Witt near Amsterdam Centraal train station. They were gracious enough to find us a vacant room and allow us to check in at around 8:30 AM. The staff was very nice and even gave us a 15 Euro drink credit for using the current Kimpton Password.

What is the Kimpton Secret Password?

Kimpton has a secret password program that allows guests to get a little something extra if they know the secret password and tell it to the clerk when checking in. It's meant to be a fun little way to create a little buzz for the hotel. 

MyPointsLife.com has an nice article with more information about the Kimpton Secret Password.

We dropped our luggage off at the room, took a quick shower and we were off and running.

Walking the Canals

We were planning to take a nap, since we, as usual, were unable to sleep on the overnight flight. But first we wanted to walk along the canals and, more importantly, get some breakfast.

Wheels of Gouda are on display at a traditional cheese maker near our hotel.

The place we stopped at was a small but very busy breakfast restaurant called Omelegg. Seating there was a bit of a challenge. We ended up having to sit next to each other at a booth because the other side had a bench that was being used by a different table. It was a little awkward, but it was fine.

Jenn ordered the Italian Job and I got the Chicken Harissa omelette. Both were very good and served with soft slice of dark wheat bread and an arugula salad.

Row houses right on a canal. Watch out that first step out the front door is a little tricky.

The Kimpton De Witt is right on the edge of the Red Light District, so most of what we noticed at the beginning of our walk was a whole lot of weed shops and erotic boutiques. We also noticed more litter than I was used to seeing in Europe. There was a pretty pungent smell of marijuana in the air as well as cigarette smoke.

While those things are a little unpleasant, Amsterdam is so unbelievably gorgeous it easily makes up for those shortcomings. The canal houses with their narrow five story design, brick exterior and big windows are beautiful. The tree lined canals and herringbone pattern brick streets make for an amazing backdrop for a sunny crisp fall walk.

It’s nice to walk without a purpose or direction. We wandered the brick streets admiring the houseboats and tiny cars that lined the edges of the canals. It was a fairly peaceful walk with only the occasional car, bike or pedestrian that went past us. After about an hour the jet lag caught up with us and we returned to the hotel for a nap.

Trying Amsterdam Beer Culture

Scharrebiersluis bridge along the way from the hotel to Brouwerij’t Ij is a drawbridge built in 1906.

After our nap, we headed over to Brouwerij’t Ij. It was about a 25 minute walk from the hotel but a lot of it went through some gorgeous newer neighborhoods. Even though these neighborhoods didn’t have 400 year old row houses, the buildings kept the spirit of Amsterdam architecture. Many of them were block long buildings, instead of the narrow and tall buildings but they still were mostly 5 stories with shops on the first floor.

The De Gooyer Windmill sits behind Brouwerij’t Ij is the tallest wooden windmill in the Netherlands at 26.6 meters tall.

When we arrived at Brouwerij’t IJ I ordered a Tripel and Jenn ordered the Columbus. I loved the Tripel because it had less funk then many of the tripels that I’ve had in the past. Jenn had the Columbus which is an hoppy imperial beer which she also enjoyed. We sat out in their beer garden and watched traffic along the street which was mostly pedestrians and cyclists. It was lovely and we would’ve stayed longer but I wanted to check out Gollum Aan Het Water.

The beer and the atmosphere at Brouwerij’t Ij was great. I would recommend visiting when you are in Amsterdam.

Gollum has a series of bars around Amsterdam with an impressive beer selection, especially in bottles. Gollum was on my list of places that I really wanted to visit in Amsterdam. I was hoping to try some Belgian Ales that don’t make it to the US.

Just a portion of the amazing beer selection at Gollum Aan Het Water

We started with a Rochfort and an Orval then moved onto some regional craft beers and other Belgian Ales. The quality and variety of the beers served at Gollum was off the charts so I was a bit of a kid in a candy store.

Orval is a beer produced at Orval Abbey in Wallonia Belgium and the sale of the beer helps support the monastery.

To be fair, we had perhaps too many beers at Gollum. As is sometimes the case with us, we got to chatting with other folks at the bar. We met a nice gentleman, originally from England, and his Bernese Mountain dog as well as a couple of guys from North Carolina. The bartender was extremely friendly as well.

It’s always tough to drag ourselves away when conversation flows as easy as the beer. It’s even harder when those conversations are with interesting people from various countries.

Eventually, a little tipsy, we pulled ourselves away from Gollum we walked back towards the hotel. By this time, it was evening and the lights of Amsterdam were dancing on the ripples of the canals. Amsterdam is lovely during the day, but it’s even more enchanting at night. The wind was calm and the air was a touch chilly. It was a perfect night for a lovely walk through Amsterdam.

Montelbaanstoren, a tower dating to the 16th century is illuminated in the evening.

On our way back, we popped into a fast food Kebab place to fill up on hummus, falafel and fries. It hit the spot. I have yet to be disappointed by a middle eastern food in Europe. It is always so good and this was no exception.

Every McDonald’s in America should be replaced by Turkish Street Food – Immediately!

We Will Definitely Return

Doing a stopover in Amsterdam turned out to be a fantastic addition to our trip to Italy. It allowed us to enjoy one of Europe’s great cities without devoting a week to it.

Amsterdam did not disappoint us. Despite our initial negative reactions to the litter and smoke clouds in the Red Light District, Amsterdam is an almost magical city. The architecture, canals, the sheer volume of bikes just make for a uniquely Dutch experience.

We most definitely will be visiting Europe in the future and knowing just how great a stopover in Amsterdam can be, I think there is a good chance we will do this again. Next time, though, we might have to spend two days instead of one.

So You’re Going to Rome

Posted on November 3, 2024 by David Cox

Rome is unique. With most historical cities, there are eras when the city was a dominant force. Venice rose to power as a merchant and military powerhouse starting around the 9th century. The art and architecture of Venice is demonstrative of that time period. Their dominance slowly faded when their status as a merchant city was lessened by the Age of Discovery beginning in the 15th Century. At that time, Europe no longer needed to send goods from Asia through the ports of Venice and instead could simply sail to where the goods were produced rather than count on a series of merchants that controlled a portion of a trade route. As a result, places like Amsterdam, with the Dutch East India Company, flourished while Venice faded.

In Florence, the history of the city revolves around the renaissance. Florence rose to prominence around the 14th century, mainly because of the wool trade, and remained a dominant force in Italy for a couple of centuries. Driven by the wealth of the powerful Medici family, the art and architecture of Florence displayed today are dominated by works from that time frame.

Rome however, rose to prominence in the 3rd century BC, more than a millennium before Venice. Rome not only became the center of a huge empire that lasted centuries, but they also later became the center of the Catholic church. Rome is also the modern capital of Italy. Because of this, Rome has layers of history, with art that goes back to the Roman Empire and continues through the Renaissance and into the modern age. There is so much history, everywhere that you just stumble across it while wandering the streets. It’s practically a museum that people live in.

Attractions

Parco Archeologico

Many of the remnants of the Roman Empire reside in one location, the Parco Archeologico del Colosseo. This includes the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. We might also be able to see the remnants of Circus Maximus which you might remember from the chariot races in Ben Hur.

According to legend, Rome was founded by twin brothers around 750 BC named Romulus and Remus. They were supposedly raised by a she-wolf who does appear in many Roman works of art. The founding of Rome was at Palatine Hill and many wealthy Romans lived there during the Republican Era (509 BC to 44 BC). It’s no surprise that so many important buildings such as the Forum, the Circus Maximus, and the Colosseum were built in and around Palatine Hill.

There are different types of tickets you can buy at Parco Archeologico, but the start at 18 Euros.

The Vatican

The Vatican is obviously the worldwide headquarters of the Catholic Church. But, in my opinion, it’s surprisingly new. St Peter’s Basilica wasn’t completed until 1626. The Sistine Chapel was built by Pope Sixtus IV and completed in 1481. Michelangelo painted the ceiling from 1508 to 1512. The Vatican didn’t even become it’s own country until 1929.

What most people visit when they go to the Vatican is the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. This is likely to be wall to wall people, but the Vatican is packed with amazing pieces of art, scientific exhibits, and maps dating back thousands of years. A lot of the exhibits are from the Renaissance to the present, but there are a surprising amount of secular pieces from the early days of Rome.

My favorite parts of the Vatican Museums was the map room and the Raphael Rooms which feature Raphael’s artwork commissioned by Pope Julius II. Raphael did some amazing work in those rooms, with one of his most famous frescoes “The School of Athens” being one of the pieces.

The Sistine Chapel is also amazing, but you aren’t allowed to take pictures and you basically have to stand in a square and stare at the ceiling, so that can be a little disappointing.

The Pantheon

The Pantheon was commissioned by the emperor Hadrian in AD 126 as a temple to all the Gods. Nearly 2 millennia after its construction, it remains the world’s largest unsupported concrete dome.

In 609 AD, the Catholic church didn’t like all those pagan gods and renovated the Pantheon into the Basilica of St Mary and the Martyrs. Tickets for the Pantheon cost 5 Euros.

Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain is a baroque fountain designed by Nicola Salvi and completed in 1762. You are allowed to throw coins in the fountain and the coins are collected and donated to a Catholic charity. You are absolutely not allowed to strip down and bathe in the Trevi Fountain – I won’t make that mistake twice.

Spanish Steps

There is a lot of talk in travel blogs and videos about visiting the Spanish Steps, and I’m not sure I get it. Pope Gregory XIII first envisioned a set of stairs that connected the Piazza di Spagna to Trinita dei Monte church in the 1580s. A french diplomat left money for the construction of the stairs when he died in 1660 and the stairs were finally completed in 1725. So yeah, 145 years to build steps.

Apparently, it’s illegal with a penalty of 400 euros to sit on the steps and if you attempt it people will whistle at you to get you to stop. Anyway, it’s pretty close to our Airbnb and also close to a subway station, so we might end up going past this a few times.

Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona is a large Piazza built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian. Because of that, it is a large oval shape. It has three main fountains and a lot of restaurants. It’s just a relaxing, beautiful place. They have excavated a portion of the Stadium of Domitian under the Piazza, so you can see a little of that it was like, or you can just sit down at a cafe and enjoy a beer.

Food

Gnocchi

Gnocchi is a Thursday tradition in Rome. It’s related to the fact that Catholics don’t eat meat on Fridays during lent, so they think they need to eat something heavy the day before and gnocchi does the job. It sounds like something that should be served at a number of restaurants on Thursdays, and might not be on their regular menu. My knowledge of gnocchi ends at the dry packaged stuff at Aldi, and that’s pretty good, so I’m imagining fresh gnocchi in Rome must be amazing.

Cacio e Pepe

This is one of those dishes that’s too good to be that simple. Its pasta, pecorino cheese and pepper. That’s it. It’s also amazing.

Maritozzo con la panna

Maritozzo con la panna is a sweet brioche style bread, split and then filled with whipped cream. Apparently it’s a big deal in Rome.

Cannoli

If you haven’t had a cannoli by this time in the trip, you’re running out of time.

Craft Beer Near the Vatican

There seem to be a number of places to get craft beer near the entrance to the Vatican, like a siren song luring folks away from the Holy See. Honestly, it’s a little weird considering the lack of real beer bars in Rome. For them all to be located near the entrance to the Vatican seems like the work of, Satan, maybe? Oh well, best not to think about it.

Birreria Martini Esperienza Tedesca – German themed Restaurant with a very Italian name
Be.Re. + Trapizzino – Gastropub with 24 taps, if it’s been a week or two since you’ve had a proper stout, this might be the place to get it.
Angrypig Birretta e Porchetta – It’s really a sandwich shop, but in a photo on Google, it shows a really impressive bottle collection of hard to find beers, specifically Belgian ales.
Aeternum Beer Shop Roma – Sandwich shop/pizza, but with a really impressive tap list.

So You’re Going to Venice

Posted on November 3, 2024 by David Cox

Would you like to visit a swamp filled with a bunch of people who get drunk and dress in costumes right before having to cleanse themselves for Lent? No I’m not talking about New Orleans, I’m talking about real debauchery, Venice!

Carnival began in Venice to celebrate a military victory in 1162. They enjoyed the party so much that they began to hold it annually and the celebration changed to be a pre-Lent sinful blowout. In fact, the masks that people associate with Carnival were worn to facilitate anonymous trysts as well as trips to brothels and casinos.

We are visiting in November, not February so keep those masks off and those pants on!

Getting Around Venice

Venice was laid out by Satan himself. It’s an absolute shit show. Literally all of the buildings seem to be dropped at random. Any place where there is a decent space between buildings is called a Campo, which serve as plazas.

There are addresses in Venice, but the numbers aren’t always sequential or frankly even logical.

Campos are pretty much the best way to identify where you’re at. If you say “I’m near Campo San Polo” that might be understood, but if you say I’m at 3433 Dorsoduro that may be the address, but it’s completely meaningless, because, you know, designed by Satan.

So you might be asking “Why are we going to a swamp, where it’s impossible to find anything and it’s filled with a bunch of drunken sex perverts?” Good question, and the answer is “Because it’s awesome!”

Attractions

St Mark’s Basilica and St Mark’s Square

Unlike the Duomo in Florence, St Mark’s Basilica has a distinctively Byzantine Style because the Byzantine Empire ruled over the region off and on over many centuries.

The Basilica was built in 828 and was built to house the body of St Mark. His body had been stolen and moved from Alexandria, Egypt. Apparently the head of St Mark the Evangelist remains in Alexandria because, I don’t know, maybe the skull just fell out of the thief’s hands when he was walking and he just couldn’t pick it up. I mean, who does that? Steals his body and then leaves the head? Anyway, the church looks cool, even if they only have like 90% of a saint interred there.

There is also a campanile which is 323 feet tall. It was rebuilt in 1912 after the previous campanile had collapsed a decade earlier.

Tickets to visit the Basilica are free, you can purchase skip the line tickets, but I don’t know if that is necessary in the off-season. I would like to visit this and climb the campanile if possible, we did not do this the last time we were in Venice.

Doge’s Palace

The Doge was the name given to the leader of Venice from the 7th Century all the way up to 1797 when Napoleon Bonaparte ended the reign of the last Doge, Ludovicio Manin. As you can expect from the leader of one of the most opulent cities in the world at the time, this is an enormous palace with lots and lots of art and other grandiose displays of wealth.

Tickets to the Doge’s Palace run around 30 Euros.

Rialto Bridge

Rialto Bridge is an iconic bridge spanning the grand canal in Venice. The Rialto Bridge is near our Airbnb, so we will cross it multiple times. There also is a market nearby called Rialto market that we should visit.

Leonardo Da Vinci Museum

Okay, this isn’t a huge attractions for Venice, but I’ve always been interested in Leonardo Da Vinci and they have an exhibit of his inventions, sketches, etc. The cost to get in is 9 euros. More information here

Murano Island – Glass Blowing

Murano Island is well known for it’s industry of craft glass blowing. There are several glass shops and glass factories on the island. Many of them have demonstrations. One unique place on the island is The Glass Cathedral which is an old cathedral that has been converted into an events center. They also do glass blowing demonstrations that take around 25 minutes and cost 14 euros.

Food

Cicchetti

Cicchetti is a term used for small finger foods. They are often sold at wine bars known as enotecas or bacari. We went to Archicchetti Bakaro the last time we were in Venice and it was definitely a favorite of the locals. Very good. We ate crostini which are little open faced sandwiches similar to bruschetta.

Cicchetti can be found all over Venice, especially at wine bars, You will also find little crustless sandwiches named tramezzini, croquettes, and even salted mashed cod formed into balls called baccalà mantecato (looks like a better version of canned tuna fish)

Risotto

Have you ever watched 12 hours straight of the Food Network and convinced yourself that Squid Ink Risotto sounds delicious? Well now is your chance to try it! You’ll find it all over Venice on the menu as Risotto Al Nero di Seppia. Honestly, you will see a lot of squid ink dishes on menus, and they will all be labeled with ‘Nero di Seppia’.

I’ll stick with vegetable risotto known as risotto primavera. There is a similar dish known as Risi e Bisi which translates as rice and peas which is more of a thick soup.

Places to Eat

Mare Magno – This place has 4.9 stars on Google (370+ reviews). It’s a little pasta restaurant on the Grand Canal run by a couple. Maybe 6 dishes, mainly pasta, that change daily on the menu, around 15 euros a plate, open 1-3 and 7:30-10. I assume you need to be there at 1 or 7:30.
Antico Forno – Pizza near our Airbnb, and the Rialto bridge. Known for it’s Sicilian style thick crust pizza, but also has a traditional thin crust.
Archicchetti Bakaro – This is where we tried cicchetti when we were in Venice last time. There were so many locals there, I have to believe its one of the best. Bonus – they had Birra Morretti Rossa on tap. Oh and its very cheap.
Al Merca – A little wine bar that has a ton of little 2 euro sandwiches.

The Vaporetto

The Vaporetto is the only form of public transportation on the islands in Venice. They travel around the outside of the main cluster of islands in Venice as well as through the Grand Canal. They also connect the main part of Venice with other islands such as Murano, Burano, and Lido. A map of the main lines of the Vaporetto can be found here.

We should be able to buy Vaporetto tickets at the train station. Ticket prices for the Vaporetto depend on how long you want the ticket.

60 minute pass – 7.50 Euros
24 hour pass – 20 Euros
48 hour pass – 30 Euros
72 hour pass – 40 Euros
7 day pass – 60 Euros

I know we are only in Venice for a few days so we will have to make a decision about whether we want to spend the entire time in the main cluster of islands or if we want to venture off using the Vaporetto. I did find some interesting places on other islands if we choose to go wandering off.

Murano Island – glass blowing factories, shops, demonstrations
Lido Island – It’s likely too cold to really enjoy this, but its the beach area for Venice, there are a number of beachfront bars, such as Bluemoon Spiaggia Lido di Venezia
Guidecca – Skyline Rooftop bar, on the roof of the Hilton Milano Stucky. This looks a bit bougie, but the views of Venice would be pretty amazing