Italy 2026 – the prelims

Headed to Italy for a sketching workshop with Stephanie Bower in the walled medieval city of Civita di Bagnoregio – embedded in a multi week experiment in Slow Travel. In this post, entries are in reverse time order, start at the bottom, after the last foto.  Check back later for more fotos

26.09.10
Reached CDG Paris. My brain, prepped for Italian, doesn’t know what language to use. First, out comes bad Italian. Then bad Spanish! Then sometimes Japanese! Hai! I decided to just go with my pseudo Italian. Really glad for 4 hr layover. CDG is huge.

The sign outside the airport tram says terminals 2F and 2G. The sign inside the airport tram says K, L, and M. In tiny tiny letters underneath the M it says 2F. Some folks got back off the tram cuz they were confused about the lettered stops vs the lettered terminals, and who wouldn’t be? I was too far away to yell to them they were ok, because I also almost got off the tram before I figured it out.

Buying Euros. 70 euros for 87.53 USD, not bad at the airport ATM, that’s a 1.25 exchange rate, bank rate is 1.16. The exchange desk would only give me 1.50 plus 7e fee!!

The flight is delayed 2 hours and the hotel is already calling me because I haven’t checked in yet and their desk closes at 8pm. They’re texting me door codes on Whatsapp but now I’m in the air.

Now on the city tram to Unita station. It’s 1017p and the last sandwich shop closes 1130p, can I make it? But the tram never went to Unita … So as I stumbled down rainy Via Faenza behind a loudly singing drunk man, I found L’Imperatore Ristorante Pizzeria (3.3*). I took the wine bottle off my table and placed it on the table next to me to avoid them pretending I asked for it to be opened.  They sniffily took it away. Spicy salami & gorgonzola pizza. A bit mediocre but good enough.

The code they texted got me in the hotel door, the miniscule elevator got me to the 1st floor (one level above street level!) and now I’m sleeping in an old convent next to the Basilica di San Lorenzo. If you’ve ever played Assassin’s Creed…you’ll feel right at home.

And oh yeah — the luggage is rolling just fine.

09.09 T-0
My current list of problems to be solved:
– larger backpack to offload weight from my suitcase. Went to Dicks, went to Rack, done. Suitcase still too heavy for dragging over cobblestones and ancient inclined bridges designed to keep out incoming mauraders and other such tourists…
– change dollars to Euros in the first 3 days I’m in Italy. One workshop hotel has to be paid in Euros cash.
– purchase waterproof ink locally for my fountain pens & their converters, as no *true* waterproof ink cartridges exist for the Sailor Fude. Not sure I can take the ink bottles home as I have already expanded my suitcase. You know, the expansion I should be saving for the flight home… No souvenirs for me (cries in Italian)

Actually it was easy to drag my heavy luggage around at the airport (granted it wasn’t ancient Roman roads) and when I saw at the counter that it “only” weighed 30 pounds I felt foolish. I moved as much as I could into my new backpack ($25 thank you Nordstrom Rack), as heavy as I could stand, and stuck the folding chair in there as well. I think it threw security for a loop, it took a while for my backpack to emerge from xray. And my under-the-shirt wallet also set off the machine. Why?? No metal in there?

Next task, upgrade the overwater leg coming home. Delta and Air France both refusing to help, pointing fingers, but may have dodged a bullet, I’m reading how frequently AF takes your money for a seat upgrade but then bumps you back to economy (due to “broken seat”) with no refund. Not what i meant by, please take my money. But maybe I’ll just stay in economy. It’s only 11 hrs.  There’s a lot of hate for AF out there  I’m never flying codeshare again !!

Love the LAX Delta Sky Club. Right on the jetway, perfect for noshing and sketching.  $9 Michter’s Old Fashioned to console me after the frustrating calls to Delta and Air France AI chatbots. But this (not economy but) Main Cabin seat is even more sardine-can like than I remember. My knees are touching the magazine holder and I have short legs. Screaming kids – 0. Snorer – 1.

I drew Tarot today and got the Ace of Wands.
This card represents inspiration, a new initiative, a new passion, enthusiasm, the boldest creativity. Follow your instincts.
Take bold action, no need to prepare beforehand. Manifest change.
A powerful card that may set alight some ideas in the back of my head!

Before you think I’m a nut job, I find Tarot to be much more thought-provoking than horoscope.

09.08 T-1
My luggage is surely over 50 lb, it’s the weight of a black hole. I probably actually need the next size larger suitcase. Why why why did I wait so long to test run the fit. Now I need to offload into a backpack with padded straps, cuz all I have is a ultra cheap foldaway backpack. I also need a lightweight hair dryer to avoid bringing my fancy super heavy Dyson air wrap.  I have 3 hours to get all this done tomorrow before I get on the Fly away bus.  (OK, Google reminds me I don’t need to bring a hair dryer to Italy hotels.)
I definitely need to use that tractor to get this luggage up Civita’s inclined sidewalk, no way can i pull it uphill over cobblestone. And I don’t want to think about all the cobblestone streets in all of the other Italian cities right now. Remember I’m changing hotels 8 times…

09.07 T-2
You know a trip is close when you have to stop ordering from Amazon prime!
After making all my plans I found out there’s two scheduled transportation strikes in September, fortunately these are published, and fortunately I’m not travelling on those days.  There, but for the grace of God, go I.

09.05 T-4
OK, just steps away from my first hotel in Florence is: a fountain pen store, a paper/stationery store, a bookstore with hidden garden, and an Italian restaurant rated 4.9.  And sadly I have to leave the next day for Lucca. And I was wondering how I would fill up 30 days…

I feel better now that I packed the toiletries, electronics, and meds today. I have backups of charger cables and plug converters. I have 30days of contact lens solution plus my must-have lotions. Ordered a foldup duffel as a backup cuz I couldn’t find mine. Got a new money belt from REI that’s better than the Amazon one I got. There’s also a few more paint colors I might order but do I really need them?? I have no more time for non essentials!

And still debating what “smart casual” means in Italy in October (55deg) at the 2nd best restaurant in the world.

09.02 T-7
The girl that hates hates hates to change hotels has a 30-day trip with eight (8) hotels. Florence to Lucca (Volto Santo festival) to Florence to Orvieto (workshop) to Civita (workshop) to Bologna to Modena (Francescana at ML) back to Florence.  This was supposed to be an experiment in Slow Travel. Slow Travel vs FOMO, and FOMO is winning. As they keep telling me at work: Slow Down!!

. . . S T A R T   H E R E . . .

09.01 T-8  
Eight days from leaving and I’ve been in a panic for the last week and a half terrified that my old lady brain will forget some detail or leave something off the packing list that’s crucial and unable to be procured in Europe. As I seem to be getting more forgetful lately. I lost a bunch of expensive pens/brushes this year, then I left my charger setup (for phone and watch) behind on 2 separate occasions, and Delta ate my $300 Sony earbuds, yet another charger, and a new sketchbook…

But more importantly, I had nearly forgotten about Massimo Bottura’s ultra famous, 3 Michelin star, “Food Mecca” restaurant, Osteria Francescana, that is located in Modena just 20 minutes from Bologna where I will be spending 10 days!! Bottura represents both the best of Italian food and the best of modern food thinking applied to Italian food.  You will find no standard Italian recipes at Osteria Francescana. Only dishes like “Five Ages of Parmigiano Reggiano”, “The Crunchy Part of the Lasagna” and “Oops I Dropped the Lemon Tart”.  He is also the founder of the Slow Food movement in Italy. This restaurant is my number one food-related bucket list item of all time.

Of course, at 1 month out, reservations are totally impossible. But noticing that multiple restaurants in Modena have the word Francescana in the title, I asked Google what was the second best restaurant in Modena. And It’s one of the other two Bottura restaurants in Modena – Francescana at Maria Luigia. But as you can imagine reservations are still hard to come by and since dinner is served at 730p, an overnight is required, so I spent an hour at Pacific Catch tonight unwinding my plans and inserting a two-night stay in Modena before I go back to Florence.  I went for a hotel near the train station (as the hotel associated with FML is full on the days they have dinner res and costs 700e/nt) and I’ll just rely on the restaurant to send me a taxi.

And what else is in Modena but the Enzo Ferrari museum. Food…and cars…Italy really is my kind of place.

The restaurant setup for Francescana at ML is a bit unique. You have free run of the kitchen while they prepare, and they may drop random tidbits and treats on you while you wait. We all sit at one communal table and there is only one seating per night. There’s eight courses, all of Massimo’s greatest hits including for example “Five Ages of Parmigiano Reggiano.” There’s a 170e wine pairing that I haven’t yet sprung for, probably too much wine for me.  As you can imagine this will attract all of the well-heeled tourists and crazy foodie types from all over the globe.  I can only hope that the conversation and the company will be as interesting and compelling as the food!

A few years back, a very good friend of ours treated us to an amazing dinner at The Kitchen in Sacramento which is set up very similarly to this. The food quality and presentation was off the charts. But what is most compelling is the communal table. Much like sitting around a campfire, you’re compelled/forced to engage with everyone’s humanity as you’re not allowed to hide behind your fancy clothes and the white tablecloth. It is a much more authentic group experience that should lead to deeper interactions. I have very high hopes for this event.

Oh yeah and the 300e dinner is prepaid and non-refundable so nothing is going to stop me from going.

Note, Hotel Maria Luigia itself is 3 Michelin stars. The restaurant is not Michelin rated.

https://www.cntraveller.com/article/my-weekend-with-lara-gilmore-massimo-bottura-brand

https://www.reddit.com/r/finedining/comments/1myputi/francescana_at_maria_luigia/