DAY TEN

SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2024

CIAO, ITALIA!

Today was just a travel day, but it started out with a particularly great breakfast buffet at the Hotel Artemide. I’m not usually a breakfast person, but I’m so glad I went down to the restaurant to check it out. Really A+, and highly recommended if you’re looking for a place to stay in Rome.

After checking out, I walked the 12 minute walk to the Termini Train Station for my train to the airport. They run all the time and at this point I had come into Termini on my way back into Rome, so no problems at all, and I was off on the 30-minute ride to the airport.

Arriving at the airport, I stopped for one last authentic Italian pizza — airport pizza has never been so perfect, my god — and headed over to my gate for the very convenient direct Delta flight back to NYC.

And just like that, my Italian vacation had sadly come to an end. It was a whirlwind, but so many fantastic memories!

some final thoughts

  • This trip went SO fast. It’s always a balancing act between the minimal PTO we inevitably get as Americans, and whether to take two shorter one-week trips in a year vs one two-week trip. There’s something to be said for getting to travel twice, but man these weeklong ones just fly by and you’re back home before you know it.

  • That said, we packed so much in! I’m really glad I decided to get to Rome a couple of days early to explore by myself. Rome was exactly what I expected to be, but on steroids. Breathtaking sculptures on seemingly every corner, ancient ruins just casually sitting there in between normal streets, some of the most incredible art on the planet all in one place… and I know I just saw the tip of the iceberg. Thankfully there’s so much more of Italy I want to see, and there’s a decent chance I’ll end up flying back through Rome to get there, and I will have no trouble filling up days with all of the things I didn’t have time to do on this trip. You could easily spend a week in Rome and still only scratch the surface.

  • What a massive vibe change between Rome and its deep history, to the Amalfi Coast and its breezy luxury vacation vibes, to Puglia and its rustic seaside charm. Three very different regions with distinct cultures, which made for some great variety across this trip.

  • I had never heard of Matera before this, but I’m so glad we had a full day there! It’s such a unique place, and like nothing I’ve ever seen before in my life. Plus, AC-loving me actually did a progressive sauna journey. Totally out of my comfort zone and therefore very memorable.

  • Am I more of an opera fan now? No big seismic shift, but maybe fractionally?

  • I live in one of the best pizza cities in the world and am picky about pizza, and am thrilled to say that Italy did not disappoint. Not that I expected it to in any way, but some of the pizza I had here was memorably fantastic. I think the one we had on Capri was my favorite.

  • Speaking of Capri, I didn’t really have the Blue Grotto on my radar before this, but I’m so glad we chose as a group to take that day trip. It was such an ethereal place, and that vivid glowing blue is so otherworldly!

  • As I’ve come to expect from Flash Pack this was a great group of people. We all got along pretty immediately!

  • And our guide Michele was really exceptional. He clearly has such a love of Italy, and also of hospitality, making sure that we were all taken care of at every stage with such kindness and calmness.

  • I may never get “Un ragazzo una ragazza” out of my head. What an epic earworm.