Running in Jerusalem: Italy 2018

We flew into Milan early Thursday afternoon and arrived at our central Airbnb apartment at Viale Montenerro which was located close to the shule. We became familiar with our surroundings by walking the elegant streets and buying fresh fruit and vegetables for the next few days . We proceeded to meet our Italian born walking guide Catarina who gave us a very informative and interesting 2 hour tour of Milan highlights . As we were the only 2 who had booked the tour we skipped the ice cream tasting . Beautiful buildings and some incredible food stores.

The "Forest" Apartment buildings, Milan.

It was a good introduction to Milan...Early the next morning we set out to find the kosher grocery store . The address that we had tried finding the day before had turned out to be a local primary school (!) We were more successful with this address but the selection available was rather poor .. we managed to buy some cheddar cheese , crackers and frozen halla rolls .. definitely not what we had in mind ! We figured out that if we rationed our bread from Israel - 2 pieces a day each - we could stretch it out for another week !! We then headed towards Sondrio train station where we met our guide Kat and went on a most incredible 4 hour bike tour - cycling through fascinating sections of the city while stopping to see various historical highlights . Kat was fabulous and because there were only 3 of us on the tour it was a very intimate and enjoyable experience.

Friday night we went to the local Italian Sephardi shule, and the next morning tried out an Ashkenazi/chareidi type of shule - more like Katanga . Most striking were the army jeeps and soldiers with sub-machine guns stationed outside the shules...Both communities were rather small and not terribly welcoming but Shabbat was relaxing.

The next morning we had an early start and made our way to Monterosso - one of the Cinque Terre towns . A direct tram ride to Milano central followed by a 3 hour train ride to Monterosso made the trip easy . Once we arrived we had a very pleasant walk from the train station located on the beachfront to our quaint guest room which was located off the main square. We were travelling light with smallish cases which were easy to maneuver on the trains and to roll through the streets.

Our Fabulous host Fabio gave us extremely helpful advice regarding local walking trails . He also worked in a delightful bakery opposite the guest house where he also baked vegan products . We were able to eat the focaccia and croissants - we were set !!

Looking back to Levanto

Early afternoon we caught a train to Levanto to begin our 3 hour hike back to monterosso which included stunning vistas of all 5 cinque terre villages . It was A Rather challenging trail but totally stunning - worth the sweat and effort .

The next morning we planned on doing a walking trail from Corniglia to Vernazza . After buying organic fruit and vegetables from a local farmer we purchased a full day pass and caught the train to Corniglia. .A shorter, yet still challenging hike with beautiful views of the colourful cities against the backdrop of the shimmering turqoise sea. We descended to Vernazza and enjoyued our sandwiches with cold beer in the picturesque Piazza. From there we travelled by train to check out the 2 remaining Cinque terre towns - Manarola and Riomaggiore .

The next day we left by train to La Spezia where we hired our rental car - a manual Lancia . We did our grocery shopping to stock up for the next 3 days and set off for Tuscany. We were staying at a magnificent 1,000 year old converted farm house (which was formerly a convent) surrounded by dense forest . We had an interesting adventure when Waze took us on a circuitous route through the back way which was basically inaccessible- down a very steep and very rocky slope ..

On the terrace of our "villa" in Tuscany

At one stage we had to stop the car because we couldn't travel any further. Anthony decided to investigate on foot as according to Waze it was only 600 m to our destination . After 20 minutes of waiting I decided I better find him - I tried to maneuver the car further down the slope but didn't have much luck . While I was walking down the steep hill a 4 Wheel Drive drove up from the bottom of the slope with Anthony and our hosts ! Anthony had run over a kilometer over tricky terrain to track them down ...Luckily I hadn't walked any further because there were wild boars in the area ..

After settling into our new lodgings, we drove to Casole D'elsa and over the next 2 days we managed to visit the largest local city, Siena, where there is a shule and where we also found some kosher fruit gelati. We also visted the villages of San Gimigiano, Montepulciano, Pienza, and Montalcino. We enjoyed strolling through the old cities of these towns with interesting little shops, and also taking in the walls, castles and towers. We managed to climb a couple of the towers which gave breath-taking views. We were blessed with perfect weather and took in exquisite landscapes with an abundance of world famous vineyards and olive groves.

One of the highlights was our visit to a kosher winery - Terra di Seta - i where we participated in a fascinating tour (along with another 10 Israelis!) .. the best part of the day wasn't the wine tasting - it was the fabulous kosher halavi lunch that was cooked and served by the gracious winery owners .

Friday morning off to Florence where we returned our rental car. A visit to the Medici chapel while we waited for our apartment to be ready and then we walked around this beautiful city all afternoon until erev Shabbat.

Ponte Vechhio bridge over the Arno river.

Friday night and Shabbat morning Tefila was at the magnificent Florence synagogue with its special Italian nusach and unique sifrei tora.

We managed to "suss" out all the Israelis who were at Tefilla including a couple who live in Ithamar and Maayan's building ..! A small community of approximately 1,400 Jews.. We managed to meet a fair few of them, and one of the members of the community celebrated her 80th birthday and all her friends appeared to wish her Mazal tov . We were in luck as she also celebrated with a very nice kiddush!! We explored some more on Shabbat afternoon crossing the Ponte Vechio bridge.

On motzash we spoiled ourselves at the one kosher ice cream store . Sunday was museum day - the Ufizzi gallery, Pitti palace and the Boboli Gardens .

Luckily we had bought tickets in advance to avoid the long queues . Monday morning we did an audio walking tour of Florence and then visited the Palazzo Vecchio tower and museum.

A quick basic lunch at "Ruth's " followed by a delicious ice cream and we picked up our luggage before catching a train to Milan and the plane back to Israel .