During my Eurosummer of 2023, I spent the longest amount of time in Italy than any other country. At the start of week three, I made my way to Catania, which is located on the island of Sicily. 

So much went wrong in Catania, but I still made the most of it and gave it the benefit of the doubt. I would like to go back someday, just not during the summer. The heatwave was brutal, so I would love to give it another chance at a different time of year.

I made my way over to the mainland, and then gradually made my way north towards Switzerland. I had a friend in Rome, so I stayed with her for about 8 days, then I moved on to other cities like Pisa, Bologna, and Florence. I absolutely adored each one of them, but I think of those three Bologna was my favorite. There was something so charming about it that for years afterwards I have thought about buying a house there. Maybe one day!

Then I made my way to Milan, which I have to admit, I didn't love. Going into it, I was coming from smaller cities that felt more like what I was expecting Italy to look like. I had no idea that Milan was going to be so modern. What I didn't realize is that much of Milan was destroyed in wartime, therefore older buildings like you see in other cities no longer exist in Milan, or they’re a lot less common.

I kept heading further north to Lake Como before making my way through Switzerland and back into Italy in the mountains in a small village called San Bartolomeo Val Carvagna. How on Earth did I end up in such a small village? Before I planned my Europe summer, I zoomed out on Airbnb just to look at Airbnbs all over Europe. I saw this one Airbnb in the mountains, and I made it my mission to go there. so as I outlined where I would be going, I made sure to add this Airbnb to my plans.

From there, I made my way over to Domodossola, because that's the city where I was going to be meeting my college friend before heading to Switzerland for a week.