Travel La Bella Vita Find the good life while riding the rails through Northern Italy Text and Photos by Jennifer Baljko You’ll want to lace up your boots and hike along the rugged coastline. You’ll want to undo a few notches on your belt and enjoy good food, good wine and decadent desserts. You’ll want to pull out your wallet when you find the perfect purse, sunglasses or pair of shoes. And you’ll certainly want to lose yourself in the other things that make Italy legendary—and a trip there divine. It’s hard to cram everything into one always-too-short trip, but with some planning and patience, you can check a few things off the list. The northern part of Italy—the top of the boot, if you will, stretching from the Cinque Terre (“five villages”) in the west to Venice in the east—will give you a healthy dose of la bella vita, the good life. Doing a loop via train, with stops in Turin, Milan and Verona, will make the trip even sweeter, as you roll past vineyards and distant castles. The trip can be divided into several segments, but for the sake of convenience, let’s split it up into: stretch your legs, refuel, style up and fall in love. Milan may be your base. From there you can plan side trips, since you’ll probably want to shake off the jetlag in a less urban, more peaceful setting. Jump on the first train to La Spezia, buy a Cinque Terre pass, and ease through terraced gardens, vineyards and groves of olive trees. Cinque Terre, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is comprised of five sea-hugging towns—Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso—and a national park offering trails for hiking, cycling and horseback riding. You may want to grab lunch or watch the sunset in any of these towns, but you’ll have more sleeping options in the bigger city of La Spezia. Now that your blood’s moving and you’ve burned some calories, it’s time to refuel. Turin, an industrial town turned world host for the 2006 Winter Olympics, is the place to stock up. Not far from the Italian Alps, the menus here are typically filled with hearty meats, vegetables (particularly mushrooms), cheeses and local Piedmont wines. Then there’s the chocolate. The city is known for gianduiotto, a creamy blend of hazelnuts and chocolate that has been part of the Torinese palate for 130 years, and the bicerin, a frothy blend of espresso, hot chocolate and cream. Of course, it’s not all about the food. Turin’s most identifiable building is the modernistic Mole Antonelliana, which houses the National Museum of Cinema. Greeted by a giant winged statue featured in the Italian film Cabiria, you can relax on lounge chairs and watch snippets of movies, or take the elevator up the 167m spire and check out panoramic views of the city. The Egyptian Museum is also a pleasant surprise, and its collection of artifacts, statues and ancient documents is one of the biggest, after Cairo’s museum. Alas, no trip to Italy is complete without some shopping. In a city known for its fashion sense (even the police officers are smartly dressed!), Milan is where you’ll want to update your wardrobe. The main designer districts are around the Duomo, along Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, and a bit further up around Via Montenapoleone—but boutiques and window-shopping opportunities are everywhere. Lately, too, Milan has become a stopping point for deciphering clues from the popular book, The Da Vinci Code. Not to miss is the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, home to The Last Supper. (Book tickets at least one month in advance at www.cenacolovinciano.org.) With the “busy” part of the trip out of the way, let Italy’s art, architecture and human-created beauties seep into your soul. Verona, the setting for Romeo and Juliet, will help with the transition. The city, another UNESCO site, features the alleged balcony where the love-struck couple exchanged sweet-nothings, and, in pure tourist-kitsch style, there’s a place where visitors can post their own romantic notes. When you’re done with that scene, head over to the Arena. The Roman amphitheatre, which dates back to the 1st Century AD and is the third largest in Italy, doubles as the local opera house, and performances are scheduled during the warm summer months under starry skies. Ready for the icing on the cake? Then you’re ready for Venice. Although the throngs of people queuing for San Marco’s basilica and the constant snap of cameras along the Ponte di Rialto may drive you slightly crazy, it’s impossible not to fall in love with Venice. The canals, the gondolas, the narrow walkways, the domed-churches and other reminders of Venetian wealth and power ooze with sentimentality. Clearly, the best itinerary for Venice is to have no itinerary at all. Simply wander around aimlessly and marvel at the slice of heaven you just stumbled onto. Pinch yourself—you’re not dreaming. You’re in Italy, creating your own bella vita. Trip Tips Italy is well-served by many international carriers, and flying into Milan is your best bet. Alitalia (www.alitalia.com) has daily service from Narita to Malpensa Airport. JAL (www.jal.co.jp) offers the same flights through a code-share arrangement with Alitalia. Bus, train and taxi will get you to the city center. A valid passport is required, but those staying for less than 90 days may not need a visa. For more information, contact the Italian Embassy in Tokyo (Tel: 03-3453-5291). Once there, trains are a reliable and cost-effective way of scooting around. Travel times and costs depend on the kind of train you take. Cinque Terre passes are available for 5-20 euros. Build flexibility into your itinerary and allow for extra time between connections; trains are sometimes late and occasional labor strikes do cause delays. Trenitalia is the main operator and you’ll find timetables, ticket information and maps at www.trenitalia.com/en. You can buy tickets from the counter or kiosks scattered around the station. You’ll need to present a validated ticket to the conductor, and if it’s not stamped, you could be fined. Trains get crowded, so ensure that you’ve been assigned a seat. For more info, see the website of the Italian State Tourism Board (www.enit.it). Although many more Italians speak or understand at least a few words of English than a few years ago, you’ll likely still do a fair-share of smiling and pointing to get where you want to go. language Italians are known worldwide for their style of communicating, employing hyperbole, physical proximity, a range of rapidly changing emotions and facial expressions, jokes, idioms and lots of gesturing. We asked the people at the Bell’Italia Center of Italian Language and Culture (www.bellitalia.jp) to provide a glimpse into the animated world of speaking like an Italian. An Italian gesture… In the United States, it is common to cross one’s fingers for good fortune—or to knock on wood to avoid bad luck. In Italy, knocking on wood signifies that you think someone is hard-headed or obtuse. To invite good luck, or after encountering a bad omen such as a black cat, however, a common—almost instinctual—gesture is to point the pinky and forefinger to the earth, and utter Facciamo la corna! an Italian joke… Poking fun at the German stereotype of being methodical and ultra-organized, a self-deprecating Italian joke goes something like this: A man dies and goes to hell. There, Satan gives him a choice: to go to German hell or Italian hell. “In German hell,” says Satan, “you will be forced to shovel manure all day.” “How about in Italian hell?” asks the man. “In Italian hell,” answers Satan, “you will be forced to shovel manure all day.” “Then what’s the difference?” “Well, in Italian hell, some days the manure’s nowhere to be found; other days, we can’t find the shovel.” …and an Italian phrase (or three) Phrase 1: Fatta la legge, trovato l’inganno Explanation: “As soon as a law is made, the people will find a way around it.” For example, when a mandatory seat-belt law was passed in Italy a decade ago, crafty shops in Naples began selling white T-shirts with a black diagonal line across the front. Fatta la legge, trovato l’inganno. Phrase 2: Bacco, tabacco e Venere riducono l’uomo in cenere Explanation: “Wine, tobacco and love reduce a man to ashes.” In addition to its rhythmic and rhyming qualities (in Italian), this expression conveys the romantic passion of Italian men, who are willing to be “reduced to ashes” by a woman.. Phrase 3: Cin cin Explanation: “Kampai!” Italians pronounce the “c” with a ch sound, to the titillating delight of Japanese tourists.