Italia – Italy - Bier-Traveller

Hector first set foot on Italian soil in 1969. Three days in Roma put the place down as a destination that would certainly be returned to in adulthood. In 1976, during the first of many Inter-Rails, I had my first Italian Bier. Peroni was crap then, it remains so. It is somewhat ironic that this Eurofizz is now so widely available across the continent. Thankfully, the Italians have embraced – Craft Beer.

By the time three more visits had passed it was 2004. By then Hector was in full Bier exploration mode. Marg and I flew with Mr O’Leary to Milano, or nearly Milano, i.e. Bergamo.

On later trips we headed east from Bergamo towards Lake Garda, Sirmione, Decenszano and eventually discovered the joys of Brescia.

Seeing Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) live in Brescia in 2018 was a decades-long ambition fulfilled. The Bier and Curry in Brescia is also outstanding.

In 2004, from Milano we headed south on the cost efficient Ferrovia Italia to Firenze and on to Roma. To arrive finally as an adult and not on a student budget permitted new experiences that I could naively perhaps not have predicted. I had never experienced Roma properly at night. In the Inter Rail days we used to hang around the Termini waiting for our train to wherever. Walking up the left bank of the Tiber in Easter 2004, we strayed inland by one block on instinct. A village within the city started to reveal itself. Café after café, restaurant after restaurant, bar after bar, this was Trastevere.

How I had failed to even know of the existence of this wonderful locale makes me wonder about all those who had been before me. People usually give pointers, this was an undiscovered gem. In subsequent trips, Trastevere has been seen as optimum the place to stay.

Friuli-Venezia Giula: