The Italy Travel Podcast - An Only A Bag Podcast

By Darcy Melton | Nathaniel MellorSociety & Culture Places & Travel

The Italy Travel Podcast - An Only A Bag Podcast episodes

August 02, 2023 Florence: Best Sandwich Shop in Florence — Plus Where to Find the Best Pastries, Gelato, Wine, and Traditional Foods
Sandwiches, pastries, gelato, wine to-go, and what is lampredotto? We've got you covered with a list of our favorite food in Florence.

If you prefer reading, you can find our review of La Strega Nocciola, our current favorite gelateria in Florence, here!
As always, thank you for listening!

If you'd like to support us, you can do with by purchasing your next train trip through Trainline, an easy-to-use aggregate of train and bus fares. You can find our affiliate link by clicking here!
And if you're planning out which sights to see and when to go, Tiqets has you covered with tickets! This is also an affiliate link that will support Only A Bag with a small portion of Tiqets' cut.

If you'd like to follow us on Instagram, we'd love that! We can be found at only
_a_bag. Likewise, you can keep up to date with what we're doing on our website, www.onlyabag.com.
1 hr 14 min
July 24, 2023 Florence: Visiting Galleries, Museums, and Shopping Alternatives
Hello and welcome back!
In this episode we are back to talking about Florence!
Headed to Florence but short on time? We've got you covered with tips on what to see in Florence, what to skip, what's free in Florence, and what's worth the price.
While we mentioned in episode 3, Florence can be a day trip, an ideal trip to Florence could be 4-6 days. Enough time to see the galleries, catch a few sunsets from the rose garden at the Piazzale Michelangelo, and stroll the Ponte Vecchio.

If you want to support the podcast, and book tickets for the Uffizi, click here!
That is our affiliate link to Tiquets, a ticket-buying platform.
Likewise, if you want to go to the Galleria Academia, click here for affiliate tickets!
As always, we hope you enjoy!
We'd love it if you followed us on Instagram: Only_a_bag
And, of course, check out our new website! www.onlyabag.com

1 hr 7 min
July 21, 2023 Special Episode - Italian Heatwave
Benvenuti a La Settimana Infernale, or Week of Hell, named for the intense heatwave lazily moving across southern Europe. Here's an update on what's happening in Rome, what to do if you're visiting during the anticyclone causing the heatwave, and what is an anticyclone?
1 hr 3 min
July 17, 2023 Florence: Getting There, Getting Around, and the Briefest of Histories
Hello, hello! Welcome back to Episode 3 of Season 2.

In this episode, we're talking about Florence. Specifically, we are taking about how to get there (planes, trains, and automobiles (buses)), and how to get around.
We're also offering a very brief history. Not necessarily of Florence, but of Italy as a whole, and how the local dialect of Florence ended up as Italy's national language.

In this episode, we mentioned Trainline, a way of purchasing train and bus tickets in a surprisingly easy way. Here's our affiliate link: https://trainline.tp.st/Xo3tZo7p

Of course, we'd love it if you were to check out our brand-new website onlyabag.com!
45 min
July 08, 2023 Rome: Staying Cool [at the beach] and Day Trips
Hello and welcome back to Episode 2!

Before we get to talking about the North, Florence specifically, we wanted to very briefly go over a few points of interest about Rome that we haven't previously mentioned. In particular, we wanted to talk about how to stay cool on those heat-wave days that send Rome past the triple digits, and which day trips are feasible (and which aren't).

In this episode, we mention a few parks:
Villa Borghese (Near Flaminio)
Piazza Vittorio Emmanuele (Near Termini)
The grounds of Palazzo Barberini (The front area of the Museum)
Giardino degli Aranci (Near the famous keyhole)
Giardino di Sant'Alessio (Also near the keyhole)
Villa Celimontana (Near the Baths of Caracalla and the Colosseum)

As always, our website is www.onlyabag.com
And we would love it if you were to follow us on Instagram @only_a_bag.

Enjoy!
57 min
July 02, 2023 Northern Italy vs. Southern Italy
Hello and welcome back!
We apologize for having been gone for so long. While Only A Bag has always been on our minds, we couldn't figure out the time to sit down and finally record another episode.
And then we found the time!
Here's episode one of Season 2.
We lightly delve into "northern" Italy vs "southern" Italy, and how it might affect your trip to Italy.

At one point, we mentioned a bakery in Siena, which is here: https://goo.gl/maps/Js4UEQfURAr1JEr5A

We have also re-vamped our website: www.onlyabag.com.

Thank you all so much for listening! We hope you enjoy the episode!
1 hr 1 min
November 07, 2022 Our Favorite House Sitting Websites (And Why) to Get You Started
Welcome back!
(If you prefer to read the podcast as an article, you can find it here!)
Now that you've learned all you can about getting started with house sitting, we thought we could share our favorite house sitting websites. These might not be the best, but these are the ones we've had the most luck with, or the most pleasant interactions with homeowners through.
Like always, we hope you enjoy!
Nathaniel and Darcy
Here are some links to the mentioned websites! If you use an affiliate link, we'll make a little money.
Trusted House Sitters: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link
Nomador: Non-Affiliate Link
MindMyHouse: Non-Affiliate Link
House Sitters UK: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link
House Sitters America: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link
House Sitters Australia: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link
(These are not the best house sitting websites in the world, only the ones we like.)
Our website: Only A Bag
Instagram Page: Only_a_bag
Medium: @Nathanielmellor
31 min
October 22, 2022 Let's Talk About the "House" in House Sit
Welcome back to another episode of our housesitting series!
If you prefer to read our advice, you can find the article on our website!
In this episode, we talk about the "house." For us, this means cleaning the house when we leave, how to treat the house when we're there, and what to do in the absolute certainty that you break something.
We hope you enjoy!
Want to jump right into house sitting? Here are some links to our favorite websites!
Trusted House Sitters: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link
Nomador: Non-Affiliate Link
MindMyHouse: Non-Affiliate Link
House Sitters UK: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link
House Sitters America: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link
(These are not the best house sitting websites in the world, only the ones we like.)
Our website: Only A Bag
Instagram Page: Only_a_bag
Medium: @Nathanielmellor
36 min
October 06, 2022 Getting Your First House Sit
Welcome back!
If you prefer to read our advice, you can find the article on our website!
Now that we've talked about setting up your profile for various house sitting websites, in this episode we discuss our tips on how to get your first sit!
We hope you enjoy!

Want to jump right into house sitting? Here are some links to our favorite websites!
Trusted House Sitters: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link
Nomador: Non-Affiliate Link
MindMyHouse: Non-Affiliate Link
House Sitters UK: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link
House Sitters America: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link
(These are not the best house sitting websites in the world, only the ones we like.)
Our website: Only A Bag
Instagram Page: Only_a_bag
Medium: @Nathanielmellor
29 min
September 24, 2022 House Sitting: Making Your Profile
(For the article version, click here. And as always, we love feedback about our website!

Welcome back!
In this episode of House Sitting: Miniseries, Darcy and I discuss setting up your profile, what to include and what to leave out, and sending that first message!
We hope you enjoy!
Nathaniel and Darcy

Want to jump right into house sitting? Here are some links to our favorite websites!
Trusted House Sitters: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link
Nomador: Non-Affiliate Link
MindMyHouse: Non-Affiliate Link
House Sitters UK: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link
House Sitters America: Affiliate Link | Non-Affiliate Link
(These are not the best house sitting websites in the world, only the ones we like.)
Our website: Only A Bag
Instagram Page: Only_a_bag
Medium: @Nathanielmellor
19 min