Does Florence have an off-season? What's it like on the south side of the city? Where can you find good food without having to spend €20 on a plate of pasta? Where can I look for leather goods that are high-quality? In this episode we answer those questions and more! After visiting Florence back in February we intended to record this episode in the winter, but alas we did not, so here it is now!

It's going to be summer soon and the height of tourism, so stay tuned for next week's episode: Florence Condensed! We'll tell you the essentials for visiting Florence from transportation and food to museums and the David.

The restaurants, bars, and cafes we mentioned in this episode are:

On the south side of the Arno:

Trattoria Sabatino - Via Pisana, 2R, 50143 Firenze FI

Fuor di Porta - Via Pisana, 29/r, 50143 Firenze FI

Circolo Rondinella del Torrino - Lungarno Soderini, 2, 50124 Firenze FI

La Cité - Borgo S. Frediano, 20/R, 50124 Firenze FI

Piazza Santo Spirito (this is a piazza with many bars/cafes) - 50125 Firenze FI

On the north side of the Arno:

Trattoria Le Mossacce - Via del Proconsolo, 55r, 50122 Firenze FI

Caffè Gilli - Via Roma, 1r, 50123 Firenze FI

Il Mercato Centrale - Piazza del Mercato Centrale, Via dell'Ariento, 50123 Firenze FI

Vino Divino - (Neri is the name of the lovely owner) Via Taddea, 6, 50123 Firenze FI

Da' Vinattieri - Via Santa Margherita, 4/6r, 50122 Firenze FI

The leather school we mention is called Scuola del Cuoio - Via di S. Giuseppe, 5/R, 50122 Firenze FI

The roads Darcy mentioned with artisan and antique shops are Via Lambertesca, on the north side of the Arno, and Via Santo Spirito/Borgo San Frediano, on the south side of the Arno. As you walk over the Ponte Vecchio to the south you will end up on Via de' Guicciardini which is the road infant of the Pitti Palace, there are several great shops there as well and closer to the tourist attractions.

If you'd like to support the podcast, you can donate to us on Ko-fi (pronounced "coffee"), linked ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.

You can also support us by using our Booking.com link when booking your trip to Italy or anywhere!

If you have any questions, you can find us on our ⁠website⁠⁠ or on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠⁠Bluesky⁠!

Thank you so much for listening!

Trigger warning: In this episode, we talk about femicide, assault, women in the workplace, abortion, IVF, and adoption. We do our best to put trigger warnings where appropriate so you can skip ahead. If this episode isn't for you or if you're not in the headspace to listen, we completely understand!

This episode is a bit of a departure from our normal topics, but it's something we care deeply about: women's rights, equality, and access to healthcare. We also touch on another topic important to us, LGBTQ+ family's rights and healthcare. As we've said before, it feels irresponsible to encourage you all to visit and stay while only talking about the beautiful coast, rich history, and incredible food. We want to tell you the good and the bad.

You may notice that I (Darcy) say "uh" and "um" a lot in the beginning of this episode. I was fairly nervous to talk about these topics, because they are serious and heavy issues, unlike our typical lighthearted episodes. I hope it doesn't take you out of the episode and I appreciate your understanding!

If you are experiencing violence or stalking you can call 1522 where you can reach professionals who are trained to help victims of violence and stalking. They also have an online chat and app. This hotline is multilingual and available 24/7. If you are in an emergency call 122, which will connect you to an operator for police, ambulance, and fire (it's like the US's 911 or the UK's 999).

More resources:

Vita di Donne is a great resource for women's health. They have articles and further recourses for assistances well as a hotline as well as emergency numbers for the morning-after pill and gynecology services.

Artemisia Anti Violence Center has resources for women and children who have been or are experiencing abuse.

Arcigay is an overarching organization made up of 72 associations and committees across the country who fight for LGBTQ+ rights in Italy.

We'd love to hear from you! You can reach out to us on our website Only a Bag and on Instagram. If you would like to donate to us, you can do so at ⁠⁠ko-fi.com/onlyabag⁠.

Thank you all so much for listening!

In this episode we’ll tell you all you need to know about renting a car in Italy. "Do I need an international driver's permit? Should I rent a car for a wine tour? I can't drive manual, can I rent an automatic?" From personal experience and in-depth research we’ve got you covered from getting a permit, renting a car, road rules, and everything in-between. One thing we forgot to mention: "Which side of the road do they drive on in Italy?" in Italy, we drive on the right!

If you'd like to support Only A Bag, you can use our affiliate links to book your rental car through Booking.com and DiscoverCars.com.

And if you'd like to donate, you can do so at our Ko-fi (pronounced "coffee"), linked ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

If you have any questions, you can find us on our ⁠website⁠⁠ or on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠⁠Bluesky⁠!

Thanks so much for listening!

Looking for "hidden Italy"? This may be the place you're looking for! Immaculate coastline, tiny mountain towns that non-Italians rarely find, fresh, local food, and rosemary which may be the key to everlasting youth. In this episode, we're talking about the Cilento (pronounced chee-len-toe). Head south from the heavily-touristed Amalfi Coast to find it. The Cilento is a National Park full of mountains, lush forests, small towns and cities, some of the best food you'll ever eat, and, of course, the Costa del Cilento which stretches from Agropoli to Sapri.

If you'd like to support Only A Bag and you're headed to the Amalfi Coast (or anywhere!) you can use our ⁠Booking.com⁠ link to book your next trip!

And if you'd like to donate, you can do so at our Ko-fi (pronounced "coffee"), linked ⁠here⁠.

If you have any questions, you can find us on our website⁠ or on Instagram and ⁠Bluesky!

Thank you so much for listening!

It wouldn't feel right to put out a bunch of episodes centered on how to live in Italy without also mentioning some of the things that can make Italy a difficult country to live in. We don't go super in-depth into any of these topics, instead just offering some anecdotal and experience-based information (with actual research as well, to be clear) on freedom of speech/press, Corruption and Trash, Racism, and Fascism.

You might be able to tell that we're very cautious about the way we speak, and this is due to not wanting to be sued for saying something that someone else might take as slander. Though in case it isn't crystal clear from this episode: Fascism = Bad and Italy allowing those elements to forment and grow in power = Really Bad.

In this episode we mention a bakery, but didn't have in our notes the exact quote. The bakery is called "L'assalto ai Forni" or "The assault on the ovens" in Ascoli Piceno.

The original quote on their sign for Liberation Day was "25 aprile: buono come il pane, bello come l'antifascismo" meaning "April 25: as good as bread, as beautiful as anti-fascism."

If there's any part of this episode you'd like to know more about, please don't hesitate to reach out and ask!

And for those of you who prefer to just listen to episodes about what to see and where to eat, fear not! We shall return to those soon, we just wanted to wrap up the "Living in Italy" segment first.

Thank you for listening!

Only a Bag

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Deviating slightly from the episode we expected to make, this week we're talking about the Amalfi Coast. We've touched on it slightly before, but with the summer season starting to ramp up, we wanted to talk about how to get to this popular summer destination, things to look out for, some pastries to try, and how to not get trapped out there!

If you'd like to support Only A Bag and you're headed to the Amalfi Coast (or anywhere!) you can use our Booking.com link to book your next trip!

And if you'd like to donate, you can do so at our Ko-fi (pronounced "coffee"), linked here.

Thank you so much for listening!

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To round up our series of episodes about visas, today we're talking about the digital nomad and remote worker visas. They are possibly the most complicated of the visas available mostly because there is less information about to how receive these visas compared to others like the student visa or elective residency visa. For more information on all of the visas we've talked about you can check out Nathaniel's article "How to Move to Italy: The Ultimate Guide for Americans (2025)."

For more info about being a digital nomad in Italy check out some of our other articles here.

In this episode we mention the list of "highly skilled" jobs that you must fall into to be approved for the digital nomad visa. You can find the list on the official government website here.

At the beginning of this episode we mention the sad news of the passing of Pope Francis on Monday, April 21. We also touch on how the recently announced (and unrelated) Venice tourist tax could affect your travel this summer. Plus, we received a very helpful tip from a listener after last week's episode. They pointed out that, in March, Italy announced a decree which could affect the Jus Sanginis (or birthright visa) requirements. We will keep you updated with that as the final decision will be made in May.

If you'd like to support the podcast you can donate to us on ⁠Ko-fi⁠. This fund will help us buy new equipment for the podcast, like new mics! For more information or to contact us you can go to onlyabag.com!

Thank you all so much for listening!

Jure Sanguinis Update: A major "thank you" to one of our listeners for pointing out a recent decree from March 28th that affects birthright citizenship. Under the new ruling, the only people who are applicable are those with Italian parents who were born in Italy, those with Italian parents who lived in Italy for a minimum of 2 consecutive years before giving birth to you, and those with grandparents who were born in Italy.

This isn't a law yet, just a decree, and the Italian government has until the end of May to pass it into a law or abolish it. We will update you all on it as it progresses!

More of our mini-series "How To Live In Italy!" In this episode we talk about three of the major pathways to citizenship in Italy; the golden visa, elective residency visa (often called "the retirement visa"), and birthright citizenship (Jus Sanginis). Is the golden visa just for the uber rich? Sort of. Do I have to be of "retirement age" to apply for the elective residency visa? And finally, you've been told your whole life "we're Italian!" or maybe you just found out on an ancestry test, so how do you claim citizenship? We'll answer all of those question and more in this episode.

We touched on the so called "retirement visa" in a previous episode, How To Live In Italy: Work Visa and Retirement Visa, but we wanted to mention it again because it can be a great option for people with outside income who are looking to live in Italy. And because *spoiler* there is no age restriction.

For more info, you can check out Nathaniel's article "How to Move to Italy: The Ultimate Guide for Americans" on our website. Don't forget to bookmark it to reference later!

If you'd like to support the podcast you can donate to us on Ko-fi. This fund will help us buy new equipment for the podcast, like new mics!

Thank you all so much for listening!