Italy Part One: Venice and Rome
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
First off, Italy is just gorgeous!!
My first taste was in Venice, so of course my first impression was a good one! The place is an absolute labyrinth. Narrow streets wind everywhere and lead to nowhere, including deadends. Getting lost was a reoccuring theme but fun, its half the charm of Venice. The canals were a little smelly but they still look so pretty! We took a gondola ride (thanks to my Mum's generousity) armed with a bottle of red and of course a camera. It wasn't the most romantic thing in the world, despite the legends, but something you just have to do! We also had to eat amazing gelato and pizzas in the many piazza's throughout the islands, drink a classic venice drink called sprizze and fight our way through the crowds in the enormous San Marco square. All in all Venice is very picturesque and I fell in love with it.
Next was a day stop in Trieste, a small town on the sea way up North where my Dad's family is from. Here we stayed with his aunty, uncle and cousin where they stuffed our faces with food while we laughed with limited communication around the kitched table. It was everything I could have wanted staying with family in Italy. Classic.
From a small town to a big city: Rome was yet another overwhelming stop. The place is absolutely packed with tourists. Our first stop was the famous Spanish Steps of which you could hardly see any of the steps itself through the swarms of people. I was shocked! And it was like this at the Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Roman Forums...pretty much all of Rome! It was, however, an enchanting city. The history amazed me, I couldn't believe I was walking in a nearly 2000 year old Colosseum, whose size astounds me, and the many ruins of ancient Rome. Incredible. Another highlight of Rome was the hundreds of churches literally on every block. And they were all free!! So we went inside so many and they were all so intricate. The Catholic church has a lot of money!!
And of course there was the Vatican city. After waiting ages to get through to the Sistine Chapel it didn't disappoint. Wall to wall with incredible paintings, it really was jaw dropping. We staying in there for about 30 minutes and still could not digest it all. Saint Peters square was also a surprise: we managed to see the Pope addressing the people! That was pretty cool. Later we wondered inside Saint Peters Basilica, and OH MY GOD, what a church!! I can't describe the beauty and magnificence. It was almost like walking through an art gallery.
So Italy was swept me off my feet and I still have the Cinque Terre and Florence to encounter. Keep a close watch here!
My first taste was in Venice, so of course my first impression was a good one! The place is an absolute labyrinth. Narrow streets wind everywhere and lead to nowhere, including deadends. Getting lost was a reoccuring theme but fun, its half the charm of Venice. The canals were a little smelly but they still look so pretty! We took a gondola ride (thanks to my Mum's generousity) armed with a bottle of red and of course a camera. It wasn't the most romantic thing in the world, despite the legends, but something you just have to do! We also had to eat amazing gelato and pizzas in the many piazza's throughout the islands, drink a classic venice drink called sprizze and fight our way through the crowds in the enormous San Marco square. All in all Venice is very picturesque and I fell in love with it.
Next was a day stop in Trieste, a small town on the sea way up North where my Dad's family is from. Here we stayed with his aunty, uncle and cousin where they stuffed our faces with food while we laughed with limited communication around the kitched table. It was everything I could have wanted staying with family in Italy. Classic.
From a small town to a big city: Rome was yet another overwhelming stop. The place is absolutely packed with tourists. Our first stop was the famous Spanish Steps of which you could hardly see any of the steps itself through the swarms of people. I was shocked! And it was like this at the Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Roman Forums...pretty much all of Rome! It was, however, an enchanting city. The history amazed me, I couldn't believe I was walking in a nearly 2000 year old Colosseum, whose size astounds me, and the many ruins of ancient Rome. Incredible. Another highlight of Rome was the hundreds of churches literally on every block. And they were all free!! So we went inside so many and they were all so intricate. The Catholic church has a lot of money!!
And of course there was the Vatican city. After waiting ages to get through to the Sistine Chapel it didn't disappoint. Wall to wall with incredible paintings, it really was jaw dropping. We staying in there for about 30 minutes and still could not digest it all. Saint Peters square was also a surprise: we managed to see the Pope addressing the people! That was pretty cool. Later we wondered inside Saint Peters Basilica, and OH MY GOD, what a church!! I can't describe the beauty and magnificence. It was almost like walking through an art gallery.
So Italy was swept me off my feet and I still have the Cinque Terre and Florence to encounter. Keep a close watch here!
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on Tuesday, May 1, 2007 at 1:03 PM.
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May 2, 2007 at 1:30 AM
awesome post as always. can't believe how many you've managed to make, it's great reading about your adventures from boring old melbourne, hahaha. :P