Second part of my Backpacking in Europe:
We were gonna visit 4 cities in Italy: Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre and Rome. God has been so partial towards this country, it has the best of everything: food, landscapes, history, art, architecture, beaches, canals, mountains.
We took an overnight train from Amsterdam to Venice, reached early in the morning, right about when we were to enter as we were seeing the window landscapes in our train, suddenly a city emerged amidst the sea, the transformation was so seamless. It was superb!!
Venice has no car traffic, no other modes of transport except water taxis, water buses or gondolas. But you can cover the entire city by foot. We took the waterbus to our residence, we chose to stay in an 18th century townhome, Ca Bonvicini, restored and renovated to look exactly the same. It was royal and palatial.
City can also be a very confusing maze with canals and bridges and short streets that lead you to the water or to another very short street. We got lost everytime, thanks to our home attendant, we would call her every night to find our way back.
Its almost like every road leads to the Rialto Bridge and St.Marks Sq. You have clear signs to them at every corner and all you have to do is follow the crowds. There are many roadside shops, masks and glass, are the most famous there to get as souvenirs. And for the fashionistas, it has all the amazing designer stores, jewelry shops and leather stores. I bought handbags there!
We took a 30 minute ride on the water bus and visited the nearby island Burano, its a very cute city with pastel colored houses and it has the best small restaurants with the island favorites. I had the most amazing Sardines and Sun had the freshly caught Sea Bream. Our host also recommended this dessert which he called it a Burano favorite, warm cookies to dip in the dessert wine, so goood, soon followed the home made limonocello. What can i say, life is just beautiful!
It’s definitely one of the most beautiful city you would have ever visited in your life and also considering the fact its sinking slowly, please do yourself a favor by going.
Next on our map is Florence, haven for Italy’s best food. City is bustling with traffic, even though its not a very big city, its the destination city for all the Tuscan regions so you see hoards of tourists.
Here we stayed in a very contemporary loft called Riva Lofts, designed by the architect Claudio Nardi, with all the works: garden, pool and a bicycle to ride in the city.
Big things here are the Florentine art, some of the best renaissance pieces are housed here. Brunelleschi’s dome, Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise, Michelangelo’s David, do pay a visit to all of these, it helps if you take a audio tour to appreciate the brilliance.
No camera was allowed inside the Accademia Gallery, where the David is. Get your advance tickets to this one, as the lines could be really long and you have to waste a lot of time. The 17 ft marble statue is so real with such detailed expression, they had to protect it by moving the original here and keeping a replica in the open in Palazzo Vecchio.
Our evening dinner was at Ristorante Noue, supposed to be one of the newest nicest restaurant in town. And we went there in style, in our bike, Sun rode and I sat at the back, it was super funny and also bumpy considering all the streets are cobble stoned. Our dinner was absolutely fab, I had the most delicious pasta with rabbit sauce and kobe steak.
Next day, we rented a car (which was frikkin’ expensive as it was an automatic car) to take a tour of the Tuscany region, where all the good wines and olives hail from. Its just an hour away and you are onto the hills, where Chianti Classico vines are grown. Our first stop was at the Castello Vicchio Maggio, an exquisite Castle, a vineyard, a restaurant and also bed and breakfast.
Chianti wine and good lunch were had. Being on one of the highest point we took pictures of the beautiful landscape and walked around the vineyard. Next we wanted to go to Casaloste, a family owned business, Anthony Bourdain went there when he stayed in Florence. The owner’s wife gave us a complete tour of winemaking, her most famous wines and olives. And I absolutely loved how each of their wine had a personal story behind the name and the label. I was also so moved about one particular one, Inversus, it was named after their son, who has all his internal organs reversed right from his birth but thanfully he’s eight now and is healthy.
We drove another few kilometres to get to the city of San Gimignano, city of beautiful towers rich in history, surrounded by the splendid countryside.
And the night dinner is one of the oldest restaurants in town. Its an osteria ( means a local hangout with bench seating and less service ), named Vecchia Bettola. Had the most famous Pasta with vodka sauce and fried zucchini. Bestesttt!
Florence was an amazing experience, but now we are off to Cinque terre, rugged portion of coast of the Ligurian Riviera to the west of the city of La Spezia, comprising five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. All the towns are connected by trails which run alongside the ocean, also connected by trains which stop at all towns and also by boat. The sea was rough the day we were there so we took the trail from Riomaggiore to Manarola and the rest was done by trains. We stayed in Monterosso, in a boutique hotel, Albergo margerita.
Its breathtaking views cannot be explained, just see pics.
We had dinner at Belvedere, patio facing the seashore, it has some of the best seafood in town. Lobsters cooked in earthen pot and home made tiramisu. YUM!
Next on our itinerary is Rome, the city of all things ancient. City is huge, much like Paris, the vibe is great. We stayed in a townhome, Casa Montani, that was housed in one of the oldest buidlings, in Piazza del Poppolo. Location was great, we walked to Spanish Steps, Trevi fountain and the Pantheon. Its also amidst the fashion centre and some cool restaurants. The owner was a very sweet man and also very hip, Giuseppe Montani, he told us all the great spots to hang out. We had just 2 days and we didnt want to do everything, so we just chose a few and chillaxed in lounges as it was the last destination in our trip.
Went to TAD, a concept store of all things design conceived as a 1,000 sqm home, the store seduces the shopping psyche with fashion, food, fragrances and flowers.
Lunch at Gusto, osteria, pizzeria, formageria, enoteca bar, ristorante and a cooking workshop/bookshop.
Drinks in a relaxed eclectic lounge Etabli, in the lively Piazza navona area.
We had roadside Pizzas and gelatos and ended day one in Rome.
Next day our plan was to hit the Colosseo, weather didn’t play nice and we had to buy those ugly ponchos on the street. Thank god for the Gladiator movie, I sorta knew all the history behind this one!
Lunch was had at AO Rome, evening relaxation at Re cafe.
We finished Rome by going to a Fashion Show, showcasing Romanian culture.
We didn’t get to the see the Sistine Chapel or the Vatican, but I absolutely loved the time we spent in all the cool spots and just relaxing in one of the great cities in the world.
