Italy : Cultural and Historical Rome

Despite it was my second visit to Rome earlier this year, this largest empire in the ancient days never failed to put me in awe with its beauty. There are so much to do, so much to eat and so much to see.

I could go on and on taking photographs of Colosseum from different angles and yet I am not really tired of it. When I first saw the much talked about and magnificent building standing right before my eyes, I thought I was up in the clouds. I had read about it in the History subject and also in many travel books but that moment, was my moment.....with the Colosseum, of course!

An Europe trip without stopping by Rome is incomplete. That is what I had been telling my husband and convinced him to make a trip to Rome before we head to Jakarta, for good. He was glad that he did :)

Like many other tourists, we went to the touristic sites - Colosseum, Ancient Roman Ruins which is within walking distance from Colosseum, Trevi fountain, Spanish Steps, Monument of Vittorio, Pantheon, Via dei Condotti (for shopping) Vatican city (that is a city/country of its own), St Peters Basilica, and of course cathedrals!

Trevi Fountain - day and night shot 

The Colosseum

Galleria Alberto - luxurious shopping arcade in town.

River by Castel Saint Angelo. Love the Roman architecture.

Monument of Vittorio

View of the Rome city  from above....

It was unfortunate that the weather had been rainy and gloomy. However, the temperature was fine. I like it cool. My first visit to Rome was during 2010 summer and I find it too hot and humid to walk around the city - you get tired and dehydrated easily. Probably, the best time to visit is in May or early June.

The below photos were taken back in 2010 with my sister :) They look more lively compared to above!

 Spanish Steps

 Inside of Colosseum. There was a long queue to enter but worth the wait :)

 A walk in the Roman Ruins brings you through what the great empire had undergone. You could easily spend an hour in there.

 Piazza Popolo

Vatican City

Restaurant Tre Scalini, Piazza Navona - Claimed to be the best Tartufo (truffle/chocolate ice cream with whipped cream) in town. While I don't know if it is really the best, but it tasted good. Worth a try. If not mistaken, ours costed about €5 per scoop/cup if you take away, which is half the price if you dine in. If you are not a budget traveler, you can opt to dine here. It is said to be a good fine dining restaurant. You can check out the menu here.

Some tips while you are in Rome.

• I am pretty sure many people already warned you. Let me not be the last to do so - always keep a good eye on your precious belongings. If possible, do not bring original identification documents with you.
• Keep your cash in at least 2 different places. Have a lesser amount of money on the wallet, which you usually fetch out from your pocket when paying bills or when shopping. The remaining of the money should be kept in the safe in the hotel, distribute some to your travel companion (partner) and/or keep it in a separate pouch/wallet which is hidden in your inner jacket, blouse or pants. Check if the pouch/wallet is still with you, from time to time but try not to be obvious about it. You could probably keep it in a place where you can easily feel it.
• Always validate your ticket before hopping onto the bus, trains or metros. The penalty for not doing so is twice (or more) of the ticket fare. Explaining yourself that you are a tourist does not stop the officer from issuing you a summon.
• It is common that cafes and restaurants levy you an additional charge should you dine in instead of take away. Most often, they do not inform you in advanced. You will come to know when the bill comes. I don't know if they took it for granted that you already know or it is just their way of getting more money out of you, as a tourist.
• Most locals speak Italian though some will know very basic and simple English. Be prepared to write down or learn a few useful Italian words/phrases. Otherwise, body language is an alternative.
• Try your luck in bargaining when you shop along the streets or in shops along the streets.
• Lastly, eat (pasta, pizza, desserts, pastries, gelato) to your heart's content! Italian food is known to be one of the finest in the world and since you are there, indulge lavishly! :)

Italy : Genoa in rainy spring

It was a rainy evening when we reached Genoa. Not a drizzle, but a heavy rain. The rain washed away the holiday mood.

But......

Thanks to our Polish hostess Lidia who had been living in Italy for the past 8 years, the mood-dampening rain was forgotten.

We started off with pastry shopping for breakfast as we were taking an early train to Cinque Terre. It was a famous pastry cafe in Genoa. I can't believe I missed taking any photos of the cafe (I was pretty sure I did but when I went searching through the hard disk, there wasn't any!!!) -.-

The name of the shop/cafe is Panarello located at Via San Vincenzo, Genoa (all the locals call it Genova). It is a shame the shipping doesn't offer to countries outside Italy, France, U.K., Germany, Spain and Swiss >.< Otherwise, I would love to order panettone for Christmas this year.

Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that we didn't understand Italian, our friend commented that the staffs in the shop were rather rude and arrogant.

After making sure we would not be starved in the train tomorrow, we took a stroll in the rain around the Genoa city. It is a charming little city by the Liguria sea and that makes it one of the strategic ports for trading in the Mediterranean.

Piazza de Ferrari stood all mighty in the main square of Genoa. It's surrounded by handsomely designed old buildings.

Cold, wet and a little tired, Lidia suggested to enjoy aperitif with some antipasti before heading for dinner. That sounded like a brilliant idea!
Aperitif comes from the Latin word aperire, which means "open". Hence, aperitif is simply to open appetite with a drink.

I especially love the idea of aperitif in Italy! It usually consists of drinks and a hearty platter of lips-smacking antipasti - fresh olives, cold cuts, bruschetta, and the list goes on. You can easily find bars or cafes serving aperitif throughout Italy. It is a norm or should I say a tradition here.

A glance on this picture brings back good memory of the company.....and of course the delicious taste of antipasti lingering in my mouth when I took each bite of them!! I love everything on that platter!!! The bill came up to about €18 for 3 drinks (alcoholic and non-alchoholic)a platter of goodies, and a bowl of chips, which I thought it was rather reasonable. If you are a light eater, that could probably be your dinner already ;p

Next, Lidia brought us to a quietly located restaurant in the heart of the town. I couldn't be sure if it was the rain that made the place less frequented or it was indeed a quiet area. Nevertheless, it is the good food that counts! Lidia said this restaurant is definitely recommended. Again, I couldn't find any pictures of the restaurant or the name of it!! This shows how "focused" I was in this trip -.- Maybe we were just too tired packing and cleaning due to the relocation.

But..but....I managed to get the pictures of the food :p

Rabbit dish - it is one of Genoa's specialty apart from pesto and trofie. Hubby decided to give this dish a try and he liked it.

Trofie (special type of pasta that looks like tiny spiral worms, which is widely found in Genoa. One of the specialties here.) with mussels. This was what Lidia and I had.

Panna Cotta. A must try dessert when you visit Italy. It is too tedious to make this at home :p

The restaurant's special Do-It-Yourself Tiramisu :)

After a scrumptious meal, what would be the best thing to do? Yikes, be a potato couch! We took a stroll once again, taking the other route to head back to the hotel.

We stayed in Hotel Astoria, which was a decent hotel and most importantly, it was a stone's throw away from the Genoa Brignole train station.

This is an antique lift! After we checked in, we waited for quite some time before we could get into the lift to our room. Apparently, it was stuck in some floors.....

It was a huge room.....with classical furniture and a huge bathroom!

Location of the hotel : Piazza Brignole, 4, 16122 Genoa, Italy

Italy: Cinque Terre

I have to agree with Lizzie from Eat, Pray, Love that Italian is a beautiful language. What sounds like five in English, is gentle and musical in Italian - cinque, as it is village with terre.

Not only does this place sound beautiful, it is breath-taking indeed. Being declared as one of UNESCO heritage, the five villages (namely Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, Riomaggiore) are small quaint fishing villages/towns that lay along the Liguarian coast of Italian Riviera. Over the years, it has emerged to top the list of vacation escapade.

From other Italian cities, you may take a train to Genoa and from there, you can easily get a train to La Spezia, which then connects you to all the five villages. If you are staying more than a day, or even for just a day-trip, do get the Cinque Terre Train Card. It costs €10 for 1 day card and you can hop onto trains and buses between La Spezia and the five villages to your heart's content (unlimited rides) for the entire day. You can also use that card to access to museums or walking paths of the villages.

Note that it is only valid till midnight of the day despite it says 24-hour validity and please do remember to validate your card before you hop onto the train!

According to an Italian friend, it is best to go around the villages by boat, foot (trekking. There are available trekking paths that connect all the five villages. However, due to a flood in 2009, some of the paths were destroyed. When we were there in March, they were still closed for tourists. Do check again before you plan to trek) or train. Private cars are not allowed to enter.

Our first stop was Monterosso. It wasn't the most impressive one - Monterosso is probably the most "commercialised" one as it has many resorts along the beach. As you can see from the photos, it wasn't our lucky day. It was rainy and gloomy for the entire day!

Arggghhh,....look at the clouds and misty sky -.- It would have been fabulous if it was super sunny instead.

Hubby and I like Vernazza and Manarola the most. We find that they are the most beautiful among the five. However, some would say Riomaggiore is the best. Anyway, the judge is yourself :)

There are a lot of restaurants in all the five villages. You will notice the menu and the price range are very similar. Needless to say, pasta and pizza is a must in Italy! Secondly, seafood is worth trying. Surprisingly, the menu has disclaimers stating that some dishes used frozen seafood instead of fresh seafood. I was expecting that fresh seafood should be abundant in a fishing village. Anyway, an applause to the Italians for being upright about it :) You can also get some local Italian snacks in a few small cafes located there.

For meat lovers, you should try some of the meat dishes there too and anticipate a pleasant surprise. Hubby and I did! The pork dish was absolutely yummy - especially when we were stranded in Manarola for hours in a rainy evening (one train service broke down and the schedule turned completely insane)! I can't remember the name of the restaurant. It was at Manarola train station - the restaurant right in front of the station's office/counter.

Right, do not miss the Italian gelato if you had missed it out in Rome, somehow! ;)

Cinque Terre is a must if you come to Italy or even if you love vacations by the beach. It was our last-minute-final-Europe trip before moving back to Asia. So, we didn't have the luxury of time but for you, who can make advanced plans, do remember to visit during summer and not during spring. Rain can be a spoiler.