Our first stop in Italy was the mighty Colosseum. Built by Emperor Vespasian, it was inaugurated in AD 80. In its heydays, this stadium could seat up to 50,000 spectators. But now, only seats for 50 people remain, as the blocks originally for the seats were used to restore part of the building.
As you walk through the Colosseum, you will see many gaping holes. Apparently, bronze used to fill these holes and were said to be used to reinforce the structure. Guess that wasn't really necessary. :)
We made a pitstop at the Bocca della Verita. Also known as the Mouth of Truth, it is said to snap shut on anyone who tells a lie. (Looks like we have been good boys and girls!) In reality, it is just an ancient manhole with a man's face.
To make sure we come back to Rome again, we paid a visit to the Trevi Fountain, which is Rome's largest and most famous fountain. According to tradition, should you toss a coin over your shoulder into the fountain, this will ensure that you will return to Rome one day.
One cannot claim to have visited Italy without having the three national foods: (i) pasta; (ii) pizza; and (iii) gelato. So of course, we made sure we had all three on the first day.
(i) Lunch @ Trattoria - Pizzeria - Forno A Legna (a trattoria we chanced upon near the Colosseum)
(ii) Gelato @ San Crispino (According to Lonely Planet, most concur that this is the best gelato in Rome. Do note that here, gelato is only served in tubs as cones will detract from the taste.)
Next was a visit to the Vatican City. The world's smallest sovereign state (a mere 0.44 sq km), the Vatican City is the capital of the catholic world. As an independent state, the Vatican has its own postal service, currency, newspapers, radio station and army.
The two must-see-places are the St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums.
Sited near the entrance of the St Peter's Basilica is the famous Pieta by Michelango. Within the Basilica, you can also climb 551 steps to the top of the dome.
The Vatican Museums are collections of many famous galleries such as Stanza di Raffaello, the Pinacoteca, the Gallerie delle Carte Geografiche and, of course, the Sistine Chapel.
Sistine Chapel is home to two of the world's most famous works of art: Michelango's Genesis (Creation) and the Giudizio Universale (Last Judgement). According to the audioguide, the Sistine Chapel is also the place where each Pope was elected. Being such a holy place, no photographs were allowed, and visitors were constantly being "shh'ed" by the guards.
Apart from sight-seeing, we made sure we tried the food at Vatican City.
(i) Lunch @ Pizzeria Amalfi (In Italy, ordering wine in restaurants costs about the same as water. So it is common to see people drinking wine at their meals. Half a litre of wine for two seems to be a norm.)
(ii) Gelato @ Old Bridge (Conveniently set near the wall of the Vatican, this gelateria dishes up big portions of gelato. We tried the chocolate and pistachio flavours, with a dollop of cream on top. Yummy!)
Pisa
En-route to Florence, we made a day trip to Pisa, home to the leaning tower of Pisa. Like many other tourists, we could not help but make all sorts of funny poses with the tower.
Lunch was at the Antica Trattoria il Campano. We tried the tagliere del Re, which is a rich platter of 12 kinds of Tuscan antipasti. Impossible to finish but an experience in itself.
Gelato was at La Bottega del Gelato.
Florence
Next, we made our way back to Florence. Dinner was at La Canovadi Gustavino, famed for its selection of Florentine wines. This was also where we had our first experience with trippa alla fiorentina (aka beef stomach).
On our second day in Florence, we made our way to the factory outlet "The Mall", which was much smaller than we expected (compared to Woodbury in US). We went back to Florence city in the late afternoon, and continued our shopping in the local market, San Lorenzo. With Florence famed for its good quality leather, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to stock up on leather products.
Lunch was at Trattoria Mario, a local eatery where the working class flock for lunch. We shared a humongous Florentine steak, plus a homely meat sauce pasta. As seating space was limited, we shared seats with two friendly Brazilian guys, who told us we simply had to try the Mille Foglie at Cafe Gilli.
We had a light dinner at Cantinetta dei Verrazzano, famous for their foccacia. The bonus was the most scrumptuous chocolate tart that we had ever tasted.
The next morning, we visited the famed Duomo, completing our tour of the famous trio in Italy (Colosseum and Leaning Tower of Pisa). The world's fourth largest cathedral,construction started in 1296 and it took almost 150 years to complete.
We then made our way to the Mercato Nuovo, a smaller market also selling leather products. At the southern end of the market is the Fontana del Porcellino (or Piglet Fountain). Legend has it that if you rub the pig's snout and throw a coin into the fountain, you are bound to return to Florence.
We had a quick lunch at a food cart next to the market, where we tried a lampredotto sandwich (beef intestines sandwich).
Next to the Mercato Nuovo is the Piazza della Signoria, which resembles an outdoor sculpture gallery. This is where you can find tourists taking pictures of the copy of Michelango's David (The original one is kept in the Academia Museum).
In the afternoon, we queued up for almost an hour to get into the Academia Museum. It was an amazing experience to see the real David upfront, but that was about it. No photos were allowed, although we did see a few tourists secretly snapping away. We then took a stroll to Ponte Vecchio, where we crossed a stone bridge lined with gold and jewellery shops. The bridge was built in 1345 and was the only one saved from destruction during WWII.
We had dinner at Il Grillo which overlooks the magnificant facade of the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella. We had a humongous calzone and a mushroom and ham ravioli.
The next morning, we went to the Uffizi where we had bought the tickets the day before to avoid the long queue. We bought a guidebook and took a whirlwind tour of the more than 40 over rooms. We then had lunch at the unassuming market store Nerbone, where we had the most yummy panini con bollito (beef burger).
After lunch, we took a long stroll, past Ponte Vecchio, to Piazzale Michelangalo, a park sited on top of one of the hills in Florence. On our way down, we had a gelato at an unassuming joint - Il Gelato Di Filo, which served one of the best dark chocolate gelatos we tasted on this trip.
After the long and tiring walk in the afternoon, we rewarded ourselves with a tea break at Cafe Gilli. There, we had a cappucino and fruitini, standing at the counter (saving us the service charge) like many locals do.
Venice
Upon checking into Hotel Paris in Mestre, we headed right into the heart of Venice across the bridge. We bought a three-day bus/vaporetto pass, which gave us unlimited rides on these two modes of transport. (Only later did we realise that perhaps there was no need to buy the pass). Our first stop was the mouth of Venice, where the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Salute stands.
We stopped for lunch at Cavatappi, where we had a panini, pasta and a local dessert (hot, melted goat's cheese with honey). After lunch, we went to Piazza San Marco, where we visited Basilica San Marco (for free), and took in sights of incricate paintings made out of small tiles.
After lunch, we took a stroll along the many shops selling glass artifacts, before we headed to another island, Burano, famed for its lace products and also its pastel colored buildings. On our trip back to Venice, we enjoyed the first romantic scenes of sunset during our Italy trip.
If you like bread and wine, Italy is the place for you. Here, in Venice, we had the best Cicheti at All Arco. Actually this was the only cicheti we had, but the food, atmosphere and service were all so good that we were sure we couldn't find a better place in Venice! W saw the locals drinking this orange-looking drink (Aperol Spritz) and asked for the same. It was refreshing. No wonder it was popular with ladies.
The next morning, we went to the fresh produce market at Rialto, where we were greeted by the colourful display of fruits, vegetables and all kinds of seafood.
Our next stop was at the Gallerie dell' Accademia, which is the single greatest depository of Venetian art. One of the most enthralling pieces was the "Crucifixion and Apotheosis of the 10,000 Martyes of Mt Ararat". We ended up having a free guide in one of the gallery rooms (or the salas) because a professor and his group of students was on a field trip to the Gallarie.
Our last night in Venice, we decided to try out the seafood offerings. We had dinner at Pronto Pesce Pronto, where the jolly owner prepared seafood-based cicheti, and other small dishes, e.g., baby octopus salad, sardines, oysters for us. We also had our first espresso in Italy - in preparation for the La Traviata opera that night :) The story for the opera was easy enough to understand - a tragic and sometimes dramatic love story, even though the lines were spoken or sung in Italian.
Milan
Before long, we were into our last three days in Italy, and our last stop was in the fashion capital of the world - Milan. This was a particularly memorable leg as well, because we met Yanni's friend from Japan - Mong Sing, who is now working in Milan. After meeting Mong Sing at Hotel Flora, we proceeded to Bianco Latte (which stands for White Milk) for lunch (and gelato of course). The food was scrumptuous - two types of pasta with oozy cheese, crepe, and some cappuccino/coffee drink, and white milk.
After lunch, Mong Sing brought us to the Duomo in Milan - which in our opinion seemed to be more spectacular than that in Florence, with the thousands of statues and spires. We took a free tour of the interior of the Duomo, and enjoyed the intricate stained glass designs.
After that, we went to the standalone Ferrari store - which stocked various Ferrari merchanise and models of cars (and parts) used in previous F1 races. We also visited the high-end shopping district in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. It was interesting to see all the signboards of the stores with black background and gold letterings - including MacDonalds. We continued on to the Castella Sfrozesco - a disused castle and fortress which now houses several museums.
In the evening, we went Genova district - to see one of the dried up canals in Milan (which happens to be a very dry city). There we had crepe with nutella and mascaporne - yummy! Dinner was aperitivo at a pub near Lima, where we coincidentally bumped into Mong Sing's lab mates, Livia and Saho. We stuffed ourselves with the buffet dinner, which comes free with the drink that we ordered. Such dinners were a favourite among working crowds and students in Milan.
The next day, we went back to one of our favourite pasttimes - shopping :) We went to the factory outlet at Seravalle - which was somewhat disappointing despite its large size. Things weren't as cheap as what we expected, and we couldn't really find designs that we liked very much. Mong Sing met us in the evening, and brought us shopping at one of the supermarkets where she regularly does her grocery shopping. There, we stocked up on Italian goodies (pasta, wine, sweets). She brought us for dinner at an Argentinian restaurant recommended by her friend. Dinner was amazing - grilled cheese, various cuts of beef, sausages, sangria, and a wicked dessert to top it off.
For our last day in Milan, we had a relaxing time walking around and shopping along the major shopping streets, e.g., Corso Buenos Aires. We also climbed our last tower of the trip - Duomo, and enjoyed the spectacular views of the spires and status up-close, as well as the view from the top.
And that brings us to the end of our blog for our honeymoon trip. Hope you have enjoyed reading this post, as much as we enjoyed the sights and the food. Till next time then!
