This July my husband and I took a trip to beautiful Italy to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary. Since we're both lovers of history, wine, pizza, and soaking in different cultures, we couldn't have picked a better place to vacation!
We took TAP Portugal Airlines from Newark to Lisbon and then to Rome. It was a good thing we brought some home-made lunch with us or we would have gone hungry! Even though we had confirmed vegetarian meals with the airline, they brought us incorrect meals - about 70% of which looked inedible.
We got to Lisbon a bit late and even as I think about it today, I have a hard time explaining exactly how they got us on our flight to Rome in time. We got off the flight from Newark in Lisbon and were boarded on to a bus that took us to a small customs area. From there, we were told to get into a small SUV which drove us to a small bus stop like terminal. We were then boarded on to another bus which took us straight to our flight. During this whole confusing ordeal we were wondering whether we were going to be put on the correct flight and if any of our luggage was going to make it to Rome.
Amazingly though, all our luggage arrived in Rome safely!
Once we made our way out of baggage claim (around 11:30 AM), we converted some of our cash for euros and looked for transportation to our hotel. While I'd been warned that taxi drivers in Italy would take advantage of tourists and charge exorbitant prices, I never thought I'd be welcomed to the country with a 60 euro (even after the haggling) cab ride to a hotel roughly 10miles away!
After checking in to our hotel and freshening up, we headed to Rome's City Center to eat lunch. After seeing the monument of Victor Emanuel II and taking a few pictures in various spots around the small streets, we grabbed lunch at a local pizzeria. And of course no lunch in Italy would be complete without a gelato so like true Italians, we enjoyed those as well.
I was so happy I'd worn my comfortable sneakers that day because after walking about 6 miles in the smoldering July heat, my feet and back were feeling jello-ish. We covered a lot of ground and important sites the first day - Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps, and the Pantheon (which was partly under reconstruction). The Pantheon was an amazing site. The architectural feat and the attention paid to aesthetic detail for something that was built just over a hundred years after Christ was incredible. It was neat to imagine it being used as a temple by the people that lived during that time period.
The next day, we took a tour of the Vatican. We were so glad we'd bought the tickets online prior to the tour. The line of people waiting without tickets was 4 hours long whereas it took us a relatively short 45 minutes to get inside! The Vatican tour was a very unique and educational experience. I couldn't believe how well maintained everything was inside. As I was really excited about seeing Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel, I was glad that during the tour we got about 15 minutes inside to admire it.
We also toured the St. Peter's Basilica after the Vatican tour. I found the beatified bodies of the Popes to be a little spooky but still very interesting. We were lucky to have had a very knowledgeable and thorough tour guide who took the time to go through all of the interesting facts about the Vatican and basilica.
Dinner that night was at a vegetarian restaurant named Il Margutta, in the arts district of Rome and near the Spanish Steps. While the meals were high priced, the variety and preparation of the dishes was commendable. The restaurant had an upscale yet cozy setting but they must have liked to keep the air conditioning to a minimum since even after we asked them to turn it on, the place was like a sona!
The next morning, my husband and I caught the 9am high-speed train to Florence. To the untrained tourist, the whole train booking, finding, and boarding scene can be a little unnerving at first. As long as you keep track of the timings and numbers for your train using the digital bulletin board, all will be okay.
Florence, as opposed to Rome, is a more laid back sort of town. Vacationers visit to enjoy the fine wines and easy-going shopping. Rome, on the other hand somewhat reminded me of cities I've visited in India - crowded, fast, and unkempt. In Rome, I was disappointed to see so much graffiti covering up the city walls whereas Florence was clean and well kept.
Since I wasn't feeling very well the day we got to Florence, we kept the site-seeing to a minimum. After walking around the city center for about an hour, we visited the Uffizi Museum and had a drink at the rooftop cafe. I'd really hoped to be able to visit the Duomo and the Statue of David but getting back to the hotel and relaxing was all I could think of at the time. That night after I felt more recovered, we enjoyed dinner at a really cute outdoor restaurant called La Piazetta. Their margherita pizza and their pesto sauce were simply delectable.
One thing we noted throughout our trip was if "still water" wasn't specified during the time of order at any restaurant we'd be served sparkling water. And for a country where water is more expensive, in some cases, than wine or gelato, that could be an expensive mistake!
The next afternoon we caught the train to Venice and within 2.5 hours were at the Venice train station. I think from the moment we set foot on the vaporetto to get to the island, my husband and I decided Venice was going to be our favorite spot of the three we'd visited in Italy. We absolutely fell in love with the people, the culture, the small alleys between old buildings that reminded us of Disneyland, and even the street vendors trying to sell their ridiculously priced China-made glass items as real Murano glass.
And since no trip to Venice would be complete without a gondola ride, we took one right before sunset around the Island. I loved looking at the small residential balconies decorated with potted plants and the beautiful architectural designs around the old windows. We imagined retiring in one of the little apartments and making a small living with a gelateria. We came quickly back to earth (or rather the gondola) however when we remembered that the island was sinking.
After the gondola ride, we ate dinner at Antica Osteria Giorgione, a cozy little restaurant with excellent service, authentic tasting food, and reasonable prices. After dinner, we enjoyed gelato while sitting near the canal and watching the water boats and taxis. This was my idea of a vacation.
Strikes among the train, bus, and taxi unions are common in Italy. We happened to get caught in one the next day when we were trying to get back to Rome. We were told that the few vaporettos running would charge 5 times more to take us to the station! Thankfully though we still found a water bus to take us back to the train station. But at the station we had to wait 2 hours in line for tickets to get on one of the few trains going to Rome.
The night we got back to Rome, we went to the Trevi Fountain since we'd heard it was a popular spot during the evenings. It was fun place to people watch as there was a huge crowd surrounding the beautiful fountain. There were people enjoying gelatos, taking pictures, chatting with friends, and trying to ward off pesky flower vendors.
The next day, we visited the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. It was a good thing we went to the Roman Forum first to buy tickets as the line inside the Colosseum looked like it would take 2 hours to get through.
The Colosseum was breathtaking. The pictures I'd seen of it before just didn't do it justice. This depiction of Roman architecture and engineering is incredible. It was also incredibly sad to think about the number of lives (both human and animal) that were sacrificed in the structure.
The Colosseum was the last monument we visited in Italy and was a great way to end our trip. Our getaway was coming to an end but we were grateful for having the chance to visit a wonderful country with such exciting sites, delicious food, and wonderful people.
