A trip to Italy

After coming to onsite on 20th Feb I was waiting to plan a trip together with Trupti. It came with little bit of delay but with loads of fun. This trip was different from my last trip to Italy (when I was bachelor J) in the obvious sense of being a romantic trip plus getting the real taste of Italian cuisines... pastas, pizzas and what not. The food was amazingly very good. Here is the day wise description of the awesome trip.

Day1 (Venice):

After watching the beautiful view of Alps from Bergamo airport we went to Venice via train. The train ride was real fun… like tht of DDLJ J….we didn’t find the seat and had to stand in corridor for half of the time. We watched beautiful green fields, wooden houses etc from train waiting for ultimate water filled destination.

We grabbed some pizza pieces at “L’Angelo della pizza” corner... which apparently turned out to be my fav pizza place ever.. J That was a real yum pizza.. (no wonder they don’t like if ask for sauce when you order pizaa.. and they consider it as insult… It’s just not needed anyways...)

Plan was to cover Grand Canal, st marks square (AKA Piazza San Marco) etc..

Grand Canal was too crowded… like everyone else even we took necessary snaps everywhere …Grand canal in night looks amazing!!  Finally we reached the famous Piazza San Marco… nice ambience… central landmark and gathering place for Venice.. Again looks like extremely popular site in the company of loads of tourists, photographers (budding ones like us), pigeons… St Mark’s Clock tower… good one..!!! Hey we also witnessed a very giant cruise (named MSC Magnifica) …

Target was covered and so we then decide to explore night life in venice (if any)…Tried some more pizzas…and spent some quality time at a night club!! (These night clubs were little different as you will find all people standing and enjoying drinks…looks like buffet arrangements...J…One more thing which was an update for us was at any food/drink joint rates on table and standing were different..So if you want a table you pay almost double…J)

By end of this day we realized that we are eating almost every 1.5hours…with this rate all our desire for Italian food will be definitely fulfilled in next 3days. I had parked Day2 for pastas.

Day2(Venice + Rome):

Starting a day with Gondola ride (or for that matter any boat ride) is so joyous that you end up thinking to have your own gondola one day… J

Do you think Gondola ride is little expensive? Please still try it as its worth spending 60-80 Euros.

While you relax on a sofa, the gondola rider behind you will tell you the story and anecdotes about nice, indicating the palaces that belonged to celebrities, and tips that only Venetian people know. We got to know about water traffic signs and whistle indicators while entering a canal etc…

This ride made me nostalgic about my Kerala trip…as attractive as Venice..!!!

Time to shop followed by pastas/pizzas!!! Well we looked at almost everything that could be tagged as souvenir, gift etc. Shopping of Masks was quite a fun.

It took 4hrs to reach Rome by train. Once again we chose to walk and take a feel of Rome instead of catching a taxi to Apartment…true travelers we are, isn’t it? My first feel about the place was like as if I am at an ancient place…You just can’t ignore the way Romans build their homes…!

Apartment was specious, well equipped and the most important 1 KM away from colosseum. (Credit goes to Nakul again) There was an Indian restaurant just below apartment. J

As Colosseum was just nearby, we planned to capture it in night mode!!! J Gladiator scenes got rewound as we were approaching Colosseum. It’s a stunning site to take a look at night. We kept on discussing and wondering about big holes in this so called largest and greatest works of roman architecture. Its partially ruined look was remarkable…the slanting halfway broken wall in front was revealing some details of the Amphitheatre inside while concealing brutality and many executions behind.

With all such hidden questions about this mystique place we ended the loooong Day2.

Day3(Rome):

Happy Easter!!! This day was not as hectic as we initially thought of it. Tour buses will take you to the desired location and audio guide will help you understand almost everything around on the wheels. It was a very convenient as connectivity and availability of these buses is great. Frequency is 10-15min at every stop (including Vatican) plus you can get a traveler pass for 12 hours, 24hours etc. It was an eventful Easter (my first festival) for sure!!

Colosseum:

We took a guide (named Paula…A smart roman lady in her late 30’s knowing so much about Rome) to excavate roman secrets in better way!!! She answered all the questions we raised a day before. There were gate numbers were distributed among civilians to attend any game show). Needless to say game holes in the structure as the large iron/bronze rods in the wall were stolen for making weapons.

The place was too large to accommodate around 50 to 70K people at a time. There was a systematic arrangements for entering Colosseum (like there were N numbers of gates and wooden coins marked with respective shows include animal hunts, trained gladiator fights with condemned/slaves. She also showed us how it was before destruction (like the one shown in Gladiator) and that it was constructed over a lake which belonged to Emperor named Nero. Height of all was that this place was constructed in 8 years and they started these dreadful contests and mock battles as a part of continuous celebration of around 150 Days! Roman The place was a classic example of management of burial around 1500 dead bodies and huge crowd. It’s said that slaves were given mercy at times depending on public opinion. How can this place be in the wonders of the world? This question of Paula made me rethink about the whole structure as an example of brutality but with great administration. I am still confused if it should be in the list of wonders of world...looks debatable topic!! This place was later used for religious orders etc. This place can never be considered as sacred place ever…that is for sure!!

After this heavy dose of history time for a logical and Italian food break again..!! This time we tried some special pasta types like cannelloni pasta..Vegetarians can find a wide variety for snacks and deserts in Italy. Unusual is that you will find brinjal and cucumber used in pizzas but it’s lip-smacking.

After well deserved and well “deserted” break we observed and appreciated aesthetic magnificence of various squares of  Rome namely Piazza Venezia, Piazza Novena, Pantheon, Piazza colonna, Fountain de trevi, Piazza di Spagna etc

We call it a Day3 now…!! Moving on…

Day 4(Rome + Vatican):

Bocca della Verità: It is a marble mask called Mouth of Truth (Bocca della Verità). According to popular belief it was said that one putting his hand in the mouth and saying falsely could not pull it out then. Our Rome sightseeing ended here as now we started towards another country called Vatican.

Vatican City:

During visiting of this place I was astonished all the time. The kind of history and background this place carries I believe I really under estimated it assuming we will be able to cover it in 4 hours. You do need at least a day to understand what’s happening and what had happened at this place. We took a guide tour here (recommended) who explained some basics as below before we enter this small but still vast country.

Smallest country in the world having their own transport, post, government etc…

Dome of Vatican City st. Peter’s church is not the largest as it was not allowed to build any dome larger than Pantheon. But smart move was to build it the tallest one.

Open space is in front of the church depicts arms of god himself spreading love and heavenly feel.

In this amazing construction there is only one mistake that obelisk (tower) and the church’s dome center are not in the same straight line.

Every pope has his own emblem signifying a message.

Swiss guards serving Vatican for 3 consecutive years will be paid 5 times for any job they do later. (4 parts being paid by Vatican).

Guide explained complete history of Sistine chapel, Michel Angelo and his frescos in Sistine chapel. Story of this painter turned sculptor, architect was stirring specially his smart answers given time to time and revenge taken through art was stupendous.

We didn’t get enough time to visit church..Yes the main place at Vatican City. No regrets though as there always next time and other side of Vatican was equally exciting.

We shopped fridge magnets as souvenir of the Rome and Vatican and Also Vatican stamps.

With these wonderful memories we returned back to Mechelen… It will always cherish in my reminiscence.