Trip Highlights
Venice
- St. Mark's Square: Didn't care for it during the day. Way too crowded with tourists, vendors, and aggressive pigeons, but fell in love with it at night when darkness fell, stars came out, and the orchestras played. One of the nights during high tide, the water seeped through the floor and people took their shoes off and danced to the music :)
- Wandering the back streets: No cars meant no blaring horns or engines rumbling. Just things like the sound of a quartet playing Vivaldi through open windows at the local church...
- Seafood: Incredibly fresh assortment of seafood prepared simply but perfectly, especially the octopus and sardines - 2 things I don't usually find appetizing in the States but inhaled there.
- Gelato: Had gelato every freakin' day. How could I not when the flavors like tiramisu were so damn good? (also had bourbon vanilla, rum cocoa, among others)
Florence
- Piazzale Michaelangelo: Gorgeous view of the city from a hill on the edge of town. Plaza had a replica of the David that overlooked the view. We saw a guy get on one knee and propose to his gf, who got all teary-eyed, which then of course made everyone who was witnessing it well up. :)
- Granita: Little 100+ yr-old hole in the wall that specialized in fresh homemade granita, which is basically Italian slush. Made the right way - not overly sweet, and had real bits and pieces of whatever flavor it was supposed to be. Tried a bunch of flavors and all were awesome - cantaloupe, lemon w/mint (real mint leaves!), wild berries. We went multiple times :D
- Food: Fantabulous. I still dream about the swordfish carpaccio, Florentine steak w/white truffle oil, and fiochette filled with cheese and pear.
Tuscany
- Bike tour: Rode 14 miles through the Tuscan hillside and checked out a Chianti vineyard and some olive farms.
- Montepulciano: Rented a car to drive from Florence to Rome so we could stop by some Tuscan towns on the way, and Montepulciano was at the top of the list for its view and famed Brunello wine. The bad part - the main plaza and wine place was closed due to a movie being filmed. The good part - the movie was New Moon (2nd story in the Twlight series)!!! There were a bunch of extras in costume hanging around waiting for their scene to start, and the town had red flags and banners everywhere.
Rome
- Scooter: Considering the traffic was crazier than in NYC, we said WTH and rented a 125cc scooter. Best..thing...ever, even though I feared for my life every time we had to pass cars on the left side (ie. traveling on the median!). Strangely enough, cars were incredibly respectful of scooters and bikes and always gave them the right of way. So much fun. I can't describe the rush of quickly turning a corner and seeing the Colosseum suddenly pop up looming ahead. Having helmet hair was well worth it.
- St. Peter's Basilica: Positively jaw-dropping. Mine literally did when I walked in. The sheer size (see itty bitty people on left side of pic), detailing, and atmosphere was awe-inspiring. Photos don't do it justice.
There was a lot of other stuff, but I won't bore everyone with the details. Of all the countries I've been to so far, I'd easily say that Italy is the one that felt closest to home for me. Loved every part of it...
- St. Mark's Square: Didn't care for it during the day. Way too crowded with tourists, vendors, and aggressive pigeons, but fell in love with it at night when darkness fell, stars came out, and the orchestras played. One of the nights during high tide, the water seeped through the floor and people took their shoes off and danced to the music :)
- Wandering the back streets: No cars meant no blaring horns or engines rumbling. Just things like the sound of a quartet playing Vivaldi through open windows at the local church...
- Seafood: Incredibly fresh assortment of seafood prepared simply but perfectly, especially the octopus and sardines - 2 things I don't usually find appetizing in the States but inhaled there.
- Gelato: Had gelato every freakin' day. How could I not when the flavors like tiramisu were so damn good? (also had bourbon vanilla, rum cocoa, among others)
Florence
- Piazzale Michaelangelo: Gorgeous view of the city from a hill on the edge of town. Plaza had a replica of the David that overlooked the view. We saw a guy get on one knee and propose to his gf, who got all teary-eyed, which then of course made everyone who was witnessing it well up. :)
- Granita: Little 100+ yr-old hole in the wall that specialized in fresh homemade granita, which is basically Italian slush. Made the right way - not overly sweet, and had real bits and pieces of whatever flavor it was supposed to be. Tried a bunch of flavors and all were awesome - cantaloupe, lemon w/mint (real mint leaves!), wild berries. We went multiple times :D
- Food: Fantabulous. I still dream about the swordfish carpaccio, Florentine steak w/white truffle oil, and fiochette filled with cheese and pear.
Tuscany
- Bike tour: Rode 14 miles through the Tuscan hillside and checked out a Chianti vineyard and some olive farms.
- Montepulciano: Rented a car to drive from Florence to Rome so we could stop by some Tuscan towns on the way, and Montepulciano was at the top of the list for its view and famed Brunello wine. The bad part - the main plaza and wine place was closed due to a movie being filmed. The good part - the movie was New Moon (2nd story in the Twlight series)!!! There were a bunch of extras in costume hanging around waiting for their scene to start, and the town had red flags and banners everywhere.
Rome
- Scooter: Considering the traffic was crazier than in NYC, we said WTH and rented a 125cc scooter. Best..thing...ever, even though I feared for my life every time we had to pass cars on the left side (ie. traveling on the median!). Strangely enough, cars were incredibly respectful of scooters and bikes and always gave them the right of way. So much fun. I can't describe the rush of quickly turning a corner and seeing the Colosseum suddenly pop up looming ahead. Having helmet hair was well worth it.
- St. Peter's Basilica: Positively jaw-dropping. Mine literally did when I walked in. The sheer size (see itty bitty people on left side of pic), detailing, and atmosphere was awe-inspiring. Photos don't do it justice.
There was a lot of other stuff, but I won't bore everyone with the details. Of all the countries I've been to so far, I'd easily say that Italy is the one that felt closest to home for me. Loved every part of it...