GIRL IN ITALY
What if a shooting star twinkles the brightest at 11:11 over the Dandelion field ?!
The delicate hand gets the Schengen Visa to fly to Italy.
Milan
Quadrilatero d'Oro: The elegance & The Savoir faire
The Last Supper (1494-1498)
The delicate hand gets the Schengen Visa to fly to Italy.
Milan
Quadrilatero d'Oro: The elegance & The Savoir faire
Ah, Italy's stock exchange finds its home. This industrial powerhouse gives wings to fashion and design to fly high. A fanciful metropolis, where CHIC FASHION STORE & BRANDS soar the highest. It's an unparalleled shopping destination for gorgeous fashionistas. Hey! No need to take that grain of salt. Milan is definitely that one place that reminds all the fellas out there; 'My fair Lady, Earn hard, Shop hard, pay the bills. These poor men are just there to waste your time'.
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| Quadrilatero d'Oro |
The shell of Art & History
Duomo di Milano
Where, the sparkling nightlife and trendiest fashion world rules the core , the shell is wrapped with rich Art & History. The grand Gothic Cathedral of Duomo stands on the geographical heart of this city. This fourth largest cathedral in the world is dedicated to Saint Mary Nascent and consumed almost six centuries to be finished. The unique Gothic styled decoration left a French impression more than the Italian one. This stunning, snow white piece of architecture spreads the love of beauty and power, that hypnotizes the one-time Roman Imperial Capital every moment.
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| Duomo di Milano |
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| The Toddler Friend, The Avian Friends |
The Last Supper (1494-1498)
One of the most famous mural in Milan is 'The Last Supper' by Leonardo da Vinci. This mural is hidden away on the wall of the refectory adjoining Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie. This mural depicting world's one of the most historically powerful images, where Christ is revealing, he is aware of his betrayal to his pupils; "Truly I tell you. One of you will betray me." To create this great wall painting the artist wanted to experiment with an innovative 'dry' technique, similar to that used for painting on panels. This method enabled Leonardo to meditate at length on the execution of the work of art and offered him the possibility of making all the changes he wanted. But unfortunately, this method made the painting extremely fragile. The extensive damage was caused by the restorers in nineteenth century. The use of alcohol and cotton wool entirely eliminated a layer. But hardly it could affect the astonishing beauty of Leonardo's creation. English guided tours take place at 9.30 am to 3.30 pm from Tuesday to Sunday. Don't forget to book the ticket in advance or sign up for guided city tour.
Teatro alla Scala
Though I didn't plan to pay a visit but suddenly stumbled upon this. And guess what! It was indeed a wise decision to stop by, as I'm kind of opera and theatre aficionado. It's a theatrical museum and is focussed on history of opera and opera house. While being there, I seriously felt, I should have gone through a little homework on Opera. So much history there. You can find a collection of few rooms crammed with musical instruments, photographs of renowned singers, composers and conductors. Display of personal artifacts, costumes throughout the rooms will tell you a thousand tales of all the legendary opera singers, dancers, actors and composers that have graced the one and only La'Scala stage. That lovely little museum charmed with pleasant European summer air reminded me of the movie 'Pretty Woman". The Biblioteca Livia Simoni, the library of the museum is on second floor and prestigiously possesses about 15 million of works related to theatre history, opera, ballet, correspondence of musicians, actors , dancers and books as well.
Other sights I had to skip due to my busy schedule
Venice: La' Terra di Gondole
After a couple of hours, we started from Central Milano Station, the seductive waterway signaled the arrival of the magician.
Breaking my expectation, the little rain drops and foggy cloudland offered warm welcome . No, there was no sunshine. The gaze was constantly fixed at the city canal, lined up by cafeteria with tourists going and coming and having their drinks, ships and gondolas cutting through the gentle waves, alley streets with shops and hotels on the both sides. This city I guess, was born from love. The darling man in front of the cathedral playing and singing Simon and Garfunkel in Italian and smiling at you can win your heart in no time.
The Mark's Square: The city feels its heartbeats here
This magician city is full of narrow crowded streets turning left and right and left and right, and then sometime opening up to a bridge or to a large square. 'YOU WILL GET LOST EASILY'. At least once or at most 20+ times. We decided to stay in a hotel nearby St. Lucia railway station and we dumb girls took almost three hours to locate the exact position of Mark's Square, hardly 1.5 Km away from the station. Now, you must be thinking "Dumb girls eh!! We'll have international data plan, Google map would save us". Let me tell you then; "You are a bigger dumb, even Google map can't track the narrow streets properly every time. You dumb people get ready to have all sorts of lost inevitably."
So my suggestion is; try to keep a sharp sense of which direction you moved previously and need to move next. Moreover, almost everywhere you will have arrow-pointed sign direction. They work far better than Google Map, trust me. But, anyway it is not so bad to get lost. May be you would find a little book store hidden back in furthest corner of the alley. Or you may hit the artsy looking small souvenir shop with huge collection of charm bracelets and opera masks just for you. But whether you are planning to book your Gondola ride next day or cruise trip to those colorful islands next to next day, you have to arrive at this jovial centre of the city.
Gondola Ride: The avventure Bellissimo
I have been dreaming to visit Venice since I was too young to even guess the exact position of Europe in world atlas. A gondola ride is the most enchanting experience one can have in Venice. Gondola is built with unique techniques, where each and every part carries a definite symbol, considered one of the most elegant and beautiful boats on this earth. I would suggest to go for early morning or after dusk departure, when you can enjoy the charm, the beauty, the lights, the colors, the breeze and the fleeting love in air through your nerve and vein. The slowly crawling gondola through the city canal, the melodious Gondolier rowing through splashing waves, the bridges moving over your head and old age brick walls densely covered with fungus moss passing by your boat; the entire universe smiled at me saying; 'There you are and there is your dream'. It was a state of ecstasy, where you truly get detached from this realistic plane and aimlessly wander in some other plane.
Murano, Burano & Torcello: The Color Splash
Ditch the most popular escorted tours for four and half hours to these picturesque colorful islands.
It would be a total waste of both your money and your wanderlust. These islands are way too beautiful to be covered only in four-five hours. If it is not too much heavy on your pocket, book a private boat, buy a decent guide book and explore on your own. These three little islands surrounded by Venetian lagoon are famous for handicrafts, architecture, vast greenery and colorful fishermen's huts. There can be no better treat to your eyes. The motorboats depart from the royal gardens. You have to row past the islands of San Giorgio Maggiore, San Servolo and Sant' Elena gardens. First, stop by Murano. Explore the island on foot and visit the glass factory to watch and learn how a highly skilled glass blower creates his stunning work of art. Then go and have a look at glassware factory and shops. I would highly recommend to spend your money here. They have amazing collection of glassworks.
Your next stop would be my most favorite Burano island. The first thought that slipped into my mind; "Oooooo-eeeemmm-gggeee; is there any color they missed to splash over this island?" The answer I got was "Eeeennnn-Oooooo-NO". The colorful houses and their reflections in green water of the channel, the leaning bell tower, elderly Italian beautiful ladies embroidering lace, giggling and chatting in squares by the roadside lace shops, balconies with hanging flowerpots, little kids running and bicycling here and there randomly and the busy fishermen throwing the nets over the channel and putting up fresh fishes- that's Burano. Once again I'm telling, keep enough time in your hand.
Opt the roadside restaurant and cafeteria to eat local fish delicacy 'risotto de go' and some sweet wine. I went there in early July, the sun was quite strong overhead and it was humid. A Gelato from local ice cream shop did beat the heat amazingly.
The main attraction of this grassy and fairly peaceful island is the spectacular Byzantine Mosaics in the cathedral on Santa Maria' Dell Assunta in Torcello. The most impressive one is the depiction of 'Last Judgement' on the west wall. Across the cathedral there is a small museum housing medieval artifacts and few archaeological findings from Roman period.
While rollicking though the island, almost all tourists struck by the stone bridge with the weird name 'Devil's Bridge'. Let me tell you an interesting story behind the name.
An Italian girl fell in love with an Austrian soldier. But he was killed by her family for the unpatriotic relationship. With heavy grief she took favor from witch and a devil brought the Austrian soldier back in his life. The lover birds united again over the bridge. But in return, the witch promised the devil that for next seven years she would bring back the devil over the bridge on every Christmas Eve. Soon the witch died in fire but the devil still comes to the bridge every year.
Locanda Cipriani is a unique place to sit and eat lunch in this beautiful island. Ristorante Villa (closed on Wednesdays) and Ristorante al Trono (closed on Mondays, except summer days) also serve lunch and dinner.
Splendida Venezia in Night
In India we weird Indians with weird gastronomy rush to multi-cuisine restaurants and ask "Do you have some nice pizza or pasta to offer?!" and over there in Italy, we comb through every streets and squares to discover one and only one decent Indian restaurant and ask "Do you have some chicken biryani or Naan or butter chicken masala to offer?!" I know it's odd but this is how Indian stomach works. After our frantic search we found an amazing Indian restaurant 'Ganesh Ji'. Its canal side location has created outstandingly romantic ambience. The spicy scented vapor from the bowl of chicken coddled through the nostrils and greatly appeased the stomach. 'Ah! That's Home.'
Being pampered by the sumptuous Indian dinner, I decided to go on a short walk along the canal. The entire Venice was about to soak in a dreamy sleep. Few tourists scattered here and there, shutters rattling down of closing cafeteria and shops , a lonely puppy running over the bridge, little clouds creeping along drowsily with the waning moon mounting the dark, the water splashing on the bank and running back, a sweet mellow fleeting from wind chimes hanging somewhere showered down a total bliss. Sometime a Hush-Shush darkness can intensify the beauty more than a bright sunshine and again can make you believe in fairy, angel, dragon,wind-chime and shooting stars.
I'm a proud flag bearer of hotsy-totsy single hood. No one would restrict you to have n number of admirers and (n+1) number of crushes. Even happily hitched people secretly envy me for this asset. But then it was a moment, when entire Venezia with all its canal, gondolas, soothing darkness, air and love and charm signaled me;" Think once again, how long you should cherish this asset of your hot and happening single hood."
Me: "Okay, next time, I promise."
Florece, Tuscany & Pisa
If Venezia is the seductive queen then Florence is the king of Italy. Specially in summer days it turns into a spectacular amusement park. No, No, I'm not exaggerating even a little. There are so many tourists are there that it becomes difficult to walk down the street specially in the old part of the city.
Now, you my dearest readers don't need me much to tell you about the most famous sites in Florence. There are plenty of heritage in this cultural city. I had only a couple of days in Florence. So I couldn't cover up the entire city but some how managed only the well knowns.
Grande Museo del Duomo Museum
It houses hundreds of artifacts and its intuitive design would really offer you a very pleasant visit. I highly, highly recommend a visit to the original 'gates of paradise doors'. The visitors can also have a better view of all the important spots via private tours operated by the museum itself. Please try the tours to the Duomo terraces (1 hour visit) and restoration workshops (30 Euro per person).
Galleria de Uffizi
The Uffizi holds world's most important collection of Renaissance art. Specially the painting of 'Birth of Venus' would definitely take your breathe away. Though most of the gallery is occupied by Renaissance art, but by the end of the gallery you would find some amazing portraits by Dutch artists. Try to buy tickets ahead to avoid long queue. It remains closed on Mondays and ticket price ranges between 8-13 Euro.
Climb Duomo
This gothic construction project is one of the most popular churches in Italy and draws tourist's attraction due to its massive structure and ornate styling. However, the most interesting highlight is to climb to the terrace, 463 steps to the top. You will get the most panoramic view of the entire city with iconic red roofs arranged in rows covering the buildings. The entry fee is 15 Euro.
The Bird Eye view: Walk along Ponte Vecchio & head to Piazzele Micheal Angelo
This old and only surviving bridge was built in the year of 1345 across Arno river. Walk over this bridge and take photographs of picturesque views of Florence city. This bridge is lined with shops selling gold and silver jewelry. Bargain your best.
Another great place to have a bird eye view is to climb Piazelle Micheal Angelo. Its a nice hike up a hill and you will have a stunning view of this city without paying to climb the steps of Duomo.
Tuscany: The Postcard Perfect Landscape
If you have enough time in hand, I would highly recommend to stop by Tuscany on the way to Pisa. I was cursed with a hectic travel plan so couldn't stay a day or two in this historical province. But I would pray to God, so my beloved readers can get rid of this curse. Tuscany won my heart over its postcard perfect landscape. I would say, no land on this earth is more blessed up with fruits of its fertile earth than Tuscany. Silver olive groves, golden wheat fields, pea-green vineyards, yellow sunflower fields marching down the rows on the hillsides and gracefully silent medieval hilltop villages would spread an irresistible urge to explore this postcard landscape. Get out, hike, bike, 'Tring-Tring'; ring your bicycle's bell.
The Leaning Pisa Tower
Apart from this leaning tower, defying gravity year after year, there is very little to see in Pisa. However, you can think to spend a day over here, eating, drinking espresso, watching the street performers and painters, shopping and wandering the streets to experience the Italian way of Life. Undoubtably the main sight of this city is the leaning tower with its peculiar and impressive structure. For 18 Euro you can climb up the top to get best view.
Pisa is not just about the tower, but the substantial and stunning Piazza del Duomo and the attractive circular building of the Baptistry (where, Galileo Gelilei was baptized) are other major highlights.
Lying on green velvet grass behind the Duomo to take a short afternoon nap or reading some good books or clicking a perfectly perfect selfie with the leaning tower behind you would be an amazing experience, whether you are a local or a visitor.
Roman Holiday: In Rome do as the Romans do
During summer, joining walks to explore roman food and pizza Margherita is the best way to discover a city, if you ask me. This tour through mid-day would take you to different parts of this historical city. Try to manage an hour or two to go to a market, a local bakery or a traditional pizzeria, where you can get delicious masterpiece to treat yourself. Of course, end it with Italian traditional coffee break and Geleto.
The Colosseum
The Roman colosseum- 'The flesh and blood decided the fate, where gladiators fought to death'. No visit to Rome would meet its completion without visiting the Colosseum. But it would be totally unfair if you settle for an average experience to reveal the glory of ancient Rome. Opt for 'Skip-the-Line' tour outside the colosseum for priority entrance ticket. The tour starts just in front of the colosseum, where your guide would meet you. I would must say, Roman travel and tourist industries are amazingly blessed with highly professional, brilliant Roman history enthusiast travel guides. They would try their best, sharing their knowledge and knowings on Roman history to enlighten you. You can explore the amphitheater's first and second level with guide with having goosebumps while listening to the tales of gruesome gladiator's battles. While strolling around the perimeter of the amphitheater, try to visualize the frame of ancient crowd of spectators cheered as gladiator's fates were decided by the power hungry emperors.
Roman Forum: The ancient political heart
Exit the colosseum and walk over to the Roman forum, the political heart of ancient Rome. Get close-up view of house of vestal Virgins and temple of Julius Ceasar. Climb up the Palentine hill and enjoy the view of the ruins of the imperial palaces, beautiful garden areas and fragments of ancient villas.
Visit the Pantheon
An absolutely 'Not-To-Miss' spot is the Pantheon. It is the only ancient Roman temple to survive ages after ages virtually intact. One would get awestruck by the architecture. Calm down, sit for few minutes in piazza and then head inside.
Toss the coin in Trevi Fountain
Please don't bid goodbye to this ancient city of love without following the old age tradition of tossing few coins in the Trevi fountain. Don't worry, you have ensured that you would return back once again in this beautiful eternal city.
A day in the Vatican
Surprisingly, even the fast track queue with 'Skip-the-Line' facility is quite long in Vatican. So keep enough time in your hand to reach the destination on time. Otherwise you may miss your assigned audio guided slot of Vatican tour (as I missed my scheduled slot at 12 p.m and had to request to reschedule my slot at 2.30 p.m, may God bless the kind lady at counter 5). Early morning would be more sensible time to visit, I guess. If you reach there at 8'o clock in the morning, you would see a long queue. But don't get alarmed. The queue keeps on moving quite rapidly, controlled by the efficient voulanteer team with brilliant management skill. Once you get inside, you would be able to glide through a lot easier.
Well, it's quite difficult to pen it down right here to describe how stunning this place is. A place, people visit with the hope of getting a glimpse of the Pope, a country within another country, guarded by the sharp eyes of swiss security guards dressed in oddest attires. You must be aware of the fact that Vatican is world renowned for its art, culture and cathedrals, but I think more so for constantly flowing massive crowd, whatever the season may be. However, from late November to early December and from mid January to February it remains quieter.
The museum is enriched with most possible elegant works of creation that may happen on this earth; be it sculptures or tapestry, ceramics or mummies, everything is there. I always heard that Vatican is incredibly huge but I was so lost in the artworks, that most of the time I got utterly confused following the signs indicating where to head next. Not to mention, the interior is just so so spectacular, extremely detailed with plenty of gold plated structures.
After you finish the museum you can take up the direct short cut passage into Sistine Chapel. It is most famous for Michealangelo's frescos. One side told the story of Moses, the other side of Christ. Scenes after scenes, Old Testament's most powerful stories are uncovered. At the center of the vast work in ceiling is the best known images in the western art, God's hand reaching out to touch Adam into life. Wisely said by John Paul II during the mass: ' The Sistine Chapel is really the temple of the Human body's divinity.'
'Atenzione, no photographs, please be silent'. Both taking photographs and speaking is forbidden inside Sistine Chapel. But you can see many of your fellow travelers doing both. The crowd is too huge to be controlled properly. But you don't do please, respect rules. After all you are in Rome, so do as the Romans do.
I have visited many cathedrals, churches, basilicas before. But nothing comes really close to St. Peter's Basilica. You have to see it to believe it. The sculpture, ceiling, mosaic floors, prayer halls, bold pillars, decorations everything is just marvelous. 'Dress Properly'. It's compulsory for ladies to cover their shoulder and knees, so avoid wearing too short, halter-neck or bareback dresses. If you are wearing a sleeveless dress, wrap a scarf around your shoulder, it would do fine. For men, long trouser is a must.
At the end of my Vatican Tour, the strongest feeling that knocked my brain 'So much to see, so little time !!!'.
Cash is king in Rome:
Cards are accepted in Vatican. But limiting number of machines may catch you into trouble, so be prepared. Not only Vatican, cards are used (specially Visa) all over the Europe, but it's most common to use cash for smaller items. Some museums and market sellers only accept notes. So it would be easier for you if you carry few Euro with you.
Warm Welcome from Roman Pickpockets
Beware, here and there and everywhere they are ready with open arms to delight you. Beside the ancient civilization and rich history, these pickpockets have made Rome quite famous in world atlas. It would be wise not to carry original passport, important documents, other valuables and too much cash with you during city tour. I would suggest to keep photocopies of your passport and minimum cash as required.
Addio Italia
When I was heading towards the Leonardo da Vinci international airport, the sun was passing over the Colosseum to sink behind the horizon. The groaning horses, the clicking swords, the fighting gladiators, cheerful shouting of spectators deciding the fate, wrapped up with golden dusk hue reminded me
'You have tossed your coin in the fountain, Ritorno Presto.'
Thanks for stopping by, please share your feeling before leaving.
Teatro alla Scala
Though I didn't plan to pay a visit but suddenly stumbled upon this. And guess what! It was indeed a wise decision to stop by, as I'm kind of opera and theatre aficionado. It's a theatrical museum and is focussed on history of opera and opera house. While being there, I seriously felt, I should have gone through a little homework on Opera. So much history there. You can find a collection of few rooms crammed with musical instruments, photographs of renowned singers, composers and conductors. Display of personal artifacts, costumes throughout the rooms will tell you a thousand tales of all the legendary opera singers, dancers, actors and composers that have graced the one and only La'Scala stage. That lovely little museum charmed with pleasant European summer air reminded me of the movie 'Pretty Woman". The Biblioteca Livia Simoni, the library of the museum is on second floor and prestigiously possesses about 15 million of works related to theatre history, opera, ballet, correspondence of musicians, actors , dancers and books as well.
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| Tetro Alla Scala |
Other sights I had to skip due to my busy schedule
- Trienalle di Milano, a museum promoting interest in Italian design and applied arts.
- Go and grab few shots of coffee at Biffi or Bar Magenta
- The stunning red brick Castello Sforzesco, overlooking a beautiful fountain in the frontier. This castle was owned by the powerful Sforzesco dynasty in the Milan Reneissance period.
- Pinacoteca de Brera, an art gallery & museum having wonderful collection from old experts.
Venice: La' Terra di Gondole
After a couple of hours, we started from Central Milano Station, the seductive waterway signaled the arrival of the magician.
"So, My Mavourneen, I got you. You made me chase you since I was a teen. You are that one dream I never wanted to wake from. Finally you are mine"
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| Fantasia |
The Mark's Square: The city feels its heartbeats here
This magician city is full of narrow crowded streets turning left and right and left and right, and then sometime opening up to a bridge or to a large square. 'YOU WILL GET LOST EASILY'. At least once or at most 20+ times. We decided to stay in a hotel nearby St. Lucia railway station and we dumb girls took almost three hours to locate the exact position of Mark's Square, hardly 1.5 Km away from the station. Now, you must be thinking "Dumb girls eh!! We'll have international data plan, Google map would save us". Let me tell you then; "You are a bigger dumb, even Google map can't track the narrow streets properly every time. You dumb people get ready to have all sorts of lost inevitably."
So my suggestion is; try to keep a sharp sense of which direction you moved previously and need to move next. Moreover, almost everywhere you will have arrow-pointed sign direction. They work far better than Google Map, trust me. But, anyway it is not so bad to get lost. May be you would find a little book store hidden back in furthest corner of the alley. Or you may hit the artsy looking small souvenir shop with huge collection of charm bracelets and opera masks just for you. But whether you are planning to book your Gondola ride next day or cruise trip to those colorful islands next to next day, you have to arrive at this jovial centre of the city.
Gondola Ride: The avventure Bellissimo
I have been dreaming to visit Venice since I was too young to even guess the exact position of Europe in world atlas. A gondola ride is the most enchanting experience one can have in Venice. Gondola is built with unique techniques, where each and every part carries a definite symbol, considered one of the most elegant and beautiful boats on this earth. I would suggest to go for early morning or after dusk departure, when you can enjoy the charm, the beauty, the lights, the colors, the breeze and the fleeting love in air through your nerve and vein. The slowly crawling gondola through the city canal, the melodious Gondolier rowing through splashing waves, the bridges moving over your head and old age brick walls densely covered with fungus moss passing by your boat; the entire universe smiled at me saying; 'There you are and there is your dream'. It was a state of ecstasy, where you truly get detached from this realistic plane and aimlessly wander in some other plane.
Murano, Burano & Torcello: The Color Splash
Ditch the most popular escorted tours for four and half hours to these picturesque colorful islands.
It would be a total waste of both your money and your wanderlust. These islands are way too beautiful to be covered only in four-five hours. If it is not too much heavy on your pocket, book a private boat, buy a decent guide book and explore on your own. These three little islands surrounded by Venetian lagoon are famous for handicrafts, architecture, vast greenery and colorful fishermen's huts. There can be no better treat to your eyes. The motorboats depart from the royal gardens. You have to row past the islands of San Giorgio Maggiore, San Servolo and Sant' Elena gardens. First, stop by Murano. Explore the island on foot and visit the glass factory to watch and learn how a highly skilled glass blower creates his stunning work of art. Then go and have a look at glassware factory and shops. I would highly recommend to spend your money here. They have amazing collection of glassworks.
Your next stop would be my most favorite Burano island. The first thought that slipped into my mind; "Oooooo-eeeemmm-gggeee; is there any color they missed to splash over this island?" The answer I got was "Eeeennnn-Oooooo-NO". The colorful houses and their reflections in green water of the channel, the leaning bell tower, elderly Italian beautiful ladies embroidering lace, giggling and chatting in squares by the roadside lace shops, balconies with hanging flowerpots, little kids running and bicycling here and there randomly and the busy fishermen throwing the nets over the channel and putting up fresh fishes- that's Burano. Once again I'm telling, keep enough time in your hand.
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| Burano Island |
Opt the roadside restaurant and cafeteria to eat local fish delicacy 'risotto de go' and some sweet wine. I went there in early July, the sun was quite strong overhead and it was humid. A Gelato from local ice cream shop did beat the heat amazingly.
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| Stopped for the Gelato |
The main attraction of this grassy and fairly peaceful island is the spectacular Byzantine Mosaics in the cathedral on Santa Maria' Dell Assunta in Torcello. The most impressive one is the depiction of 'Last Judgement' on the west wall. Across the cathedral there is a small museum housing medieval artifacts and few archaeological findings from Roman period.
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| Torcello Island |
While rollicking though the island, almost all tourists struck by the stone bridge with the weird name 'Devil's Bridge'. Let me tell you an interesting story behind the name.
An Italian girl fell in love with an Austrian soldier. But he was killed by her family for the unpatriotic relationship. With heavy grief she took favor from witch and a devil brought the Austrian soldier back in his life. The lover birds united again over the bridge. But in return, the witch promised the devil that for next seven years she would bring back the devil over the bridge on every Christmas Eve. Soon the witch died in fire but the devil still comes to the bridge every year.
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| Can you see any Italian girl waiting over Devil's bridge for her Austrian Love ? |
Locanda Cipriani is a unique place to sit and eat lunch in this beautiful island. Ristorante Villa (closed on Wednesdays) and Ristorante al Trono (closed on Mondays, except summer days) also serve lunch and dinner.
Splendida Venezia in Night
Being pampered by the sumptuous Indian dinner, I decided to go on a short walk along the canal. The entire Venice was about to soak in a dreamy sleep. Few tourists scattered here and there, shutters rattling down of closing cafeteria and shops , a lonely puppy running over the bridge, little clouds creeping along drowsily with the waning moon mounting the dark, the water splashing on the bank and running back, a sweet mellow fleeting from wind chimes hanging somewhere showered down a total bliss. Sometime a Hush-Shush darkness can intensify the beauty more than a bright sunshine and again can make you believe in fairy, angel, dragon,wind-chime and shooting stars.
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| Venice soaked in darkness |
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| Next Time, I promise |
I'm a proud flag bearer of hotsy-totsy single hood. No one would restrict you to have n number of admirers and (n+1) number of crushes. Even happily hitched people secretly envy me for this asset. But then it was a moment, when entire Venezia with all its canal, gondolas, soothing darkness, air and love and charm signaled me;" Think once again, how long you should cherish this asset of your hot and happening single hood."
Me: "Okay, next time, I promise."
Florece, Tuscany & Pisa
If Venezia is the seductive queen then Florence is the king of Italy. Specially in summer days it turns into a spectacular amusement park. No, No, I'm not exaggerating even a little. There are so many tourists are there that it becomes difficult to walk down the street specially in the old part of the city.
Now, you my dearest readers don't need me much to tell you about the most famous sites in Florence. There are plenty of heritage in this cultural city. I had only a couple of days in Florence. So I couldn't cover up the entire city but some how managed only the well knowns.
Grande Museo del Duomo Museum
It houses hundreds of artifacts and its intuitive design would really offer you a very pleasant visit. I highly, highly recommend a visit to the original 'gates of paradise doors'. The visitors can also have a better view of all the important spots via private tours operated by the museum itself. Please try the tours to the Duomo terraces (1 hour visit) and restoration workshops (30 Euro per person).
Galleria de Uffizi
The Uffizi holds world's most important collection of Renaissance art. Specially the painting of 'Birth of Venus' would definitely take your breathe away. Though most of the gallery is occupied by Renaissance art, but by the end of the gallery you would find some amazing portraits by Dutch artists. Try to buy tickets ahead to avoid long queue. It remains closed on Mondays and ticket price ranges between 8-13 Euro.
Climb Duomo
This gothic construction project is one of the most popular churches in Italy and draws tourist's attraction due to its massive structure and ornate styling. However, the most interesting highlight is to climb to the terrace, 463 steps to the top. You will get the most panoramic view of the entire city with iconic red roofs arranged in rows covering the buildings. The entry fee is 15 Euro.
The Bird Eye view: Walk along Ponte Vecchio & head to Piazzele Micheal Angelo
This old and only surviving bridge was built in the year of 1345 across Arno river. Walk over this bridge and take photographs of picturesque views of Florence city. This bridge is lined with shops selling gold and silver jewelry. Bargain your best.
Another great place to have a bird eye view is to climb Piazelle Micheal Angelo. Its a nice hike up a hill and you will have a stunning view of this city without paying to climb the steps of Duomo.
Tuscany: The Postcard Perfect Landscape
If you have enough time in hand, I would highly recommend to stop by Tuscany on the way to Pisa. I was cursed with a hectic travel plan so couldn't stay a day or two in this historical province. But I would pray to God, so my beloved readers can get rid of this curse. Tuscany won my heart over its postcard perfect landscape. I would say, no land on this earth is more blessed up with fruits of its fertile earth than Tuscany. Silver olive groves, golden wheat fields, pea-green vineyards, yellow sunflower fields marching down the rows on the hillsides and gracefully silent medieval hilltop villages would spread an irresistible urge to explore this postcard landscape. Get out, hike, bike, 'Tring-Tring'; ring your bicycle's bell.
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| Tuscany Province |
The Leaning Pisa Tower
Apart from this leaning tower, defying gravity year after year, there is very little to see in Pisa. However, you can think to spend a day over here, eating, drinking espresso, watching the street performers and painters, shopping and wandering the streets to experience the Italian way of Life. Undoubtably the main sight of this city is the leaning tower with its peculiar and impressive structure. For 18 Euro you can climb up the top to get best view.
Pisa is not just about the tower, but the substantial and stunning Piazza del Duomo and the attractive circular building of the Baptistry (where, Galileo Gelilei was baptized) are other major highlights.
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| The Pisa Tower |
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| Piazza del Duomo |
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| The Baptistry |
Lying on green velvet grass behind the Duomo to take a short afternoon nap or reading some good books or clicking a perfectly perfect selfie with the leaning tower behind you would be an amazing experience, whether you are a local or a visitor.
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| Leisure Time, Selfie Time |
Roman Holiday: In Rome do as the Romans do
During summer, joining walks to explore roman food and pizza Margherita is the best way to discover a city, if you ask me. This tour through mid-day would take you to different parts of this historical city. Try to manage an hour or two to go to a market, a local bakery or a traditional pizzeria, where you can get delicious masterpiece to treat yourself. Of course, end it with Italian traditional coffee break and Geleto.
The Colosseum
The Roman colosseum- 'The flesh and blood decided the fate, where gladiators fought to death'. No visit to Rome would meet its completion without visiting the Colosseum. But it would be totally unfair if you settle for an average experience to reveal the glory of ancient Rome. Opt for 'Skip-the-Line' tour outside the colosseum for priority entrance ticket. The tour starts just in front of the colosseum, where your guide would meet you. I would must say, Roman travel and tourist industries are amazingly blessed with highly professional, brilliant Roman history enthusiast travel guides. They would try their best, sharing their knowledge and knowings on Roman history to enlighten you. You can explore the amphitheater's first and second level with guide with having goosebumps while listening to the tales of gruesome gladiator's battles. While strolling around the perimeter of the amphitheater, try to visualize the frame of ancient crowd of spectators cheered as gladiator's fates were decided by the power hungry emperors.
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| The Colosseum |
Roman Forum: The ancient political heart
Exit the colosseum and walk over to the Roman forum, the political heart of ancient Rome. Get close-up view of house of vestal Virgins and temple of Julius Ceasar. Climb up the Palentine hill and enjoy the view of the ruins of the imperial palaces, beautiful garden areas and fragments of ancient villas.
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| Roman Forum |
Visit the Pantheon
An absolutely 'Not-To-Miss' spot is the Pantheon. It is the only ancient Roman temple to survive ages after ages virtually intact. One would get awestruck by the architecture. Calm down, sit for few minutes in piazza and then head inside.
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| The Pantheon |
Toss the coin in Trevi Fountain
Please don't bid goodbye to this ancient city of love without following the old age tradition of tossing few coins in the Trevi fountain. Don't worry, you have ensured that you would return back once again in this beautiful eternal city.
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| Will come back soon |
A day in the Vatican
Surprisingly, even the fast track queue with 'Skip-the-Line' facility is quite long in Vatican. So keep enough time in your hand to reach the destination on time. Otherwise you may miss your assigned audio guided slot of Vatican tour (as I missed my scheduled slot at 12 p.m and had to request to reschedule my slot at 2.30 p.m, may God bless the kind lady at counter 5). Early morning would be more sensible time to visit, I guess. If you reach there at 8'o clock in the morning, you would see a long queue. But don't get alarmed. The queue keeps on moving quite rapidly, controlled by the efficient voulanteer team with brilliant management skill. Once you get inside, you would be able to glide through a lot easier.
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| Ticket to Vatican Opening days & time: Mon-Sat (9.00 am to 6.00 pm) Free entry on every last Sunday of Month (should not coincide with Easter Sunday, Christmas day and St. Stephen's December feast) |
Well, it's quite difficult to pen it down right here to describe how stunning this place is. A place, people visit with the hope of getting a glimpse of the Pope, a country within another country, guarded by the sharp eyes of swiss security guards dressed in oddest attires. You must be aware of the fact that Vatican is world renowned for its art, culture and cathedrals, but I think more so for constantly flowing massive crowd, whatever the season may be. However, from late November to early December and from mid January to February it remains quieter.
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| The straight faced Swiss Guard in Renaissance attire |
The museum is enriched with most possible elegant works of creation that may happen on this earth; be it sculptures or tapestry, ceramics or mummies, everything is there. I always heard that Vatican is incredibly huge but I was so lost in the artworks, that most of the time I got utterly confused following the signs indicating where to head next. Not to mention, the interior is just so so spectacular, extremely detailed with plenty of gold plated structures.
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| God of Wine |
After you finish the museum you can take up the direct short cut passage into Sistine Chapel. It is most famous for Michealangelo's frescos. One side told the story of Moses, the other side of Christ. Scenes after scenes, Old Testament's most powerful stories are uncovered. At the center of the vast work in ceiling is the best known images in the western art, God's hand reaching out to touch Adam into life. Wisely said by John Paul II during the mass: ' The Sistine Chapel is really the temple of the Human body's divinity.'
'Atenzione, no photographs, please be silent'. Both taking photographs and speaking is forbidden inside Sistine Chapel. But you can see many of your fellow travelers doing both. The crowd is too huge to be controlled properly. But you don't do please, respect rules. After all you are in Rome, so do as the Romans do.
I have visited many cathedrals, churches, basilicas before. But nothing comes really close to St. Peter's Basilica. You have to see it to believe it. The sculpture, ceiling, mosaic floors, prayer halls, bold pillars, decorations everything is just marvelous. 'Dress Properly'. It's compulsory for ladies to cover their shoulder and knees, so avoid wearing too short, halter-neck or bareback dresses. If you are wearing a sleeveless dress, wrap a scarf around your shoulder, it would do fine. For men, long trouser is a must.
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| St. Peter's Basilica |
At the end of my Vatican Tour, the strongest feeling that knocked my brain 'So much to see, so little time !!!'.
Cash is king in Rome:
Cards are accepted in Vatican. But limiting number of machines may catch you into trouble, so be prepared. Not only Vatican, cards are used (specially Visa) all over the Europe, but it's most common to use cash for smaller items. Some museums and market sellers only accept notes. So it would be easier for you if you carry few Euro with you.
Warm Welcome from Roman Pickpockets
Beware, here and there and everywhere they are ready with open arms to delight you. Beside the ancient civilization and rich history, these pickpockets have made Rome quite famous in world atlas. It would be wise not to carry original passport, important documents, other valuables and too much cash with you during city tour. I would suggest to keep photocopies of your passport and minimum cash as required.
Addio Italia
When I was heading towards the Leonardo da Vinci international airport, the sun was passing over the Colosseum to sink behind the horizon. The groaning horses, the clicking swords, the fighting gladiators, cheerful shouting of spectators deciding the fate, wrapped up with golden dusk hue reminded me
'You have tossed your coin in the fountain, Ritorno Presto.'
Thanks for stopping by, please share your feeling before leaving.
& Miles to go before I sleep- Robert Frost
Bah ! Besh description, presentation. Ebar ager bar er theke ektu lengthy, kintu better organised , enjoyed and could visualise the places myself.
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