Italy - Venice

23rd August 2014

Day 7 of our Italy trip! We didn't book/buy the train ticket beforehand, and they ran out of tickets for the morning train that we planned to take!! D: So we had to wait till 1pm for the next one. And it was soooo expensive. So I would advise everyone to buy your tickets as soon as possible, as long as your traveling schedules have been fixed.

When we arrived, it was drizzling and and freezing! We couldn't find our apartment... and my menses came. So it was kind of a disaster. We decided to stay off island because firstly, it was too expensive on the island, and secondly, we booked pretty late so the entire island almost ran out of affordable accommodation. Peak season. :/

After resting for a while in the apartment, we headed to the island by bus! It was not a very long ride, fortunately.

Look at that. So amazing. Beautiful place! We just wandered around the area. Not too far from the train station since it was already pretty late.

We had dinner at a not-so-fantastic restaurant. Well, everything is super expensive at Venice, so maybe, if you're not on such a tight budget, you might want to just spend a few more bucks to get more decent food! That being said, expensive ≠ good.

It was lucky that we traveled in summer, and the sun set pretty late.

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24th August 2014

This was our last day in Venice. Last complete day. And it was our 17th month together!

We headed to Burano, a small island, somewhat in the north-east direction of Venice. It's not very close to Venice actually - Murano is much nearer. And going there was quite troublesome. We had to first find the right port (Fondamente Nove), which took us pretty long lol. We didn't get the day ticket for ferry rides, which would allow you to take unlimited rides around the island, so we had to walk there. Took ferry line 12, and arrived at Burano after half an hour.

BTW, that tower was really leaning, not that my photo's angle is off. 

Burano is a super pretty island with colourful houses that line the shores. Traditionally, Burano is a fishing village and families colour their houses to make them visible from afar (on the sea). I'd say it's a good place for a half-day trip, or a day trip if you start late :)

Got back to Venice in the evening. and gege treated me to nice supposedly nice dinner. But it turned out to be not really worth its price. I should refrain from ordering steak in Europe. Completely lost faith in it. Oh, and they even charged us 4€ for table charge. What???

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25th August 2014

Last day in Italy :( We had a bit of time to go Venice island again for some photos. The we had to take the bus to the airport! Pretty convenient I would say.

I think Venice is awesome, apart from the prices. The souvenirs are actually not very expensive, and really nice! Like murano glass, bracelets, scarfs, etc. Definitely have to buy them when you're there!

I really hate that Italy fast food places charge us for sauces though. Despite the already extremely pricey meals. Haha.

Italy - Florence

22nd August 2014

We took the train from Foligno to Florence (Firenze S. M. Novella). It was almost a 3-hour ride. Florence was really crowded and noisy! The streets were so busy.

We took a while to find our B&B, which was about 25 minutes from the station. Pretty far! We walked through the flea market where I saw a lot of nice bags. And we passed by an Asian restaurant and I just got really excited!! Missed Chinese food so much and I was really quite sick of pastas and pizzas.

After settling down, we had lunch somewhere near our B&B since we were both starving. As we only allocated one day to Florence (not such a huge fan of churches and cathedrals), we had to be quick! We didn't enter the museum to see the Statue of David because it was quite expensive.

Cupola del Brunelleschi, from the bottom :P Most of the pictures we see on Google are taken from high ground. 

Cupola del Brunelleschi is right in the middle of the city, so you'll definitely have no problem finding it. It has one of the largest domes in the world! We then headed to the legendary Ponte Vecchio, located at the Centro Storico. It is definitely one cool bridge. Lots of shops on the bridge, mostly selling pretty jewellery!

Later, we went to the Boboli Gardens (Giardini di Boboli). Before we went in, I had the best gelato I'd ever had. It was apple flavour, which I rarely saw anywhere else, and it was soooooo good!!! Anyway, Boboli is a nice park, but we couldn't seem to catch a break from climbing up hills in Italy... So tiring. Luckily, the views were rewarding. You could, of course, also go to the Piazzale Michelangelo to get a good view of the Florence city, but we didn't have the time for that!

We headed back to the city centre in the evening. I got some souvenirs for my friends, and bought a leather bag for myself :P My first buy in Europe. Well, it wasn't too expensive, and the guy tested the leather by placing his lighter on it... I didn't know there was a brand until recently when I googled those words... Not sure whether it's real or fake, but who cares lol.

We also had dinner at the Chinese restaurant. Yes! :D

Good day at Florence. I thought one day was quite sufficient for us, but probably not enough for most people! OK, except that I didn't have enough time at the flea market. Hahaha.

Italy - Perugia

20th August 2014

So the usual destinations for tourists in Italy are Rome, Florence, Milan, and Venice, and maybe Cinque Terre. We actually planned 2 days for Cinque Terre, but it was really expensive, and quite out of place for our travel route, so we switched to a more exotic choice - Perugia. The Perugia Province is located in the middle of Rome and Florence. It is one of the two provinces in the Umbria Region. There are a lot of famous small towns there, apart from Perugia, like Foligno, Spello, Spoleto, Terni, and Trevi. It's a super hilly region and most of these towns are built on a hill. Ironically, we didn't have the chance to see Perugia, the capital city of the Province of Perugia :P

We made Foligno our base, since the intercity train runs from Rome to Foligno, and then to Florence. Our B&B was about 20 minutes from the train station, and it was a really cozy house. Unfortunately, the hosts did not speak any English... I guess most people travelling in the region are locals. I really loved the room, and there was also a nice balcony with cute potted plants.

The B&B did not have wi-fi though, which was a big problem for my dear mister. Haha. Behind our house, there was a small river.

Everything was really peaceful. Surreal. Perfect.

We stayed in Foligno for the rest of the day. At the heart of the town, there was a small area where we found some branded shops and a lot of cafes. We had kebab for dinner, refreshing change from Italian stuff! The kebab was so huge and delicious that I can still remember the joy I felt :P

Yeah, look at that! Woohoo~ We came across a supermarket on the way back, and we bought food again!! Hahaha. Huge peaches, bananas, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, ham, sausage, yoghurt... LOL. It was awful not having enough vegetables in our meals.

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21st August 2014

We began our arduous journey to Spello. It was actually only 5 minutes from Foligno, but somehow, we took hours to get there!

We missed the 10am train to Spello, and the next one was in 1 hour, so we went to Trevi first, which we saw on the train to Foligno the previous day. The main town sits on a hill, a pretty steep hill.

Walking from the station to the town, we passed by so many pretty flowers in people's backyards. Super envious! I was so tempted to pluck one :P

We stayed till about noon, and headed back to the station to get to Spello. Somehow, we took the wrong train!!! Or maybe we were supposed to change a train somewhere. We ended up at a really weird and secluded place called Gualdo Tadino. Like 放眼望去, it was just mountain and a few lonely houses. And there was nobody there. Kind of creepy, but it was still really beautiful.

There, pretty flowers again. I don't really understand how flowers just thrive in Italy, but I just love them so much.

When we finally got to Spello, it was already early evening! Luckily we travelled during summer so the sun set really late. It was one hell of a climb up. The town was so lovely, lots of flowers and quaint little lanes.

And just as our legs were falling apart, we arrived at the top of the town!

Amazing right :) I had a Black Truffle Spaghetti when we came back down. I was really excited to try it because I hadn't had truffles before and it was not expensive (12€). I liked it. Simple and fragrant. The restaurant owner was so generous with the truffles!

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22nd August 2014

Time to go to Florence! I really loved these towns. The entire region has a countryside feel, and the towns are not very big. The prices are lower. There are so many pretty flowers. I think I could easily spend a week there.

It's really easy to tour Perugia. Just hop onto the train and get off at the next station, and there will be an amazing town waiting for you :)

Italy - Rome

17th August 2014

First trip in Europe!!! Lc and I left Mannheim and took a train to Stuttgart to catch our flight. We booked Germanwings, which was significantly more expensive than Ryanair, which flies from the Frankfurt Hahn airport. We made the mistake of booking our accommodation before checking the flights, due to time constraints. Well, lesson learnt the hard way.

We arrived in Rome pretty late, and we checked in to our B&B, which was perfectly located in the city centre, yet on a relatively quiet street. The building was a typical Roman architecture, with a super cool lift! We had to close the doors manually, before the elevator could move up!

We quickly left to explore the city a bit before nightfall!

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

The Pizza Rustica has quite a good selection of ready-made pizzas. Good place for a cheap and fast meal. 

Cute car with a cool plate!

Super delicious looking cakes!!! So tempting

After a good walk, we had dinner at an Italian restaurant. Of course. Lc had a really good lasagne, the best ever he claims :P It was overflowing with meat and cheese. And I had a pasta. The spaghetti used was thick and hollow, called perciatelli I believe. It was not as soft as what we usually have in Singapore. I liked it but lc prefers softer noodles.

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18th August 2014

The next day, we headed to the Palatine Hill. Our B&B host advised us to go there first, before Colosseum, so that we did not have to queue for tickets. The place was huge, and there were a lot of things to see! It was such a hot day and Rome has no clouds! We were perspiring like crazy and I got so exhausted from the walking.

Flowers on the way~ 

That's the Roman Forum on the right.

We finally finished touring after 3 hours!! So tiring. We passed by the Palazza Nuovo, which was right beside the exit of Roman Forum.

We decided to go back and have a rest, before going to the Colosseum, as the sun was really scorching. We had lunch at Pizza Rustica. Pizza, pasta, lasagne, salad. Haha. Pretty cheap and decent taste!

Colosseum was super crowded, as expected. So thanks to our host, we could go in without queuing. Smart move!

After touring Colosseum, we just walked around a bit and went back to rest. Slackers XD We had a really good dinner. Best meal ever. As I was craving for meat, we had 2 plates of meat hahaha. The one on the right is really special, veal with bacon. Super tender and delicious! Strongly recommended.

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19th August 2014

Vatican city! It's definitely not as small as what I had imagined. Haha. St. Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro) is actually quite big, and the whole place looked really grand. The queue for the church was super long, like one round around the square haha! Luckily the flow rate was quite high.

Spot the queueeee

Basilica di San Pietro

We had a good look inside the church. Did not go up to the cupola. We wanted to check out the Vatican museum, which is super huge with super a lot of displays, but the queue was freaking long, a 2-hr wait. Having no choice, we left and went to Ostia Antica. I bet not many people know this place. Lc came across it when doing research on Rome. It's an archaeological site that is pretty far from the city centre. That area used to be the harbour of ancient Rome. The entrance fee isn't very cheap, 11€. The place was huge!!! It was quite an interesting place to visit.

Oh the uncle staying above the station gave me a flower :D

There were a lot of these funny bugs with faces on their bodies! 

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20th August 2014

As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome. Literally, it doesn't really matter which road you pick, but you'll always find something at the end of it, or even along it. Rome is pretty awesome! On to Foligno!