Milan & Rome, Italy


Advertisement
Italy's flag
Europe » Italy » Lazio
July 29th 2012
Published: July 31st 2012
Edit Blog Post

Our first taste of Italy did not disappoint. Milan is not that well known as a tourist hub being only the fourth most popular by tourist numbers. But we thoroughly enjoyed our time spent here. Being centrally located a few stops from the center of Milan we enjoyed our trips through the Metro from our accommodation. The Metro in Milan is very well designed, very similar to the Paris metro in terms of convenience and price. Milan is best known for being the designers and shoppers paradise of the world. When I say shopper’s paradise I mean at the top end of the market where a handbag can set you back a couple of $1000.00. Milan is also well known as the place where the painting by Da Vinci The last supper is situated. Now the waiting periods to actually see the great painting located in a church is around three months unless you buy an inflated ticket from a tour company that’s five times the price and you would still need to book two weeks in advance. My advice if you really want to see it is to book way ahead. You’ll get a 15 minute period to visit.

Having settled in well we decided to visit Verona by train. At 12 euro up and back it’s well worth the price. Verona is the town that Shakespeare drew his inspiration for Romeo and Juliet. You can also see Juliet’s balcony. It’s a beautiful city with great and grand buildings, but what sets this pace apart is the overall feeling of relaxation. It’s quite different from Milan where it can be very busy. Verona is very laid back and my type of city. We had a fantastic dinner here with my favorite being the caprese salad. Awesome! From the millions of delicious flavors of Gelati to some of the best pizzas you will ever taste in your life, well we knew we would fall in love with Italy. Pasta was bit of a let down though 😞 Just didn’t quite live up to our expectations and we kind of think it’s better in Aus…. Oh Oh lol

Rome was incredible… When they say that Rome wasn’t built in a day, well you can surely see where they get this expression from. The whole city is complete with ancient ruins, excavation sites and beautiful monuments. The most beautiful of course being the grand 2000 year old colosseum. What an absolute masterpiece, and although it has been restored a little over time I’m still surprised at how it manages to hold. Especially since they have over 10,000 people visit DAILY. That’s a bloody long queue in 35 degree heat I can tell you that J But the grandness of it is truly breathtaking. You can still imagine all the gladiators in amour and spectators waiting for the show to begin. Incredible! Then there is the gorgeous Trevi fountain, the ancient Roman Forum, the monuments designed by Michelangelo, the Pantheon and the beautiful Vatican city… Rome will never cease to amaze you at every turn. Naples is beautiful too, a gorgeous metropolitan on the Mediterranean Sea.

Of course we had to visit Pompeii, a partially buried Roman town near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was partially destroyed and buried under 7 meters of ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. And you should see this place!! I remember learning about it in school and thinking ‘one day I’m going to go there’ so it was very surreal to be standing in amongst the Roman ruins. This ancient, preserved town provides an amazing insight into daily life of the average Roman. It even holds real life cast molds (of the actual skeletons of the victims) in the same poses in which they were killed… Man, that was really eerie… And then of you have the gigantic Mt Vesuvius (active volcano) looming in the background. Of course, we just had to climb it J So after a fair hike we made it to the crater at the top with an unbelievable view of Naples. It really was an unforgettable experience!!

Advertisement



Tot: 0.223s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 11; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0561s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb