Pizza, Pasta and the leaning tower of Pisa!

Ok, age is catching up, getting too lazy and memory has become a pricey commodity. So let me capture our Italy trip before the memory of the trip says permanent good bye.

Glorious Italy

Italy has long been on the bucket list. But I always felt Italy should be visited with the special someone. So this time around the timing was right with IK also very enthused about Italy. As a bonus we also had AV and SB joining us from India. So the trip really turned out to be special.

After doing quite a bit of research, fussing over the dates and fretting over TripAdvisor reviews, we finally booked our trip leaving a few details open so we can adjust our trip as we went.



By the way, after travelling a bit around the world, I can confidently say that the long flights to and from home is always painful and the worst part of any trip. Mind you, not that we were unlucky with flight delays or other mishaps. Its just the length of the flight and the connections. Living in the north west corner doesn't help too. But I learnt one cool trick. If you ask for special meals, you get your food first before everyone else. This way you don't have to be eagerly waiting and anticipating what food options they have and what you will end up getting, though you very well know you will hate any food that they serve on flights! But the downside of getting your food first is, now you are the sole focus of the entire two rows around you. Try eating when there are a dozen eyes staring at you eating your food! So I usually give up and just wait until everyone gets their food. Not because I am courteous but because I am uncomfortable.

Finally we were at the Rome airport. We told AV/SB that we will try to meet them at the airport. But they were nowhere to be seen. So we decided we will take the train into the city and figure our way to the hotel. Since it was already evening when we landed and we didn't have any plans for that night, we figured we will have lots of time even if we got lost taking the public transport instead of a cab to the hotel. Though it turned out to be straight forward to get to our hotel using the train.

Before I go on, I should mention that the ticketing system for the train from airport to Roma Termini was either designed to be a trap or I am missing something absolutely big! Here is what happens from the moment you are at the train station in the airport with respect to the tickets: you buy a ticket at the kiosk, swipe the ticket in front of a gate that lets you into the platform, punch the ticket at a machine on the platform, show the ticket to the ticket checker inside the train. Do you notice that there are four separate instances from when you get the ticket to exiting the train where it can be, must be and is validated? I can partially understand this complicated system for an in town metro system but for a dedicated train that goes straight from airport to the city, I am not sure why you need so many checks. But hey, who am I to question their system. As long as they don't use it as a tourist trap I am happy to learn that Rome likes to confuse the hell out of a first time tourist to this great city!

Oh, and what do we do as soon as we land in Rome? IK and I fight on the train! Not even sure now what it was about but we has such long faces until we reached our hotel. Hey, don't judge, try to take a 12 hour flight, trying to sleep on the flight, trying to eat the crappy flight food with a dozen eyes staring at you! I actually pencil in feeling grumpy and annoyed at everything as part of the schedule of any long itinerary!!

Now that we are in Rome city, we walk to our hotel from the station. Hotel Rex is a 400 year old building and we loved the interior. It was pretty comfortable and had a lot of charm. Yes, we did discover what a bidet was and had no clue how to use it before looking up online! And though the room was a decent size, the shower was tiny! You get a few bumps and bruises as part of the showering process!

I love the way they try to squeeze in an elevator in these multi century old buildings in Italy! Invariably, the elevators are tiny and even a couple of people with backpacks is a pretty tight squeeze. And you wont believe how super slow they are. I know the saying goes "Rome was not built in a day" but by the time these elevators reach the 3rd floor, I am sure Rome could have been built from scratch, razed to the ground and rebuilt again to all its glory! But again, aren't these charming tidbits the reasons we travel?

After AV/SB reached the hotel and we caught up especially on the Indian snacks they had brought us, we were ready for our great week of vacation together. We decided we will get some dinner and the front desk at Hotel Rex was awesome with great maps and suggestions. We headed out to some random Pizzeria nearby and loved the al fresco dining style of Italian restaurants. We went all al fresco all the time during our stay in Italy! :)

Now is the time to talk about house wines. We have read about trying out a lot of wines in Italy, especially the house wines since they are unique to each restaurant. IK and I are used to wines but I think we got AV/SB hooked into wines in Italy. I believe except for breakfasts, we had wine with every meal for the next 9 days! And yes, they were very good and AV was specific on having Red for lunch and White for dinner so we had a good mix of wines. Ohh, of course add to it the countless Tiramisus and the other fine desserts.

Now to actual Rome sights. We started with the Colosseum the next day. It was a pretty impressive sight. The irony though is that all the details I could relate with Colosseum was not from my history class but was actually from the Gladiator movie! We then headed to the Roman Forum. Of course as typical tourists, we took a ton of pictures, got lost within the site a few times, complained about the sun though it was a great weather to be a tourist. The grandeur and the size of the structures knowing that it was built more than twenty centuries ago was what impresses you. In the evening, we headed to the Spanish steps and the Trevi fountain. I personally loved these places not just for the sights but for the international tourist crowd we saw there. I bet we could have easily counted at least 50 different nationalities and languages.

One good decision we made was to walk to all these sights. They were all within 30 minutes of walking distance from our hotel. This allowed us to explore side streets, stop at pizzerias that were out of the way from tourist crowd. For example, we were at a cross section where at each corner there were stunning statues built facing the intersection. And we ended up what looked like a hole in the wall restaurant nearby. But it turned out to be a charming family style restaurant inside with some great food and house wine.


The other example was the sunset from the Quirinale plaza. We just happened to be at the right place at the right time on our walk to the Pantheon. What a sight it was. It was picture perfect sunset with the Italian roof tops in the foreground and the St. Peter's Basilica at a distance with the sun setting behind it. I highly recommend this location for sunset in Rome. And as the picture shows, my terrible photography skills doesn't do an iota of justice to the real beauty.

The next day we visited the Vatican in the morning. The museum was huge and rich in history. But I was bored after a while. Not really the museum kind I suppose. But the St. Peter's Basilica was mighty impressive. The climb up the dome and the view from the top was worth the climb. By the way, booking your tickets online for all the major Italian sights is an absolute must. Otherwise you will find yourself in a long ticket queue for a couple of hours for each sight.





That evening we walked down to the Pantheon. Though the other 3 were not impressed with it that much and wandered out to shop, I absolutely loved the Pantheon, especially its facade. Just sitting in the plaza you can keep taking in the beauty of this great piece of architecture forever.

Before we move out of Rome, I need to capture our experience in the train station where we went to buy tickets for the next day to Pisa and Cinque Terre. This is where I need to introduce the great style of AV and how thorough he is. And this is where I need to commend the patience of Italians especially public officials handling our great AV. All we wanted to buy was tickets from Rome to Levanto with a stop at Pisa. As usual AV had a 1000 different questions for the ticket official. Add in to this the language and accent barriers! I was just waiting for the official to throw his computer at us for asking so many clarifications and re verifying every piece of info a hundred times. In fact the official was more patient that I was and when it came to book tickets from Levanto to Venice I decided to short circuit this whole process and just went and bought it from a kiosk! But that is the strength of AV and I suppose people who know AV will agree that he can drive you nuts sometime with his questions! :) But it was good to see him in action again after a long time. I still remember the day in India many years back when we were buying a pair of shoes and I was sure he was going to break it while "testing" it before buying it.

Moving on. I always thought visiting Pisa was a cliche. I read somewhere an interesting quote about Pisa saying that it was the most overrated and heavily visited architectural blunder in history. But Pisa was on our way to Levanto so we decided to stop over for few hours. But I am glad we did. Forget the leaning aspect of the tower, the setting of the tower with its accompanying buildings and the well manicured lawns were breathtaking. The day was beautiful with few clouds and we had a post card scene right in front of us.


We then headed over to Levanto. What a beautiful sea side village it was. I am glad my Italian friend GG suggested this place. It was quiet and less touristy compared to Cinque Terre. And we stayed in a small B&B called Rosa dei Venti and we absolutely loved our hostess Mama Rosa. I would say meeting and interacting with her was the best experience of the entire Italy trip. She didnt know much English but the language didnt matter when it came to her genuine affection. The room, the location, her breakfast were just perfect and was worth the long trip to Italy.

The next two days we shuttled between the five villages of Cinque Terre. The location was stunning but it was too touristy for our liking. The hike along the cliffs looking out to the ocean between the villages were just magnificent. We loved the cliff top bar where we stopped for a drink and tried to capture the view for eternity. We just didn't want to leave that bar or Levanto. We were so tempted to cancel the rest of our itinerary and just stay around the Cinque Terre area. I believe IK wants to go settle down there! :)


Of course we had to drag ourselves out of Levanto and head to Venice. I loved Venice, especially the tenacity of the city to not give in to the force of nature and the rising sea. I loved the narrow alleys and the waterways. You can actually see the rise and fall of the water level of the water ways over a period of few hours. In fact as usual the other 3 went shopping in St. Mark's square and I opted to sit to people watch. Right during that one hour, I saw the square going from completely dry to having puddles of water bubbling up from the ground as the tide rose! I am amazed that the architecture is still holding with its constant never ending war with the tide.

After a week of non stop Pizzas and Pastas, you could imagine our reaction when we caught sight of an Indian restaurant in Venice. In fact, I was taking some pictures and the rest of the gang were somewhere close to me. After a few seconds I heard them yelling at me from across the canal almost 200 yards away standing in front of the restaurant. I couldn't believe they were able to cross that much distance in such a short time when it came to spicy, yummy Indian food! :) Not that I complained. You can only have so much pasta in a week. Actually we met an American couple in the restaurant who shared the same sentiment!

And I do recommend wandering in Venice early in the morning before the tourist groups come in from the mainland. It is such a different Venice without the crowds and you get to see the locals getting ready for business and brace for the onslaught of the crowds. You also get entire sections of alleys and waterways to yourself with no distractions.

Before I wrap up this post, I need to talk about the dining style of Italians. We had read about slow service, the long and relaxed dining style of Italians. We were prepared for slow service or so we thought we were! But even after knowing the speed of service, you are never actually prepared for the slow speed! I think eating as a necessity and quick service is so ingrained into our mindset that you invariably end up being shocked at the slow speed of service. But given how consistently tasty the meals were and the stunning locations we dined in, I did learn at least a bit about enjoying a good, relaxed meal by the time I left Italy!