Italy Diaries - Day 13 - Pompeii

We forced ourselves awake in Rome with our 6:30 am alarm since we wanted to catch an early train. After packing our suitcases and having breakfast, we checked out around 8 am and then took a cab to the Roma Termini train station. We wanted to take the 8:38 am train to the main train station of Naples called Napoli Centrale. The standard second class and even first class seats were all sold out so we ended up buying the only available tickets that were for business class. The tickets were a little pricy but our philosophy is that time and comfort is always more valuable than money, especially on a vacation and this was no different.

The high speed train ride to Naples was very smooth and had no stops so we reached Naples in a little over an hour. At the Napoli Centrale train station, we changed to the regional Circumvesuviana train that's named as such because it goes around Mount Vesuvius. The regional train was a stark contrast to our earlier train ride. It had 33 stops and no air conditioning. The train itself seemed quite old. Luckily, Samia got a seat right away and I got the one next to her after a couple of stops. This ride also took a little over an hour because of all the stops and slower speed but we finally reached Sorrento around 12:30 pm. We took a cab to our hotel. The hotel is about a 10 minutes walk from the train station but because of the hilly terrain, the roads are winding so it wasn't possible to walk with two suitcases.

After checking in, we freshened up and rested for about an hour before leaving at around 2 pm. Sorrento is a very intimate town on the Amalfi coast of Italy and our hotel is in the old town near the marina. With cobblestone streets and a view of the bright blue ocean with a couple of hilly islands in the background, it's a gorgeous town with a very relaxing vibe. We walked to a pedestrian only street that has shops and restaurants lining both sides and had lunch at a restaurant that seemed to have good food. It ended up being a great pick - both the beef burger and the chicken burger turned out great. It's getting to that stage where we've had so much pasta and pizza that we now want to try other types of food.

Then we walked to the train station and took the Circumvesuviana to the Pompeii train station. Pompeii used to be a town with a population of 20,000 people that was founded about 500 years BC. It was a bustling port town with some main trade routes of the Mediterranean sea passing through it. When the nearby volcanic Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, the debris of ash and lava that fell over the city froze the city in time. About 2000 people were unable to evacuate by the time the catastrophe struck and they were all buried with the city. The city remain buried till the 15th century and when it was rediscovered and excavations started, it was remarkably well preserved because of the sudden nature of the incident. We had seen one city of ruins previously, Ephesus in Turkey but Pompeii is a much bigger city that is much better preserved. We walked through the city for almost three hours and saw the main town square, the basilica, the market, some houses, streets with chariot wheel marks, pedestrian streets, a brothel, public baths, water supply pipes, frescos on walls, brick ovens inside houses and an aqua duct. It is truly a city and you can get a very clear idea of the advanced nature of the Greek/Roman civilization in those days. We had to keep reminding ourselves that it's not an inhabited town but rather one that had been buried for almost 1500 years! Machu Picchu in Peru is extremely impressive but part of the reason is its remote location hidden inside jungles. Pompeii is equally impressive (and maybe marginally more, depending on what impresses you more) because it gives you a better idea of the life of the people of this city in their time. Pompeii is one of the top highlights of our trip.

After visiting the ancient city of Pompeii, we took the train back to Sorrento and walked back to our hotel to rest. We researched a Kabab joint that's ranked in the top 3 restaurants of Sorrento. It was in a narrow street behind the Main Street so while we were making our way there, we were skeptical of its ranking. All doubts melted away once we took the first bite of our Kabab sandwich. It was so good that even before we had finished our sandwiches, we decided that we would come back here again. Instead of buns, the sandwich had two toasted naans on either side with the chicken and beef mixture with garlic mayo and chili inside. After this delicious meal, we walked back to our hotel and went to bed. Till the next update from the Amalfi coast, take care and ciao!

Italy Diaries - Day 12 - Vatican City

We woke up at 8:30 am on our second day in Rome and relaxed in bed for half an hour before going down for breakfast. As good as the scrambled eggs and omelettes have been so far on this trip, we wanted to try something without eggs and were glad that our hotel had pancakes. They weren't that special but we enjoyed them nonetheless. We also had cereal and excellent lattes once again. Along with pizza and gelato, coffee is another of those Italian specialities that is always top notch. After breakfast, we came back to our room and lazed for another hour or so before getting ready and heading out around 12:30 pm.

We walked to the Republica square and along the way stopped for some window shopping. Then we took the metro to the station closest to Vatican City. After getting off the train, we had to walk for about 15 minutes and then we arrived in Saint Peter's square, the giant "square" next to the largest and the most important church in Christianity, Saint Peter's Basilica. On our last trip, we had missed out on visiting the church but not this time!

The square is actually in the shape of an oval that inclines downwards towards the center like a basin. The shape is perfect for fitting a giant cross along the major axes in which case the church would be at the tip of the cross. The sides of the oval next to the church are flanked by the Columnade built by Bernini. It's a hallway with some 200+ giant 50 meter tall columns supporting a roof. There's an Egyptian obelisk in the middle of the oval. You can also see the pope's apartment and the Sistine Chapel building with the chimney that's used to signal papal election results. To get into the church, we first had to wait in long lines for security check and dress code assessment - no shorts or bare shoulders allowed inside the church.

Once you enter the church, you are stunned by the sheer magnitude and size of the interior. The main nave is lined with statues and is over 200 meters in length. It's so high and so wide that when pigeons accidentally fly inside, they don't realize that they're inside a building! The dome above the main alter rivals the dome of the Pantheon but is much higher. Behind the alter is a stained glass window designed by Bernini. It's designed in a way that during mass, it lets sunlight in such that it seems that golden light is illuminating the throne of Saint Peter which is a chair. Above the main alter is a giant bronze canopy that helps draw your attention to the altar which would otherwise be lost in the humongous space. Beneath the main altar, Saint Peter's bones are buried in the dungeon. Saint Peter was one of the apostles of Jesus whom Jesus chose to be the head of the church so he became the first pope of Christianity. We also saw the very well preserved body of a recent pope in a glass crypt, a bronze statue of Saint Peter where people line up to kiss the feet for good luck and statue of Michelangelo's Pieta. Pieta is a scene in which Mary holds the body of Jesus after his crucifixion. Michelangelo's genius shines through the Pieta once again - the statue captures the sadness of the moment and Jesus' body looks very real. The statue incorporates many subtle elements like Jesus' body appearing heavier and appearing to slide down Mary's robe, Mary appearing very young to emphasize her innocence and despite Jesus being the size of a grown man, he appears childlike in comparison to the larger than life Mary.

After touring the magnificent basilica, we stopped at the only post office in Vatican City and thought it would be funny to post ourselves a postcard! Hopefully it'll reach us after we're back in Calgary. The Vatican City is the smallest country in the world that's completely surrounded on all sides by the city of Rome. It has its own security force comprising Swiss mercenaries with their colorful and rather ridiculous looking uniforms, its own passport, a post office that we visited and even its own radio station. In other worldly matters like currency, it relies on its neighbors and uses the Euro as its currency.

We were hungry after our trip to Saint Peter's so we decided to have lunch. Vatican City may be the smallest country but it's also possibly the only country in the world without any restaurants! We started walking along the boulevard that Mussolini had built that enters into the oval of Saint Peter's square. Learning from our past experiences, we generally try to avoid restaurants near touristy attractions since they tend to be overpriced and sub-par establishments that want to make a quick buck from customers that are never going to return. This was an exception as we were famished so knowing well that we were walking into a rip-off, we still decided to take our chance. We ordered the safest possible options - bruschetta and a marinara pizza (just tomato sauce and oregano). The pizza was decent but the bruschetta was not that great. There was a pretty high mandatory service charge of 17% and then our server decided to "keep" the change to make it more like a 25% service charge. It's this side of Rome that's ticks us off but the amazing history somewhat balances it out.

After lunch, we continued walking along Mussolini's boulevard and arrived at Castel Sant'Angelo. It's a round castle building next to the river Tiber. We walked over the bridge that connects the castle to the other side of the river and is lined with statues on both sides. The view from the bridge is interesting. You can see other bridges, green trees, colorful buildings, the dome of Saint Peter's Basilica, Castel Sant'Angelo and lots of tourists.

After that we decided to walk to Piazza Navona that shouldn't have been too far but in trying to take a shortcut using the inner streets, we ended up getting a little lost but finally reached the Piazza. It's a lively square with a famous statue by who else but Bernini. We had visited this square on our last trip as well and we liked it so much that we went back. We sat at a bench to enjoy dance performances by a Michael Jackson look alike and then headed to a cafe on the square that was recommended in our guidebook. The cafe Tre Scalini was established in the 1940s and used to be a hot spot during the 1950s where Hollywood celebrities used to hang out. Its signature dessert is called Il Tartufo and is dark chocolate gelato ball with a cherry inside, coated with nuts and a dollop of whipped cream and a wafer on top. Samia tried the Il Tartufo whereas I got Tiramisu.

After the dessert break, we walked to our favorite ancient site in Rome - the Pantheon. The place is absolutely marvelous and despite coming here a second time, we couldn't help but marvel at the enormity of the building and how the ancient Romans must've undertaken the monumental construction project two thousand years ago. We sat inside the Pantheon for about half an hour, marveling at the genius of the ancients and then headed out when it closed at 7:30 pm. We've been to the Pantheon twice now and are quite sure that we wouldn't mind coming back again!

We had shortlisted a couple of restaurants from our guidebook for dinner close to the Pantheon. One of them was fully booked but the other one was able to seat us. It turned out to be our best dining experience in Rome - that includes both visits! It wasn't fancy but the quality of food was amazing. For appetizer, we had bruschetta and the fried Napoli rice thing called suppli that we had discovered last night. For our main course, Samia had gnocchi with tomato sauce and I had casarecce pasta with spicy arrabiata sauce. For dessert, we shared a panna cotta. After dinner, we walked to another of our Rome favorites, the Trevi fountain. Then we took a cab back to our hotel and went to bed, ready for our final stop of Italy, the Naples area. We'll be staying in the town of Sorrento. Till the next update from the birthplace of pizza (and Italian mafia), take care!

Italy Diaries - Day 11 - Rome

I woke up around 8:15 am but Samia was tired so she slept for another half an hour. Then we packed our suitcases and went down for breakfast at 9:30 am after getting ready. After breakfast, we checked out of our Florence hotel and noticed that it had rained in the morning. It started raining again while we were walking to the train station so we had to rush. We caught our 10:38 am train and after a high-speed train ride of about one and a half hours, we had reached Rome's main train station Roma Termini. We took a cab to our hotel and thanks to the instructions and fare estimate from our hotel's very helpful reception, we had a much better experience this time as compared to our experience of taking a cab from Roma Termini on our last visit to Rome a couple of years ago. The hotel even let us check-in before the regular check-in time. Having a comfortable and helpful hotel makes your first impression of a city so much better!

We have seen the major attractions of Rome - Colosseum, Pantheon, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Sistine Chapel - on our last trip so our schedule is going to be very laid back this time. After resting for about an hour, we freshened up and headed out on foot towards the Spanish Steps. On our way, we stopped at a pizzeria for lunch. We had bruschetta for appetizer and then shared a cheese pizza and a margherita pizza. The food was decent but given that it wasn't based on any recommendation, that's the most we could've expected. After lunch, we continued walking towards the Spanish Steps. We found out that the steps themselves are closed for repairs but the fountain in front of them is open now. It was the other way round the last time we came here. The fountain was made by Bernini and is in the shape of a sinking boat. We stopped at a cafe to have dessert. I had tiramisu and Samia had ice cream. After that, we took a cab to Galleria Borghese.

The gallery is actually a palace that was used as a residence by the noble Borghese family. Now it serves as Rome's premier art gallery after having gone many redesigns of its layout. The current layout is closest to the original one with certain exceptions to bring thematic unity to all the rooms. We entered into a giant hall with all the walls lined with statues but the most impressive feature is the painted ceiling that took 3 years to paint. We had a shortlist of the most significant art pieces so we focused on those during our two hour tour. The most impressive works that we saw were all statues carved by Bernini. It's hard to decide if his Apollo & Daphne is the best (the execution of depicting the moment when Daphne is turning into a tree is dazzling) or if his best work is the Rape of Persephone (the strong hands pressing into the soft flesh seem absolutely real despite being etched in marble). His version of David is also very interesting and captures the moment when David is just about to release the stone from his sling with his brow furrowed and his lips tightened. We saw some of Bernini's earlier work as well where his genius had started to shine through. There are many other statues and paintings in the gallery but the most outstanding work, in our non-artsy opinion, was all by Bernini.

After visiting the gallery, we were tired so we boarded a kiddy train that took us through the entire Villa Borghese or the gardens. It was a very refreshing ride through the huge green space and we were dropped off near Piazza del Popolo. We saw the Piazza from a high vantage point before climbing down the stairs to the Piazza. We sat there for a little while reminiscing about our last visit to the Piazza and made dinner plans. Most of the recommended options in our guidebook were closed because it was a Sunday so we chose a cafe on the way to the Spanish Steps but couldn't find it. We then walked into a decent looking restaurant which had a clean and modern decor but the food turned out to be average. Our appetizer was fried Napoli items - the fillings were cheese, rice, more cheese and potatoes. I ordered a margherita pizza and Samia ordered pasta with cheese. The pizza was decent but the cheese in the pasta was too strong.

After our first semi-disappointing meal in Italy, we walked back to the Spanish Steps and got gelato. The gelato was really good and somewhat made up for the sub-par quality of dinner. We tried chocolate and yogurt flavors and both hit the spot perfectly. Then we took a cab back to our hotel and called it a night. The highlights of another hot day were Bernini's statues and we'll probably see a few more on our second day in Rome. Our main plan is to visit Saint Peter's Basilica that we were unable to see on our last trip because of the Pope's special address meant only for children. Till the update from the center of Christendom, take care!

Italy Diaries - Day 10 - More Florence

We had planned to not do any sightseeing in the morning so it was our chance to catch up on sleep and rest so we woke up around 9 am. We lazed in bed and went down for breakfast in about an hour. We came back up to our room and took our time getting ready. We left around 1:30 pm.

Our first stop of the day was Santa Maria Novella Church which is in the same square where our hotel is located. The main train station of Florence that's behind the church is named after the church and is called Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station. It's a peaceful church and there were very few tourists inside. The church's main draw is Masaccio's early renaissance painting on a wall in which the concept of perspective and mathematical proportions was used. Its importance to painting can be compared with Brunelleschi's importance to architecture and Donatello's importance to sculpting. We saw many other paintings and frescos in addition to the stained glass windows of the altar before checking out the courtyard and then made our way out.

We started walking towards the Accademia Gallery and passed through the famous San Lorenzo flea market with shops selling leather goods among other things. We had purchased our Accademia tickets online so thankfully we didn't have to wait too long in the blistering heat outside the Accademia and were inside after a wait of about five minutes. The Gallery was primarily commissioned to house just one masterpiece - Michelangelo's David. When you enter the gallery and turn left, you emerge in a long hall and David is at the end of the hall.

What a magnificent statue! You can start to appreciate the 14 feet tall giant statue as you walk towards it. Five of Michelangelo's unfinished statues flank both sides of the hall as you walk towards David. We were initially unsure if we should come to the Accademia to see the original but we are so glad that we did. There is something about Michelangelo's creations that leave you spell bound. We had the same feeling a couple of years back when we saw the Sistine Chapel that he had painted and we were spellbound once more. The white marble statue is a naked David sizing up his opponent Goliath with a stone in his right hand and a sling strapped over his left shoulder with one end in his left hand. His gaze is steady and confident and his muscles relaxed. The mastery with which Michelangelo has depicted the detail of the human anatomy is astonishing. Everything from the veins in David's hands and feet to his calf muscles to his abs to his chest to his biceps to his thighs to his knees is so real! You can almost be forgiven for thinking that he can start walking any moment. If the Renaissance marked the most significant era of art in history, then the most significant work of the Renaissance has to be David. David is the epitome of the Renaissance. He is thoughtful and confident in his abilities and doesn't need an army to slay the giant Goliath, just his wits. David is truly the highlight of our trip to Florence and dare I say perhaps the highlight of our entire trip to Italy!

After admiring the magnificence of David from many angles, we observed the unfinished statues to get an idea of the chronology of Michelangelo's sculpting since they are all in different stages of creation. Michelangelo was a true genius and worked without any model or blueprint, directly on marble. We also saw another statue that draws inspiration from Michelangelo's David in the sense that it's also a spiral work - there is no one "best" vantage point but you get a different view from every angle. The Accademia gallery is still very much a teaching academy for sculptors so we also saw a huge room with hundreds of marble busts and statues that are basically the students' final exams. We finally made our way out and then decided to have lunch.

The sun was still at its peak and the heat was unbearable so we decided that we will take our time having lunch so that it got cooler by the time we were done. We walked to the Repubblica Square to have lunch at the famous cafe Gilli that was founded in 1733. It was a hotspot during the 1850s and 1860s where intellectuals met to discuss the unification of Italy. Our lunch started with bruschetta for appetizer. I had gnocchi with tomato sauce and fresh buffalo mozzarella while Samia had spinach and ricotta cheese filled Cannelloni for the main course. For dessert, I had tiramisu and Samia had panna cotta. It was an exceptional meal in a historic cafe with stuccoed ceilings but the best part was the air conditioning! We left around 5:30 pm and came back to our hotel to rest for a couple of hours.

In the evening, we walked through the Duomo Square, the Piazza della Signoria and the Uffizi courtyard to arrive at the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) and walked along the River Arno. The bridge is the only one that survived the Second World War bombing. It has shops lining both sides. When we got there, there was a band performing live songs so we spent a few minutes enjoying the music while looking at the Arno river flowing beneath the bridge. Then we walked to the Repubblica square and got gelato from a shop Venchi that we (read Samia) had been eyeing since our first day in Florence. We got chocolate, cappuccino and milk flavors. The milk was pretty generic but the other two flavors were the best gelato we've had in Italy so far. We sat next to a column in the Repubblica square and ate our gelato while listening to yet another live music band. Florence is a very intimate city and reminds us of Prague. After listening to a few songs, we walked back to a restaurant next to our hotel for a dinner. Samia had the eggplant parmigiana and I had a margherita pizza (tomato, basil and mozzarella cheese). The pizza was the best we've had so far in Italy. After dinner, we came back to our room and called it a night. We'll be taking a train to Rome in the morning. Till the next update from the Eternal City, take care!

Italy Diaries - Day 9 - Tuscany

We were up at 7 am for our Tuscany day trip and were out of our hotel at 8:20 am after getting ready and having breakfast. We reached the meeting point of the tour at the train station that's a five minute walk from our hotel. The tour started around 9 am and we got seats in the top deck of the air conditioned double decker bus.

Our first stop was the village of San Gimignano that was about an hour's drive away. Tuscany is the name of the region that's north of Rome and encompasses a diverse landscape from beaches to mountains to Chianti's famous vineyards and olive groves. The major cities of this region are Florence, Siena and Pisa so technically, we've already spent two days in Tuscany. In the context of today's bus tour, Tuscany referred to a few highlights outside of Florence. Specifically, we were going to see the village of San Gimignano, have lunch at a farm/vineyard in Chianti, do a walking tour of Siena and then end with a quick trip to the walled castle of Monteriggioni.

The village of San Gimignano is famous for its medieval towers. At its peak, there were about 70 towers in this town, 14 of which survive today. It's sometimes referred to as the Manhattan of medieval times. Walking through the village makes you feel like you're back in the Italy of medieval times with winding cobblestone paths, stone walls and high medieval towers. It's a fairly small village with two squares - the square with the well and the Cathedral square. We walked to the square with the well and bought gelato at a Gelateria that had won the first place in the world gelato competition twice. Samia got Nutella hazelnut, mint and yogurt flavors and I got mango, coffee and yogurt. We sat in the shade on a marble bench in an old resting area in one corner of the Cathedral square and savored our gelato, a great way to get respite from the heat. Then we explored the town on foot before walking back to our bus around noon and drove for about an hour to our next stop in the Chianti region.

Chianti is famous for its vineyards that arguably produce the best wines in the world. Driving through the Chianti valley with green vineyards and olive groves in all directions till the horizon was a picturesque drive and it felt like we were part of a landscape painting. We stopped at the Casafrassi farm and vineyard where the owner gave us a primer in the composition of different wines. He explained that the Chianti Classico wines are the ones that are at least 80% Sangiovese grapes whereas all Chianti wines less than 80% are simply Chianti wines. Then we had lunch which comprised bruschetta, cheese and salad for appetizers, pasta with tomato sauce for the main course and panna cotta for dessert. The pasta was delicious despite being very simple and the dessert was also great.

After lunch, we drove for about half an hour to our next stop of Siena. Siena used to be Florence's rival back in the day before the plague but while Florence lost about half its people to the plague, Siena lost almost 90% of its people and was never able to recover. Shortly after that, it was conquered by Florence. We did a walking tour of the town where we saw the main "square" that is in the shape of a shell unlike most square-shaped or rectangular-shaped squares of Europe. The town of Siena still holds an annual horse race in the main square to determine which of the 19 districts will get to be the caretaker of the canvas of Virgin Mary for that year. The square also has the main town hall of Siena. Then we walked to the cathedral of Siena which has a magnificent outer facade. Once Siena ran out of money, they decided to complete a smaller portion of the cathedral than was originally planned and this has left a few walls without marble on them that are now outside the boundaries of the cathedral. The walking tour ended in the square next to the cathedral so we sat there for a few minutes before making our way back to the tour meeting point and then to our bus.

We drove for another half an hour to our final stop of the day, the walled castle of the village of Monteriggioni. It's a relatively small castle atop a hill and the walls are is still intact. You have the option of walking on the walls to admire the Tuscan landscape. We spent a few minutes in the castle main square and then headed back to the bus. It took us another hour of drive and we reached Florence at about 7:30 pm. The bus dropped us off just a couple of minutes walk from our hotel so we walked back and rested for about an hour. It had been a tiring day with the walking tour of hilly Siena being the most taxing.

We asked our hotel concierge to give us a casual dining recommendation close to the hotel since we didn't want to walk too much. He told us that the trattoria adjacent to our hotel was a decent option. We went there and our dinner was grilled vegetables and bruschetta for appetizer followed by eggplant parmigiana and a thin-crust pizza with eggplant and zucchini. I also discovered a spicy variant of the extra virgin olive oil that you always get with the complimentary bread so my pizza and bread had a nice zing to it. After a tiring day of exploring the highlights of Tuscany, we went to bed knowing that we don't have anything planned in the morning so we'll be able to sleep in and rest. Till the next update, take care and ciao!

Italy Diaries - Day 8 - Renaissance in Florence

We woke up well rested in Florence after a comfortable night's sleep. We got ready, went down to have the complimentary hotel breakfast - scrambled eggs, cereal and latte - and left around 8:45 am for the Uffizi museum. We were there by 9:05 am. The Uffizi Gallery offers an excellent primer in Renaissance art - its birth, evolution and spread to other parts of Italy and Europe. But before we get to the details, let's answer the question - what is the Renaissance?

The Roman Empire fell in the 5th century and much of Europe plunged into poverty and ignorance. By the start of the 14th century, Florence was doing really well on account of its banking, trading and cloth making. Then came the Black Death Plague that killed over half the population of Europe in the mid 14th century. Almost half the people of Florence also died in the plague but the infrastructure remained and the city was rebuilt better than ever. The ruling Medici (pronounced Medichi) family of Florence were big sponsors and collectors of art so it's no wonder that the Renaissance took root in Florence. Renaissance literally means "rebirth" and in this context, it was the rebirth of the Greek and Roman traditions of logic, democracy and science that had been lost for a thousand years since Rome fell. In the medieval times, the church was the opiate of the masses whose lives were miserable and short so the art produced reflected that and was primarily a means of telling biblical stories. The art of the medieval times was not very realistic and used to be either highly simplified or highly exaggerated. Florence's recovery from the plague and general prosperity gave rise to the Florentines having more confidence in human ability. With the backing of the Medicis, artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, inspired by the Greek and Roman statues of the past embarked on a journey of celebrating humanism and realism that continued for another 150 years and the rediscovery of emphases on logic and science led Europe out of ignorance.

The Uffizi Gallery houses many statues from the Greek and Roman times that served as inspiration for the Renaissance masters. Works of Renaissance sculptors like Michelangelo and Donatello are also on display. Similarly, there are hundreds of paintings by Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Titian and Caravaggio. The amount of art can be overwhelming but thanks for Rick Steves' audio guide and our pocket guide book, we focused on about 15 masterpiece paintings that give you the perfect introduction to how realism and humanism started with features like adding depth and human expressions to paintings. The tour took us almost four hours and by the end of it, we had gained a much better understanding of the different styles and ranges of the Renaissance masters. We also saw a great view of the Arno river and Ponte Vecchio (literally Old Bridge) during our tour of the Uffizi Gallery.

After the whirlwind tour of perhaps the most important era of art history, we needed a break so we came back to our hotel to freshen up. It was another hot day so we grabbed a banana flavored gelato to share on our way back to the hotel. In fact, the weather forecast is for the temperatures to get higher in the next couple of days so that'll give us an excellent excuse to have more gelato. They say that the gelato of Florence is the best in Italy so why not?

We rested for about an hour and then got a lunch recommendation from our hotel concierge. The restaurant wasn't too far from our very centrally located hotel so we got there after a five minute walk at around 2:30 pm. We had bruschetta and fried zucchini flowers for appetizers, then a tomato garlic pizza and mushroom fettuccini pasta for our main course and finally tiramisu and creme caramel for dessert. It was a late lunch and we were quite hungry so had a hearty meal. After lunch, we walked back to our hotel and took a nap for a couple of hours since our next activity was a self guided walking tour and we decided to do it at night to avoid the afternoon heat.

We woke up around 7:30 pm and got another recommendation from our hotel's concierge desk, this time for dinner. We also booked a guided bus tour for the Tuscany region for the next day. We got the dinner reservation for 9:45 pm and then headed out to do our self guided walking tour of Florence with help from our Rick Steves audio guide. We started at the Duomo or the Main Cathedral of Florence. The Duomo's dome was designed and built by Brunelleschi after studying the Pantheon of Rome and getting inspiration from the engineering feat of the Romans. Brunelleschi's dome was the biggest dome of its time in the world and later inspired many famous domes like the one in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome and the Capitol in Washington DC. We also observed the outer facade of the Duomo and the bell tower of the Cathedral that's called Giotto's Bell Tower since it was designed by Giotto. We saw the Baptistry of Saint John across the Duomo and its famous bronze doors that were built by Ghiberti and dubbed "Gates of Paradise" by Michelangelo. Similar to the attempt of Renaissance paintings to make the scenes natural by adding depth, the bronze doors add an element of depth that makes the scenes depicted on the doors 3D.

Then we walked to the Piazza where the Vecchio Palace building is located. It used to be the residence of the Medici Duke of Florence but when the residence was moved across the Arno River to the Pitti Palace, this was renamed to Palazzo Vecchio or Old Palace. It now serves as the town hall of Florence. There are several interesting statues next to the building but the most famous is the statue of David by Michelangelo that's outside the palace. The original is now kept in the Accademia Gallery so this one is a replica. Right next to the Palazzo Vecchio is the Uffizi Courtyard where we had started our sightseeing day. There was an orchestra playing in the square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio so we enjoyed the live performance for a few minutes before leaving for dinner.

Then we walked to the restaurant recommended by our hotel. Dinner was outstanding. We had fried onions filled with parmesan cheese and zucchini salad with pine nuts for appetizers. My main course was pear ravioli filled with cheese and topped with sea bass fish fillet and cherry tomatoes. Samia's main course was pici pasta (think a thicker version of spaghetti) with cheese and butter and a side of roasted potatoes. The dessert was Apple pie with gelato. It was a modern take on typical Tuscan cuisine and we were thoroughly impressed. After dinner, we walked back to our hotel and went to bed. Till the next update about Tuscany, take care!

Italy Diaries - Day 7 - Pisa

We woke up in Riomaggiore a little before our alarm for 8:45 am and quickly got ready and packed our suitcases. We were out of the room before 10 am and went down to the cafe. We had been hearing trains stop at our station after waking up and that continued during breakfast so we wondered if the strike had been called off. We were done with breakfast by 10:20ish so we decided to sit at the train station to wait and see if our first train scheduled for 10:55 am would be operational. Much to our surprise, it arrived on time and thanks to the railway strike, not many passengers had turned up to the station so it wasn't too crowded either.

We reached La Spezia by 11:10 am and found out that our intercity train to Pisa scheduled to depart at 11:23 am had been cancelled due to the strike. We waited for the next train scheduled to depart at 12:15 pm which was going to be a regional train. The train didn't arrive at 12:15 pm but they kept announcing that it was delayed. It did arrive around 12:40 pm and we boarded with our suitcases, only to hear an announcement after a few minutes that it had also been cancelled due to the strike! After that, the next regional train to Pisa was for 1:14 pm but it was from a different platform so we went through the onerous task of going down the stairs, walking through the underground passage connecting all platforms and then taking the stairs up at the new platform. We boarded this train and waited, hoping that this wouldn't be cancelled last minute like the last one. Thankfully, it wasn't cancelled and we finally left La Spezia at 1:22 pm. We arrived in Pisa around 2:30 pm. Thanks to the note from the TrenItalia official that we got the previous day and some trains that were operational during the strike, all the strike cost us (not counting the inconvenience and panic) was a delay of a couple of hours from our original plan where we would've reached Pisa by 12:30ish.

At the Pisa train station, we stored our bags in paid baggage storage, got return tickets for the bus to the Leaning Tower area and then had lunch at a Kabab place. The chicken shawarma plate was quite tasteful and filling. Then it took us a few minutes to find our bus stop but we were on the bus by 4 pm and got off near the Leaning Tower after about 15 minutes. The walk from the bus stop to the so-called Field of Miracles has scores of souvenir shops so we passed through them and entered the complex.

The Field of Miracles is a gorgeous square carpeted with lush green grass that is extremely well maintained and there are a few white marble buildings around it - the Duomo, the Baptistry, the Cemetery and the Bell Tower. The Bell Tower is also famously known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa because of its slant. After the tower was constructed, once the building started settling down, it began sinking on one side because of softer soil. Since that day, they've used a very simple concept to prevent the building from collapsing - adding additional weight in the direction opposite to the slant. Of course, I have grossly over simplified it but even to this day, that's the essential principle in effect. After taking lots of pictures with the Leaning Tower, we took a gelato break since it was another hot day.

After that, we bought some souvenirs and then headed for the bus stop. We were at the bus stop at 5:45 pm but had to wait for the bus for about half an hour. Once we reached the station, we picked up our bags and checked the time for the next train to Florence or as its called in Italian, Firenze. The next train was scheduled for 6:54 pm and much to our relief, it left the station just two minutes late so we were on our way to Florence. It was a very peaceful ride after a tiring hot day where we had to spend a lot of time waiting. We admired the green countryside of Tuscany glowing in the evening sunlight as our train made its way to the birthplace of Renaissance. We reached Florence after a little over an hour around 8:10 pm. Our focus had been to get to first Pisa and then Florence and in that rush, we forgot to find the exact directions from the train station to our hotel - it was supposed to be walking distance. There was no free WiFi at the train station so we decided to go to the McDonald's across the road. While we were there, we also had chicken burgers for dinner. Ironically, the WiFi didn't work there either so we pulled out the pocket guide for Florence and Tuscany that we had purchased from Calgary. We have actually purchased 4 different pocket guides for this trip - Milan (and the Lake District), Florence (and Tuscany), Rome and London. It turned out that the square where our hotel was located was behind the square that was next to the train station.

Even after realizing that, it took us another fifteen minutes to get to our hotel because of the irregular presence of pedestrian crossings. Finally we checked in at 9 pm and then relaxed for a bit. It had been a hot day and tomorrow is an early start so we decided to take showers before going to bed. That's when we realized that the Airbnb experiment wasn't bad but it's not our thing. When we are traveling, we like to come back at night to a hotel that offers a luxurious experience. Our vacations are usually aggressively focused on exploration and sightseeing so what makes it relaxing for us is the luxury at the start and end of a day. Keep reading to find out about our exploration of Florence and the Tuscany region over the next 3 days. Take care and goodbye!

Italy Diaries - Day 6 - Manarola and Varnazza

We woke up around 8:30 am in our Airbnb room in Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre. Initially our plan was to take the ferry to visit different towns but the ferry wasn't operational because of the rough sea so we reverted to our plan B - using the train instead of the ferry. We got ready by 10:30 am and went down to have breakfast at the cafe. While we were leaving, we ran into our host Sandro who was showing some new guests their room and he mentioned to us to check the timings of our train out of Riomaggiore. We didn't really understand at the time why he said that but we found out when we went to the ticket office after breakfast. There was going to be a national rail strike all over Italy starting at 9 pm that would stay in effect for 21 hours till 6 pm the next day. That meant that our trains from Riomaggiore to Pisa (two trains really since there was a stop at La Spezia) and then onward to Florence were all going to be affected by the train strike!

Making sure that we had a way out of Riomaggiore the next day remained a major focus for the rest of the day along with our sightseeing. We formulated a couple of plans after extensively discussing and researching all available options. We curtailed our plan for the rest of the day to ensure that we were back in our room latest by 6 pm so that we had time to finalize the plan for tomorrow.

The ride from Riomaggiore to the adjacent town of Manarola was just ten minutes but including the wait at the train station, it took us over an hour to get there. It's a shame that the hiking trail between Riomaggiore and Manarola is closed for repairs so we couldn't do the hike. It's the easiest and shortest hike amongst all the trails between the five towns, requiring about 20 minutes for a distance of about 700 meters. It's supposed to be romantically beautiful and is termed Via del Amore or Lovers' Way. Once we were in Manarola, we made our way from the train station down to the harbor. Manarola is perhaps the most picturesque of all five towns and we were able to capture the quintessential picture of the Cinque Terre region by walking a few meters up a trail that gives the best vantage point of the townscape. Thanks to the selfie stick gifted to us by our friends Madiha and Ali, we didn't have to walk any farther and were able to get the best view and picture at a spot that wasn't crowded.

Then we made our way back to the train station by passing through the pastel colored buildings of the town. There was still time for the next train so we decided to check out the 100 or so meters of Via del Amore that's still open to provide access to a restaurant that's located on the hiking trail. Our train was delayed so it took us over an hour to get to the next town of Vernazza. The sun was baking hot and we couldn't find sitting space in the shade so waiting for our train was quite tiresome.

Once we reached Varnazza, it was almost 2 pm and we were hungry and tired so we stopped at the first shady restaurant that we spotted which had its outdoor tables under large white umbrellas. We both got lemon sodas to replenish our electrolytes and then ordered our lunch - beef steak for me and fried calamari for Samia. The food was average but we were thankful that the break provided us a chance to recharge. Then we walked through the town towards the harbor and found a nice place to sit and relax while observing the townscape. We got gelato - pistachio for me and Samia got a mix of honey and yogurt - it was just perfect for cooling down in the hot weather. After finishing our gelato and taking a few pictures, we slowly made our way back to the train station. This train was also delayed and it took us another 60+ minutes to get back to Riomaggiore.

We headed back to our room to finalize our plan for tomorrow. There was a very slim chance of being able to get out on a ferry since they had been cancelled for two days in a row. Trains were cancelled because of the strike. One option was to take a taxi but since there are only a couple of taxi drivers in the remote town of Riomaggiore and they knew about the train strike, they were asking for exorbitant amounts of money. Another option was to get our tickets changed to the first trains available after the strike and spend the day in Riomaggiore. There are only a few roads, no buses and no rental cars. We also considered some outside-the-box options like taking a train to the relatively larger town of La Spezia that night before the strike started and getting a hotel there. We were beginning to realize the mistake of staying in a small town and in retrospect, if we had a chance to do it all over again, we would get a hotel in La Spezia.

We found out that even during train strikes in Italy, a few trains do run and some are even guaranteed to not be cancelled. We decided to stop relying on information on the Internet and decided to visit the ticket counter at the Riomaggiore train station to find out the official verdict. We were told that during strikes, regional trains get affected the most whereas some intercity and high speed trains still operate on schedule (which in Italy means with a delay of 5-25 minutes). We were asked to visit the TrenItalia ticket office in the larger town of La Spezia to get our tickets changed. It was almost 6:15 pm and the strike was going to start at 9 pm. We quickly went back to our room to get our jackets and then got on the first train to La Spezia. We reached there at about 6:40 pm and made our way to the ticket office. The railway official was quite helpful and wrote a note on our existing tickets that the same tickets would be valid for the first trains after the strike was over. The last train back to Riomaggiore was at 8:10 pm so we sat at the train station nervously waiting and hoping that it wasn't cancelled already. Thankfully, the train was running and we were able to get back to Riomaggiore by 8:30 pm. We went back to our room to freshen up. We had a solid plan for the next day now - wait to see if our trains were the exceptional ones that were not cancelled and if they were, then spend the day in Riomaggiore and get the first train after the strike is over. To make things uncertain, there was also the possibility that the strike could be called off early. Anyway, we had done the best we could so we decided to not dwell on it too much and walked to the town center to have dinner.

We went back to the same restaurant La Lampara where we had dinner last night since it was exceptional and we didn't feel like experimenting. This time, we shared an arugula salad with walnut and tomatoes, rigatoni pasta with garlic and eggplants, and finally the same pizza that we had last night - thin-crust tomato sauce pizza with mushrooms. The dinner was exceptional again and we were thankful that we had a good meal before what could be a very uncertain and frustrating day. We decided to deal with that in the morning and went to bed to get some much needed rest and sleep. You'll have to wait for the next update to find out if we got stuck in Riomaggiore or if we were able to get to Pisa. Till then, take care!

Italy Diaries - Day 5 - Monterosso and Riomaggiore

Since we could not get quality sleep the previous night in Bellagio, we decided to sleep in and woke up around 8:30 am after sleeping for almost 9 hours! We felt refreshed and all set for exploring more of Cinque Terre. We went down to a cafe that has an agreement with our Airbnb host to provide complimentary breakfast and a pretty good one at that - it included cheese and tomato omelette, toast with butter, orange juice and caffe latte. We came back to our room to get ready but Samia wasn't feeling too great so we decided to rest. The weather was a bit windy too and there was forecast for possible showers till noon so we decided that we would leave after the weather got better. Our room WiFi stopped working so I told our host and then we spent some time trying to get that sorted out. Eventually we left our room around 12:30 pm.

All five towns of Cinque Terre are connected by train. The train line was built a few years after Italy's unification and was meant to celebrate and demonstrate the strength of a united Italy. We boarded the train from Riomaggiore and got off at the farthest town, Monterosso al Mare. The town is the largest of all five and has two distinct parts. After you get off at the train and reach the waterfront, if you turn right, you head towards the new part of town that mostly comprises resorts, hotels and restaurants and is relatively modern. If you turn left, you have to gain some elevation and pass through a tunnel during your walk to reach the old town. That's what we chose to do first. After emerging from the tunnel, you see a lookout point with benches on the cliff and if you walk a few steps further, you arrive at the cosy town square.

Three streets emerge from the square so we explored them one by one. The Main Street or Via Roma has the most activity and allows cars whereas the quieter ones are pedestrian only and transport you back in time. The restaurants, cafes and shops are all operated by locals and despite offering a modern dining experience, they somehow manage to retain their old world charm. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch and had bruschetta for appetizer and then pasta for our main course - Samia got the mushroom ravioli and I got the tagliolini pasta with crab. Then we continued our walk and also quickly toured a couple of churches from the inside. We stopped to take a break at a cafe where I had a latte and we shared a coconut and honey flavored gelato.

Then we sat at one of the benches at the lookout point for about half an hour, getting mesmerized by the rising and falling waves of a very turbulent sea. We had overheard other tourists earlier in the day that the sea was much more rough than usual and so the ferry service (that also connects the five towns as an alternative to the train) wasn't running. The sound of the high waves splashing against the shore, the distant sight of a blue-green sea meeting the horizon and the remains of a towering old castle on a neighboring cliff makes you wonder how it would've been like in the Middle Ages when the guards atop the castle towers would warn the townsfolk if they spotted Turkish pirates. There are better safety measures today in the form of railings and breakwaters but the sea, the waves, the cliffs and the stones at the shore would have been the same all those centuries ago. It was energizing to sit in the sun on a breezy day while we contemplated the past.

After our "bench meditation" session, we walked back through the tunnel and past the train station to the new town. It seemed much more commercial than the old town in the sense that it had banks and ATMs and of course the train station,but still you couldn't spot any food chains and the buildings were the same pastel colors as the old town so it very much felt a part of Cinque Terre. Another local staple is the focaccia bread. We pronounce it fo-kay-she-a in North America but the Italians call it fo-ka-chia. We then quickly grabbed a pesto focaccia bread to a snack and boarded the train back to Riomaggiore. Pesto and focaccia bread are both quite salty individually so their combination was a bit too much and we couldn't have more than a few bites. When we got off in Riomaggiore, while getting water bottles from our breakfast cafe, I spotted Nutella focaccia bread so I got that to balance the salt overload of the pesto focaccia.

We rested for about an hour in our room before heading out again. We decided to explore the streets of Riomaggiore before we were hungry enough for dinner. Riomaggiore is much more hilly than Monterosso so we covered a lot less distance and had to go much slower to counter the steeply rising streets. Perhaps it was the evening time or the fact that Riomaggiore is a smaller town but it was much quieter and much more peaceful. We window shopped and explored a couple of streets before we had built enough appetite for dinner. This time we decided to try another of our host's recommendations.

The restaurant turned out to be even better than the one where we had dinner yesterday. We shared trofie al pesto and almond crusted scallops for appetizers and then shared a phenomenally fresh thin-crust tomato and mushroom pizza. The meal got even better once we had our dessert - penna cotta with caramel - it's like a soft custard that was delicious. After another great meal in this land of food lovers, we walked back to our room and are going to call it a night. Take care till the next update!

Italy Diaries - Day 4 - Lake Como to Cinque Terre

We didn't sleep too well last night since the bed was a bit uncomfortable and on the harder side. We were up at 6 am but remained in bed till 7 am, trying to fall back asleep unsuccessfully. We got ready and left the apartment at 8 am, dropping off our suitcases with the hotel luggage storage.

Breakfast wasn't included in our apartment stay so we stopped at a cafe and had scrambled eggs and croissants. I had a latte as well. Then we leisurely walked, with lots of photo stops along the waterfront, to the Villa Melzi Gardens that were supposed to open at 9:30 am. We got there at 9:15 am and waited outside the gate. The person who was supposed to open the gates saw us waiting and let us in 5 minutes before the opening time! There was no one in the gardens at that time so our walk was even more peaceful.

The gardens are part of the Villa Melzi that's located along the Lake Como waterfront, similar to our hotel Villa Serbelloni. There are various gravel walkways at the "ground level" and cobblestone pathways along the hilly green spaces on the side opposite to the waterfront. There were different types of green trees lining the walkways, a couple of bridges over mini water canals/ponds and some statues, most of them next to the villa. There were flowers of various colors - I spotted red, purple and white. The gardens are very nice and super peaceful but perhaps the best part is the view of Lake Como with the town of Menaggio to be seen in the distance on the other side of the huge lake at the base of mountains covered in green. The view was very similar to the one that we got yesterday from the bench in the gardens of our hotel and you could catch a glimpse of the Swiss Alps too, although they appeared closer from yesterday's vantage point.

Once we had reached the villa, we turned back and were out by 10:10 am. We walked back to the ferry terminal where Samia decided to rest on a bench by the waterfront to take in more of the serene lake view. I walked back to our hotel and picked up our suitcases and then joined Samia at the ferry terminal. Our ferry arrived at the Bellagio dock on time at 10:50 am and after another breezy ride over magnificent Lake Como, we arrived in Varenna at 11:10 am. We shared a thin-crust cheese pizza at a boat-themed cafe across the ferry terminal and then walked our way to the Varenna train station.

The first train took us from Varenna to Milano Centrale in exactly one hour. Our compartment didn't have air conditioning so it reminded us of warm summer rides from school to home in Pakistan where the combination of outdoor heat and sitting in a shade makes you sleepy. Both of us had quick 15-20 minute power naps before reaching Milan. At Milano Centrale, we changed platforms and bought orange juice from the vending machine to freshen up. The next train ride to Levanto was almost three hours and was way more comfortable since we had air conditioning and bigger seats. During the ride, we bought chips from the snacks trolley for munching, then Samia got some sleep while I wrote part of this update and then read a couple of chapters of the first Game of Thrones book. In Levanto, we changed trains to catch a 20 minute ride to our final destination of the day, Riomaggiore and reached there around 5:30 pm.

Riomaggiore is the eastern-most of the 5 towns that make up the Cinque Terre region (pronounced Chinkua-Tayray) along the Italian Riviera. Cinque Terre means "the five lands". All five of them have distinct dialects and slightly different cultures but they all share the common geography of being hilly towns next to the Italian Riviera. The characteristically colored yellow, pink, green and blue houses nestled next to the Ligurian Sea are a magical sight. We'll be staying in this region for three nights and for the very first time, we've booked lodging through Airbnb which is a service that allows regular people to list their apartments and houses as vacation rental spaces. We have been communicating with the owner of our temporary apartment since January and Sandro and his cousins have proven to be extremely helpful. It's like having a friend who is a local of Cinque Terre so we plan on using his local knowledge to make our stay more authentic. Sandro's cousin Colette met us at the Riomaggiore train station and helped us with carrying our bags to the room which is almost right next to the train station. We got some dinner recommendations from her as well. We also met Sandro's brother Andrea when we asked for something else a little while later. It's a very cosy and comfortable room that has a pretty big terrace overlooking the town. The room has all the basic amenities you hope to find in a professional hotel. So far we are extremely pleased with our first Airbnb experience!

We rested in our room for a little while and then headed down to the town for dinner. We explored the marina area for a bit before heading to one of the recommended restaurants. We had salt-cured anchovies fish for appetizer, Ligurian trofie al pesto pasta for Samia and mixed seafood spaghetti pasta for me. The Liguria province (where Cinque Terre is located) is where pesto was invented and the trofie pasta is native to Cinque Terre so the Ligurian trofie al pesto pasta is a truly local dish. We had creme brûlée and a slice of peanut lemon pie to cap off our meal and then walked back to our hotel. Our plan was to buy some stuff for midnight snacking from the local grocery store next to the restaurant but it was closed by the time we were done with dinner. Now we're sitting on our terrace while it gradually gets dark - I'm finishing this update and Samia is browsing on her phone. We're going to do some research to finalize what to do in our two upcoming days in Cinque Terre and then we'll call it a night. Till tomorrow's update, take care and goodbye!

Italy Diaries - Day 3 - Lake Como

We woke up a little after 8:30 am and had our hotel's complimentary breakfast. We were in no rush so took out time to get ready. Then we packed our bags and checked out of our hotel around 11:30 am. We took the metro subway train to the Milan Central train and then bought tickets to Varenna. The next train was scheduled to depart at 1:20 pm so we had desserts at a cafe. I had a tiramisu and a latte while Samia had a bowl of fruits. The train was on time and after a one hour train ride, we were in Varenna.

Varenna is one of the towns on the edge of Lake Como. It's one of the larger lakes in the Italian Lake District which is an area south of the Swiss Alps mountain range and about 30 kilometers away from the border of Switzerland to its north. We walked to the ferry terminal of Varenna and bought tickets for the next ferry to Bellagio, another town on Lake Como that'll be our base camp for our short stay here. There was some comical confusion in identifying the correct ferry since the ferry that arrived right before the ferry to Bellagio was going to the town of Menaggio! Every person standing at the dock waiting for their ferry asked about the name of the destination town. The poor ticket checker resorted to shouting "Menaggio with an M" after at least two dozen people had interrogated him. We can easily imagine that happening every day and it makes you wonder why aren't the names not changed to make them a little easier to identify! Oh well, the ferry arrived at 3:10 pm and we reached Bellagio (with a B) after about half an hour.

The lake is gorgeous with clear blue water that sparkled in the bright sunlight of a warm day with a backdrop of lush green mountains and snow capped peaks of the Swiss Alps. Our ferry ride was refreshing with a cool breeze providing much needed relief on a warm summer day. The town of Bellagio is famous for its villas with flowery gardens that are so picturesque that people take tours through them. It's also famous for being the location where a great many Hollywood movies have been filmed and is home to a villa owned by George Clooney. Another claim to fame is that the hotel Bellagio in Las Vegas gets its name from this town and its architecture is inspired by the villas of this Italian Lake District town.

We made a strategic mistake in deciding to bring our bags with us and staying overnight in Bellagio. In retrospect, we should've either done a day trip from Milan by leaving early or we should've rented a car and driven here. The train/ferry combo actually takes longer because unlike the highway, it's not a direct route. The warm weather and having to lug two big suitcases up and down stairs at each subway/ferry station is not worth the effort unless you're planning on staying in Bellagio for two or three days. Even in that case, driving is probably a better idea. Our one day stay will probably not give us enough time to do justice to this breathtaking town.

We are staying at the most recognizable hotel in town that is actually a villa itself with beautiful gardens and winding roads. We are staying at one of the apartments in the residence of the hotel which is in a building farther removed from the main hotel building. Our apartment has a living room and a kitchenette in addition to the usual bedroom and washroom. After checking in and resting in our room for a little while, we headed out for a stroll around 6:30 pm. The temperature had gone down by this time and the weather was just perfect. We walked through the peaceful gardens of our hotel and sat at a bench by the lake to marvel at the scene - the blue water with the sound of splashing waves, the chirping birds, the backdrop of the green mountains, the outline of the Swiss Alps, the distant hum of the engine of ferry boats - it was one of those moments in life that live in your memory forever. We continued walking through our hotel's gardens and then stopped at our hotel's concierge desk to get dinner recommendations. After we had picked our restaurant, we walked to its location in the town center.

Dinner was splendid. We had mashed potatoes topped with mushrooms and French onion soup for appetizer. Our main entrees were Basa fish for Samia and chicken in tarragon sauce for me. We finished off the meal with apple crumble for dessert. Every dish was made fresh so dinner was an elaborate affair that took about two hours! Food in Italy is one of the major highlight of the country for foodies like us - the people love their food and any city or town you go to, they always have fresh and local ingredients.

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel and enjoyed a live musical performance of violin and piano specially arranged for the entertainment of hotel guests. Then we got back to the apartment and are going to call it a night now. We will try to wake up early to possibly visit the best garden in Bellagio before we leave the Italian Lake District to travel south to the Italian Riviera, specifically the Cinque Terre region. Tomorrow will be another day with a lot of transit time before our itinerary starts slowing down. You'll find all about that in the next update. Till then, take care!

Italy Diaries - Day 2 - Milan

I woke up early around 6:30 am to find out that Samia had been up since 4 am. Despite sleeping late the night before, we were quite well rested, thanks to the nap in the previous evening. We headed down to have the complimentary breakfast offered by our hotel. It was a good spread from tasty scrambled eggs to cereal to fruit to croissants of all sorts. We had a hearty breakfast, went up to our room to get ready and then left for exploring Milan.

Our first stop was the Santa Maria della Grazie church. Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting "The Last Supper" is housed in the building next to the church. Tickets to see the painting sell out fast so we had made reservations in advance through the extremely efficient Visa Infinite Concierge service. The church wasn't too far from our hotel and we were there after a 15 minute walk. After passing through a couple of dehumidification chambers, we finally entered the building that houses the masterpiece on a wall. The building used to serve as the dining hall and it was customary in the Middle Ages to have The Last Supper painting in dining rooms. Leonardo da Vinci took four years to paint it and instead of portraying the usual Last Supper scene where Jesus is sharing bread with his twelve apostles after telling them that one of them will betray him, Leonardo da Vinci decided to paint the moment before the bread sharing. The painting is a master work depicting the psychology of that moment. Jesus is sitting in the middle with a hint of sadness in his eyes. The twelve apostles are grouped in groups of three and each of them has a different reaction to the news. Judas is the only one facing away from the observer. The painting uses symmetrical lines to create a perspective where the observer is drawn towards the center of the painting to Jesus' forehead. The lighting used in the painting takes into consideration the actual natural light coming in that room through the windows so it feels like a part of the room. Leonardo da Vinci experimented with a new "dry" technique using water colors so that he could have more time to decide how he wants to paint and make changes. The downside of this technique was that the painting started deteriorating just a few years after its completion. The painting went through several restoration attempts where the original work was painted over. The final restoration started in 1977 and finished after 22 years in 1999. The painting is in extremely fragile condition so it's kept in a very carefully regulated environment. There is another painting depicting the crucifixion of Jesus on the opposite wall that uses the more prevalent fresco style. It was painted only a few years after The Last Supper by another artist but is in impeccable condition. After exiting the room, we quickly checked out the adjoining church and then walked back to the metro station next to our hotel.

We took the metro subway train to our second stop of the day - the Duomo Milano or the Milan Cathedral. The cathedral has an imposing outer facade of white marble with scores of statues and high spires. There was a huge lineup so we waited for about 90 minutes in line before we were inside. It was worth the wait though. The cathedral is extremely grand inside with giant columns and ornate colorful marble floors. Bisecting the main nave is the transept that is flanked on both sides by chapels decorated with polychrome marble. The most unusual statue in the cathedral is that of Saint Bartholomew that depicts his body post-torture with his skin flayed from his flesh and cast about his neck like a cape. The statue shows all the muscles of his body in intricate detail. It was carved by one of Leonardo da Vinci's students who was inspired by the master's passion for human anatomy. The stained glass windows inside the cathedral are very impressive and thought to be the tallest and grandest in Christendom. Then we went downstairs to the crypt and then took the elevator to the rooftop. The rooftop is lined with roomy terraces where you can walk and see the gargoyles and spires adorning the cathedral facade. After a treacherous climb of winding stairs, we reached the rooftop where atop a tower is a golden statue of Madonna. We sat there for a few minutes to rest and then made our way down using the elevator.

Our third stop of the day was the Galleria Vittoria Emanuel which is a stone's throw away from the cathedral in the same piazza. This impressive building is actually a mall with covered glass ceiling and is the shape of a square cross with a handful shops of high end brands lining the arms of the cross. The floors are made of ornate marble. This gallery was built by the people of Milan to celebrate the unification of Italy and is named in honor of the first king of united Italy, Victor Emanuel the second. It was a hot day and we found respite in the shade of the gallery before making our way to a sandwich shop a couple of blocks away. I had a roast chicken sandwich and Samia had a vegetarian sandwich. Then we walked to our next stop of the day.

A couple of blocks from the gallery is the more than 200 years old opera theater called Teatro Alla Scalla. We took a tour of the museum housed inside the opera theater that also gave us a chance to see the stage and the seating area. The theater is one of the finest opera houses in the world but it's grandeur is not quite the same as the Opera House in Vienna that we visited last year. The museum was interesting as artifacts and musical instruments used in different opera plays of the past were on display. After the tour of the theater and its museum, we took a dessert break at the Cafe of the theater. We shared a strawberry cheesecake and I also had a latte. Then we took the metro back to our hotel for a mid-afternoon siesta. We napped for about three hours.

We had made dinner reservations in the Navigli area which is around the Navigli canal. We took the metro and with a little bit of effort, found our restaurant. It was a very charming restaurant with excellent service bearing the same name as the square in which it is located - Piazza Sant'Eustorgio. We had lightly fried Sienese vegetables for starters - there were potatoes, zucchini, yams and eggplants. The frying was so light that you could taste the distinct flavor of each vegetable. Then we had our main course - juicy grilled beef steak for me and fried veal cutlet topped with cherry tomatoes and tatsoi leaves for Samia. The veal cutlet is a Milanese specialty and is called "Elephant's Ear". After the excellent main courses, we shared a cheesecake to finish off the meal.

After dinner, we walked around the area, only stopping to get mango flavored gelato ice cream. Then we boarded a tram to the Duomo area which passed through the clubbing district. We saw the white marble exterior of the Duomo glowing magnificently in the dark of the night and then took the metro subway to the stop next to our hotel. Our hotel is opposite an old castle called Castello Sforzesco which was the only thing left on our list so we decided to stroll towards it. We sat at a fountain that's at the base of the castle to savor the misty fresh air. After relaxing for a few minutes, we walked back to our hotel and went to bed to end our Milan sightseeing day. Despite going slow and taking frequent breaks, it turned out that we had walked over 14 kilometers in the day but thanks to the nap, it didn't feel too tiring. Milan has pleasantly exceeded our expectations and our trip is off to a great start. We'll go to the Italian Lake District tomorrow. Till then, take care and goodbye!

Italy Diaries - Day 1 - Calgary to Milan

We left our home in Calgary at 3:50 pm on Wednesday. Sarim gave us a ride to the airport. On our way, we stopped to buy a few last minute things. We experimented with a shorter route but google maps tried to use a non-existing road for the shorter route so it ended up taking us an extra ten minutes to the airport but we were still well in time for our flight and dropped off our bags by 5 pm. Our flight was at 6:35 pm and took off on time. It was a direct flight to London's Gatwick airport. It's a new trans-Atlantic service started by Canada's second largest airline WestJet. It's a relatively cheaper airline and you don't have to wait long after boarding the plane to find out the reason - they don't offer complimentary meals, only paid ones and there's no entertainment system but you can rent tablets to watch movies or TV shows. The saving grace is that at least they have charging plugs in front of every seat so we were able to fully charge our phones. Samia used the WestJet app to watch a movie on her phone and I read a book about Pakistan's cricket history. We knew about the airlines not offering complimentary meals so had purchased a couple of chicken wraps at the airport gate before boarding. Half way during the flight, we also purchased a couple of meals for dinner - chicken tarragon for me and cheese cannelloni for Samia.

It was a relatively uneventful flight except for the lady sitting in the seat in front of us, the emergency exit seat incidentally, getting so drunk to overcome her fear of flying that she started crying and then had to be escorted to another seat. For a few minutes, when she was crying, we were terrified that if she has a panic attack, she might try to open the emergency exit door to escape! The short lived drama finally ended with her seat being changed. After that, we were able to get some shut eye time too and since we had made sure that we got up and walked every couple of hours, we didn't feel too tired after the 8.5 hours flight.

Immigration was smooth at the London Gatwick airport and after collecting our bags, we took a train shuttle to the South terminal to catch our next flight to Milan. We had made a few Kabab sandwiches at home before leaving Calgary and had one before the flight. The flight was delayed by about 15 minutes because of a labour strike in France that had resulted in all flights flying over French airspace being affected since their air traffic controllers were also on strike. Our pilot took a different route to avoid flying over French airspace so because of the longer route and leaving 15 minutes late, our flight landed in Milan around 4:30 pm local time, about half an hour later than the scheduled time.

Samia and I both fell asleep in the plane even before take off and kept sleeping straight through the two hour flight. After passing immigration and collecting our bags, we took a cab to our hotel and were in our room before 6 pm. Our hotel is located centrally and all the attractions that we want to explore in Milan are either within walking distance or a short one or two stop metro ride away. We napped for a couple of hours and then woke up around 9:15 pm. We walked to the Brera area that isn't too far from our hotel and had gelato ice cream at a geleteria recommended by our hotel reception. The Brera area is quiet except for the bars and restaurants where people were enjoying their evenings. We spotted a so-called "Disco Tram" in Brera that had music blasting full volume with neon lights illuminating the dancing passengers. Quite an interesting concept! After having our gelato, we felt hungry for real food and stopped at a restaurant. We had tomato soup with basil and a thin-crust pizza with pumpkin, zucchini and eggplant toppings. It was a refreshing yet filling meal and a satisfying end to a day that started in Calgary and ended in Milan. We walked back to our hotel and went to bed a little after midnight. Tomorrow's going to a busy day with lots of Milan sightseeing.

Some first impressions of Milan: They say that for every church in Rome, there's a bank in Milan. You do see a lot of banks in Milan. Through Italy's history, Milanese banks and Milan have played an important role in shaping the country. The unification of the country in 1871 was spearheaded by Milan. Milan has the feel of a modern big city, unlike the ancient vibe of Rome. There are slot more nicer cars in Milan as compared to Rome. The people are well dressed, fashion conscious, fast talking, no-nonsense Italians who still love to enjoy life but also work hard. It's the industriousness of Milan that has powered Italy to the 10th largest economy in the world, by GDP. Milan may have a modern vibe but it is still a very old city with a wealth of history. We will see some major historical icons of this Northern Italian city tomorrow. Till then, take care and good night!