Towards the end of July, my family and I visited Italy (mainly the cities of Rome, Pisa, & Florence). The time leading up to the visit weren't too great, so I am not going to dwell on them too much, but hovering over Rome, watching it approaching closer, bigger, and more in focus from the small plane window was more a sense of relief than of joy and excitement.
To describe Rome in a few words, or even in a mere paragraph is hard, but I shall try.
The city is ancient, not in the sense of being old, but more as an working and breathing antique shop, filled with treasures, dusted, maintained, and occupying a large importance in this world filled with tall glass towers.
To me it was European with its architecture, food, language, the laid back ease of life, and Asia with its large multicultural tourists, small Indian & Bangladeshi restaurants right outside the railway station, selling a poorer version of the Italian pizza, the homeless sleeping on the benches at a tram station, the rattling noises of the dusty dark green trams, the graffiti on walls, buses, trains, drug junkies asking for a cigarette from any passer by, and warnings from strangers and sign boards alike to be aware of pickpockets. It's similar to the clockwork cities of Budapest and Vienna, but still as interesting, unpredictable and fun as cities in India.
The nights are magical. The incandescent street lights give out a warm yellow light, and twinkle on the hard surface of the cobbled stone, while the pink, yellow and orange buildings nearby bask in them.
On the day we arrived, we took a train directly from the airport to the city central. As our hotel was said to be close to the station, we dragged our suitcases and walked around looking for our hotel. Most Italians hotels are apartments converted into one, so it is easy to miss out it's name in the list of residences and offices listed on the building. So we walked around for half an hour or so, till Google found us a fifth floor apartment, which turned out to be a part our hotel but not the one we booked, which was evidently across the road. (I would really like to thank Europe for letting us master the art of getting lost and and getting found, as we walked around with maps unlike most of our travels, where there has always been a hired car with a driver to show us around.)
Also, here's a photo of the elevator in the apartment we stayed,
It can be assumed that these were a recent addition, built in between the stairs, hence they were extremely narrow and claustrophobic.
Hence, I also chose not to use elevators throughout the duration of the trip.
We started sightseeing the evening itself, in those red double decker tour buses, which were very helpful in taking photos of the buildings at eye level, or a little closer to the tall ones, and watch the streets down below. Here are a few snaps,
There will be more photos from the Colosseum, the Vatican Museum, the Pantheon etc, but in the next post, as I felt they deserve a spotlight of their own.
The weather fluctuated between warm and hot, and was bright, but thankfully not humid.
But we had a fix to the heat,
Gelatooo! Creamy, milky, no ice, as fulfilling as a meal and so.many.flavours! It was next best option after water to cool down in the heat.
Other things my brother and I devoured (keeping a checklist at hand) - spaghetti, fettuccine, ravioli, calzones, square pizzas bought by the weight, and triangular ones, sometimes with a healthy dose of aubergine, which I didn't know was allowed on a pizza.
My brother tried espresso too, while I preferred to stick to the sweet variety of croissants, and buns stuffed with chocolate or berries with cream.
Part two coming soon!
Have a happy weekend!
