Tour of TUSCANY - a day trip from Florence

We had managed to do a day tour of the much written about Tuscany region through Walkabout Florence. The intention being to get an essential experience of the region and the tour helped accomplish just that.

We toured Siena, San Gimignano and Pisa along with lunch at an organic vineyard. All three were beautiful little towns, but unfortunately very heavily touristed again. 

Being Wednesday the day we visited, it was the market day of Siena and we got a glimpse of the local life, as the locals purchased fresh produce of fruits, vegetables, meat and fish. Also, street food and garments were on display to attract both locals and tourists.

But one thing we noticed was that there were no new buildings, skyscrapers or complexes. Locals still preferred to go traditional by visiting the weekly market for their supply of groceries.

We saw the oldest surviving bank of the world called Monte dei Paschi di Siena with several branches across Italy even now. 

Monte dei Paschi di Siena Bank

A unique feature of the city was that it was divided into 17 contrades (neighbourhoods) each practically self-sufficient with a mayor, church, museum, fountain and even a flag and their distinctive colours. As we walked from one neighbourhood to the next, we could see that even the street lamps took colours of the respective contrade it was located in.  

Mobile photograph depicting the colors of the "Caterpillar" neighborhood

Our local guide explained that the concept of contrade was taken very seriously such that when a child is born, the contrade is decided depending upon the mother’s / father’s or contrade in which the child is born, post which even a civil baptism is conducted by the mayor and this just as your mother/father could never be changed during your life. There were extreme rivalries between certain contrades which got extremely serious during Palio, the annual horse race event. During Palio occurring on  July 2 and August 16 for which preparations take place throughout the year on the main Piazza del Campo, a beautiful shell shaped square, infact one of the most beautiful I had seen during our trip.

We were also taken to the famous Siena cathedral, which had extraordinary work both on the exterior and interior with its exemplary façade, beautiful mosaic, exquisite stained glass windows, striking sculptures by Donatello, Bernini and Michelangelo including a self–portrait for one of the work. The central symbolic colours of black and white marble were found across the church.

Third and Final Stop in Our Italian Vacation- AMALFI COAST

Last but certainly not the least was the picturesque Amalfi Coast located in the south of the country.

We boarded the high-speed train from Rome to Naples Central , where we had arranged for a private transfer to Sorrento from Di Nocera Car Service.

Our chauffeur cum guide, Paulo described the various sights during the one hour journey to Sorrento, our base for the next two days. Naples was truly an urban jungle and it was the first time that we had seen modern buildings since our time in Italy. It somehow reminded me of Mumbai, with the bustling traffic, uniform apartments and the sight of laundry hanging in the balconies. Paulo also showed us the active volcano- Mt Vesuvius and told us that the highway we were travelling on, was built by Mussolini during the world war.

We were breath-taken with the first glimpse of the Amalfi coast with the azure blue Mediterranean sea and the stunning coastline.

We soon arrived at Sorrento, which was a small town but definitely far less touristy than Rome and Florence.

People generally seemed to be more relaxed, shops open for longer durations and during the night, it seems that like the entire town was one large party with street performers pulling funny pranks on passers-by, roads closed out to vehicles and pedestrians strutting around demonstrating the art of “passeggiata”.  One could notice young teenagers, honeymooning couples, families with kids and elderly people all relishing the slow pace of the city.

Lemons were found to be growing in abundance in this region due to which it was incorporated into almost every aspect of the local lives, such as food, drinks and even perfumes and soaps.

We stayed at a small B & B called Old Taverna Sorrentina, a family business including a gelateria run for more than three generations, a restaurant and a cooking school.

We also got to spend some time with the owners where they explained that these days it was not easy run the business and we could see them wooing the passing tourists with free samples and inviting them to the gelateria. The main owner who also was the chef- William could be heard saying cheesy comments- “One spoon will not make you fat”. And as we bade him goodnight, he wished -“Go to bed, but not to sleep.”

We had signed up for a private tour of the Amalfi Coast again through Di Nocera and we were pleasantly surprised when we were met by Paulo again.

The landscape was pretty as a picture with white yachts dotting the blue seas, colorful buildings on the coastline, dome shaped churches and multi-coloured umbrellas on the beaches.

Second Stop in Our Italian Vacation- ROME

Next Stop - Rome, the capital city of Italy.

We arrived at the bustling Roma termini station and boarded the taxi to our hotel. As we navigated through the city, we could clearly sense the rich history amidst this busy modern city. We came across beautiful churches, magnificent buildings, immense traffic and tourists galore.

We soon arrived at our hotel- Hotel Navona Colours in the Pantheon/ Piazza Navona neighbourhood. A lovely modern boutique hotel with all necessary amenities such as air conditioning, wifi, complimentary breakfast and located in the heart of the city, an ideal location I thought.

For our first night in the capital, we had signed up for a food tour and it truly was the best way to experience the culture and the food of this great city. It was that good that I had to dedicate one sole post to it and you can read about it here.

Next morning, we had charted out a visit to the Colosseum along with the side sights such as the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill. It was a bright, sunny, hot day. We quickly purchased our combined tickets at the nearby Forum rather than the Colosseum, a smart idea from the Rick Steves guide book and first visited the ruins with the help of the audio guide again from Rick Steves (No, I am not his brand ambassador, incase you were thinking :)  )

The whole experience of visiting the spectacular structures from more than 2000 years ago and imagining the city in its full grandeur picturing the great Roman emperors such as Nero, Julius Caesar walking through the city was truly enriching. We also saw the spot where Julius Caesar was cremated among several other sights. Unfortunately the maze like pathways and the heat played spoilsport and we decided to visit the Colosseum the following day, considering the tickets were valid for two days.

We then boarded the efficient but crowded metro to the Vatican and headed straight to a pizzeria suggested by our guide from the food tour- Alice. It was a small cafeteria like restaurant serving around 15 types of pizzas with various toppings and all priced al taglio (by weight). We chose the classic Neapolitan , 4 cheese-mushroom, Ham-broccoli and a potato pizza. The Neapolitan pizza was surely the best I had eaten during the trip with the super crunchy crust and the fresh tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella. It looked so beautiful and tasted even better. We were surely in food heaven. But due to lack of time for our Vatican guided tour, our hunger and the heat, we did not manage to click any photographs.

Next stop, the Vatican, which is the world’s smallest country with a mere area of 110 acres.

The Vatican museums housing some of the largest art collection in the world are further divided into 54 museums of which in 4 hours, we managed to visit hardly a few.

The art and sculpture found in each of these museums was impressive such as the Gallery of Tapestries, Gallery of Maps and a special mention has to be made to the notable painting known as School of Athens by Raphael in which were depicted practically almost great philosophers known till date such as Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Pythagoras and even self-portaits of Raphael and Michelangelo.

Laocoon

Ceilings inside the Vatican museums

School of Athens

Then at the end was the Sistine Chapel, which was undoubtedly Michelangelo’s magnum opus. We were given a brief description of the implication of this art work by our guide and about the labour, effort and time involved in creating this great piece of art. We were not allowed to take any photographs due to some copyright regulations.

We finished our Vatican visit at the St Peter’s Basilica, the largest Catholic church in the world where we also saw the Pieta by Michelangelo. What impressed me was that inspite of it being overly touristed, the Basilica invoked in me a devotion probably realizing the fact that I was standing in one of the greatest shrines of the Christian world.

Pieta by Michelangelo

A Memorable Food Tour in Rome

Little did we realize that when we signed up for the evening food tour conducted by Food Tours of Rome, that we were in a for a treat and for some of the best moments of our entire Italy trip.

As recommended by several others on TripAdvisor, we did the tour on our first evening in Rome. Owing to the tight travel schedule, we hadn’t got a chance to have a proper lunch and hence we were quite famished by 6 pm, the start time of the tour. It was planned to stop at around 7 restaurants over a span of 4 hours.

We were warmly greeted by the guide: Andrea who checked us in and got to understand our preferences / allergies. Our group consisted of a great mix of 13 people including a young British couple, a mother-daughter from the US, an Australian couple and an American theology student.

FIRST STOP

Pane Vino E San Daniele

Piazza Mattei

Food truly has the power to bond even the strangest of strangers as we all instantly connected and introduced ourselves over our first meal.

We were served with Antipasti (starters) – traditionally a mixed plate of cold cuts, meats, cheese vegetables among many other things.  Our guide explained that the dishes for this course primarily originated from the north of Italy –province of Friuli.

Some of the highlights were the soft creamy cow’s milk ricotta cheese and delicious buffalo milk pecorino cheese served with honey. The sweetness of the honey complemented the saltiness of the cheese so exquisitely that it seemed like match made in heaven.

We were also served with “Bruschetta” with an artichoke spread and mozzarella and polenta, a porridge like dish made from cornmeal served with walnuts/ venison to accommodate both vegetarians/non-vegetarians alike.

There was also a mixed plate of vegetables as well such as eggplant, sautéed broccoli and cabbage leaves. Though very simple, it gave us the feeling of dining in an traditional Italian household.

We were also offered an array of best of the cold cuts such as salami, prosciutto which accompanied the wines beautifully.

But hold on- this was just the first stop !

Next, we walked to the Jewish neighbourhood- Trastevere (literally translating into the other side of the Tiber river), where our guide showed us inscribed stones along the paths of the streets as shown in the picture below, with names of those who lived and went on to die during the Holocaust during World War II.

As he narrated, the images came alive into our minds where in the early morning one Saturday (day of the Sabbath), thousands of Jews were driven from their homes into the concentration camps where they died. Out of more than thousands who left this neighbourhood, only 14 people went on to survive. One of the survivors aged about 90 is still alive and when someone asked him, “How can you live in the same house where you witnessed the massacre of your family?” He replied that “I was born here and I will die here”.

Naturally, the influence of the Jewish culture influenced the cuisine of the region as well.

SECOND STOP

A small restaurant whose name I forgot to note :(

Trastevere

First Stop in Our Italian Vacation - FLORENCE

Florence, the birthplace of Renaissance and home to some of the greatest art, paintings and sculptures of the world was the first stop of our Italian holiday.

As we arrived at the Santa Maria Novella railway station and headed to our hotel, we were overwhelmed with the infinite number of tourists teeming on the Florentine streets and even more so by the hundreds of Chinese tourists that almost for a blink of an eye, we could easily trick ourselves to be in China and not Italy.

But of course the narrow alleys and the small streets having a quaint charm of its own reminded us instantly of where we actually where.

Our hotel- Hotel Alessandra was a family run set-up by a mother and son. We were warmly greeted at the doorsteps by Andrea (a male name in Italy). Inspite of arriving almost an hour prior to the check-in, they had our room ready and we were glad to settle in quickly after almost 12 hours of journey.

We were ravenous by lunchtime and Andrea gave us some suggestions of a nearby restaurant- Hostaria Il Desco. The restaurant was a small family-run restaurant by a elderly lady with stooping shoulders probably hitting 70, who I would like to call NONNA and her son(s).  It was a sheer joy to see a lady of her age buzzing with energy and enthusiasm as she literally ran from one end of the restaurant to the other attending to the guests, waiting on them, serving them food and bidding them farewell as one would deal with guests at one’s own home.

We soon gave into the Italian hospitality and realized that good service here was not about being quick and prompt, but allowing the customer to enjoy each course and conversation at a relaxed pace. Nobody would be rushing you or bringing your cheque without being asked to, in order to clear the table for the next party.

We slowly moved from one course to the other savouring each bite and especially the dessert. It was truly the best TIRAMISU that I had tasted during the entire trip.

Exploring Italy in the Summer of 2015

Almost nearing 5 years of marriage, the one thing I repeatedly kept nagging the husband (TH) was that we (just the two of us) never took a proper trip and no, Bahrain, Dubai, India trips didn’t count ! Finally, the wish materialized in the summer of 2015.

Of the many destinations in mind, we (rather I) finalized on Italy and as days passed, TH emphatically declared that I was suffering from acute OCD as I ate, slept, drank (not cricket) but Italy. I devoured my Rick Steves guidebook cover to cover, which by the way I would highly recommend to anyone planning a visit to Europe.

So then what seemed like after visa interviews, multiple “unsuccessful” fingerprinting attempts, numerous excel sheets and hundreds of hours of guidebook research, here we were in Italy. We (again rather I) chose three cities and stayed 2 nights at each of them. We landed in Rome (FCO) one hot day in the month of July, headed to Florence immediately subsequently to Rome and from there to Sorrento located in the south of the country.

So below you would find the links to the posts for each of the cities we stayed and some other practical information, which I thought, might be useful to anyone out there:

• Florence
• Tuscany
• Rome
• Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast
• Food Tour in Rome