During my recent Europe trip in August with my family, I managed to squeeze in a short 5night trip to Italy with my close Buddies. We travelled to Rome from Basel , Switzerland by air.
Upon reaching the Rome airport, we were considering whether to reach Roma termini, by bus or train. And eventually decided to take the shuttle Bas which was way cheaper than the train. It took about 45mins to reach Termini from airport.we have booked our hotels for the Italian trip via Booking.com. Our hotel Fillippo was located about 10mins walk from the Termini. Once we were out of Termini, we were a little surprised to see the scene outside, which seemed a little ‘Bronxed’, if you know what i mean. It was not so clean and not many locals to be seen as well.
We quickly dragged our luggage and looked at the direction to reach our hotel. It was not easy to find as all the buildings and streets looked identical. Finally we called the hotel manager and managed to reach the hotel safely. Hotel was new, clean and modern. Water pressure wasn’t too good, seems to be a problem all over Rome. Had stable WIFI. Then off we went looking for a nice restaurant for dinner for some authentic Italian food. We found a Pizzeria called Girarrosto which had some decent Italian diners. Excellent wine and pasta!
The next day, we started off the day heading to the Vatican City. We went to Roma Termini to take a Bus. We arrived quite early at about 9 am and was approached by a free lance tour company. We engaged the tour agent to take us around on a guided tour for 2 hours. The tour is worthwhile only if you are keen to learn about Vatican and its beginnings. Otherwise you can always opt for free and easy without any guide.
It was almost 12.30pm when we finished , the we hoped on another bus to go to Colloseum. It was getting really hot by now and you can really feel you skin burning. We were lucky the queue to enter was not too long, and soon enough we bought our tickets for free and easy and went inside.
after all the picture taking activities..it was time to move on…
Next was Spanish Step, a set of steps in Rome, Italy, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church at the top...unfortunately this year, most of the water fountains (Trevi too) are on maintenance. Sob Sob…anyways, some pictures for you…
It seems to be the place where the locals as well as the tourist are chilling out in the evening, with a nice cup of gelato
We found this nice restaurant called Numbs near the Spanish Steps to have dinner… simply delicious!!
Next morning, we spent almost half a day shopping around in Rome….and in the evening we departed to Florence…
We arrived in Florence Santa Maria Novella train station at about 8pm, checked into hotel Fiorita.
Mr Guissipe at the Reception was super nice to talk to us about what we should do in Florence, where to eat, shop etc. etc.
He recommended the below place Mercato Central for dinner. Its pricey but of top quality.
Unfortunately we couldn’t find a place to sit down, it was super crowded. sadly we looked for another restaurant in the area and found a Pizzeria , which is also on the Trip Advisor’s recommendation.
Since we had too much planned in the next day, its time to end the day.
We woke up super early and decided to skip the shower, had breakfast and rushed to take the first train to PISA! I was super excited. The train ride is roughly about 50 mins to Pisa Centrale. Once you arrive, buy the bus ticket to PISA at the station and go out to look for the bus.
After a short bus ride about 20mins, we reached finally….it was an amazing feeling to finally see the Leaning Tower.
There are scheduled timing for the climb up the tower, but it was be a long wait. We decided to skip this.
Once we were done with our Photography session at PISA, we took the train back to Florence. Had a quick stroll and decided to do some shopping. We headed to the Barbarino designer outlet which is located outside of Florence, on the way to Tuscany.
There is a convenient daily shuttle service connecting the city of Florence to Barberino Designer Outlet in just 30 minutes.
It packed with many designer brands, Michael Kors, Nike, Prada, Puma blah blah. Well i paid nearly Euro 20 for this trip, but for me the price wasn’t really a bargain. It was the same as Malaysia. Anyways, it was good experience- Now you know.
The place was filled with the Locals, i guess its cheaper to buy off season items here for them.
By the way, when you shop in Florence, got to be careful of street hawkers.
Do not buy any knockoff goods from any of the hawkers plying their fake Prada (or any other high-end designer) on the streets. It's illegal, and fines are astronomical
if the police happen to catch you. (You pay the fine, not the vendor.)
We got back to Florence after some minor shopping….yeah i say soo
The Ponte Vecchio is one of Florence’s landmarks and probably the most photographed bridge in the city. This is a must visit place in Florence. It feels sooo romantic to be here, much more than being in Paris. Trust me, its for real.
This beautiful open piazza is just in front of the Palazzo Vecchio and it’s surrounded by different statues: a “David”replica and many others. In the squares you will also find a great number of restaurants and bars ;). Just sit down on the steps of the Loggia or in a bar, and admire the beauty of this square!
Next to end the amazing day, on recommendation of the Hotel, we dined at this amazing restaurant with the view of the Arno river. This is what i call a day well spent. One of the best food i have ever had in my life!
Our last stop in our Itinerary..VENICE..ting! Florence to Venice on Trenitalia’s high-speed Frecciargento train, is by far the easiest way to get between these two Tuscan gems. Trains depart from Santa Maria Novella station in Florence every hour, for the 2-hour train ride to Venice. We arrived in Venice early morning via train from Florence. The Grand Canal welcomes you as you step out of the train station.Water water water and waterbus everywhere of course. We quickly located the Waterbus station and boarded the bus and headed to the stop nearest to our hotel. Hotel Bel Sito is located just 100 meters from the Giglio water station. Location was fantastic. The hotel reception was very helpful with informations and also helped to keep our luggage as the room was not ready.
Its was scorching hot and there were many people doing their Gondola rides..unbelievable!! we decided to check in to our Hotel Bel Sito and schedule for a ride at 4pm. The evening rides which is after 6pm is very expensive.
We did our ride with another couple. The cost per person was about Euro 29 for a 30 minutes ride.
Venice was really crowded when we were there. While waiting we spent a good deal of our time shopping, of course.
Italy was on sale and it was all worth it. If you want to shop this is the time. Great place to shop for leather stuff, shoes, jackets, bags etc. I had to buy an extra luggage just to store my shopping items.
San Marco is the heart of Venice. Some nice photo opportunities…
Finally, a small advice for the shopaholics like me(ting!), the best way is to fly in and out of Italy. This is good if you want to claim the tax refund. If you travel by train into Italy from another country, it will a mission impossible to get the customs' stamp. Although by luck, we managed to do it in 3 MINUTES at Chiasso where the train stops for 3minutes!!! This is the stop just before the train crosses the Switzerland border. If you miss this train, you have to wait for the next one which is another 2 hours away, and that too no guarantee you will get a seat on the next train. You may have to stand all the way to the next destination.
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