In the summer of 2007, I (along with 2 girlfriends) took an amazing trip to Italy. We started the trip in Milan, ended the trip in Venice, and made our way to Florence, Pisa, Rome, and Ischia along the way. The country is so beautiful and so rich in history and culture. Here is a journal of our journey, through pictures.
We started our travels in Milan. The airport was small and and Milan, in general, was a great place to start our travels. The city was relatively easy to navigate and we had an amazing hostel owner at the place we stayed. He spoke English, he gave us advice, and had breakfast waiting outside our door every morning. There aren’t too many worthwhile pictures of Milan, mostly just pictures with me and my friends. Imagine Milan as a giant shopping city with many designer stores, and a large piazza and duomos. The following is a photo of the piazza in Milan:
After spending a few days in Milan, we traveled by train to Florence. Florence, by far, was our favorite destination of the entire trip. Florence is a beautiful city, full of culture. We were able to walk everywhere, and the food was incredible–especially since the food in Milan was at best, so-so. The city is not a party city by any means. You are lucky to find a sleepy pub or outside bar. Alas, partying is not the reason to go to Florence! There is so much more to see. Some things we were not able to photograph. The famous statue of David is impressive and a gorgeous statue, but photography is not permitted. There were plenty of other photographs to take!
A view of the city of Florence:
The Arno River separates the city of Florence into two areas. It is absolutely gorgeous at sunset.
While in Florence, we took a day trip to Pisa, home of the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is absolutely an amazing sight!
After we visited Florence and Pisa, we made our way to Rome. Rome is a beautiful city, but a much bigger place than we had visited before in Italy. The city is expansive, with so much to see! Our hostel was quite scary, so we ended up having to spend MUCH more at a hotel, but its location was amazing! We were one block away from the Colloseum and a wonderful outdoor concert arena was directly across from our hotel; we could hear plays and singing outside our window.
The Colloseum, exterior view (top) and interior view (bottom):
We also visited the Spanish Steps (top) and the Trevi Fountain (bottom). They are incredible, but very crowded, and also a hot bed of pick pocketers.
The most impressive part of Rome is Vatican City. It is beautiful and has the best gelato in Italy!
St. Peter’s Cathedral (exterior on top) and La Pieta, located in St. Peter’s (bottom):
Rome was an amazing city, and we had such a great time. The next stop on our “Tour of Italy” was Ischia, by way of Naples. Naples scared us. We were warned of the men that would follow American tourists (specifically women) once they arrived in Naples, and so we were quite cautious. Luckily, our time in Naples was not extensive…we simply had to catch a ferry to take us to the beautiful island of Ischia. The weather was hot! We had an uncomfortable wait until the ferry was ready. Once on the ferry, we took full advantage of the cool breezes!
Views from the ferry and of Ischia:
After the hustle and bustle of the previous cities, Ischia was a wonderful change. The weather was beautiful, the beaches were hot, the food was wonderful (I still have dreams of fresh mozzarella and homemade wine), and most of all–the people were friendly!
We were sad to leave Ischia, but for the last stop on our trip, we headed to Venice! Venice is the most scenic of all of the cities we visited. The weather was a bit chilly, but we were much farther north than the previous stops on our tour. The food returned to so-so varieties, and Venice was VERY expensive, but the views were completely worth it!
We also went on a search for Piazza San Marco, which was located at the end of a series of alley ways. We finally used local directions to find our way:
Once we found it, we were amazed. Covered in pigeons, the square was large and impressive. We spent time at the Cathedral of San Marco and the bell tower. The wind at the top of the bell tower was strong!
And these were my travel mates!
