Savona

The sky at the pier gradually darkened as sunset, and the evilly delicious hazelnut delicacy.

La Spezia

.The sizzling T-bone "saved the day" after all the overly windy roads.

Camogli

An exemplar of the cute villages, or corner beaches as seen along the Italian Riviera

Genova

A theme park ride into the city along the port and the coast, an Italian version of Valparaiso, or a vague resemblance to home. A tint of elaborated grandeur, slightly worn-down yet self-assured like any good Italian city, each turn was a kind of a surprise. The glassball, the dinner outside with a HK family nearby, coffee outside. the staircase and the otherwise adorable breakfast room at the historic Palace know as Bristol.

Como

After the lukewarm (temperature) welcome by the basketball players (unexpected visual display to say the least) at Varese after a much struggled drive, Como might be just across the border but still unmistakably Italian somehow; Lago di Como, cafes on small piazzas "just round the corner", and Le Soste.

Naples

 

When someone asks, "I only have time to visit one country in Europe, where should I go?" I usually recommend Italy. It has so much to offer, and I definitely still have not gotten enough of it. The birthplace of pizzas, Naples (or Napoli) was the first city I visited in the south (Masha and I were "thinking of you" - GC short break!). Castel Nuovo was as remarkable as it was in the pictures, we stood on chains as children played football at the piazza. It was warm, relaxed, colourful, and more than I expected it to be. 

Verona

Verona was beautiful and many couples were probably there for the romantic story of Romeo and Juliet, but Verona is where Michela's very warm family lives. Finally visited Michela's hometown, and we were remembering the MCom days while complaining about the heat and eating ice-cream. The balcony at Juliet's house was a good joke. Highlights were a delicious Veronese meal and the open-air opera Aida at the Arena. In the stadium where the Romans used to watch sea battle, many candles were lit as the opera started and the atmosphere was magical.

Lido, Murano and Burano

Quiet evening in Lido and intended glass viewing in Murano were nice, but the sunset on the ferry, and the picturesque and colourful Burano were closer to my heart.

Venice

Driving down to Italy to the Adriatic Sea coast, we stayed near Punta Sabbioni, where it was almost like a little Germany with as many signs in German as in Italian. The very advanced campers completely overthrown the concept of camping I had from New Zealand. One family even brought some 10, 15 pots plants and arranged them into a nice garden in front of their camper van... Taking the boat to Venice, the unique and lively city definitely met expectations created by its fame.

Florence

Love Art. Not Queues. To see that bridge we also went to the artistic city of Florence, where the most dominant feature was the number of tourists queuing outside of the many museums. The train ride, the rain, the not relaxing stroll across the bridge and along the river, the view of the city, that bench... it was charming.

Rome

Perhaps it was because of its history, or perhaps the people, Rome was very different from any other European cities I visited this year. Monuments and historical sites on every other corner, delicious Gelatos, a very cute Bed & Breakfast, and amazing weather made my Roman holiday.

.:: Milan ::.

Back in school most girls went through periods being fascinated by either the French or Italian culture. Neither were my "dream country" to visit and I had no expectations for Milan beyond food and fashion, but I ended up loving it. There was much more than the few paintings, one large cathedral and high end fashion brands afterall. It was my first time in Italy, but definitely not the last. Spending time with Michela, Matteo, Eugenio and all the others just made it even better. As cliche as it might sound I also had the best pizza so far. One evening the place we went into turned out to be a karaoke bar - Italy. Karaoke... Italian karaoke.

So this wraps up 2006. I wrote bits and pieces as things happen and I'd probably do the same for the next 6 months. The plans so far for the first half of 2007 is looking like a bit of going down South, but most of it is going West. Hoping to plan more East bound trips though because CEE is the place to be!