I am an avid traveller, but still an amateur...enjoying the course of learning. This year I had one of the best summers of my lifetime, i travelled to new places, met new people, kindled old friendships and understood that its not the distance that separates us, in fact it is the difference in opinions and interests that separates people from each other and I am glad that I am still pretty much in sync with my loved ones!
About this journey i will say a dream come true... places where I always wanted to go, things that I always wanted to do and that feeling of euphoria that I longed to have, I had it all and I will cherish it always!
Now to start with this journey the main destination was Italy!!!
Yes Italy, from last 2 years i was dreaming about this place and every picture, every tale and all the things i ever heard about, from its pizza to its super machines Ferrari, I was getting more and more inspired to go to that mesmerizing land. The 'Land of Passion' and 'Land of Beauty' is how I will describe this country.
Having said that I must tell you that although my main destination was Italy but I started my journey with Paris, yes the beautiful, romantic and artistic capital of the world. The moment I landed in Paris and till the time I was there I couldn't stop admiring that place. I understood pretty early why everyone I ever spoke to about Paris were so madly in love with this city and all of them wanted to go back there.
Having said so much about paris, don't wonder where exactly Italy comes into picture, well my dear fellas here starts the part about the Italy and what follows is something which can not be expressed in words. I think I did underestimate my dream of going to Italy, coz it turned out to be so beautiful, out of the world and mesmerizing experience that I can't find words to express the it, the feeling I had in this beautiful country. The cities that I visited stand for their name and reputation in history and I am sure they will do so for the coming infinite centuries. As I said I can't express my experience in words so rather then trying hard to put it in words, I will simply put up some of the selected clicks from these spectacular places and I hope it will convey the beauty and speciality of the respective places. As my first destination in Italy I will start with Venice, as Italians call it Venezia, lagoon/ island in the North-east Italy, famous for gondolas, food, beautiful and unique architecture and infrastructure. This is a perfect honeymoon destination as is projected in movies. With love in the air, perfect combination of food & wine, music in background...this surely is a place to get lost in.
The next place in my itinerary was a comparatively less travelled part of Italy by International tourists, it is on Italy's north-west coastal line in La Spezia region - Cinque Terre (five lands) and these five lands/villages were Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, Monterrosso and Riomaggaiore. The houses in these villages are carved out of cliffs along the Liguria sea shore. This area has unique beauty with sea shore & hills landscape. I stayed in a small village with only handful of houses and single restaurant situated further up the hills and had spectacular view of Liguria sea. Few clicks from this eternal land follows below:
After Ligurian sea shore it was time to head towards south to the historical city, hub of Roman culture & era, the lively and a epic historical city "ROMA" as called in Italian. Rome is a city of historical significance, with roman forum, Colosseum, Vatican city and all the art from the renaissance time, it is a city which never sleeps, which has ageless beauty and a epic tale behind it which enthralls your soul with excitement and amazement. Treat your eyes with some of Rome's spectacles below...The Colosseum, The Pantheon, remains of Colosseum's arena, Arc de Constantine (made for Julius Caesar), Triveni fountain, Michealangelo's masterpiece - Sistine's Chapels, world's largest church - St. Peter's inside view.
After Roman treat it was time to head back towards north and I moved on to the not so familier city to me - Florence. I didn't know much about this city and have hardly ever heard of it before I started my research about Italy trip. As I came to know from various tourist reviews that Florence has its own place in Arts and history not only for the art and homeland to great artists but also that Florence is the homeland to most of the biggest fashion brands known in the world wide. And I instantly made up my mind that I want to see this place. To my surprise as I reached here I noticed it is not a big city at all unlike Rome, rather its a very small city surrounded by hills in the Tuscan province which is famous for its cuisine as well. Like all the historic cities this city also has a river 'Arno' flowing right through its middle. I must say that Firenze as it is called in Italian is one of the most serene and beautiful city, even with its historic importance and fashion homeland of all big brands, it feels so tranquil there that if I want to go to some place for peace then this will be my preferred destination. David is a famous statue in Florence and everyone is looking for it, coz it is a masterpiece that was crafted by great Michelangelo when he was only 26 years old. This place has many museums and its an ultimate foodie's paradise. Some of the clicks from this beautiful city starting with the world's third largest church.
My last stop in Italy was in the home city of one of world's 7 wonders, Pisa. It is a unusually a small town in Tuscan province which has this unique structure 'Leaning Tower' which is inclined towards ground due to a engineering error or rather I should say a miracle that this structure is leaning from more than hundreds of years and will continue to do so for coming century.
In the end I must talk about the real specialities about Italy which you will not find anywhere else. The two things Italy is really famous for and the reason behind that is their passion that they put into creating it. Yes, I think everyone has idea of that... It is the 'Automobile machines' and the 'Food' they make. Undoubtedly, the fastest, comfiest, stylish and super exciting train ride I ever had was in Italian Trenitalia's "Frecciargento" train. It was simply out of the world, the journey from Venice to Florence in this super awesome machine was an experience not to be missed. Secondly in food, I am sure many like me love Italian food...Pizza, pasta, Rissotto, etc. But my favorite is "Gelato", because I am not a ice cream lover and after having gelato in Italy I simply can't resist having it twice everyday throughout my stay in that beautiful country. I love Italy and I am sure I will head back there in future for sure. Ciao!
