Bismillah...
I literally just accidentally deleted a post that I was working on since this afternoon when I added pictures into it with the blogger app on my phone... And this is a rewritten version. I felt like crying because it was a lengthy one~
I'm currently self isolating and have been struggling to make my days stuck indoor productive. So, that was why I started writing about my trip to Italy while it is still fresh. And I really do need to write more often to maintain my writing skills.
I always have my eyes on Italy. Considering it being a huge country with so many things that I wanted to see, I was in constant dilemma on how much time should I spend there, where should I start, what can I forgo etc. I always end up going to another European country instead because of my indecisiveness. But now it is made possible because I'm a student in the UK which essentially means Italy is closer to my current home and I have the privilege of a long term break!
However, travelling during a pandemic is extremely challenging. With the new variant ravaging the world again and all eyes are on the UK due to the surge in its Covid 19 cases, there were a lot of uncertainties before our trip. My friends had to cancel their trip to France because non-essential travels from the UK were banned. And there were even positive cases in the hall where I'm staying.
The fare for the return ticket cost me £145. I think, I could have gotten a cheaper price if I bought it earlier. But the fare was also slightly higher than usual because it was the Christmas holiday. The additional budget during this pandemic actually goes to the Covid 19 test that I have to take before and after the trip. Luckily, Italy accepts antigen test but what makes it difficult was it must be done within 24 hours before entering Italy. Since it was Christmas, most of the test centres have shorter operating hours so we decided to do the test on our day of departure. The antigen test cost £35 and the result was emailed to us after 2 hours.
For our return, we had to take an antigen test within 48 hours before entering the UK. It was quite difficult to find a pharmacy that offers the test at first. Luckily, we found one which was about 50m away from our lodging in Rome and it cost €22 . And upon arriving in UK, we need to repeat a PCR test and I opted to do with ExpressTest. Although it cost me £65, I already have the confidence on this company since I previously did my PCR here when I first arrived in London.
Now, lets move on to the trip. It went like this
London - Milan - Aosta Valley - Venice - La Spezia - Rome - Naples - Rome - London
Italy is just like most European countries in which all the regions are well connected by railway. I used the
Trenitalia website to plan the journey and book the tickets. I think the price was quite reasonable where the whole trip cost me about
£197 and this includes the high speed train.
Milan, to me, is a place that I can do without in my next trip to Italy. It has numerous shopping areas which is not my cup of tea. But there are beautiful places just a few hours away from Milan such as Lake Como and the mountainous area near the Swiss border. I might only come back to Milan to enter Italy if the ticket is cheapest when arriving there hahaha
The train journey to Aosta Valley from Milan was just over 2 hours and it was not without drama. It was the first day when the Italian government made it mandatory to wear KN95 mask in public spaces and transportation. So, everyone who was not complying to this were denied entry into the platform. We only realized this 15 minutes before the departure so we had to run down to the pharmacy to get the mask. And apparently the pharmacy staffs were unaware on the urgency of the people queueing outside. The service was so slow. I only got hold of the masks 8 minutes before our departure and that was thanks to the Moroccan lady in front of me who let me cut the queue.
We had one exchange in Chivasso. The train from Chivasso to Aosta was surprisingly small, it only had 3 coaches. This part of the journey was where I met a lovely Indonesian lady who was on her way to a skiing trip with her Italian husband and two kids. She started the conversation after hearing me sending a voice note to a Whatsapp group (And I'm sure my tone was rather gossipy although I was actually telling them about the mask drama). Even in such a short meeting, I find her being an inspiring figure. She shared how it is like to live far away from home, adapting to an entirely different culture and how it opened her eyes to different opportunities and understanding about the world.
Our main destination was the Skyline Monte Bianco in Courmayeur. However, we were not that fortuitous while we were in the area because it rained for two days and only stopped the morning when we were about to leave Aosta Valley. We decided to call off our ascend to Punta Helbronner because the visibility was really bad so it was not worth spending €55 that day. I still have the tickets because they are valid until November 2022.
Since there were not much to be done in that weather, we went to feed ourselves with good food instead. And we were highly satisfied with this Asian restaurant called Origami and went there twice! The sushi was so good and the price was relatively more reasonable than the sushi in London
We then left for Venice. On the train, I spent my time watching some documentaries on the Roman empire and Venice on YouTube. I remember very well about Venice being one of the major seaport in the world in the past but I could not recall Venice being one of the most influential naval powerhouse and I'm sure I have never heard of the republic's role in the Crusades. So, when I was there I was more intrigued to discover this side of Venice.
Venice could be explored by foot but the water bus is also a very convenient option. We bought the 1 day pass for €20 and this allows you to travel on the water bus for 24 hours, starting from the time you first tap the card at the gate.
I read a lot about Venice being overrated and you can find so many vlogs on YouTube saying you could just skip Venice. I beg to differ. To me, Venice is a classic beauty that you won't get anywhere. Everywhere you turn was like paintings brought to life. Traces of the Venetian republic are well maintained and the buildings are well preserved. My ideal kind of city, the kind which is unspoiled by modernity.
I was pretty excited to try the gondola. However, it's too pricey and the frigid weather was not the best time to enjoy a gondola ride. The temperature dropped to as low as 2C and on our second day there, it was already too cold by noon and Venice was covered in thick fog.
We tried two restaurants in Venice, Osteria Da Poggi and Orient Experience, the former being my favourite. The food was really good but the plus point goes to the waiter who was very affable in nature and cared enough to not recommend anything with alcohol inside.
From Venice we head west towards La Spezia. The only reason we were there was because the accommodation in Cinque Terre is expensive and it is actually easy to get to Cinque Terre by train from La Spezia. We were warmly greeted by our airbnb host, Diego. To my surprise, his house was very antique. Just like the ones you see in old English movies. But it was complete with everything that a traveler needs. There was even a space where Diego pasted all the important information on trips to Cinque Terre on the wall.
I couldn't find much information about halal food in La Spezia via google so I thought it might be challenging for us to find food in this area. But in reality, the area that we were staying has a Muslim community. We discovered this restaurant, Chicken N Chicken, that not only sells fast food but also Indian food. Most importantly, that night we found white rice!
The funny thing was when I ordered chicken wings and white rice, the Bangladeshi cashier asked me, "How are you going to eat the white rice?" And I excitedly went, "Oh! With the chicken wings!"
In Cinque Terre, we bought the 1 Day Cinque Terre card for €14.80. One day is not enough to explore all 5 villages. We only get to stop at 4 villages; Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia and Vernazza. We decided to skip Monterosso because shops closed earlier during low season so there was not much left to do after the sun sets.
It would've been prettier if it was sunny. But we were grateful enough that it was not raining. Cinque Terre is very pretty and tranquil which made it worth to visit. I enjoyed standing on the cliffs, watching the horizon, listening to the sounds of waves and feeling the sea breeze. Anyway, it has been 3 months since I last saw the sea!
I underestimated Rome, took the words of people who don't appreciate history and unwisely decided to spend only a day to explore the open-air museum historical city! We were staying at a dodgy looking neighbourhood but the good side of it was, it was very close to Roma Termini. On the day of our arrival, we decided to spend the evening roaming around central Rome and I instantaneously realized my mistake as the historical sites loomed from afar as I exited the metro station!
At least I made it into the Colosseum where the most grueling and bloody game in human history was once held. Looking at the immense size of all the ruins of Roman empire, it is really hard to believe that such formidable power could collapse many centuries before the fall of its counterpart in the east, the Byzantine.
One new thing that I learned from this visit was, the blood of slain gladiators were believed to have healing powers. One of the use was as an antiepileptic!
When I learned that it was feasible for a daytrip to Naples from Rome, I just can't resist visiting Pompeii. Yet, I felt my visit was incomplete without visiting the museum and hiking up Mount Vesuvius. It took about 1.5 hours to Naples by high speed train from Rome. And then we had to change to a local train to go to Pompeii Scavi station. We almost got on the wrong train but the handsome Trenitalia staff gave us the direction after I explained that we are heading to Pompeii Scavi not Pompeii.
Again, Pompeii is a very big archeological site and it is easy to get lost inside. The surrounding view was magnificent! Pompeii is speculated to be in peace and prosperous when the calamity happened. I imagined, Pompeii must have been a very nice place to live in.
Oh ya.. The statues are not real people. Back in the 17th century, the archeologists discovered that the bones of humans buried under the ashes didn't decompose and left voids that retained the original posture. So, they poured plaster into the voids to make the statues.
And of course, trying pizza at its birthplace is a must!
I have too many reasons to go back to Italy especially with the two tickets worth €55 each in my possession. If you love history, Italy is definitely your type of place. How I felt after I left Rome was the similar feeling that I had when I left Istanbul. If you don't know much about the ruins, they are just meaningless fragments of the past. But if you know the stories behind them, to finally stand in front of them will blow you away!
