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“We are against war, and tourist menus”
That was the slogan written on the chalk board outside a restaurant in Trastevere, a once working class but now trendy neighbourhood in Rome, West of the Tiber river. Oh how I can sympathise with that! It’s not something you think about when living in your own city — you go to restaurants you like for specific foods or try new ones based on reviews or recommendations from friends. In Sydney, I know where to go for the best laksa, I have my preferred coffee shops, and I have a long list of restaurants and bars I have yet to check out. It’s much the same for Vancouver. But when…
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Roman Holiday
The first time I went to Rome, I didn’t actually like it all that much. I was with my boyfriend at the time, it was autumn & raining, we stayed at a terrible hotel near the Termini train station, and we had gotten into a stupid argument. Fast forward to August, with Carter, as part of our Southern Italy tour, and OH EM GEE, how my attitude has changed. I LOVED Rome this time around. It was hot (too hot!), blue skies, historic, cultural, and there was so much to see. Sharing with you my favourite photos from this trip to Rome 🙂
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The road to Amalfi
The South of Italy is one part I never made it to, when I was living in Milano as an exchange student. This time, we are using Pompeii as our base for exploring Napoli and the infamous Amalfi Coast. The Circumvesuvius train line takes us to Sorrento, and from there we can catch a bus which will take us to Positano and Amalfi. It’s peak summer season and there is a long queue for the bus. In front of us are the two girls we spotted on the train earlier. They are from Montreal, on a 2.5 month Euro adventure, down to their last 6 days. Both have massive packs…
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Pepe’s
We heard about Giuseppe’s place from Michael, a traveller we met in Zadar. He raved about his stay with Giuseppe’s (Pepe) family, in particular about the pool in the back yard and the amazing Italian food he had there. Pepe operates a B&B in Pompeii and Michael’s experience there convinced us to give it a try. I first booked for only two nights, but once we were there, we liked it so much we decided to stay for another three and use it as our base for exploring the Amalfi Coast, Naples, and of course the Pompeii ruins. The B&B has several types of rooms, including hostel like dorm rooms…
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The birth place of Pizza
Napoli is the birthplace of pizza, one of the most international foods in the world. And much like the diversity in the world, there is also a lot of variations of pizza and adaptations to suit different cuisines and cultures. I’ve come to Naples to taste the original, and have chosen Da Michele as my pizzeria. It was made famous by the book Eat, Pray, Love and also featured in the movie. As expected, the line at the restaurant is long but moves quickly and we get a table fairly soon. I’m relieved that it’s not JUST tourists, there are Italians dining here as well –always a good sign. There…
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Vesuvius
Yesterday I climbed my first volcano. We caught an army green coloured bus from Pompeii Scavi station to the base of mount Vesuvius, the infamous volcano which erupted in AD 79 and destroyed the city of Pompeii, freezing it in time by covering it with volcanic ash. The last time Vesuvius was active was in 1944. At the base, we switched vehicles and boarded another army coloured truck — this one looked like a monster truck with giant wheels. Dropped off about 600 metres from the summit, we trekked up this last bit on foot and reached the massive crater at the top. The views over the entire region were…
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Buongiorno Italia!
The Jadrolinja ferry from Dubrovnik, Croatia to Bari, Italy, is full of Italians. Even the announcements over the PA system is done in Italian and English only. It’s an eight hour journey and Carter and I have only purchased deck seats, meaning we have to hang out at the common area for the entire journey. Where’s a deck of cards when you need one? The last time I was in Italy was about 6 1/2 years ago when I was living in Milan as an exchange student. Time really does fly, though it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. I’m so happy to be back in this amazing country…
