Spanish Cuisine

I will attempt a summarised version of how good Spanish food can be with short reviews of places I visited throughout my week in Spain. I can't remember each dish's name, but I can describe some which are try-worthy. Haha. I try to take photos of the front of each restaurant so it helps with locating it, unfortunately some only have interiors since gluttony took over, hehe.

In general, food in Valencia is much more expensive in Sevilla but their portions are also bigger - very filling. And I refuse to try any 3 course dishes typical to how cuisine is served in Italy, so it was all ala carte dishes.

Valencia

La Pepica (Las Arena Beach)
My first taste of Paella Valenciana - a traditional preparation of paella with chicken and rabbit. Some places also serve with snails. Side dishes of Galician Squid and Spanish Tortilla, heaven for my famished tummy. And down it with a cool jug of Sangria then end with cafe con leche (coffee with milk). That said, it's by the beach so it's more well-known for its seafood version of the paella. Another reason why it's famous is because it was touted to be writer Ernest Hemingway's favourite paella joint.

*Try the Galician Squid - grilled fresh squid with paprika, olive oil and boiled potatoes

Freiduria Boatella Tapas Cerveceria (Opposite Mercado Central, corner shop)
My first taste of tapas. Tapas servings in Valencia are larger and more expensive. We also had Agua de Sevilla which is a cocktail of Valencian orange juice with some alcohol. Since it's a Freiduria, it has a lot of fried dishes, but the menu was varied so there are other choices as well.

*Try the fried artichokes and fried calamari, not the healthiest but so yummy

Sant Miquel (Barrio el Carmen, near the el Carmen road)
Late lunch so it was almost closing. Limited menu though enough for a few tapas to fill us.

*Try their coffee, best I had in Spain! Ratatouile with chorizo is a good choice

Cafe in Plaza de La Reina
I can't remember the name and I didn't take a photo of the shop's exterior. But it is easily recognisable with bright yellow walls, it's counters full of ice cream, pastries and sandwiches. Anyway, try "horchata" here, which is basically a drink made from a type of nut known as tiger nuts, interesting taste, quite acquired.

*Try horchata

El Rall (right behind La Lonja de la Seda, go through the square)
Paella de Marisco, seafood paella. It was really good! This place was recommended by our receptionist, so it's as local as it gets? We didn't try much as we were filled from the tapas in the afternoon. But it was really nice as they serve a shot glass of chicken consomme as appetizer, haha. Asians.

*Try their Paella de Marisco, brimming full of seafood. 

Valor Cafe (Plaza de La Reina)
It's a chocolate specialty shop so they sell truffles and other chocolate-based products. Their churros is better than most that I've tried and delicious when dipped into thick chocolate

*Try their Churros con Chocolate

Navarro Restaurant (near Plaza Ayuntamiento, behind Burger King)
We ordered grilled seasonal vegetables and fideua which is basically Spanish noodles cooked paella style. The place is only opened for lunch except on Saturdays when it's opened in the evening. Their 3 course meal actually look quite good, so that might be a choice for those who are sick of paella by now. Haha

*Try Grilled Seasonal Vegetables and Fideua

Sevilla

Bodega Santa Cruz Las Columnas (Rodrigo Caro)
One of the most popular tapas bars, recommended by a couple of locals we asked. Quite full, so we stood at the counter. Ordered boiled prawns, potato tortilla and spinach w/ cheese. They had two types of draft beer, one alcoholic, and the other non alcoholic. I was not really fond of the food as the prawns were fishy while the other two were quite salty. But I do have a low tolerance to salt anyway.

*Try spinach & chick peas, seems to be the in thing there

Belmonte (Mateos Gago)
Just located down the road from Las Columnas. We were still hungry from the salty food, so this was lunch number 2, haha. Tapas-hopping is popular in Sevilla. Funnily, the lady from Las Columnas was there to have her lunch, such irony haha. Ordered Iberico Ham, Grilled Mushrooms, Pork in Wine Reduction and had an alcoholic Cruzcampo, their common draft beer. It's more pricey here by 1 - 2 euros per tapas since it is more well-furnished and there are more seating areas. We came back here again before the Flamenco show for a pre-dinner, ordered Patatas Bravas (potatoes with paprika sauce) and Gambas al Aijilo (prawns in garlic oil) which was more expensive since it was only available as a main meal. Also tried Valencia's special Naranja Vino or Orange wine

*Try Grilled Mushrooms, Gambas al Aijilo, Naranja Vino

Taberna La Papillon (Constitution Avenue)
Seriously packed to brim and more of a bar than restaurant though they have sitting places upstairs. Their menu concentrates a lot of ham and cheese as well as bar snacks like chips. They seem to be famous for their foccacias though. We came here twice. First time there we had Spinach with chickpeas, pork meatballs in tomato sauce, pork cheeks in wine sauce. Not really fond of the meatballs. Second time it was to try the ham so we got a platter of Jamon Iberico which was much better. Perhaps this place is best for its cold cuts. We also tried manzanilla, a type of dry sherry. But it was not as cold, thus not as nice. We tried it again prior to the flamenco show, and it was much better icy cold.

*Try Jamon Iberico, Pork cheeks in wine sauce

Las Morales (Almitanzgo, off Constitution Avenue)
A traditional bar mostly serving cold and cured stuff so choices can be a bit limited. Had tuna belly with salmonrejo, tuna with red peppers, sausages and stewed pork cheeks. I was ambivalent about cold, cured stuff since I don't really fancy them as a meal, more as an appetizer than anything. The tuna belly was really fishy eaten on its own but surprisingly lovely when eaten together with salmonrejo (Spanish tomato vinaigrette) and bread. Note that most seafood especially boiled/cured ones tend to be fishy in Sevilla.

*Try tuna belly with salmonrejo

Coloniales (off Plaza Encarnacion)
This shop has two branches, one near Plaza Encarnacion, the other somewhere in Constitution Avenue. We tried finding the latter but without success, lucky we came across this on our walking tour. Ordered iberico pork with quail egg and salmonrejo, pickled red peppers, solomillo pork and Manjar Blanco - their speciality of cordon bleu in almond sauce. Also had a jug of one of the most amazing sangria!

*Try iberico pork with quail egg & salmon rejo, manjar blanco and sangria.

Casa Manolo (San Jorje street, Triana)
This is supposedly the most popular bar/restaurant on this side of town. And since Triana is famous for their fried fish, we ordered some fried shark/adobo, a type of fried hake and oxtail stew. While the oxtail is quite nice, I'm not sure if I really like it due to its somewhat gamey taste.

*Try fried stuff especially the shark which has a nice sour sauce.

Casa Roman (Plaza Venerables)
As the gluttons we were, we headed for some supper after the Flamenco show and this place was near our hostel. Ordered some chorizo, ham and sheep's cheese. Also had some roasted courgettes and beetroot in vinagrette. Had a larger dish of iberico pork in wine sauce, but it was way more expensive. Then had two glasses of Tinto de Verano which is a cocktail of red wine and lemon soda, super refreshing.

*Try sheep's cheese, iberico pork in wine sauce, tinto de verano

Casablanca (off Constitution Avenue)
This place was constantly packed especially during lunch time. The waiters were also less friendly, guessing cause they were busy. Seats are reserved for those who are ordering bigger plates, tapas eaters have to stand at the bar. Ordered meatballs in squid ink and cod gratin. I cannot decide if I like the former because it can taste a bit fishy like how squid ink tastes like but it is unique.

*Try cod gratin & their olives (SUPER NICE)

Casa Carmelo (Gloria, near Hosteria de Dona Lina)
Our last stop for gluttony. Pretty nice sit down place. Ordered gazpacho (cold tomato soup), fried chicken skewer, marinated anchovies and potato tortilla. I personally love potatoes, so potato tortilla is always a safe favourite, except too salty ones. The anchovies are not too fishy, but they are rather sour as it is really pickled. We also had Agua de Sevilla sorbet which is a white wine with melon sorbet, super yummy!

*Try Agua de Sevilla, potato tortilla

That's the end of the glutton gastronomy tour. I really enjoy eating so it is always an important agenda on my travels. My buddy was going to burst as I drag her along my gastronomy tour, just as how I drank at least a glass of alcohol everyday in Spain thanks to her. Most I've ever done in 23 years of my life, but thank God, no withdrawal symptoms, mwahahaha.

In summary:

Tips:

- Authentic paella comes in a portion for at least two pax. While it means it's more expensive and makes you a glutton, those that come in one pax tend to be reheated or is microwaved. You decide. We didn't risk inauthentic paella so I won't know how it compares

- Down your food with some sort of alcohol, my choice is between draft beer and Tinto de Verano. One glass everyday won't kill. It's massive cheap to drink in Spain (1.5 euro to 3 euro per glass). Agnes will be proud to read this

- If you want to buy sweets, you can do so at the many confectioneries around town. A traditional way is to buy it from a convent from nuns who make these sweets. But I couldn't find the elusive convent way of buying where you look at the sweets you want and tell the nun through a window in the wall then put money on the turntable. The nun will then put the sweets on the turntable and change if required. This is because nuns were not allowed to be seen by outsiders back then. I saw this on Jamie Oliver's adventure in Spain, so I really wanted to try it, but well. We did buy pastries, but they were omaigawd so sweet! Yemas are interesting though, salted egg yolks pastry with sugar, haha.

- Most places have English menu (just say "menu ingles") and they will understand. Otherwise, point and use sign language, fun when you're not sure what food you get. Waiters are usually friendly especially in more modern places. Just smile and ask for recommendation. For this, I am glad Agnes was with me, since she's way friendlier. Haha.

- Get used to being stared at by locals. We went to traditional joints and it can get uncomfortable with the old men staring us down. Don't think they meant to be impolite, they probably are just fascinated with us different looking creatures, haha.

She was in Rome

Finally. Two cliches hold true:
i) All roads lead to Rome; yea, at least my journey did, haha.
ii) Rome was not built in one day; dear Lord it is MASSIVE, I really regretted not realising how huge it was, could have spent more time here.

I love-hate Rome. I cannot bear the crazy traffic of cars and people. But I absolutely love its history, and so many of its sights and stories. The Romans were genius la okay. It's a place I definitely want to go back one day, and let's hope that the cliche about throwing coin into the Trevi fountain holds true ;)

Transportation:
Metro, bus and legs. For my short trip, the metro and my legs were sufficient. Note that Rome is different from all previous cities because while some of its attractions are within walking distance, a lot are not, and neither are they near the limited metro stations (there's only 2 metro lines). Buses would be an awesome means of transportation though I did not try them, my friend and some dorm mates mentioned that it is quite reliable aside from its timing - that's probably due to the crazy jam.

Base/Hostel: Pop Inn Hostel
Location: 5/5
Environment: 3/5
Dorm: 2.5/5
Its location is a win, champion even above Venice - literally across the street from the main Termini station which was essential because I had an early flight the next day. And because most of the places I want to go to are near metro stations, it was nice to have it just outside your door step. Unfortunately it also means its really noisy though food is really easy to find. Out of all the hostels, I think this one gave me the biggest sleeping difficulty because there was only a thin white sheet as blankets and the bed was basic. Thankfully shower was okay.

Day 1
Evening arrival to Rome
Vittorio Emanuele Elevator
Walking around

When hit with the realisation that Rome is too freaking huge, I was literally rushing. Reached the Termini station, plopped my bags and rushed to the Vittorio Emanuele Elevator which is basically a viewpoint atop a museum. Wanted to make it before it closed and sunset. It was difficult to concentrate on my run there because there were so many sights along the way. The Vittorio Emanuele museum was near the Colosseum and the Roman Forums, setting my eyes on these for the first time really left me in awe. I made it in time, and it was a lovely view, manage to catch my breath and enjoy the beauty of Rome. Got my first aerial view of the jam-packed roads of Rome, and decide that I should not risk the bus where possible.
After that, it was mainly just walking around and taking in the sights of such a wonderful place

View from Vittorio Emanuele

Day 2
Basilica San Pietro/ St Peter's Basilica
Vatican City Museum
Pantheon
Piazza Navona
Trevi Fountain

I was really excited for the 2nd day, heck, I was really excited about my Rome stop because there were some places I have dreamt of seeing my whole entire life - let you know later. Rise and shine to the excited thought of going to the Vatican City, much influence from the Dan Brown books. I took the metro as it stops directly on the road leading down to the Vatican City, and I was in awe when I first set my eyes on the Basilica San Pietro; SO GORGEOUS. I went really early so there was no line (which will be long because of security checks) and it was not packed in the basilica so I could ooh and ahh all I want. Took my time taking photos and enjoying the amazing work by Gian Lorenzo Bernini - one of the most amazing artist of his time. I finished my really slow walk in about an hour, then I decided to take a guided tour, which was probably one of the most genius decisions I made throughout my trip. The stories I learnt, gave so much more meaning to this place. IF you don't want to pay for a guided tour, please get a guide book, it will be so worth it. The climb I did in Rome was the dome/cupola of St Peter's Basilica. At 551 steps, it was the highest of all my climbs, and it was an interesting one because there were many different parts with different looking staircases as opposed to a straight on 551 steps up the dome. VERY WORTH IT.

St Peter's Basilica, this does not come even close to portraying its beauty

View from the Dome, a worthy climb

The funniest thing that happened was while waiting for the guided tour to start, I decided to look for the entrance to the crypts. And as a testament to my horrible orienteering skills, I ended up in a restricted area and the guard was not happy. He slammed the door behind me, didn't even bother to accept my apology.

After the tour, I had a really quick lunch and went on to the Vatican Museum. I did not enjoy it. I loved the museum, but it was RIDICULOUSLY packed with people it felt like a sardine can. There was no way you can enjoy one exhibit without being squished by hoards of tour groups (which would mean getting a tour would probably be a smarter idea). The collection in the museum was amazing, humongous and more varied than Uffizi as it focuses on exhibits from other countries such as Egypt. All I wanted to do was reach the Sistine Chapel, and the only way to get there is to go through all the exhibition rooms, and the crowds.

When I finally reached the Sistine Chapel, it was like woah. I rented an audioguide because I wanted to understand the stories behind the art in this chapel. I probably did not appreciate the meaning as deep as people of the Catholic faith, but the Last Judgment by Michelangelo was gorgeous. And despite guards trying to ask everyone to keep quiet and not take photos, I was not going to repeat my Uffizi Gallery mistake, I am going to take a photo of the Last Judgment, and I did.

The Last Judgment by Michelangelo; broke rules for this, ignore the bad photo angle, had to be as discreet as possible

Stood in the Sistine Chapel for a good 45 minutes before bidding the Vatican goodbye, and I really feel that I should return, armed with more knowledge for a better appreciation.

Headed back into the city and detoured to the Pantheon. Which is rather bare compared to the other attractions. Especially since one of the Pope commanded for all the bronze from the Pantheon's roof to be stripped off for the columns in St Peter's Basilica.

Bare Pantheon roof

Then I visited Piazza Navona where there are tons of street artists and cafes. Basically it was chilling and enjoying a delicious (albeit expensive) chocolate truffle and taking in the streets of Rome.

Bernini's Fountain of 4 rivers (Fontana dei Quattro), in Piazza Navona

Nipped of to Trevi fountain before I left for my hostel; and for the first time in my journey, I felt so much awe, and gratitude, I teared. I've always wanted to see the Trevi fountain, always wanted to travel Europe, and it finally hit me, I am actually here. It was such an amazing realisation, I felt so incredibly blessed.

Please go see this for yourself, it's amazing. Trevi Fountain.

I also broke one of my principles of the journey, and ended up having Asian food - ala carte Japanese buffet. Being someone who is less fond of carbs (except Asian noodles and potatoes), the pasta was getting into me, and I did not feel like having sandwich. The buffet was just 5 doors down from my hostel and might I say, it's probably one of the most empowering experience I've ever felt in my life - going alone to a restaurant in Rome and ordering all the food I can stuff myself with; perhaps this was the empowerment advocated by those who encourage people to go to movies alone. It was really a great experience, despite my broken rule. I seem to be breaking rules in Rome eh?

One of the many orders I put in; 20 pieces of salmon sashimi was my record

Day 3
Borghese Gallery
Colosseum
Palatine Hill + Roman Forum
Pantheon
Spanish Steps
Trevi Fountain

The 3rd day is the most exciting because of Borghese (bor-geh-zay) Gallery; I loved the park surrounding the villa which was so peaceful on an early Sunday morning. If I wasn't in my maxi skirt, I would have rented one of them lovely bicycles for a ride around the park. My excitement is reinforced by the fact that it was the only attraction ticket I booked way before I started the trip; most of my bookings only involve transportation.
Why? Because the sculpture of my favourite myth in the world is in this museum - the Apollo and Daphne by Bernini ( I LOVE THIS DUDE). There is a same sculpture of different interpretation in the UK's V&A Museum, but now I'm going to see the real thing, the one thing I've waited to see all my trip, can you imagine the excitement? Villa Borghese has to be one of the prettiest museums, only 360 people are allowed at any one time, and you are only allowed two hours inside. The art collection was amazing, I can't recall some of the paintings but they were really famous. What I focused on was two exhibits, the Apollo & Daphne and Bernini's interpretation of David. Unlike the usual standing David, this David was portrayed as he was in action to kill the Goliath. I'm not a maestro of art, but the details were AMAZING.
Of course, I stood a good 20 minutes around Apollo & Daphne examining every single detail, and really, Bernini is amazing with details. He also created an unfinished sculpture known as "Truth Unveiled By Time" and it was his silent cry of retaliation during one of the darkest moment of his artist history when the new Pope did not believe in his talent and refused to acknowledge his work. Before I left the museum, I bid my favourite sculpture goodbye, and relinquish in gratitude for another dream come true. Unfortunately, this collection does not allow photos as well, but the sculptures were amazing.

Borghese Gallery

Moving on, I headed to the Colosseum, and the line's crazy! Which is why I paid for a guided tour of the Colosseum + Palatine Hill + Roman Forums; expensive but worth it in its own way especially for the Colosseum. Again, get a guidebook if you prefer to save time. Stories of the Colosseum left me in awe. No it was not a place to kill your enemies or your mates, but it was a stage, an entertainment stage and the way it was produced is exactly like how it was today but created with the technology of then days. SALUTE. The Romans were absolute genius. Heck, they were so good with safety regulations. Remember how there are lions battling with gladiators? Well, that part is true, but we gotta make sure people around there don't get eaten right, so how? Hrm, what about keeping the animal in total darkness 72 hours prior to battle, then suddenly expose them to bright light during battle? Tadaa, blind animal! I'm not advocating animal cruelty, but that is a bloody smart way to ensure maximum safety yet still get people to buy the idea that this gladiator is really slaying a more powerful beast. Of course, there are plenty of other stories as testament to the Romans' smartness.

The Palatine Hill was the ruin of a crazy huge palace. As a matter of fact, everything built then was crazy huge it made me wonder if the people were actually bigger. The columns were all larger than life it's difficult to imagine what it took to build and sustain the architecture - genius! Roman Forums was lovely to explore, save for the blazing hot sun, which made it difficult to look around, but definitely worth a go.

Hanging gardens from the ruins of Palatine Palace

Part of the ruins of the Roman Forum, which used to be an important downtown marketplace

When I finally made it out of the Roman Forums, I was off to Piazza di Spagna for the famous Spanish steps. Though like the Trevi fountain, it was choke full of people rather than the attraction itself, but it was still gorgeous. Enjoyed my sights, and headed on to Trevi Fountain one last time. Managed to squish myself a space in front of the fountain, threw a coin and made a wish. I'll let you know when my wish comes true ;)

Look at amount of non-Spanish people on the Spanish Steps! =P 

Threw a coin, Goodbye Rome!

Left Rome, and my Europe journey early next morning, after a good breakfast of the best caffe latte I had so far, and a pain au chocolat.

The perfect Italian breakfast, missing it now.

Do try:
I honestly want to say everything and more but well, if pressing for time:

-Visit the Vatican City, both the Basilica and Museum, get a guided tour, book whatsoever, I promise it will be worth it. Climb the cupola, without the elevator if you don't have health issue, FUN!

- Visit the Colosseum, and make sure you are equipped with knowledge as well, there is so much to learn from these Romans.

- Visit the Trevi Fountain, crowds or not. Because it really is as gorgeous as the books, movies, media portray. And did you know it was the last surviving ancient water pipes the Roman made from the mountains into the city; yes fountain waters are drinkable.

- Visit the Borghese Gallery, because the art is amazing, and well it's one of the best collection of Bernini who practically beautified Rome - he spent 8 years of his life creating the interior of St Peter's Basilica

Tips:
- Get a day pass for transport. I didn't check the Rome Card, which might be more worth it depending on the attractions you go for. But a day pass cost 6 euros and you can use all the metros and buses.

- Get a guided tour for the important places, the Colosseum, St Peter's Basilica etc. Although for the Colosseum, I thought mine was way too short, and I did hear of tours that take you to the underground level which is restricted for common tourists. So do your research! Another point to do research on, there are two crypts in the Basilica, one open to everyone (which I couldn't find anyway), the other is the one featured in Dan Brown's Angels & Demons which you have to write in to the Vatican for permission. There is a procedure for it, and you just have to google, I'm not sure about the chances of definitely getting in though.

- Book tickets for busy places like Vatican City and Borghese Gallery, especially when they have time slots and/or limited number per entry. Like the Borghese Gallery, on the Sunday I went, all tickets were sold out till Tuesday.

- GO EARLY. Rome is infamous for crowds. When I got into the Basilica the 2nd time for my guided tour, which was about 45 minutes from when I first went in, it was beginning to be so packed because of the tour groups. And the line outside the basilica stretched around its perimeter, not fun. Same with Vatican museum, I thought my 12pm slot was bad, the afternoon slots were even worse!

- If not rushing for time, I would suggest either spending a whole entire day in Vatican, and seriously taking your time or breaking up visits to the St Peter's Basilica and Vatican Museum into two mornings. In my opinion, this helps deal with the information overload from so much of history in these places and help appreciate the stories even more. Otherwise the crowd really makes it difficult to enjoy, especially when you cannot take crowding like me.

She was in Florence

I've heard a lot about Florence before I came, and how people are in love with it. For me, it's like one of those relationships that grew on you. Perhaps it was the high expectations, when I first arrived at Florence, rainy day and swollen feet, it just did not capture me, just meh. But it grows on you, even when you don't realise, because now whenever I talk or write about it, there's just this warm feeling =)

Transportation:
Feet. Haha. Everything was walking distance within each other. But I'm guessing bus would be the next option as there is no metro. Though I really advocate walking because the streets are much different than Venice or Verona.

Base/Hostel: Hostel Archi Rossi
Location: 3.5/5
Environment: 4/5
Dorm: 3/5
This has got to be one of my favourite hostels, in terms of the ambience especially. The bedroom and amenities were basic, and good enough to get by. What made me happy was the amount of common spaces,  garden areas like in Hostel Ruthensteiner, just bigger, and they have a canteen with buffet breakfast! Plus, food is available at night at really cheap prices, probably cheapest dinner I had in my whole entire trip which was quite good food really. As evident, food makes me happy. Though wifi is a bit wonky, I think overall the ambience was good.

Day 1
Evening arrival to Florence
Walking around

To be honest, I arrived in Florence with the most foul mood I had in my whole travel period - the gloomy weather, the rain, my swollen feet, my bed bug bites. It just felt like a total mood spoiler. And I didn't get to find the piazza where there was supposedly a jazz festival because I was in an un-chummy mood and all I wanted was a warm shower and food. Which I did get, and was very thankful. Chatting with my dorm mate also made things much better, she was a bubbly young lady from Oregon, lotsa stories. I spent my night in bed, after attempting to walk around and get a sense of direction, but I was honestly not fond of walking in the rain in that current condition. Went to bed damn early that night.

Day 2
Palazzo Vecchio
Mercato del Porcellino
Uffizi Gallery
Piazza del Signoria
Basilica Santa Croce
Ponte Vecchio

The morning was made better with the crazy amount of food selection, and coffee. Though I must say that Italian coffee is way stronger than Viennese coffee and sometimes I just took hot chocolate to avoid caffeine overdose. I got a bit lost trying to find my way into the city centre, but it's really near, if you know how to read maps. I headed straight for the Uffizi Gallery line, but it was a long queue. Actually the line is not massive, but they only let a certain amount of people in at one particular time, so smart people who have booked their slots will get to go in first and depending how much space there is, people who are waiting in line get to go in. The whole going-in-by-blocks makes it longer than usual because you'll be waiting for enough people to go out before you get a turn in. And Uffizi takes a LONG TIME.

 Tell me the breakfast spread is not amazing, and this is just half of it

 View of the first floor of the Palazzo's main hall

I decided not to wait, and headed for the Palace or Palazzo Vecchio instead. No queue, and I got in really early. There were typical museum exhibitions, so I wandered around for a bit, but the best bit had to be climbing the clock tower. It was really really narrow, so you basically can only fit one person at any one time in traffic, so the other person has to stop and stick as close as they can to the wall to allow the other person to pass through. Can be patience-testing if you are claustrophobic. Got a great view at the top, saw the verandah of the Uffizi Gallery, and I was really determined to get in.

View of Piazza del Signoria from the Palazzo's bell tower. If you note the arch at the far left of this photo, that's the verandah of Uffizi Gallery

Headed on to Basilica Santa Croce, located at a Piazza slightly away from the main Piazza del Signoria, again, quite gorgeous and had interesting crypts of famous people (i.e. Galileo Galilei). The Italian "more feminine" version of the Statue of Liberty can be found here.

Outside Santa Croce

Visited the famous market, where they sell a lot of leather products. Florence is known to make the best use of its cows from leather belts, jackets, bags to tripe sandwich. The market was packed but you probably can get a good bargain if you are patient enough. Lots of choices to choose from.

Tons of bags, no money

So, in the spirit of getting into the Uffizi, I remembered researching online that you can get tickets from a window at the Orsanmichele Church which is a street before reaching Piazza del Signoria where the Uffizi and Palazzo Vecchio is. Decided to try my luck, and they had a ticket for 1pm! Got it for an extra 4 euros, my price to pay for being impatient and silly for not booking in the first place.

The Italians don't like me very much. I had my lunch around 12 something, and I wanted to make sure I get to Uffizi in time so I was impatient with my bill. The waiter wasn't happy. So no, I'll probably be the death of Italians who take their time to breeze through life slowly across their primi, secondi piatti, then dessert then coffee. HAHA. Anyway, got into Uffizi, and it's my personal record of staying in one place - 3 hours. I didn't even see every single exhibit but I definitely had art overdose and coma after that. It's worth it's name as one of the Western world's oldest art collection, really amazing, and I wish I had a guidebook. If you realise, I have very little photos of Florence, because the bulk of it is spent in museums, and the museums like Uffizi banned photography, massively sad.

After that, it was on to another famous bridge, the Ponte Vecchio which was quite similar to the Rialto bridge in Venice because it was full of shopping - particularly gold products, way off my price range. It was really packed! From there I went on to Piazza Michelangelo which is really quite a walk away but I enjoyed walking by the River Arno, not so much up the hill though it's quite shady.Spent a good hour plus in Piazza Michelangelo which basically overlooks a large part of the city and finish reading the book I brought along - Frank McCourt's 'Teacher Man'. The place is definitely good to chill and watch the city.

View from Piazza Michelangelo

Had an early close to the day, by this time, I was rather annoyed with the condition of my itch and the blazing sun didn't help. I don't mean to complain about the rain and/or the sun, I am actually really thankful for good weather. Just that when I read about how direct exposure to the sun made my bites worst, I felt really silly. And I only knew that when I got back to UK.

Day 3
Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiori
Campanile
Santa Maria Novella Church
Baptistery

Saved the best for the last, the Duomo, really quite damn gorgeous and massive. There was actually a queue outside the Duomo, though it moved really fast, and there is no entrance fee unless you want to climb the dome. I decided to climb the Campanile instead, which was opposite of the Dome and slightly less steps. At this point you would notice, I pretty much like climbing. The Campanile gave a better view of the city from up close than Piazza Michelangelo as the latter was technically located outside the city centre.
I also visited the Santa Maria Novella Church, while smaller was also quite pretty, more pretty than some other churches rally. There was a museum inside to showcase some paintings and it was quite sad as multiple floods devastated the church a number of times throughout the decades, so there were quite some stories about how the paintings were restored. Ended my Florence journey at the Baptistery which is located opposite the Duomo and had gorgeous gold ceilings. One part featured the story from the Genesis, but I can't remember if it was mosaic or painted on.

 Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiori; the tower next to it is actually the Campanile

 View of the Duomo's dome from the Campanile

 Crypt of Santa Maria Novella's church, it's also an archaeological site featuring the structure it was built upon, I really liked this one

 Baptistery from the outside

Ceiling of the Baptistery, very gorgeous

Do try:
-Visit Piazza del Signoria just to be in the midst of all the action bustling about and to see the fake green David statue

-Visit Uffizi Gallery and be amazed by the exhibition even if you may not understand everything

-Vist the Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiori or any church in Florence really cause they are different from the churches in the other cities, more understated but nevertheless elegant. The crypt/museum of Santa Maria Novella Church was interesting

-Climb either the Campanile or the Duomo's dome, or both if you have the money

-Spend some time in Piazza Michelangelo, and take in the views

Tips:
-Book your Gallery Uffizi tickets because the last-minute-ticket counter I mentioned may not have tickets for the day. Or you could actually go nearer to closing time when the line at Uffizi is much shorter. I'm guessing booking won't work if you don't want to be tied down by times because apparently booking needs to be done a month earlier

- Bring a guidebook or take guided tours because a lot of Florence is the art and history (like most other cities actually) but I guess with such a huge focus on art, having something to refer to would make it more meaningful

- You can actually complete quite a bit of Florence within 3 -4 days if you don't take long in one place. Most websites I researched say to choose between Uffize Gallery or the Accademia (where the real David is) but unless you take your time with every exhibition, it's safe to say you can probably do both within one trip, if you are willing to pay the price. Art museums in Florence are not cheap.

She was in Venice

There are various ways to get from Austria to Italy, I chose a morning train which will have an interchange in Innsbruck (apparently really gorgeous) and it's one of the more scenic train routes.

On hindsight, a night train would have saved me some money as it was 7 hour journey. Though my concern was that the night trains depart past midnight and arrive around 6am, so I was a bit concern. Again, depending on your travel preference, night trains can save time, money, effort. I spoke to people who were on night trains, and most of them had pretty alright experiences, just have to be careful with belongings.

Anyway, the Austria-Italy train ride was probably my only and biggest hiccup in terms of transportation for my travel. Nearing the border of Austria, we were told that we had to take a bus to the next nearest station due to railworks. When I checked my journey, it only stated two train interchanges, so I wasn't too happy because I've never been good with bus stops. But it all turned out well, everything was planned properly and we made it in good time. The thing was that staff in the Austria trains station knew about this issue months ago, so I was surprise raileurope.com, which I bought the ticket from, didn't mention. Or I didn't check well enough. But it was not a big deal, and what's a journey without some hiccup. Plus, the staff and other passengers were helpful.

So I reached about 6pm into Venice, just as the sun set, and you honestly cannot find a better time to be welcomed into Venice, it was gorgeous! Although I kept reminding myself that I had not find a place for dinner and it was getting dark and I have yet to check in, I couldn't stop taking photos of the sights. So it was a quick rush to the hostel, dump my stuff, and then hurry to take photos of the sunset. =)

View from Ponte Scalzi

Transportation:
Has to be the coolest. I mean, you have the London Tube, the Austria Metro, and then you have the Venice Vaporetto - wheels on water. Superbly cool, though can be massively frustrating at times because of the amount of people, and the limited speed on water. Nevertheless, it is still very efficient because it does fit quite a lot of people at one go, and there was no ridiculous waiting time in between vaporettos.
That said and done, you can afford NOT to use the vaporetto unless you are going into other islands such as Murano & Burano. Even if you do want to go, you can buy the 7 euro for 60 minutes ticket, though it probably mean a two-way journey will cost 14 euros as there is no way you can walk any of those islands within an hour. The 48-hour Venice pass + Grand Canal tour I had was about 35 euros. You can get it cheaper without the Grand Canal tour, but I wanted to be touristy, so I got it. Walking to the other main attractions was easy on foot and bridges; it wasn't till the end of my 2nd day that I realise San Marco was quite a near walking distance to where I stayed. My map reading skills do suck.

Base/Hostel: Hotel L'Imbarcadero
Location: 4.5/5
Environment: 3/5
Dorm: 2.5/5
Its location was ace. Even though initially difficult to locate, which place in Venice wasn't? This is mostly due to the lack of street signs more than the location of the hostel itself. But it was right beside the main canal and 100 metres away from one of the main vaporetto stops. Plus it is less than a mile to the train station, superbly convenient. Environment is a bit dodgy though, I can't imagine walking there at night because of the alleys I had to take, but I guess unless you're staying in a main tourist area. that can't be helped. I don't mean to be accusative, but I think I got my bed bug bites here, and it's HORROR - still relieving it now. It's not that the place was dirty, but it was really old, and thought kept clean, I guess it still wasn't as clean as a new building. Plus, there was no lock on the door, so despite being in an all female dorm, it was scary as it could be opened from the outside. Security was a huge concern because they had cupboards rather than lockers, so it was a lot of trusting things would be safe rather than knowing they would be safe. The staff were friendly enough but so many stereotypes ran through my mine, I was actually quite ashamed of myself. Again, I don't know if I was lucky, or if I was truly paranoid, everything was safe, except for the bed bugs.

Day 1
Evening arrival into Venice
Canareggio District

It was late when I got in, so other than snapping shutters away, I managed to take a little walk around the areas of the Canareggio district which was not very far from the Santa Lucia train station. It was still rather touristy, but it was my first insight to Italian streets. Definitely tons of cafes filled with pizzas and paninis, GELATO shops and so many Venetian masks. I didn't get any, mainly because my bag wouldn't fit.

Look for shops like this for a cheap on-the-run lunch

 Day 2
Murano Island
Burano Island
Grand Canal Tour

Bright and sunny Sunday morning, an amazing quiet start in Murano Island which is the famous glass making island in Italy. I was quite surprised at the silence that greeted me when I reached Murano. Granted it was like 8am on a Sunday, and being a strongly Catholic country, most people were probably at mass. I really enjoyed those quiet moments until the hoards of tourists come in from nowhere, haha. I did a lot of walking (as with most of my trip) and while there's not much to see on Murano in terms of architecture, I enjoyed a free glass-making demonstration and a trip to the glass museum. Oh, it was an amazing place to shop as well. There were plenty of souvenir choices - I was so broke in Venice, but I guess happy broke. I can't remember which shops I went to, but I think they are mostly quite similar. Do walk around though, it's that one stretch with all the shops, and a couple others dotted around the island, but since it's so near, you can always make a detour back to the initial shop - if you can remember which one it was. HAHA.

Glass Museum

Then it was on to Burano Island, which was not a smart choice. As there is only two vaporetto lines to Burano from Murano, it would have been wiser to go on Burano first when it was less packed in the morning, then come from Burano to Murano in the afternoon, since people are less likely to leave early.
Anyway, an hour's wait later, I was on the most colourful address in Europe. Made me wonder which person went, "Let's make our island known, paint it with colours!" Didn't delve much into its history, so I'm not sure if it was always like that. What has been part of its history is its lace-making industry; which is what every shop sells. With the ticket for the Glass Museum, it also allowed entrance to other civic museums, which means the Lace Museum was included. Pretty cool to see all the designs, though I didn't learn much into the different lace needle methods, so many to remember!
Had my lunch in a random sports bar, and the fried seafood (calamari + prawns + fish + oyster), OMG, amazing.

Most colourful address in Europe!

Time to head back to the Santa Croce island which is where my hostel was. I walked further than I did yesterday just exploring the area around. Then I decided that it was near enough to sunset to do the Grand Canal tour which lasts for about 45 minutes. Basically it brings you around the main attractions, and you can hop-on-hop-off. Honestly, how cool can that be? Hop-on-off boat instead of bus, haha. I didn't go off the attractions but just enjoyed my whole tour on water, and satisfied the noob photographer in me. It has been long since I've been near any large body of water (Miss the beach SO MUCH), so the canals were lovely for me.

View of the Rialto Bridge from the Grand Canal Tour

Day 3
Rialto Mercato/ Rialto Produce Market
Basilica di San Marco/ St Mark's Square
Palazzo Doge/ Doge's Palace
Museum Korrer
Rialto
Jewish Ghetto

So I woke up in the morning to realise that there was no electricity in the hostel =_= Pretty funny, my dorm mates told me some of them had to deal with cold showers, lucky it was Italy. Might have hypothermia if it was the UK, I kid, we're not that bad la. First stop this morning was the Rialto Produce Market, which was barely open, because I'm always too early. Though I'm quite sure I checked and it states that it opens from 7am. Didn't bother me too much as I enjoyed the silence, and just started walking around and actually reached the San Marco square end of the island. Wanted to go into the basilica but as I have my heavy backpack, it wouldn't be allowed in, so I have to wait till the bag office opened at 9.
Decided to have some coffee (I was a massive coffee addict throughout my travel), and some panini, boy did it empty my pocket. My fault though, I could have stood by the bar with an espresso but I wanted to sit and do some writing in my journal. Which reminds me, other than in Naschmarkt, I didn't actually did the espresso-at-bar-standing up thing, cause I usually spend a lot of time writing and planning.
Head back to the St Mark's basilica, and it's as if someone unloaded tourists from the sky, it was extremely packed. By the time I got to leave my bag, the line was massive, especially with tour groups. Silly me forgot to bring my wallet along so I couldn't pay for the fee to climb the dome, or the fee to enter the altar area. With free entrance, it was just mostly walking around the main areas of the basilica, though you can take quite a while especially with a guide book or guided tour.

St Mark's Square as people start to pour in

Rialto Market, when it was fully opened in the afternoon

Remember the museum entrance ticket? Well, it gave me entrance to the Palazzo Doge or Doge's Palace, so I scurried out of the massively packed basilica and spent a good 1 1/2 to 2 hours in just wandering around the Palace. It's quite large really as you visit the residential areas and the prisons, mind you that I did not stop to see every exhibit, so I was considered to be moving quite fast. The prisons were pretty cool, and honestly a bit chilly. Not many people headed there, so it was just me and a couple of American tourists. By far I think it's one of the better preserve prisons, huge!

Then I headed to the opposite end of the square for Korrer's Museum. With Venice, there's a special phenomenon known as Acqua Alta which is when the lowest areas of Venice are flooded twice a day, for about 3 - 4 hours at the peak of the flood. There are walkways erected to avoid the flood, but most of the time it won't take you to where you want to go (because some police dude decided to block your way), or it's filled with queuing tourists, so you can't walk anyway. So most of the time people are walking in the ankle-length water because they are fascinated with the whole idea, or because we need to get somewhere anyway.

Peak of the flood - taken from Korrer's Museum

Korrer's Museum was definitely big and comprised of a couple of smaller museums inside actually. There was the army museum, and I think two others on sculpture and modern art. Pretty wholesome and varied exhibition. Spent about 2 hours there, and although I didn't climb the basilica, windows in the Korrer Museum did provide some good view points for aerial shots of St Mark's Square. By the time I finished my visit, it was the peak of the flood, and I needed to get back to the Rialto. Initially I could have avoided wetting my feet, but there was this police officer who block the end of the elevated pathway to the bridges. So well, there goes my first experience of wetting my feet. Funny but not fun, canal water DOES NOT smell good. UGH.

Reached the Rialto end, and just basically wandered around taking photos. Was trying new routes to see how lost I could get but because it was largely a tourist shopping area, you never really get lost following the herd. Note that Rialto market is considered an attraction on its own especially for colourful fresh produce, and souvenir stalls. Rialto on its own is actually the area of the island, so there were quite some high end shops and cafes that are right by the canal.

Since I was getting sick of the crowds, I decided to head into the heart of Cannaregio district where the Jewish Ghetto was. My research tells me that it's the more quiet area of the island, so off I go. In Venice, I did more wandering around than other places. Mostly because its alleys and streets were perfect for that, and also because I went on a weekend, with Day 3 being a Monday, and the museums I wanted to visit were close! Superbly sad with my planning, it would have been better to exchange my Day 2 and 3's itinerary since Murano and Burano would have stayed open anyway.
And so I really did get lost in the Jewish Ghetto. I thought I had my direction, but I walked all the way to the end of the road, overlooking the sea and the railways heading into Santa Lucia. Totally bad orienteering. But it wasn't too bad, pretty fun actually. I did panic a little when I realise I am not sure how to place myself on the map I have, so it was mostly just retracing steps and trying to place myself on the map. I enjoyed the peaceful time I had on the bench overlooking the sea.

A shot of Cannaregio, quiet.

My 3rd day was actually really relaxed, even as I wandered around the Cannaregio district, I find myself back to Santa Croce and the railway station area so I decided to plop myself on a jetty (which was a water taxi stand) and do some reading. In hindsight, I could always have explored other islands, but I did not feel like taking the vaporetto; it was one of those times where it is the last hour of the opening times so you never know if you have time to get there, and get in. I attribute it to bad planning. But I did see most of what I wanted to see. For dinner, I tried squid ink pasta, which is one of the Venetian specialty dishes. Not a big fan, tasted very fishy. Haha.

 My reading spot under the bridge

Squid ink pasta 

Another sunset shot

Do try:
- Grand Canal Tour: I think it was really quite worth it, and would have loved to spend a day just hopping on and off. I think there were about 8 - 10 attractions so that would have taken up a whole day, and saved you from walking between attractions.

- Burano & Murano Islands: They were slightly different from Venice, and each had their specialty, so I felt it was worth it to see how lace and glass were made

- St Mark's Basilica: But perhaps with a guide book or a guided tour so you can understand its history better

- Doge's Palace: Just to see a palace without a massive garden, and visiting the prisons

Tips:
- To have a cheap filling meal, I'll definitely suggest a panini. It's cheap at most cafes, and you take it away with you so you don't pay for cover charge. The bread is massively filling for me, though I'm not fond of the ham, too porky. But try and judge for yourself.

- They were not joking when a lot of places close on Mondays, especially museums, so seriously consider that when you want to make any visits.

- Get the civic museum card, it's 14 euros at student price (valid with passport + student visa) and it gives you entrances to most of the common museums around Venice which I guessed would have made 3 days very busy if you were to visit all

- Spend time wandering around, whether it is in busy Rialto or the more quiet Cannaregio, there are really a lot to see in these places. Given that I came from Austria, there was a stark difference in the architecture, and that was really lovely to the eyes. If you are not too fussed about making your money's worth by visiting every single attraction possible, consider just getting a spot and people watch. It does not have to be at a coffee place, you could just sit on some random jetty.

- Stay for the sunset, best viewpoint by far for sunset is the Ponte Scalzi/ Scalzi bridge. It was near to the railway, so there were a lot of people but you still get quite an amazing view

- This is not from personal experience but from observation. Try not to stay in the Rialto or San Marco area, it's really packed, and the confusing alleys make it really difficult to find your hostel/hotel and there are A LOT of bridges WITH steps. Saw so many confused travellers, and I can imagine lugging your bags from the station into the vaporetto, and across islands, not fun.

- CHECK FOR BED BUGS. Don't be lazy. Google the methods, there are plenty.