Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, But We Tried to See it in One (And Other Terrible Italy-Related Puns)

I have returned to grey sunny (!) London after two completely amazing weeks in Italy and Greece (where it didn't rain once!--quite a shock for a Londoner). It was my first time in Italy (where I was with my mum) and my second time in Greece (where I met my lovely friend from back home). I'll just aim to cover Italy in this post because I have far too much to say. I'll attempt to do this highlight reel style since there is just so much fabulous-ness and I can't possibly cover everything. (Also, I'm drinking ouzo brought back from Greece while doing this, so I apologize if I lose the plot at all towards the end.)

So, Italy. The trip started out in Venice, which is somewhere I've been dreaming of going to and which lived up to my expectations in a lot of respects. For one, the city itself is absolutely gorgeous. The architecture, the blue-green canals, the windy labyrinth of alleyways and bridges, the piazzas...the allure of Venice becomes clear very quickly. My favorite part of the trip was probably just wandering the alleys, stumbling upon little piazzas, and sitting and eating or having coffee or a drink while watching the light change. Or sitting on the edge of the Grand Canal while drinking spumante. Or wandering through Piazza San Marco at night listening to the live classical music and eating gelato...basically it was all pretty much unbelievable.

The food was also pretty fabulous and I really loved the Venetian-style cuttlefish in ink. I also had the best tiramisu of my life (accompanied by fantastic limoncello). I'm not even a huge tiramisu fan, but this stuff was life-changing. Then there was the chicchetti, which is basically the Italian version of tapas. Squid, eel, shrimp, arancini, and of course lots of wine.

After Venice it was off to Taormina/Giardini-Naxos, two little towns on the east coast of Sicily, or, in other words, paradise. The hostel where we stayed had a rooftop terrace with views of the ocean, the hills, and Mt. Etna. This alone was worth the journey. We were staying in Giardini-Naxos, which was the first Greek settlement in Sicily, but we took trips daily over to Taormina which is situated up on a hill (amazing views) and has a really cool ancient Greek amphitheatre. I loved the drive up the windy roads but they may pose issues for those individuals with a fear of heights (aka, my mom). The towns also offer some awesome beaches, including Isola Bella, a little island that's connected to the mainland at low tide.

Again, the food was a huge highlight (when isn't food a highlight for me?). I'm pretty sure I overdosed on seafood, gelato, and cannoli. The best meal of the trip was a four-course meal at a beachside restaurant which was really more like seven courses. Steamed mussels, three types of smoked fish, shrimp cocktail, seafood salad with octopus (these were just the appetizers), pasta with swordfish, shrimp and squid kebabs, panna cotta. And of course on other days I ate even more seafood, and perfect cannoli, and all-natural gelato (pistachio and melon anyone?). It's a wonder I didn't gain twenty pounds.

So Sicily made an excellent first impression and it was so relaxing to sit on the beach, drink cocktails in the sun, and wander the towns looking at ancient ruins.

Speaking of ancient ruins, Rome was the last place on the agenda and it was a whirlwind tour. We had one day and two nights so we zipped around to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Spanish Steps, and Trevi Fountain. All very impressive/pretty, but I was not a fan of all the people. It's quite the paradox, I'm a tourist, but I also hate tourists. I think my favorite thing was the Roman Forum which was just massive and had so much cool old stuff (I'm a fan of cool old stuff). I don't know about you but I think it's pretty awesome to walk on the oldest road in Rome which has been walked on for thousands of years and to see what was the heart of the Roman Empire. I won't go on and on about food again because it's getting a little ridiculous, but I will just say this: pasta. Pasta (gnocchi in particular), Roman-style artichokes, and lamb organs (YES).

So even just keeping with the highlights this post is getting quite long so I will wrap it up with two final points. One, when I was in Rome I actually started to say the phrase 'When in Rome...' in reference to something and, having such a sophisticated sense of humour, thought this was hilarious. My mom did not find it nearly as amusing, but I can't understand why because it's not like it's the most obvious joke possible to make in Rome. (Now I've definitely lost the plot, sorry about that. I blame the ouzo. And the fact that this post has become longer than the ending of the last Lord of the Rings movie.)

And secondly (and far more relevantly and practically), I just want to note that all the places we stayed were excellent and come highly recommended, particularly because of how nice the owners and employees were at all of them. So, for your future travelling adventures, if you go to Venice: Ca' Contarini Guesthouse, Taormina: Gianni House Hostel, and Rome: La Stella di Roma B&B. You're welcome.