That image struck my young impressionable mind as extremely romantic, and there and then, I decided that Italy is the one place I will visit on my honeymoon. So when I got hitched last month, no doubt we were going there for our honeymoon.
Italy has always been a honeymooner's favourite and it did not get that reputation without reason.
Italy has it all:
- Culture
- History
- Beautiful architecture
- Thrilling art collections
In fact, its 2,500-year history has an ability to overwhelm the virgin visitor - me included. There was a monument or sculpture filled with historical significance no matter where we turned to.
But before the trip, all of our friends and relatives adviced us to be aware of pickpockets and thieves.
One friend even said that if someone throw a baby at us, we should simply dodge as it would be just another tactics pickpockets' may do to distract unsuspecting tourists.
So, armed with the advice and guidebooks, we flew to Rome with our valuables kept safely under my husband's shirt.
Although our wallets did not get picked, but embarrassingly enough, despite warnings from the guidebooks, we were ripped off by men in gladiator garb who convinced us to pose a photo with them at an outrageous fee.
That aside, Italy was pretty much perfect.
In thick layers to fight the cold, we stood in awe of the colosseum in Rome, drifted through canals on a gondola in Venice, admired the Michaelangelo's statue of David in Florence and worked our credit cards hard in Milan.
Winter also meant we cosied up in restaurants and bars often enjoying Italian food and pastries with an espresso or pinot grigio.
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MILAN
Fashionistas may call me silly but what I love most about Milan is not the shopping but its legendary happy hour.
Never mind that my husband and I saw snow for the first time in our lives here. That thrill was fast over when we stepped into a bar to warm up.
Bar Magenta, a cosy yet trendy retreat where locals head to for their afterwork beers and first-dinner cocktails, where we were introduced to a Milanese happy hour.
A lavish buffet - from
- crisp slices of hot pizza
- plates of ham and cheese,
- olives,
- brushettas,
- meat and
- salad
What's best, the feast goes on from 6 - 9:30pm.
The next morning we visited the Duomo di Milano (Figure 1), the world's largest gothic church and by far the most impressive cathedral I have ever seen.
(Figure 1)
It is also right beside the Galleria Vittorio EManuele II, said to be the world's oldest mall. The Galleria is home to some of the oldest shops and restaurants in Milan and if you do not enjoy shopping, spend time admiring architectural details like the overarching glass roof.
One of the best things to do in this fashion capital is to simply sit in a cafe and people-watch. Well, we did that. Paying a ridiculous price for a hot chocolate in a strategically located cafe just so we could observe chic Italians, sashaying past us.
At night, we asked a passing local for a restaurant recommendation near our hotel. A waiter ushered us into Limon and pampered us with 2 flutes of champagne. We had:
- Parma ham and melon for appetizers
- Vongole and grilled-to-perfection fish platter for mains
- Coffee and biscotti for dessert
The bill came up to more than 100 euros (S$174) but the romantic setting and scrumptious food made it all worth.
Many chose to skip Milan when visiting Italy but we actually quite enjoyed ourselves here.
Besides, Milan was the coldest and wettest of the four cities we visited during our 17-day trip. This gave us plenty of reasons to cuddle in public like the Italians do.
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VENICE
Venice, to me, is easily the most romantic city in the world. It did not matter that we spent the Christmas weekend here, when most shops and museums were closed.
There is something extremely romantic and surreal about being in the city of canals. Even taking the vaporetto, the most mundane thing, is an experience.
In fact, the best way to get a good overview of the city is to hop onto bus No. 1 as it runs up and down the grand canal. We took an evening ride on this usually crowded bus and it was romantic and scenic.
Being honeymooners, we gave in to the persuasive gondoliers. usually suave Italian men and paid 80 Euros (S$139.50) for a 40 minute ride. To understand the city more and to avoid gawking tourists, we requested that our gondolier take us through the less crowded canals. He swiftly obliged and took us to the backlane of his grandfather's home and also pointed out the blue building Angelina Jolie and Jonny Depp stayed in during the filming of "The Tourist".
We could not get enough of the ride and the next day, we jumped onto a traghetto, an empty gondola that ferries people across canals for a cheap 0.50 Euros a person just to get to the Rialto market.
We spent our Christmas eve morning at the market, watching locals pick out their seafood and meat for the feasts that night. To make the morning perfect, we stopped at a bacaro, the Venetian answer to a wine bar, for an early drink.
Drinking starts early in Italy and the bar, no bigger than a hotdog stand, was already packed with locals. We had a glass of sparking white wine for 3 Euros and a delicious crab sandwich.
Though Venice has a reputation for being expensive, the city's most interesting sites are usually free.
The city is often flooded and just jumping into puddles in our wellies kept us occupied for an embarrassing amount of time.
On Christmas morning, we enjoyed the sights and sounds at Piazza San Marco before we left our map behind and spent the afternoon getting lost on the narrow streets of Venice.
Getting lost there is part of fun and it was how we chanced upon the museum of music, and attended Christmas mass in a tiny church where the priest spoke in such strong Italian accented English, we had fun just trying to make out what he said.
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ROME
In Rome, one does not need to heat to museums to learn about the culture and history of the city.
The eternal city has all it's architectural heirlooms spread out in the open and everywhere we turned to, we saw buildings of hundreds of years.
While the detail-driven sculptures and monuments wow tourists, local walk and drive past them as if they are mere traffic islands.
To get a taste of a the Italian life, we had breakfast at Camp de' Fiori, the oldest market in in Rome, where locals shop for herb and cheese.
We learnt that Italians go light on their morning meal, so we had no more than a brioche and a shot of espresso.
Spend a morning at the Colosseum (Figure 2), considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering. Though usually swarmed by tourists, it is a sight not to be missed, even for honeymooners weary of crowds.
(Figure 2)
The thought that the Colosseum was once where gladiators faced one another and wild beasts in a fight of death may not be the most romantic, but the grandeur of the structure more than compensates for it.
The Trevi fountain (Figure 3), crowded at all times, is still a must-visit. Just find your own spot and tune the crowds out. We did just that and enjoyed out evening thoroughly, watching sunset accompanied by the sound of gushing water and digging into a tiramisu gelato from the famous San Crispino Gelateria. To end the romantic evening, we tossed a coin over our left shoulders into the fountain, wishing that we will some day visit this city again.
(Figure 3)
Our visit was near the Christmas season and one of the best ways to spend a winter night in Rome is to head to the Piazza Navona Christmas market. There, we indulged in nuts and cottan candy while shopping for Christmas. Romance was definitely in the air when a street musician played Moon River on his violin.
Italy in general is teeming with tourists and the best places to eat is where the locals go. The best meal we had was on a cold afternoon when we got lost just off a shopping stretch near the Piazza Flamino. There, in this tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant, I had the best shrimp risotto of my life. Each mouthful of creamy rice was a delight warming the heart.
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FLORENCE
May be known as the art capital of Italy but many couples remember the city as the place where they locked their love- literally.
Legend has it that if a couple attaches a padlock to any surface if the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge and throws the key into the river, their love will last forever.
And so we did just that and added a padlock, inscribed with our names, onto a railing weighed down by thousands of other padlocks, only to discover later that we could have been caught doing so and made to pay a 50 Euros fine.
We escaped "unharmed" and went on to share a gelato while window-shopping along the stretch of goldsmith shops at the Ponte Vecchio, overlooking the Arno river.
We later found ourselves in a tiny bar, crammed full of locals. We warmed up with a glass of Chianti, a red wine produced in Tuscany, and some chicken-liver crostini, yet another local delicacy.
A good part of our time there was spent in museums like the Uffizi and Pitti Palace which boast a good collection of art. But we most enjoyed coming up close with the original statue of David (Figure 4) at the Gakkeria dell'Accademia.
(Figure 4)
It is a Michelangelo masterpiece so strong, brilliant and famous, even those not art inclined are naturally in awe of it. Photography was not allowed, sadly.
The best-known architectural jewel of Florence is the domed shape cathedral, the Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as the Duomo.
We had the most romantic evening watching the sunset at the Piazzale Michelangelo.
Set on a hill, the piazza, though crowded with tourists and vendors, gives a spectacular panoramic view of Florence,
Winter means a thinner crowd and we easily found a spot to huddle and look out for sights we visited over the 2 days in Florence.
For the shopaholic, the best advice I can give is to head to the Prada outlet, about an hour and a half away from town. There, top quality leather bags, though a season or so behind, go for half the price.
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