Fabulous Florence

In May 2011 I visited Florence with my Mum, spending four days in the glorious city. For those of you that are yet to travel to Florence, you have lots to look forward to; for those that have already visited it, prepare to reminisce. 

The view from our hotel roof

We arrived at our hotel, Hotel Scaletta, and were greeted by friendly staff and a stunning rooftop view over the city and the Boboli Gardens nearby.  The hotel was also conveniently located an easy five minute stroll from the glorious Ponte Vecchio, famous for its gold and silver jewellery shops.

The much-celebrated Ponte Vecchio

As soon as I dumped my suitcase I was well and truly ready to explore the city, so I left Mum (who has having some quiet time) and did a little reconnaissance, seeing some fantastic things along the way.

I happened to stumble across these guys, who were created amazing artworks using chalk, on the pavements outside the shops along one of the many walkways. The next day I saw another couple doing the same thing in another area of the city. 

After finding my way around I headed back to the hotel and Mum and I went off to find a nice place for dinner. We settled on a really traditional (and less touristy) looking place a few minutes from our hotel, with a great Maitre D' who you can see below with a tray of freshly picked 'funghi' (or mushrooms) which were the feature of their special, a Risotto Al Funghi. 

The lovely Maitre D' who served us on two nights

In true Italian style I opted for a delicious vegetable pizza while Mum chose the risotto. Both meals were great and the portions were huge. We were also served hot freshly-baked olive bread with olive oil and balsamic.

Freshly made olive bread

And why stop when you're onto a good thing? We liked this restaurant so much that on our last night in Florence we came back to enjoy the Caprese salad, which is a simple but delicious tomato, mozzarella and basil salad.

Enjoying our Italian meal

Once we'd finished our meal we decided to walk it off with a meander along the Ponte Vecchio and a stroll along the banks of the Arno river.

The view of the Ponte Vecchio at sunset

The Arno river

The next morning we made it our challenge to climb to the top of the Duomo for a spectacular view over the city. This is the outside of the Duomo - how impressive!

Duomo

 If you have claustrophobia I probably wouldn't recommend going to the top; I don't get claustrophobic too often but I felt a bit trapped walking up the narrow corridors that wind around the outside of the Duomo. But it was well worth it... And here is the view from the top.

The view of Florence from the Duomo

And after a big climb we were ready for some sustenance. We decided to visit the San Lorenzo markets where we found a huge selection of meats (lots of prosciutto), cheeses, pastas, biscotti, fruits and vegetables. We bought a mild cheese, some delicious straberries, some chocolate and almond biscotti and some prosciutto and found a nice area with some benches where we enjoyed our market produce.

Our wonderful deli-hand who gave us the best prosciutto

And then it was time to shop. Florence is renowned for its leather goods, so we couldn't pass up an opportunity to see the best leather in the world. After several hours we returned to the hotel with a handbag, a pair of shoes, a belt and two pairs of leather gloves, and a glint of concern about how we might fit everything into our suitcases.

The San Lorenzo markets

On our final day in Florence we visited the beautiful Boboli Gardens and the Porcelain museum.
These gardens are absolutely stunning, serene, and at the top of the gardens there is an amazing view into rural Tuscany.

The porcelain museum inside the Boboli Gardens

Included in our ticket to the gardens was entry to the Costume Gallery, which is located inside the Pitti Palace. The exhibition displayed garments from the 16th to the 20th century by well-known designers.

For me, Florence is one of those magical cities you don't expect to find in reality. It is charming, cultured and enchanting. Particularly given that I was able to experience this wonderful city with my beautiful Mum beside me, it will always be one of my favourite cities in Europe. 

Pizza: Naples style.

Pizza Margherita in Naples

In June 2011 I went to the Pizza Mecca of the world and, while I was there, I made it my duty to seek out the ultimate thinly-crusted tomato and cheese creation.

Naples, synonymous with pizza, is located in Southern Italy. It is home to the famous Pompeii and Herculaneum landmarks, and Mount Vesuvius. Not to mention the mafia.

It is a city full of rawness and grime and first impressions can leave much to be desired. But Naples gets into your bloodstream with its abundant character. You can't help but leave it being happily surprised.

Upon arrival at the main train station of Naples - with my heavy backpack on - I was greeted by a huge pile of rubbish on the road and a chaotic traffic system. There were beggars along the side of the bus station and people trying to hawk their goods. This definitely didn't feel like the Italy I had experienced in Florence or Rome.

But later on that first night in Naples I discovered another aspect to the city which was much, much more appealing and very unassuming.

A group of backpackers from my hostel all chose to dine at a well-known pizzeria called Di Matteo.

In true Naples style I opted for the Pizza Margherita named after Queen Margherita. A true pizza like this one was soft and thin with a chewy outer crust. The cheese and tomato melt together and the singular basil leaf on top just finishes off a heavenly, simplistic meal.

Although the pizzas are big, they are also thin and could easily be consumed by someone with a big appetite.

It's also tempting to opt for more toppings when browsing the menu just as one might do when in their local pizzeria back home.  The secret is to keeping it basic and pure! I did have the Pizza al funghi in Naples, and a pesto pizza back in Florence, but you really can't beat the Margherita (tomato and cheese) or the Marinara (tomato, oregano and garlic).

The piazza we drank in

I also loved the great night life that you can find in Naples. We stumbled upon a big group of university students drinking (with their dogs?) outside their accommodation in a piazza. There are plenty of off-license bottle shops around in the little alleys of Naples where you can buy your Peroni's, and the locals were happy to mix and mingle with us.

Here you can see the interesting mix of students, tourists and dogs. You can also see the politiclly-inspired graffiti/ street-art on the streets of Naples.

The students mingling in the piazza with their dogs

Napoli graffiti

It goes without saying that the coffee in Italy is supreme and my experience in Naples was wonderful. While waiting for the National Archaeological Museum to open on a Sunday I ventured over to a coffee shop and ordered a caffe latte from two lovely baristas who insisted I have my photo taken with them and then very kindly refused to take my euros in payment of my delicious drink. These are the two great guys who made my coffee.

Two baristas who made me lovely coffee (on the house) in Naples

And having mentioned Pompeii (which I can't recommend highly enough) I wanted to show you some of the pictures I took while there. I honestly didn't know what to expect before arriving at the site. I am ashamed to admit I don't have much knowledge about (or interest in) Ancient Greek history, yet I don't think that's necessarily a problem when visiting Pompeii. The richness of history captured as a result of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD meant that everything has been amazingly preserved in its original state. In particular I found the Lupanar - ancient brothels which, translated from latin, mean "den of she-wolves"- fascinating to visit because the stone 'beds' are still there for you to see, as well as the bawdy paintings from that time.

Pompeii ruins

 A mosaic inside the brothel 

The group I visited Pompeii with

Preserved bodies at Pompeii

And at the end of a long day walking through the relics of our Roman predecessors, what more could you want than a sweet, creamy gelato? Fantasia Gelati was suggested to me by my hostel manager and her suggestion was wonderful! The ice-cream was rich and decadent and I'm not even entirely sure what I ended up ordering (as the names were in Italian) but it had chocolate and cherries in it. Yum!

The best gelato in Naples

Backpacking through Europe

I wish wish wish I could tell you ALL about my tales of traveling through Italy. So far I have been to Cinque Terre, Florence, Rome and I am now spending my last night in Naples (which is awesome- having seen the Amalfi coast and Pompeii).

Tomorrow night I am going to catch an overnight train to Nice where I will be staying for three or four nights- I can't wait to be there. Having struggled to find accommodation for Saturday night I realized the Monaco grand prix is currently on, so hopefully there will be lots of buzz around Nice on Sunday. I hope to go to Monaco for a day, and also to Grasse (home of perfume).

From Nice I am going to visit my host family who I lived with in 2005. I am super excited to see them again and can't wait to see the girls all grown up.

Backpacking is lots of fun (though at times it can be hard) but when you go out with a big group of new friends to a cool piazza to drink beer with Italians at midnight, or you see the Pope give his weekly address outside St Peter's Basilica, life seems so incredibly good I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

It's quite hard to get the opportunity to use the Internet, but I will be sure to update the blog as and when I can.

From Italia, ciao Bella xx