Bella Italia - Se potrei vivere qua!

Roma.
It was a beautiful sunny English day (rare) when I flew out of Heathrow two Saturdays ago, whose flight was the only one delayed? Mine of course - 2 1/2 hours. I have never got on a flight that's departed the UK on time. Then I had to wait way over an hour for bags in Rome, apparently that day they sacked about half the baggage handlers at Fiumicino airport, so I missed a day in Rome.
The next day was the only one I had so I just did the hop-on hop-off bus, which ended up being a good idea. I hadn't been to Rome for over 20 years, last time St Peter's was closed so I got to go into the Vatican this time. Sunny day, lots to see (and eat!). I realised that in my economical packing, I would be completely under dressed in Italy, everybody always looks good!

Trevi Fountain

Colosseum obviously - didn't want to wait 3 hrs to get in

Gladiators

Random fountain - they're everywhere

Pantheon

St Peter's

The Vatican

JP II

Spanish Steps

Vatican - Swiss guards

Lots of tourists, 3 hr wait for the Colosseum (I figured that hadn't changed. Jumped the queue at St Peter's, didn't want to wait 2 hrs there, I did apologise to Pope Paul IV when I went past his crypt.
I still had plenty of time just to wander around and get lost, its a great city. I tried to talk only in Italian, but I think by accent would give me away.






Montesilvano.
There was a thunderstorm the day I got the bus to Pescara which is on the Adriatic coast directly east of Rome. The drive on the autostrada was amazing, it just goes straight though the Apennine Mountains with bridges and tunnels, no wonder the toll is about 30 Euro. I was met by Remo, Claude's cousin who drove me to the apartamento in Montesilvano which is here.
Montesilvano a beach resort for Italians, its hard to describe...like a suburb somewhere in Qld (beach not a nice though) that's being developed at a rapid rate. The Mammarellas are very lucky, their apartment is right opposite the beach and very close to all the restaurants and cafes. Of course its decorated with tasteful Italian furniture, and once again I have to thank Claude and Lina for their hospitality.
There was not actually much to do there (which I was grateful for, I had a cold for most of the week) until full-on summer when all of Italy goes on holiday. Shops and restaurants open Italian hours (morning and evening only) if they bothered to open at all. I really wanted to go up into the medieval villages in the mountains in the Abruzzo national park, but found out that there was no transport up there until July, and some villages had been evacuated and closed after earthquakes a few years ago.
Early in the week there seemed to be no one in Montesilvano, there are big hotels that looked like they were abandoned in the 80's, but by the end of the week when the weather got better it was pumping. When I felt better, I got a bike and rode everywhere. As in a lot of Italy, the beaches are private and you have to rent a sunlounge, but they weren't operating in April, but come July there will be about 20km of umbrellas along the coast.

Cinque Terre.
I caught the fast train to Bologna (where I'd never been) and looked around for a day, beautiful renaissance city and great food (more later). Stayed overnight then got the train down to the Ligurian coast and found my hotel (which happened to be an apartment) in Riomaggiore, the first of the Cinque Terre villages which is here. The Cinque Terre are five world heritage villages that sit on cliff tops or the coast along the Ligurian sea, surrounded by a national park. Its always been on my bucket list of places to go, and it didn't disappoint. To go from village to village you can either get the train (that tunnels through the cliffs), get a ferry or walk along the trails.During the day, the villages are full of thousands of tourists, but at they all get the trains out and Riomaggiore was delightful (no other word I can use!) Great restaurants and bars, perfect weather, and I just had to step out my front door.
Unfortunately most of the coastal path was closed, except for Monterosso to Vernazza, which happened to be the longest and steepest. There were hundreds of people on the track, from sensible Aussies, to Italians all dressed up and thinking they were in for a leisurely stroll, to the Germans and Scandies who are massively over kitted-out with these stupid walking sticks that they use everywhere (I just don't get them, the locals have been walking up and down these hills forever, they don't need 300 Euro carbon graphite sticks, they just get in the way and end up being carried in their expensive backpacks). The walk was hard (thousands of steps straight up the begin with) but that's because if become soft and unfit through the UK winter.
I definitely recommend the Cinque Terre if you ever get to Italy.

Bologna

Bologna

Bologna

Riomaggiore

Monterosso

Vernazza

Vernazza

Corniglia

Manarola

Manarola

Northern Italy
I've been through the north before, but I love it there. Spent a day in Genoa, where I hadn't been before which was a pleasant surprise, although it was a public holiday in Italy and nearly everything was closed...even restaurants, so weird for Italy. Next stop Milan, very classy, but what I don't get are the Africans selling fake designer handbags (as they do all over the country) right out the front of the Prada shop, you'd think the big italian fashion companies would be all over that. Final stop was Bergamo, 60km from Milan where the cheap airlines fly from. That again was a surprise, the old city which sits on a rocky hill above the new city is amazing, and not many people go there. Had a 7am flight home from there (Ryanair 35 Euros..can't complain). Now back to reality in Wales, though its been the warmest bank holiday for 6 years here - 20C!!! Yay, that actually IS nice..

Genoa

Genoa

Genoa - big yachts

Milan

Milan

Milan

Bergamo

Bergamo

Bergamo

Food......
Seriously, the best. I have vowed never to eat the so-called Italian food in the UK again (and that means you Jamie Oliver). What can I say....saltimbocca in Rome, panini with proscuitto, buffalo mozarella and fresh tomato, salame and cheeses, fresh seasonal vegetables from markets, pizza and gelati, fresh fish and arrosticini (grilled lamb) from Abruzzo, pasta with clams and mussels in Montesilvano,  italian microbrewery beer, fresh vegetables from the market (cannot stress the fresh part too much), fritto misto (fried mixed seafood) in the Cinque Terre, pizza and gelati (again, cannot get enough), pizza rossa and pizza bianca (my new favorite - strapazzetto with 4 cheeses, cotto ham and scrambled egg), real foccacia and deep fried anchovy in Liguria, tortellini alla bolognese in Bologna, mortadella and parmesan cheese, tiramisu, pasticceria cakes, fresh veggies, real bread, linguine with pesto green beans and potatoes in Genoa, campari and soda, house wine, pizza and gelati, cotoletta and risotto milanese from Milan....aaarrgghhh I want to go back, and NO CHIPS...yes UK, you can have a meal without them.
I'll let you drool over some more photos.
Ciao for now.

That reads horse butcher!

Vacanze in Italia

I'm in the smallest hotel room ever (thanks to booking.com) in Genoa which is a beautiful city, but being a public holiday here nearly everything is shut. And I've just had my only bad food experience - the primo was great (pasta with pesto with green beans and potatoes, authentic ligurian style) but I think the second was horse meat!
I've been in Italy for about 10 days now, first Rome, then in a seaside resort town called Montesilvano on the east coast which is the province of Abruzzo, then a couple of days in the Cinque Terre (which was the highlight).
I'll fill you in when I get back to the food hell which is Cardiff, and post some photos.
One for now.... Bolognese in Bologna.
Ciao

Dublin...finally

I thought I was cursed to never get there...my flight out was delayed for hours because of the weather in Dublin...and when I landed...white-out! I missed the bus into the city from the airport because I couldn't see the bus stop and had to wait another 30 min in the snow!
The hotel was nice, but it was opposite the Christchurch Cathedral so the bells rung all night...every 15 minutes, not great when you're trying to sleep, you can hear what the time is all night.
It was freezing, and snowed (not settling) for the first 2 days, but it was kind of nice. Its better if its snowing and not raining, its still dry, and everything looks cleaner covered in white.

 You can't really see the snow in the photos, but it was only about -2C.
Dublin is a great city to explore, you can get most places on foot and I was staying in the Temple Bar which is the tourist epicenter, but still full of pubs as you'd expect (most charge for the Irish music and dancing though).

I did the cultural things first. There's a place called the Chester Beatty Library which has one of the the world's best collections of rare books and manuscripts, very impressive. More interesting was a little place called Marsh's Library (which I saw on a TV show a few months ago), its the first public library, founded in 1702, and hasn't changed since 1800. The old books are all locked up, but they are all original editions. You can ask to see a reference book, but the librarian has to handle it with gloves. They have books on display in glass cases, this month the subject was science and they had editions of works by Newton and Galileo. I though that was pretty cool.

Marsh's Library est 1702

That afternoon - lifelong ambition - the Guinness factory (Guinness Storehouse as its called). Its situated in the original brewery which closed in the 80's. it really is a big tourist trap but  it is done so well. The Guinness people (and I suppose the Irish as a whole) are the masters of alco-tourism.
You walk in at the bottom and you have about 5 levels of the old brewery to cover the history of and process of making Guinness. Each section has a video featuring a man who is one of the brewers who is so excited about Guinness, but each video must have been filmed at different times because his hair is longer or clothes more dishevelled in some videos, but not in order.

By the time you have got up to the fourth level, you are absolutely gagging for a pint. Genius! You get a coupon for one free pint only (sad) and you can either use that to pour your own on the fourth floor bar, or use it in the rooftop bar. Some English people were queuing up with me for the pour your own, but still wanted a drink up top like me. We were told we could pay an extra 5 euro (which is the cost of a pint in Dublin) for the pouring and use the coupon up top. We conveniently forgot to pat the 5 (as the suggestion of the barman - but I think he says that a lot) and still got the freebie on the rooftop. Luck o' the Irish!! Scam!

Bucket list!

Needless to say, we stayed until it closed and went to the nearest pub for more pints. Back into town, and we went to pubs not in the tourist area, its true, the Irish are really friendly in their pubs and I ended up in a pun called Mulligan's listening to jokes all night.
The next day I went to this little old church I was told about where there is a crypt underneath 800 years old with mummies in it. A little Irish tour guide stroke amateur actor gives you the history/performance piece and at the end you can go into the crypt and shake that hand of the mummy who was a crusader - for good luck! Only in Ireland.
After that,  alco-tour number 2, the Jameson's Whiskey factory. Not as good as Guinness, but free samples, which were perfect on a cold day.

Dublin is a great city, pubs are fantastic and great food. Its also more cosmopolitan than you would think.
I would love to live there for a while too, but stuck in Cardiff for a few more months.
Daylight saving has started here, seems weird while its still so cold but at least I'm seeing more daylight. I think I've got that S.A.D. from lack of sunlight.
Until next time....

Molly Malone - cockles and mussels and boobs

Oscar Wilde- pre prison