Italy 🇮🇹

Italy is an Enigma. From the year 568 AD all the way until the late 19th century, Italy was divided. Measured on this time scale, the movement to unify Italy — dating from about 1815 to 1870 — happened at light speed. Travelling across the nation, you can see the slight regional differences: diversity in food, wine, and dialect. Looking back, I can say there is really no place like it.

Italy is a country famous not only for its glorious landscapes, rich history, and vibrant culture but also for its divine food. Throughout my time in Italy, I ATE to my heart's content! I lived in Pavia during my PhD at Università degli Studi di Pavia.

Padova

North Italy’s gem, Padova is a city of visual contrasts. I planned a weekend getaway with one of my housemates who is originally from Thiene. I was eager to visit Padua because Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia was the first woman to get a Ph.D. degree in philosophy from the University of Padua in 1678.

Galileo taught here, Copernicus studied here, and in 1678, the world’s first university degree was awarded to a woman here. Padua’s importance during the Middle Ages and Renaissance rested heavily on its university, founded in 1222. It was the first centre of humanism and lead in medical sciences, astronomy, and physics.

Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, also Helen Cornaro (5 June 1646 – 26 July 1684), was a Venetian philosopher of noble descent, who was one of the first women to receive an academic degree from a university and in 1678 she became the first woman in the world to receive a PhD degree at the University of Padova.

Prato della Valle is a 90,000 square meter elliptical square in Padova. It is the largest square in Italy and one of the largest in Europe. Today, the square is a large space with a green island at the centre, l’Isola Memmia, surrounded by a small canal bordered by two rings of statues. There are total 78 statues portraying famous citizens.

The Anatomical Theatre of Padua is the first permanent anatomical theatre in the World. Space is claustrophobic and makes you tremble to imagine what it must have been like to watch a sixteenth-century dissection on the table at the bottom of its telescoping levels.

Florence

Florence is one of Italy's most popular cities to visit. There are a lot of things to see in the city but what stands out is The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (completed in 1434, it's the most important landmark in Florence, as well as being the fourth largest church in the world.)

The golden gates of Florence Cathedral are one of its most iconic features. The gates are bronze, gilded, and decorated with bas-reliefs from the life of Jesus Christ. The gate was added to the cathedral in 1452.

Built very close to the Roman crossing, the Ponte Vecchio, or Old Bridge, was the only bridge across the Arno in Florence until 1218. The current bridge was rebuilt after a flood in 1345.

Rome

I am not ashamed to admit that I have visited Rome 6 times. Yes, and I still want to go back. Rome is an open-air museum. Rome is like a lasagna with many layers of history. 2500 years old!

The Trevi Fountain is one of the oldest water sources in Rome. The fountain dates back to ancient Roman times, since the construction of the Aqua Virgo Aqueduct in 19 B.C. that provided water to the Roman baths and the fountains of central Rome.

The largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world today.

Roman Forum, Latin Forum Romanum, most important forum in ancient Rome, situated on low ground between the Palatine and Capitoline hills. The Roman Forum was the scene of public meetings, law courts, and gladiatorial combats in republican times and was lined with shops and open-air markets.

From the Via Sacra, steps leads up to the Temple of Antoninus Pius and his wife Faustina, built in AD 141 to honor the deified empress, and after his death, co-dedicated to him. Six columns with Corinthian capitals survive from the front, along with a number of columns along the side. In the 12th century, the temple was converted into the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda, but when the Emperor Charles V visited Rome in 1536, the columns were disengaged from the medieval masonry.

Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth). It is a huge Pavonazzo marble mask weighing more than 1,300 kg (2,800 pounds). It’s shaped as a disc, with carvings of a male face with wide open mouth, nostrils and eyes. While it’s one of the best-known sculptures in Rome, the Mouth of Truth is surrounded by question marks. Little is known about it, other than the fact that it’s a couple of thousand years old. Myths and legends surround this massive piece of carved marble, which may very well be the reason behind its enduring appeal. In the Middle Ages, the Mouth of Truth myth was born: it was said that liars who placed their hand inside the sculpture would immediately lose it.

Vatican City 🇻🇦 St. Peter's Square is one of the largest and most beautiful squares in the world. It is located in Vatican City, at the feet of St. Peter's Basilica.

The Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy, climb a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church, at the top.

The Pantheon is a former Roman temple and, since 609 AD, a Catholic church in Rome

Vatican City 🇻🇦 St. Peter's Basilica. It is said to be the final resting place of Saint Peter, whose tomb is rumoured to be directly beneath the high altar of the Basilica.

Vatican City 🇻🇦 Giant Fractured Sphere at the Vatican- The structure titled Sfera con Sfera, translated as Sphere within a Sphere, is a bronze statue that appears golden as the sun shines down on it.

Vatican City 🇻🇦 Vatican Gallery of Maps- a series of painted topographical maps of Italy based on drawings by friar and geographer Ignazio Danti.

Some fun facts:

The obelisk in Piazza del Popolo (peoples square) is originally from Egypt stolen many years ago and has been here since 800 BC. The other obelisks around the city are fairly newer. The statues of Neptuno and Minerva on either side were built in the 17th century.

Tomatoes were brought into Italy from South America 500 years ago along with potatoes and sugarcane etc.

Neapolitan pizza. Pizza was first made in Napoli and it was Piazza Bianca with cheese and ham. Raffaele made pizza for queen Margherita and she liked the one with the Italian flag hence the name "basil mozzarella and Pomodoro". Roman pizza is thin but stable, and Neapolitan pizza is loose and thicker.

Pizza marinara in Napoli. Marinara pizza: named after the sailer’s wife (marine). Simple pizza with nothing on it that can go bad while on the ship. It has Pomodoro, olive oil, and oregano.

Dishes that are not Italian: spaghetti and meatballs, Caesar salad (invented in Mexico), chicken parmigiana (it’s with melanzane aka aubergine), chicken doesn’t touch pasta or pizza, cheese doesn’t touch seafood. Alfredo sauce was invented in NYC.

Pizza: Margherita (Queen)

Drink: Margarita (girlfriend of a Bartender in Mexico)

Italian Meals: antipasto, primo, secondi, salato, dolce, caffe, digestivo

Cucina di Romana (Roman dish): cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper)

Travel Tip: Don’t go for gelato which looks like a mountain, they must have added something to make it so huge. Gelato cannot be so high rise, it should be a small mount, or flat or covered. Go to places with odd flavours like tomatoes etc., because it means they make their gelatos in-house.

Lake Albano is a small volcanic crater lake in the Alban Hills of Lazio, at the foot of Monte Cavo, 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Rome (The Pope's Summer Residence).

Pompeii

In 79 AD, 2000 people died. Legends: Vesuvius wine named la chrima di christi means 'tears of christ'.

Pompeii now contains the bodies of more than 100 people preserved as plaster casts.

The Statue of a Centaur, a mythical creature, half horse and half man, Civil Forum Pompeii

A road sign pointing the way to a brothel in Pompeii

The only active volcano in continental Europe. The Vesuvius has a typical frusto-conical shape, with its highest peak reaching 1,277 metres. The crater currently has a diameter of 450 metres and a depth of 300 metres.

Pompeii was by the sea but the explosion pushed the sea further.

70% of Italy is volcano free. Vesuvius is the youngest volcano only 40,000 years old. it is caused due to magma formed by the African tectonic plate sliding under the Eurasian plate. 3 days before lava comes out, magma movement can be noted. it takes 3 days. the gas composition etc. changes at the crater. The Vesuvius was double the size and height it lost most of itself in 79 AD and then in 1944, a picture taken by the US Army during World War II.

The Mount Vesuvius eruption during World War II

Vigevano

Vigevano is very near Milan, less than an hour by train. It has the most beautiful square in Italy, one of the first models of a Renaissance square. Here Leonardo Da Vinci lived and worked. The International Shoe Museum in Vigevano boasts a collection of about 4500 footwear.

Venice

A beautiful part (city park) in Venice was built by Napoleon during French rule.

Giving the broad expanse of Piazza San Marco its vertical dimension is the campanile, the tall brick bell tower for the basilica. It towers above the corner of the arcaded Procuratie Nuove, linking the Piazza and the Piazzetta. The campanile is so tall that it was used by approaching ships as a beacon to guide them home.

Basilica di San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica)

The Bridge of Sighs is a bridge in Venice, Italy. The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone, has windows with stone bars, passes over the Rio di Palazzo, and connects the New Prison to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace.

One of the most talked-about artworks in Venice Biennale 2017 is the monumental sculpture that was created by a celebrated sculptor called Lorenzo Quinn. He calls his work Support, which involves two giant hands rising from a canal to support the building that houses Ca' Sagredo Hotel.

I have been to Venice 5 times, and I'd go back there in a heartbeat!

Lido is the only island with cars/buses (bigger island), annual film festival takes place here.

Murano: Glass-making factories. Art is not taught in school but passed on from father to son. In the past, it was in Venice city but later got shifted to the island of Murano because of danger from fire and also because Venetians were jealous of the art they couldn’t learn.

Burano: Famous for laces. Art is taught by mother to daughter. Pastel-coloured houses. A bit further away from Murano. In the past, fishermen were able to find their houses by colour.

Torcello: The mother of Venice. It is the oldest settlement. Once it inhabited 20,000 people, and now only 11 people live there. Famous for restaurants and wedding parties. George Clooney’s wedding reception was here.

Devil's bridge Torcello- This legend tells the story of a Venetian girl who fell in love with a young Austrian soldier during the Austrian occupation in Venice. Their love wasn't approved by the girl's parents who did everything they could to stop it. “Devil’s bride”, is a woman who made a pact with the devil to meet her lover, in exchange for 7 kids’ souls.

On the way from Venice to the islands, there are several abandoned islands. Some were used as hospitals/mental asylums in the past. Some were used during the world war.

The archaeological site of Grotte di Catullo

Grottoes of Catullus is the name given to the ruins of a Roman villa built between the end of the 1st century BC and the beginning of the 1st century AD at the northernmost end of the Sirmione peninsula on the southern shore of Lake Garda.

Garda

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre is one of the most beautiful places in Italy. The villages of Cinque Terre are absolutely stunning. They are located in a UNESCO World Heritage Site and have been voted as one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. The Cinque Terre is composed of five villages (in Italian “cinque” means “five”) their names are Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. I have walked around all the villages and cannot decide which one I like the most.