My Roman Holiday

I didn't see all the same sites as Audrey Hepburn, or fall in love with a Gregory Peck, but I did learn and witness history (President Biden and First Lady Biden visited the Pope and Vatican on our last day!!)

Highly recommend visiting:

The Vatican Museum - amazing artwork and architecture; we spent a whole day here and went through the museum twice!

Saint Peter's Basilica - free entry! View St Peter's last resting place, and Michelangelo's beautiful Pietà

Colosseum - entry is not free, and not easy to buy tickets day-of. Lots of people using casual racism to sell their guided tours 😒

Pantheon - free entry and last resting place of Raphael!

Trevi Fountain - it's illegal to sit on the fountain!

Jump below for other random Roman sites

Pisa, Pasta, & Paninis

We spent 3/4 of a day on a mini-excursion to Pisa, Italia to visit the infamous Leaning Tower!

The buildings next to the Leaning Tower are gorgeous and the main city center is charming. 

I was impressed by Pisa's beauty, and surprised by its affordability. The coffee, and pasta were delicious and cheap (much cheaper than Venice and Rome!)! We even stumbled upon a local farmers market with inexpensive wine, fresh apple juice, and honey!

Favour Firenze

Firenze aka Florence is my favourite Italian city!

After touring Italia from North to South, Firenze became my most-liked Italian city due to its beauty, walkability, and good vibes.

 

Jump below for my fave Florencian statues!

V-eh-nice

Sadly the weather for our Venice day was gloomy and cloudy, so the photos aren't great and made for an average experience. Venice is a city made up ~117 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by bridges. We enjoyed walking through the city, but didn't enjoy the hawking and tourist prices.

 

FYI, it's illegal to feed the pigeons, and other wildlife on the island!! Because it makes them violent. True story: We witnessed a seagull snatch a sandwich out of a grown man's hand!! 😣

Milano, Italia

Taking a train from Nice, we passed through Monaco, and then transferred at Ventimiglia to reach Italy's fashion capitol: Milan aka Milano.

We spent the day touring the Piazza del Duomo and saw the impressive Milan Cathedral, or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary.

 

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

 

 

Leonardo da Vinci statue

 

Starbucks Reserve Milano Roastery - Fun Fact: My sister and I have been to every single Starbucks Reserve in the USA 😇

Jump below for more photos of Milan

Nice is nice

Excuse the cliche title, but I couldn't resist because alliteration (duh) and it's true! This French Riviera city is a gem, and worth spending some time to discover.

This was my first time seeing the Mediterranean Sea! 

Even in mid-October, the weather of Southern France was warm and sunny! There were even people swimming in the sea!

Nice is port city. 

 

Nice is more laid-back than Paris, and their food was cheaper too!