Mi-November, my first trip of the 2011 end of the year trip series started in Italy.
Italy has been one of the countries for my next destination list.
So to reward myself of the completion of my master degree, I took a plane for 9 day-trip to Italy.
I had so many cities that I wanted to visit in the country, it was hard to choose only some for 9 days.
But I chose the following 4 cities:
①Torino : I asked a favor to a friend from the same school of master living there
Alps from the plane on the way to Torino
An Italian passenger sitting next to me who travels quite frequently told me that he had never seen the Alps as clear and beautiful as this time!
Lucky☆
He gave me lots of information about Turin where he is from and recommended places to visit in the cities that I will visit.
On the whole way to Turin, we had also good discussions about tourism, environmental problems, English education in Japan and Italy, etc...
Plus, he was kind enough to take me on his car from the airport to the Turin city centre where I was going to meet my friend.
The first contact and impression of Italian was great!
My friend in fact lives in Asti, about one hour from Turin by car, in an enormous country house.
I stayed there for 4 days.
Every morning, since she had to go to Turin for her work during the morning, we left together to Turin at 8am.
While she was working, I exploited the city.
This is fake tap!
The church in Asti
A community band?!
Some shops sell these little dolls representing the birth of Jesus with the traditional clothes of different countries.
In fact the year 2011 was the 150th anniversary for the unity of Italy.
The first capital of Italy was indeed Torino!
There are many posters and flags for the celebration in the town (Unfortunately most of the festive events have done in the summer).
My friend was very kind to spend her afternoon with me every day after her work.
I had a great time with her family by discussing many things in a mixed language of English, French and Italian. What is more, her mum's home made meals with local products were so delicious including her tiramisu !!!
②Bologna
I had to spend one afternoon before arriving in Rome.
At first, I wanted to pass Florence.
However, some friends told me that one afternoon will be too short to visit Florence while I have heard of Bologna just because a very well known Japanese football player, Nakata has played in Bologna.
Plus, when I looked for the information about the city, I found out that there would be a chocolate festival from the day when I pass there.
Hmmm, chocolate everywhere with people's big and happy smile:)
These are all made in chocolate!
Many museums in Bologna are free or with little charge (1-3 euros).
③The Italian capital, Rome where another friend from the master school lives
In this city, there are buildings and churches from Roman and Greek eras everywhere,
There is also Vatican City, the smallest country in the world within the city,
There is of course the Pope living there...
For me, the atmosphere of the city was a very unique and strange in certain sense.
Piazza Venezia
Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II
There are always two guardians protecting the monument with the golden wall behind 356 days a year.
Palatine Hill
Colosseum
You can try these Roman style clothes outside the Colosseum.
There are a large number of fountains in the city.
Each has the unique characteristic with different size and sculpture.
Sunset from the top of the Spanish Steps
This friend was also so kind and took care of me so much by taking me to the great tour of Rome with amazing knowledge of Roman and art history.
She also cooked often for me at home.
This night, she was making carbonara.
④Naples (Napoli)
I had only one day, precisely maybe full one afternoon in Naples but I noticed the great difference in the atmosphere and the appearance of people living there, compared to those in other northern cities that I have visited.
In fact, I could feel the atmosphere of Africa there.
For example, there are rubbish everywhere and people drive motorcycle without helmet, sometimes even little boys about 10 years old...
Unfortunately, my camera's battery died on the second day in Rome.
Stupidly I did not bring my battery charger so no photo after the day...
But instead, I saved all the memory in my brain well.
I appreciated so much the architecture, the atmosphere and food of each city.
I also had great discussions about different culture, religions, customs, (e.g. the origin of Japanese people's name), etc... with my friends, their friends and families, and the receptionists of a hostel in Naples who were foreign students at Napoli univerisity.
It was very refreshing and fun trip!
Italy has been one of the countries for my next destination list.
So to reward myself of the completion of my master degree, I took a plane for 9 day-trip to Italy.
I had so many cities that I wanted to visit in the country, it was hard to choose only some for 9 days.
But I chose the following 4 cities:
①Torino : I asked a favor to a friend from the same school of master living there
Alps from the plane on the way to Torino
On the whole way to Turin, we had also good discussions about tourism, environmental problems, English education in Japan and Italy, etc...
Plus, he was kind enough to take me on his car from the airport to the Turin city centre where I was going to meet my friend.
The first contact and impression of Italian was great!
My friend in fact lives in Asti, about one hour from Turin by car, in an enormous country house.
I stayed there for 4 days.
Every morning, since she had to go to Turin for her work during the morning, we left together to Turin at 8am.
While she was working, I exploited the city.
I had a great time with her family by discussing many things in a mixed language of English, French and Italian. What is more, her mum's home made meals with local products were so delicious including her tiramisu !!!
Tricyle, which we cannot find easily in the UK and Japan!
I had to spend one afternoon before arriving in Rome.
At first, I wanted to pass Florence.
However, some friends told me that one afternoon will be too short to visit Florence while I have heard of Bologna just because a very well known Japanese football player, Nakata has played in Bologna.
Plus, when I looked for the information about the city, I found out that there would be a chocolate festival from the day when I pass there.
In this city, there are buildings and churches from Roman and Greek eras everywhere,
There is also Vatican City, the smallest country in the world within the city,
There is of course the Pope living there...
For me, the atmosphere of the city was a very unique and strange in certain sense.
Piazza Venezia
There are always two guardians protecting the monument with the golden wall behind 356 days a year.
Each has the unique characteristic with different size and sculpture.
She also cooked often for me at home.
This night, she was making carbonara.
I had only one day, precisely maybe full one afternoon in Naples but I noticed the great difference in the atmosphere and the appearance of people living there, compared to those in other northern cities that I have visited.
In fact, I could feel the atmosphere of Africa there.
For example, there are rubbish everywhere and people drive motorcycle without helmet, sometimes even little boys about 10 years old...
Unfortunately, my camera's battery died on the second day in Rome.
Stupidly I did not bring my battery charger so no photo after the day...
But instead, I saved all the memory in my brain well.
I appreciated so much the architecture, the atmosphere and food of each city.
I also had great discussions about different culture, religions, customs, (e.g. the origin of Japanese people's name), etc... with my friends, their friends and families, and the receptionists of a hostel in Naples who were foreign students at Napoli univerisity.
It was very refreshing and fun trip!
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