Classical Italy

I’ve always dreamed to go to Italy. Luckily, dreams do come true. One day my boyfriend and I went to the travel agency and purchased 2 tourist vouchers. To. The. Wonderful. Italy. I was beside myself with joy. “Classical Italy”- Venice, Padua, Florence, Rome and San-Marino. We were told there were 17 people in our group, one guide and a witty driver. Quite a company.
From the airport we were delivered to the tiny Italian town in the surroundings of Venice. Many people in our group were dissatisfied with the fact that we were to spend 2 nights in “a countryside”. But I was really glad as I wanted to feel the spirit of real Italy. Besides, the hotel (better to say, a boarding house) was very nice and the hostess was hospitable and kind. We spent there 2 days – enough to fall in love with the local quiet way of life. Every day in the restaurant nearby gathered handsome (very handsome!) black-haired Italians. They dined, talked very loudly and emotionally and drank the local spirit – grappa. Some people oppose Italian expressiveness to their courtesy. They really speak loudly but it doesn’t prevent them from being polite!
But let’s come back to our journey. In the morning we went to Venice. The city fascinated me! After the city sightseeing tour we began to stroll along the streets leading to the city squares. Interesting to mention that there’s only one square, which is calle “piazza” – Piazza San Marco, thus emphasizing its particular status in the eyes of the Venetians. Other squares are called “campo” (“meadow”). They really resemble meadows rather than squares. Narrow streets (“calle”) go different ways from them.
We couldn’t resist a temptation to go out boating. Venetian gondolas are famous all over the world but Venetian gondoliers are even more famous! It seems that their look serves as a main criterion for the employment…they are tall, handsome and dressed in snow-white shirts. What a picture! I was told they are unsurpassed singers. And it turned out to be true. The only minus is the price. 45 minutes of pure pleasure cost us 100 EUR. But it is really worth that!
Then we moved to Florence. Frankly speaking it didn’t impress me as much as Venice, Rome or even Padua…I think that’s because it is too big and noisy. It doesn’t of course mean that I didn’t like it at all...the most interesting moment was the ascent of Santa Maria Del Fiore. It was no easy task but we were rewarded by the splendid view opening from the height!
The most impressive city was of course Rome, where we stayed for three days. We planned the routs beforehand and then tried to stick to them although we sometimes turned aside from the initial route when something interesting appeared in our field of view. We managed to visit the Colosseum, the Roman Forums, the Capitolium, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, St. Peter’s Cathedral in the Vatican. I was slightly disappointed by the Colosseum. I think that’s because one should better go there at night when there’s no crowds of tourists and the barricading gratings are not seen…I can’t tell you about everything we saw in the city…Rome simply made me fall in love with it. All the places we visited afterwards didn’t impress me as much as the Italian capital did!…
When we took a plane home I had to control myself not to give way to tears. I preferred to think that the two coins I threw in the Trevi Fountain would certainly help me to come back to Rome!