Benvenuto in Italia!

Where?: Rome, Italy

Capri & Anacapris, Italy

When?: November 2006 with my traveling partner, my mother.

Hotel?: Via Venetto

Duration of Flight?: 8 1/2 hours

Population?: 59, 905, 225 (Italy)

2,724,347 (Rome)

12,200 (Capri)

6,240 (Anacapri)

Why?: Continuing my trip around Europe.

My experience: I absolutely loved Italy! The people are probably one of the nicest people I have ever met. They are always willing to help you and make you happy where ever you are. Something that I found very interesting and I also noticed it when I went to France, was the fact that you never see people dressed down in Europe unlike in the U.S where sometimes people leave the house (including myself) with sweat pants. They are always looking great with their awesome sense of style. 

There are so many places in Italy to talk about as well. One of the memorable times in Italy was when we visited the Colosseum. This was such a great experience because we took a tour in which they explained everything that went down in the Colosseum and just to think that people would fight till the death in this place made it that much more special to be there. I was so appalled with all the stories that they were telling us of how brutal people would get beaten in this place. But once again, it was awesome just being there.

Besides going to the famous Spanish Steps (picture on the left) where a lot of fashion shows have occurred, in that strip there are all the great stores like Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, and etc. This is where you would go if you really want to spend money. I also purchased a couple of Dolce & Gabbana products here, if I might add :) This was another memorable time in Italy because there were just so many people in this area from all around the world, it was astonishing.

Now going to a different part of Italy that I visited, Capri (top left) and Anacapri (top right). To go to these places you need to take a ferry/boat (which on the way back got me a little sick) because there are on their own island. Being here was just so peaceful and beautiful, I want to go back here just because of how beautiful the view was. The top left picture was in Capri this place was absolutely beautiful. The top right picture was Anacapri which was even more beautiful then Capri. To get to Anacapri you would have to take a bus all the way up the hill. This process was scary because their roads aren't like U.S roads where they are fenced off, these roads are not fenced off at all therefore you honestly felt like you were just going to tip off and fall of the hill. It was a little scary, not going to lie. Once you got up to the time though, it feels like that scary part was so worth going through. Up here, you have all different types of little boutiques and restaurants. Since we went there with a tour, we were here for about 4-5 hours. Driving to the area in which we took the ferry at from Rome took us about a couple of hours, therefore the whole time in the bus I was taking lots of pictures of all the little towns in the area. Just like in any country, there are its little poor sections and their more nice sections.

Lastly, the food in Italy is absolutely delicious! Makes my mouth watery just thinking about it. Their pasta of course best of the best. Everything I hate from pasta to sausage to dessert was great, could not complain one bit. The only thing I found weird that I did not like, was their pizza. Go figure right? I did not like how their pizza was made and how it tasted. Obviously I am used to Jersey pizza but there was just something about it I didn't like and I love food so for me to not like something, something must be wrong. I will just stick to my Jersey pizza, thank you very much.

Italians are nice people like I mentioned before who are always trying to make a good time for the people they are around. Let them give you a good time! Go to Italy!

Ciao.

Next Journey... Paris, France!

Where?: Paris, France

When?: November 2005 with my mother.

Hotel?: Novotel

Duration of Flight?: 7 1/2 hours

Population?: 65,073,482 (France)

2,167,994 (Paris)

Why?: My first trip to Europe and Thanksgiving break!

My experience: I always wanted to go to France because all throughout high school, I studied French therefore why not go to the country where I was currently learning the language, right? Well that is exactly what I did. Paris as many might know, is a beautiful city especially at night time because everything is lit up. There are a couple of things that I experienced when I was there that I hadn't really experienced in any other country I had previously visited. People there are nice but to a certain extent. French people obviously do not like American people and sometimes you could tell. There was one particular incident that I can remember that showed that French people do not like Americans.

My mother and I stayed at the Novotel Hotel in Paris. Our room was not what we expected at all. Let me just put it to you this way, your closet was probably bigger than our room and I am not kidding! I do not know how they managed to stick two beds and a dresser in that room to be honest, it was ridiculously small for the two of us. Not only that, the heater was blasted in the entire hotel where you would just want to sleep with the windows open. Keep in mind, when my mother and I were there it was snowing, therefore to have the windows open that just goes to show you how hot it was in our room. Most hotels have a thermostat which you can control how hot or how cool your room was, well not this hotel! Therefore with these problems, my mother and I decided to go to the front desk and speak with a manager therefore we could possibly get a much more comfortable and spacious room instead of having to feel claustrophobic every time you entered the room. We arrived at the front desk and asked to speak to a manager to explain the situation. Most employees , at least the once I have encountered in the past, would give you good customer service and help you with what you need. Well these people on the other hand, were not helping us at all. They stated that we couldn't move to another room and read closely everyone, "This isn't America were you guys always get what you want." Yup, that is exactly what the manager said. Let's just put it that once we left there my mother made him feel like 2 pennies maybe 3. 

Besides that little incident, I can't honestly say anything bad about Paris, its a gorgeous city! There is so much to do and so much to see it feels like you are always in a rush to see everything you could. My most memorable experience besides buying a little pouch at Louis 

Vuitton, (come on it's made in France people, I just had to do it!) I would say it was when my mother and I ate at the Le Jules Verne which is on the second level of the Eiffel Tower. The reason it is my most memorable experience is because you obviously have to take an elevator to get up there, keep in mind they are glass elevators. In the process of going up, I was so scared that I honestly had to sit on the floor because it was too high. Yes I am afraid of heights, I can admit it. We unfortunately did not go to the top of the Eiffel Tower because I was way too scared. But back to my dinner, the view that we got from where we were sitting was awesome and the food was great, come on now French cuisine, tres bon! (very good). 

There is really just so much to say about France and so many places to go I would be here forever talking. Places I do recommend going to is the Le Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, Louis Vuitton if you would like to buy yourself something very nice :), or the many other marvelous stores, the Palais du Louvre (picture on the top left) which is a museum with all beautiful famous paintings like the Mona Lisa! Of course the infamous Arc de Triumph (picture on top right). And the list goes on... Definitely make a trip sometime in your life and go to Paris. People sometimes aren't that nice but hey I guess that's everywhere besides that everything else is to die for!

Au Revoir!