Italy Tips

Bergamo

2008-12-23T16:16:00.000-08:00

Rome

2008-12-23T15:48:00.000-08:00

Polish christmas song Wśród Nocnej Ciszy by italian choir

2008-12-17T16:59:00.000-08:00

My friend sings in the choir of Collegio Cairoli in Pavia and I went to see their christmas concert yesterday. It was better than I expected and I liked the polish song Wśród Nocnej Ciszy because italian singers had little difficulties with pronunciation of some polish words, watch the video:

Under the Juliet’s balcony in Verona

2008-12-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

My girlfriend from Prague came to visit me in Italy. We decided to visit Verona to see the balcony of Juliet and the old town. The weather was really bad, however, the town was lovely.

When we got off the train, it was raining in Verona. Every Italian who got off that train waited for bus, however, we were walking under the umbrella into the town centre. After a while we saw Porta Nuova ("the new gate").

Afterwards we came to Verona's Roman Arena. In front of the ancient amphitheatre the guy in the costume of Roman soldier was waiting. I asked him for one photo because my girlfriend wanted it. Later on, he asked for "a small tip" for that photo :)

Verona is a small city (it has around 260000 inhabitants) which is the great advantage when someone likes to walk because everything is near. It took us not more than 10 minutes to go from Roman Arena to Piazza delle Erbe with the statue of Madonna Verona.

When we crossed very old gate (it dates to the 1st century AD) called Porta Borsari it was just another 5 minutes to reach the Adige river. We saw Castelvecchio bridge in the distance so we decided to look at it closer.

Castelvecchio bridge (Ponte di Castelvecchio) or Skaliger bridge (Ponte Scaligero) is fortified bridge which was built 1354-1356.

We crossed the bridge and entered the old town again and were quite tired because of walking in bad weather. It was still raining so that we wanted to see just two more things: the Verona's Cathedral and Juliet's balcony.

The entrance fee for the cathedral was something around 3 EURO which is not much, however, I think it is stupid to pay for the entering the church.

It was a little bit tricky to find Juliet's balcony. I didn't realise we'd passed it before. It is close to Piazza delle Erbe. Yes, we saw the Juliet's balcony, but to be honest, it wasn't anything special. I liked the spontaneous slips of paper with writings of lovers in the passageway leading to the balcony much more.

The first snow in Pavia!

2008-11-24T09:31:00.000-08:00

When I got up in the morning I saw the snow. Of course, it is nothing unusual for someone from Slovakia. However, it was the first time when I saw the snow in Pavia and I was delighted.

During the day the temperature was around 3°C so that the most of the snow melted. I hope that there will be as much snow as in year 2006 in Pavia. Watch the next video from that year.

From Pavia to Binasco by bike

2008-11-08T11:56:00.000-08:00

When I got up in the morning day was sunny so I decided to take my bike out again. I didn't know where to cycle. However, I remembered the way from Pavia to Certosa di Pavia and knew that cycle-way continue further. I just wanted to see what is at the end of the road. I feel tired now but I enjoyed it!

Only me and my bike, I can't see the end of the road. I am also not sure if my bike can go such a long way, because I have really an old one. I bought used bike for only 25 Euro but it was a bad deal :) I can hear strange noises when I ride.

The first stop was place called Borgarello. Actually, it was only one stone on which was written that name but I knew that I am on my 1/3 way to Certosa di Pavia so I was happy. I wasn't curious about Certosa, I wanted to see what is after that.

Cycle-way leads along small river canal. Some people catch fish and there are interesting steel bridges over the river.

I passed through Certosa di Pavia (you can see the monastery in the middle) and was very curious what will be next.

It was the half way to Milan from Pavia so something about 17 km when cyclo-way ended. I was thinking what to do, felt tired a little bit so I went into the town nearby. I didn't even know the name of that town but when I went inside, I was surprised. The town was small but there was nice castle in the middle and one church.

I found out later that I am in Binasco, castel is Castello Visconteo and square is called Beata Veronica. Lokal people knew immediately that I am stranger and they were staring at me a lot. It was funny thing to be there. I bought some biscuits in the shop and went back to Pavia.

I made this short video on my way back, sorry I don't know how to rotate it :)

Certosa di Pavia explored!

2008-11-02T13:06:00.000-08:00

The famous monastery complex Certosa di Pavia (or Charterhouse of Pavia) is just 10 km far from Pavia. The weather was very nice so that I and my czech friend went to Certosa di Pavia by bike.

When we got there it was about 3 o'clock. Certosa di Pavia was opened from half past 4. To make our waiting shorter, we went for coffee and chocolate to the coffee-bar close to the entrance. The coffee wasn't bad, however, chocolate was much better!

Travel tip: Certosa di Pavia is closed on mondays so don't loose time and come other day than monday.

We walked on the path to the church. It's facade is decorated with small sculptures of great detail. We entered the churk and when we were inside, we heard monk talking about the history of Certosa di Pavia. Although it might be interesting to listen, non of us can understand italian and monk was talking only italian. Most of the time we were just looking around.

We went from church into Small Cloister (Chiostro Piccolo) with the small garden in the middle.

The last place of monastery was the Big Cloister (Chiostro Grande) with cells of the monks. There was a big garden inside which look like football pitch. Probably, if monks have some free time, they play football there (just kidding).

The city of Turin = the beauty on the river Po

2008-10-29T16:02:00.000-07:00

I have to confess. I fell in love with Turin. It wasn't about squares, palaces, castels or famous Mole Antonelliana, the city of Turin has very different spirit inside. I didn't see more street performers at one square than that day in Turin so that I decided to show you one of them...

The train connection from Pavia to Turin isn't so good. We had to change our train once, one way cost about 10 Euros and took more than 2 and half hour. Our train arrived to Turin station called Porta Nuova and we started to walk.

First of all, we came to Piazzo San Carlo (square) which wasn't so special. However, really nice square is nearby. It's called Piazza Castello and there are impressive palaces on it - Pallazo Reale and Palazzo Madama.

There were many street artist, in fact, I have never seen such competition between them (because there were like 5 groups of artists in the same time) on Piazza Castello. Have a look on this funny group!

After watching street artists we continued to walk near the Pallazo Reale. The Cathedral of St John the Baptist is very close to this palace. I like the cities in which everything is near so that you can see the most in the short time. There is famous Shroud of Turin inside the cathedral. However, I liked the Palatine Towers more and really enjoyed Archaeological Park. I have some kind of obsession about city parks so it was nothing unusual for me :)

After staying enough time in Archaeological Park we went to visit the museum of cinema which is inside Mole Antonelliana so that it was not so hard to find. Mole Antonelliana has the highest tower in the centre and it is the main landmark of Turin.

I wasn't disappointed with the museum of cinema, however, I expected more international cinema than italian. However, there was the expedition of Roman Polanski which was very interesting. In the middle of the museum there is amazing lift which goes up to the tower and from which you can see the most of the city. Unfortunately, we came to the museum quite late so that we didn't have enough time for both. We stayed inside until the closing of the building and were very tired after it.

Finally, we were walking in the streets of Turin towards the river Po. When I was there and saw stone bridge with the church Gran Madre on the other side, I couldn't help myself and imagined being in Prague. I don't think these cities are so similar, however, the view from that part of the riverside on Gran Madre has something in common with Prague.

Although it is not so easy to get to Turin from Pavia, I hope I will have time to go there again. I haven't tried Torino Chocolate yet!

The song from Via Garibaldi (Strada Nuova) in Genoa

2008-10-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

I spent saturday afternoon in Genoa with my friends. I haven't seen much of Italy yet but from the cities I've seen I like Genova the most. The city is hilly, streets are narrow, you can feel the wind of the sea. In the street Via Garibaldi (Strada Nuova) we heard italian street singer...

Just a few minutes after arrival to Genoa we discovered statue of Christopher Columbus :) Then we took bus into the centre of the city and got off Piazza De Ferrari. We went inside Ducal Palace and then up to its tower. Student tickets cost only 3 Euro but there was nothing to see. Tower used to be a prison in the past and famous people were imprisoned there, however, all you can see there today are 4 walls.

Travel tip: Don't waste you time with tower of Ducal Palace.

We went to see the cathedral of Genoa afterwards which is near Ducal Palace. When we were inside the priest was doing divine service. It was quite interesting.

It was only 10 minutes walking from the cathedral to harbour. There is Aquario of Genoa which is one of the biggest in Europe but we came to Genoa late so that we didn't have time to visit it. We found one crazy statue in the harbour, I had to put the picture here.

After the walk in the harbour we found medieval gates of Genoa (Porta Soprana) and the house where Christopher Columbus might lived.

We went back to Piazza De Ferrari and crossed it and started to look for Via Garibaldi (Strada Nuova) which is on the World Heritage List of UNESCO. It was tricky to find it in the narrow streets of Genoa.

And the song by street singer for you at the end:

I didn't have enough time to see all things I wanted to see in Genoa. I haven't seen the Genoese lighthouse La Lanterna nor visited Aquario of Genoa. I hope I will visit Genoa another time and see the rest.

The covered bridge of Pavia (Ponte Coperto)

2008-10-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

I live now 3 weeks in Pavia (Lombardy), 35 km south of Milan. It would be a mistake to write another post about different city. People travel a lot, because they are curious about other places. However, they find later on that they don't know much about place they live. My journey starts on Ponte Coperto (Covered Bridge) and ends in the streets of Pavia.

I live near Ticino river, Ponte Coperto (covered bridge) is about 10 minutes walking. Some people call this bridge also Ponte Vecchio which means old bridge, but this bridge isn't so old. It was built in 1951 and has replaced the older bridge (1354) which was damaged in 1945. Ponte Coperto is symbol of the Pavia, and from the other side of the Ticino there is a nice view on the bridge and old town.

After crossing the bridge I was walking on Strada Nuova. There is the most important building at the end of this street - University of Pavia. Pavia has only 70,000 inhabitants but 20,000 students. Great reputation of this university was emphasized by famous scientists such as Girolamo Cardano, Alessandro Volta, Camillo Golgi, Ugo Foscolo.

Three of mediaval towers are next to university and shapes the skyline of Pavia.

After walking around the university I got back on Strada Nuova to see the Theater Fraschini. The theater named after famous tenor of Pavia was founded in 1773 so it is even older than well known theater La Scala in Milan.

I continued with walking and crossed the crossroad. Afterwards I was staring at the big castle with strong walls surrounded by beautiful park - Visconti Castle. I had a rest in the park because I felt really tired after going through the whole town by foot.

Travel tip: Have a rest in park near the Visconti Castle and then walk again. You can see the most of Pavia by foot.

I decided to go back home. On my way I go through Piazza della Vittoria and took the street near Pavia Cathedral (Pavia - Il Duomo).

Although my legs are tired, I have nice feelings. I know that there are still a lot of things to discover in Pavia. Maybe next time!

On the roofs of Duomo (Milan cathedral)

2008-10-05T14:56:00.000-07:00

I saw the city of Milan. I enjoyed many strange things there. Big rabbits in the street, woman singing in the underground using her tape-recorder, big spaghetti growing from the road = Milan was like a fairy tale. However, I loved the view from Milan cathedral (Duomo) the most.

The journey started with hitch-hiking from the town where I live - Pavia. My italian friend told me before that only a few people hitch-hiked in Italy. I had to try it. Me and my turkish friend Emir were trying to catch a car but we had a bad luck that day. After 2 hours we decided to go to Milan by train (as a losers). We will have more luck next time.

Travel tip: If you want to travel by train in Italy, use trains called "treno regionale" because they are much cheaper.

We used the underground after arriving to get to the center of Milan. On the third stop get in a woman with strange machine on her back. She had there tape-recorder, microphone in hand and was singing some song. Nice ride in Milan's underground, nice start of journey. When we came upstairs, we saw spaghetti growing from the road.

There was Milan castel (Castello Sforzesco) near the street with spaghetti. Afterwards, we went more into the centre and were looking for Duomo (Milan cathedral). All we could find were two big rabbits in the Milan street which were staring at us. Finally we saw Duomo.

Milan cathedral is the 3. highest in the world and about 40 thousand people could be there for the same time. We were also inside and one sculpture I liked the most. However, the best thing from the whole journey was the roof of Milan cathedral. It cost 5 Euro to go up by foot and was really worth seeing.

Milan, the second largest city in Italy was a great choice for my first journey.