After debating about which country to have our holiday in (a concerningly underreported problem facing many DINK's), the overwhelming advice from friends and family was to go to Italy. Last minute, we booked our flights and were off. NB: last minute for James means commencement of research within 4 weeks of leaving and having read Lonely Planet Italy 2016 edition front to back less than 3 times. Overwhelmed with what to do in 3 weeks, we narrowed things down to Tuscany and the Emilia Romagna regions. Everything was spectacular!
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| We started in Florence, where the Arno river splits the city in two |
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Bruscenelli's archetectural feat of the cupola dominates the skyline
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| Espresso's and amazing pastries dominated our journey. One espresso... |
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| Two espresso's... |
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| Three espresso's... |
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| More! |
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| That old classic combination of espresso (James' fifth for the day) and a block of 30 month parmesan cheese. A real highlight for James |
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| James' subsequent caffeine fuelled hyperactivity combined with severe gastric reflux. A real lowlight for Min |
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The David. Sculptured in the early 1500's from a block of unwanted marble, it is an outstanding piece of craftsmanship.
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| Travel tip number 1: It's very hard to stand out as being badly/inappropriately dressed in Italy. As a rule, Italians have a very poor sense of style. Safest bet is to wear active wear to all museums |
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| Travel tip number 2: Performing ridiculous poses for photos at culturally important sites is always warranted and you will never regret it |
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| Travel tip number 3: Always consider genital alignment when taking a selfie with David in the background |
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| Queue to get into a 600 year old building with huge cultural significance for the Western world? Don't be ridiculous! Queue for reportedly the best Panini in Florence? |
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| Sold! (Thanks Gussy) |
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| Next stop Bologna: La Grassa. The home of amazing food! |
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| Sprung! When Min says "I'm going to ask for directions", she really means "two scoops of your finest gelati, per favore" |
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| Thank goodness a gaviscon/quickeze based desert was in the 'dolci' section of the menu |
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| After leaving Parma, we hired a car and explored Tuscany. Mandatory Tuscan countryside photo |
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| Beautiful looking towns like San Gimignano dot the countryside. As beautiful as it looks, highly recommend not getting any closer than this. Controversial |
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| Collodi was one of our favourite tuscan towns. Home to the author of Pinocchio |
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| We stayed at a place called Podere Di Santa Maria for three nights. We chose this farm stay because we thought it was near a Tuscan town called Montalcino (famous for wine). Unfortunately, it was close to a town called Monticiano instead. Best mistake ever though... amazing scenery, farm villa and tea and a welcome cake to greet us on arrival |
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| And a German Shepherd puppy called Bud. Min wasn't pleased at all! |
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| In Min's words "Who cares about photos of stupid old buildings and artworks. Get more photos of Bud!" |
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| We don't want you to think it was all eating in Italy and we aren't 'cultural'. We did our fair share of churches too. Clearly riveting stuff, Min often yawns when she is overwhelmed with cultural excitement |
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| James would occasionally have to use some initiative "La-La-La-La-La" to keep Min interested so he was allowed to walk around numerous churches commenting on the clear distinction between Roman and Gothic architecture (those churches have great acoustics) |
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| However, it was sometimes even too much for him |
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| The beautiful city of Siena |
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| For a city founded by the Etruscans around 500 BC, it is amazing they were advanced enough to think of putting an escalator in for easy access into the town |
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| Min doing some more square sitting in Siena |
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| We arrived in Rome and caught the bus into the tourist district (in peak hour of course). "Min, Min... that building looks old, important and has lots of people queuing near it. Can you get out the Lonely Planet and see what it is?" |
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| The Colosseum... Impossible to be unimpressed |
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| Disappointingly, a multi-day hike couldn't be incorporated into this holiday. As an alternative, James arranged a great walking tour of Rome to get the K's up. According to Min, it was very possible to be unimpressed with this 2km tunnel section. "But Min, this is the real Rome..." |
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| James made it up to Min by acquiring a map and promising to use it in future, as well as a pack of Fonzies to sweeten the deal |
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| As a rule, there a lots of queues in Italy, especially Rome |
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| After a while, you just join queues as a reflex. Who knows what this one was for! |
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| "I queued up for 20 minutes to look through some stupid keyhole?" As a side note, how good are Min's sneans? |
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| Really worth it and given it was free, a great surprise and completely unexpected, it was actually one of the best things we did in Rome! |
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| The Spanish Steps on the other hand... In the words of Min "It's like Sydney Town Hall steps being an attraction" |
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| We stayed in a suburb of Rome called Pigneto. Lots of graffiti art so clearly very hip |
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| The Colletti's having their last meal in Italy. Perfetto! |
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| No, we didn't get time to get to Venice. But personally, we don't feel like we missed out on much when we had a near authentic recreation at Singapore's premier shopping centre |
