Buongiorno

Buongiorno is a story of Italy's cuisine, architectural styles and gorgeous landscapes. You may use Google Translate in a foreign land, but you'll know Italy's greeting soon enough without any need for translation. Buongiorno! has to be said out loud with the same zest every time you greet another, no matter what your mood.

I traveled to Italy last year with two other friends. The whole process of planning out an international trip without guidance from a professional tour organizer can be quite tricky, but also exhilarating. Start off with booking your flight tickets. We did this about three to four months ahead of our travel dates to get a good bargain, and also because once your tickets are in place, there is good motivation to not cancel the trip and plan ahead. Skyscanner is a decent website to begin with, as it will route you to various flight booking sites, comparing each based on price and other factors. Don't forget to look out for discount coupons! You can easily get 5-10% reductions in fare. We made a rookie mistake while booking our tickets though. Since round-trip tickets are slightly cheaper than landing in one city and taking off back from another, we booked round-trip flights to Milan. Milan is up north of Italy, and at this point, we hadn't planned out our itinerary. When we eventually did chart it out, our last stop was turning out to be in the south of Italy, and now we were making amends like booking a domestic flight to make it all the way back to Milan. Lesson to be learnt here - Book your return flights from a city closer to the last stop of the trip.

We didn't want to risk not getting our visa, which is why we consulted with Canara Tours to double check our documents before the visa appointment. One can start applying for the Schengen visa one to two months in advance. It is at this point that we had to also make Airbnb and hostel reservations, since these are details that the embassy will look into to approve your visa. Our visa approval took a long time. We only received our passports a week before our day of departure, so you can imagine the stress.

Apart from foreign currency, it is also a good idea to carry an international Forex card. This is much safer than carrying along a lot of loose cash. And finally, we fly. We flew Etihad from India with a two-hour layover in Abu Dhabi.

My friend and I didn't get seats together, but this presented an opportunity to talk to strangers along the way. The lady sitting beside me stirred up a conversation on how she was heading to Italy to travel the country with an old college friend. We exchanged notes of the cities we planned to visit, and she told me of places in the country that weren't even on my Places to See list initially! And like any new mother would, she spoke to me about how she had left her one-year-old behind to go on this vacation as I enthusiastically asked to see pictures because who leaves a chance to see cute baby photos?

12 hours, 4 stewards, and 2 meals later, we were in the fashion capital, Milan. We took the Malpenza shuttle to reach our Airbnb in the city of Milan, and entering the property was a little quest in itself. B&B owners who don't live at the home sure do like a good game of treasure hunt. It's almost as if you have to earn the key to be able to enter the house. Well, we found the keys, but were at the moment forbidden from entering since we still had a few hours to kill before check-in time.

Although our Milanese home had a cozy little garden to enjoy the morning sunshine, we decided to step out and explore the lanes of Lombardy. First stop here was Casina de Pomm, which is mini Venice, if I may call it that. We walked beside the bright yellow building along the canal to find skaters, runners and others like us on a morning stroll.

There's a beautiful igloo home on the street Via Lepento. This area has a variety of Milan's architecture, every mansion so unique. While Villa Fugini has the authentic rationalism architectural style that originated in Italy, Villa Mirabello is designed in a classic Renaissance form.

We then walked toward the business district of the city called Centro di Rizzinoli di Milano. If you really want to take in the true vibe of the city, this is where you have to be. From executives indulging in business lunches to youngsters lazing in a park on a weekday, you will see all kinds of people bustling around here. 

There's a massive art installation called La Mela Reintegrata next to the Milan Central Railway Station where you will find boys competing on skateboards with some good music emerging from a boombox. Side note - Good music is a commonality across the country.

When in Milan, you can't miss the Duomo di Milano. The cathedral is so exquisite, it looks like a snow laden palace from a fantasy fiction. Make sure to go here in the evening so you can catch the sunset against the structure and also view it in all its glory once it's lit up post 8pm. We had pizza and wine at the Gina Sorbillo Gourmand, a walk down from the cathedral. Also beside the cathedral is the most beautiful shopping mall I've ever witnessed - The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. A few steps inside the dome and you'll know why Milan is one of the global fashion cities in the world. From Prada to Louis Vuitton, this one's for all the bougies. Another must do in Milan is visiting the Starbucks Reserve Roastery where you can watch and learn the entire process of coffee roasting. As of 2019, it was the only Starbucks Roastery in all of Europe.

The Dreamy Lake Como is only a short train ride away from Milan, so the next day we decided to head to the wedding destination that is favoured by many Indian celebrities. From the station, we walked toward Villa Olmo. Along the lake, I looked at a woman sitting on one of the benches by the waters, reading a book and eating a chocolate biscuit. She looked so much at peace that I got inspired to do the same. I had neither a book nor a chocolate biscuit on me, but a wonderful, beautiful view to be at and absolutely zone out. So I did just that for about... 5 minutes. We were to reach Navigli in Milan by 6pm because this is when the restaurants there began the aperitivo. This is a tradition in Italy. It's basically like a Sunday brunch, but happens here every evening. For a fixed amount of price, you get access to a drink and an unlimited buffet of food. After scanning multiple bars by the Naviglio Grandi, we settled at a restaurant called Manhattan.

Day 3 in Italy and we were now heading to Tuscany. We took a train from Milan to Florence and reached the most regal Airbnb I have ever been at. The first half of this day did go into the commute because we ended up having a late lunch at 6pm. But we more than made up by staying out till the wee hours.

Florence has some of the best gelato and it's hard to miss. There's a gelato store in every nook and corner. Something else that's found in every nook and corner of the streets of Florence is live music. My advice would be to just walk down the streets and go in the direction the music takes you. We walked toward the most decorated arch bridge I've witnessed. Ponte Vecchio, which loosely translated means old bridge. It sure is old, it was built in the 14th century.

If one wants to view Florence in all its glory, shining bright in the night, head to the Piazzale Michelangelo. The square is at an elevated height, so you can see the whole city, but it's a bit of an uphill walk. It was 10 p.m. and essentially, we should have been heading home, but we decided to risk safety for the view we were to see. We spot two other women going up the lonely pathway, so we caught up with them and asked if we could walk along. "More the merrier and safer", they said. The destination was surely worth the climb. Firenze, as the city is locally called, looked like a lit up Christmas tree. We began our descent heading back to the Airbnb and spoke of how liberating it felt. Walking on the dark streets in a foreign nation, just us girls, and not being scared. We spoke of how grateful we were to our parents who let us live out what could possibly have just remained a dream. This memorable night was sealed with some bruschetta and ravioli at Osteria di Peccatori, one of the few restaurants in Florence that stays open late until 12am, because most in the city shut much earlier. After a lazy morning with crepes as breakfast, we made our way to Pisa with the sole objective to visit the Leaning Tower. As iconic as it is, I didn't know up until I actually visited the place that the lean was a mistake! The tower is built on soft soil, a foundation not very suitable for a tower of that height. But it's such an exemplar to show that sometimes, flaws could actually set you apart.

Back in Florence, we dined with pizza and spaghetti and sipped on Italy's signature beer, Angelo Porretti, at the Little David restaurant. We had another day to explore the stunning Florence. First stop, on the last day in Florence, was the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The entry here is free of charge, so you will have to wait in a long line even on a weekday. But fret not, because the wait is lined alongside live painters, creating mini masterpieces. To understand the historical significance of this duomo, it's best to approach a guide. Our guide for the day turned out to be an Indian who was a student majoring in arts. From the cathedral, we walked over to the Palazzo Vecchio. Although we didn't enter the palace, the square has many sculptures to look at, and the three of us had a gala time making up names and stories about each statue. As we sat on one of the stone benches in the square, I spot a pink poster on one of the buildings called Gucci Garden. We decided to go in and check the place out, and it exceeded our expectations. The museum houses some of the most priceless pieces of clothes and accessories. The Galeria even has a room dedicated to a visual poetry installation by Italian artist Cattie Larocca. Later that night, I booked a ticket to an Italian opera at the Santa Monica Church. My friends decided to sit this one out, so I had to walk the streets of Florence alone. After being lost for a while, I successfully found the little church inside which lay one of the most pleasant music I've experienced. This opera consisted of a solo soprano and a pianist. And at the interval, the guests were offered wine to sip alongside the intermezzo, which is a piano solo interlude. I made friends with a bunch of people sitting beside me and walked back halfway to my B&B with them because it's always better to walk in a bunch when it's not broad daylight and when you're in a place that requires you to use maps to know which direction to head. 

After five days in these gorgeous cities, we are now seated in a train chugging toward the capital of the country, Rome. We booked a hostel room at the Yellow Square through Hostel World and I'd highly, highly recommend this place. On check-in, the hostelites are given a yellow band to tie around the wrist and this avails the residents to discounts at the in-house Yellow Bar. We lunched at the Bramble Bar at Kitchen before heading to the Spanish Steps. The steps in itself are the historic monument, so tourists are not allowed to sit on these steps. Cops there are quick to come charging at you if you do. Next, we went over to the Trevi Fountain, which is the one place in the whole of Italy that had the most number of people per square foot. After squeezing through the crowds, we got near the fountain to participate in the one tradition this iconic fountain is known for, throwing in coins and making a wish. The legend goes that you won't be granted any wish you make. The order is - the first coin you throw in is to return to Rome again, the second is to find love, and the third ensures marriage. I chose to throw in two coins because those are wishes I truly hoped for. The third is anyways bound to happen if you have Indian parents.

Only a short walk away is the Piazza Navona, which is an open square with a few more fountains and is best to go over to when you just want to while away time and do nothing at all. Dolce far niente, like the Italians would call it.

We all know about the Tiramisu, a delicious Italian dessert, but did you know that Tiramisu pancakes existed? Well, in Rome, I found out they do and are delectable. After gorging, we made our way to one of the wonders of the world, the Colosseum. Since the Colosseum is a structure of such significance, it obviously takes a lot of time and weight to get there. But I have a travel hack that will help you save a few hours if not cut down the wait completely. The entry tickets to the Colosseum include entry to the Roman Forum and the Ballantine Hill as well. Most people only want to go visit the Colosseum and the two other places are just an add-on. So logically, you will find the longest line at the ticket counter of the Amphitheatre. So choose to take tickets from the least popular of the three or rather the least crowded, which point in time for us was the ticket counter of the Roman Forum. We stood in line for about two minutes and head straight to the Colosseum first because you can choose the order of visiting these monuments. Unless you're interested in the historic significance of the Amphitheatre and are willing to go on a guided tour, the Colosseum is best viewed from outside in my opinion. It's the largest Amphitheatre of the world, which is why cycling and walking tours around the structure are so popular.

We then climbed up the Imperial ramp to get a bird's eye view of the Palatine Hill. The Roman Forum is vast and I suggest going on a guided tour for this one. Else you'll only be staring at ruins without context.

On the third day in Rome, I ordered Belgian waffles for breakfast with berry syrup and whipped cream. I have to say, the breakfast I had in the three days in Rome has hands down got to be the best ever. It was almost like, if you have such an amazing meal first thing in the morning, life can throw anything your way the rest of the day, but you'll still have one good takeaway from that day. We were to travel to Vatican City, to boast about having seen the Pope. Over breakfast though, when I spoke to one of our hostel mates, I found out Rome's best kept secret, the Aventine Keyhole. She told me about a door situated on the Aventine Hill that gives one a perfect view of the St. Peter's Basilica and saves you a trip to the smallest country in the world.

We had a few hours to kill before taking a bus to the south of Italy, so I walked over to the Pantheon and the Church of St. Louis of the French, which displays some of the most gorgeous paintings of the artist Caravaggio. I had been spotting Venchi outlets through Florence and now in Rome too. It was difficult to stop myself from looking at all that variety of assorted chocolates and not picking up a few.

That evening, we travelled to Sorrento in the only bus that runs on a daily basis from Rome. The bus is timed so perfectly because it's about 6pm as you enter the narrow streets of Sorrento and get to view the sunset against the backdrop of the sea.

I ate the biggest pizza I've ever seen or eaten here in Sorrento for dinner at the Pizzeria di Franco. If you thought Joey's pizza with two different flavours is the best there could be, let me inform you, this one had four!

A shout out to Adele, in-house chef of our Air BnB and a darling who made the most amazing melt-in-your-mouth cheese omelette for breakfast the next day. She didn't know any English at all, so it was difficult to understand what she was trying to communicate. We finally opened up a translate app and made her repeat what she said, and thank God we did, because it was one of the sweetest things ever. Here's what she had to say "I wanted to tell that I know in your country you don't eat meat, so I understand you don't want any ham”. All of us went, ah, and gave the Indian head nod in agreement.

There's a hop-on hop-off bus that goes to Positano, and Amalfi Coast from Sorrento and back, so that's what we had scheduled for the day. How do I even begin to describe the beauty of this town and along the way? Imagine this - You're driving down a narrow pathway beside these striking hills, and on the other side is this big blue ocean. Even blinking seemed like a crime because I was missing that many seconds of the view.

We first got off at Positano, and man, that's how heaven must look like. The weather was perfect for a day at the beach, and the coast is lined with such attractive, bright-colored buildings that are piled one onto another like legos. As evening came, we were driven down to Amalfi. Against the setting sun, the lit-up city looked like a starry night on land. Back in the bus headed to Sorrento, I put on the earphones plugged to my seat that played soothing Italian music with a pre-recording acting as an audio guide. When the bus made a turn somewhere between Amalfi coast and Positano, I realized I was crying, crying of happiness. It seemed to me as if every suffering or bad day I had endured and lived through was to lead to this. The whole experience on that day and just the sheer beauty of this magical place filled me with so much content.

Our last day in Italy, and we were off to the island of Capri, sailing away on a yacht. The yacht passed through the dreamy Faraglioni rocks and stopped a while by the Mitigliano Beach if any of us wanted to dive into the sea for a swim. The biggest attraction on any yacht or to Capri is the Blue Grotto, a sea cave, which when you enter, the waters are crystal blue. Unfortunately, we were taking the yacht on a weekend and there was a long line up to enter these caves, so we had to skip it. The yacht stopped at Marina Grande and we had a few hours to explore the expensive island. Expensive because Capri is filled with designer stores in the bylanes, those out of reach brands that were impractical for a 24 year old to shop from. Gardens of Augustus is a lovely place to visit here. It's a long walk up from the port, but definitely worth the effort because you can view the entire island from uphill. Back in our yacht, we were given a Limoncello shot to end the sail on a high!

I have a strong urge to share pearls of wisdom, so I'm going to leave my readers with a movie dialogue I deeply connect with - 

May we forever remember that in each and every moment, we are composing the stories of our lives. Let's aim to make it a meaningful read, or at least an interesting one.