Our Italy Trip
Sept 6th, 2008
Sept 7th, 2008
Sept 8th, 2008
Sept 9th, 2008
Sept 10th, 2008
Sept 11th, 2008
Sept 12th, 2008
Sept 13th, 2008
Sept 14th, 2008
Sept 15th, 2008
Sept 16th, 2008
Sept 17th, 2008
Ticket info:
I purchased our tickets on a whim for $997/pp flying into Milan and flying out of Rome on KLM through a website called airfare.com (don't really recommend, unless you are really getting an awesome deal). The cheapest tickets to Italy could be as low as $600-$700 round trip depending on time of year. June-August is suppose to be their peak tourists season, this is also the most hottest time and most expensive. The cheapest months are usually rainy and cold, hence cheap. Our idea was to go either in the beginning of the tourist season or towards the end. We chose the end, Sept 6th - 17th. It turned out to be a really good time. Most p
If you have a US passport, just buy a ticket and go to Italy. If not, as we found out the hard way...Due to change in rules no VISA was being issued in Denver. Prashant had to make an appoitment in advance (you have to pay to make the appoitment, over phone only) and fly to Chicago for his VISA. If living in Texas, you may not have to fly out of state, but do your research!! It did not take very long for the VISA to come through. However, the process was annoying, you had to have your air ticket booked, atleast 1 or 2 hotel rooms booked, and....follow the checklist the consulate provides. If anyone keeping track of the cost, I paid with my credit card points, so it was free.
Saturday Sept 6th, 2008> Denver International Airport & Minneapolis, MN
Our flight was suppose to leave around 4:40 pm, Anna rushed us to the airport two hours in advance. We boarded on time on a NW flight (KLM's partner) to fly to Minneapolis, MN (flight was fine). We reached on time, and waited 45 minutes, boarded another NW flight ( we thought we bought tickets on KLM!!), flight was not that comfortable (less leg room, initially too hot, and lady sitting in front bad mouthing India for an hour). Meal: Food was not bad (asked for Hindu meal - mixed bean curry, butter rice), Entertainment: individual screens with many movie options. Flight time: roughly 8.5 hours flight to Amsterdam.
Sunday Sept 7th> 2008, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Arrived in Amsterdam around 12:30 pm. Our connecting flight to Milan was at 3:00 pm. So we decided to relax a bit. Our immigrations and customs was checked here. Which was a very good thing. We found a Starbucks and ofcourse had to buy something.
Sunday Sept 7th> 2008, Milan, Italy, Finally, The Mokkas have landed!!!!
We arrived in Milan Malpensa at 4:40 pm and ran out of the airport to catch a bus to Novara. We took a big risk, if we missed this bus (leaving at 5:10 pm), there was no way we would reach Aosta valley before midnight. This was one reason why we did not check in any bags and why it was good that our immigrations and customs were taken care of in Amsterdam.
The bus to Novara cost us 7.50 euros/pp. The 1 hour drive is very pretty. Very green and went through small towns, so we were not bored at all. Once we reached Novara, we went straight to the train station to buy tickets for Aosta Valley. The fun started here....We walked up to the ticket counter and found that the guy at the counter didn't speak ANY English. We managed to tell him that we wanted to go to Aosta, but we could not communicate the time of departure, and that we wanted a direct train. He handed us two tickets (8,50/pp) with no train number no time, only information given was that it was for Aosta. So we started to ask anyone and everyone, Parle Inglese ( do you speak english)?? Finally we found a lady who spoke English and pointed us to a train that was going to Torino. This was a local train, we got in the 2nd class (no AC) and sat down with all the locals. Within few minutes we struck up conversations with two girls and they started giving us Italian lesson and explaining that we would have to get off in Chivasso and change trains there. They were very helpful. We were enjoying ourselves, when the train suddenly came to a complete stop in Santhia ( a small village) , after about 40 minutes we were told something was wrong with the train and we would have to take a different train. Luckily there was another train passing and we got on that train.
Finally!!! we reached Aosta around 9:40 pm. We got outside the train station and looked up the location of the hotel. We saw the hotel street on the map, and asked a local how to get there. He pointed, and said go straight this way. So, we start walking and realized we can't find any street signs and we have no way of telling whether we are headed in the right direction, and also by this time we have made one circle somewhere in the middle of the city. There were hardly anyone on the streets and the few people we were finding only spoke French or Italian....Two desis, unknown place, no way to communicate..I am sure you get the picture!! Then we got a break and ran into two boys ( around 17-18) and asked if they spoke English. Of course they did not, however they found two other friends and tried very hard to tell us how to get there in French. Finally, they gave up and motioned us to follow them and walked us halfway to the hotel and pointed to the street sign, saying McDonalds. We assumed that meant the hotel was next to a McDonalds.
When we saw the McDonalds we were so happy, Prashant said "I never thought I would be this happy to see a McDonalds". So for 24-28 hours, we have been on a flight, bus, train, then walked 1 hour, and were ready to drop. When we walked into the hotel, we were so relieved to find friendly staff , very clean hotel, with really comfy beds (I booked it through Expedia using my credit card points, so the hotel was free for 2 nights).
Monday September 8th> 2008 Aosta Valley
We decided to sleep in, and got up around 8:30, 9:00 am. Hotel gave free breakfast, which was very good. Finally we left for the bus station around 10:00 am to head towards Courmayeur and La Palud. The bus ride (about 50 mins and 6,60 pp) was very scenic. Beautiful mountains, and streams, sometimes going through narrow gullis (roads), unique homes with stone slab roofs. We also saw a old castle on a hill, and read there were more like them. The weather was very pleasant, drive very beautiful.
We had to change our bus in Courmayeur to go to La Palud (1,50 pp), which took another 10 mins. I don't think words or picture can really capture the quaint beauty of Aosta Valley.
Near the border of France and Switzarland, you can take the cable car from La Palud and go all they way to Chamonix, France crossing over the Alps. Our plan was to go to Aguille du Midi, the highest point on the French side and return back. When we got to the ticket counter around noon, the lady at the counter was doubtful that we would be able to take the cable car from Punta Hellbronner ( Highest point via cable car Italian side) to Aguille du Midi since the line there is usually so long and we did not have enough time. We could only buy ticket up to Hellbronner here, the other ticket had to be bought at Hellbronner (total round trip cost 50,00 pp). We got lucky and after taking 4 different cable cars we reached our destination.
The ride between Hellbronner and Aguille du Midi is too beautiful for words or pictures.
The cable car slows to a stop when it nears Monte Bianco/Mont Blanc (highest point in the Alps range). We were mesmerized. We saw people hiking on the glaciers, and wished for more time to do this. By the time we got back to Aosta it was 7:00 pm. We decided to walk around town, the town of Aosta is really unique, with narrow yet clean cobblestoned streets with restaurants spilling out on to the streets. It was fun to just stroll around. We were suprised to find an Indian/Pakistani Tandoori place here, sadly, we already had dinner by this time. The highlight of the night was our first Gelato in Italy, heaven!!
Tuesday September 9th> Cinque Terres....So romantic!
We started for the Cinque Terre early in the morning....The scenary changed from calm cool mountains to rolling plains to peaceful palm trees and sea.
Anyone going to Italy, we highly recommend the Cinque Terre. This place just makes you want to slow down, relax, and smile...
These 5 sleepy villages are build on the cliffs edges right next to the water. We did not have any room booked here..as soon as we got there (Riomaggiore) we started asking around for a room. We found one pretty quickly 1 bedroom with a small kitchen for 65,00 euros per night ( Rick Steves gave room price garauntee in his book, and if the owners did not keep their words, you can write to Rick Steves to take their name off the list). After putting our things in the room, we went downstairs to buy food for breakfast from small grocery store downstairs.
Around 3:00 pm we started our hike along the cliff path that go through all the 5 villages. Starting from our side, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso.
The hike was more strenous then we expected, but wonderful. Each time we got tired, we got gelatos. By the time we reached Vernazza it became night and we could not continue anymore. We had dinner here ( really tasty pizza), afterwards we sat at the water's edge and had gelato. Perfect weather, full moon, clear sky, just hmmmm...
Wednesday September 10th> Firenze, Italy....Duomo Wow!!
In the morning we made breakfast, but did not have matches or lighter for the gas stove. I opened the window to look outside to see if the convenience store was open, that was such a new experience for us, to have everything so close by. Around 9:00 am we left Riomaggiore and got in the train for Florence ( had to switch train in Pisa).
Once we reached Florence, we took the bus to go to our hotel named Hotel River. For only 55,00 euros per night, it was really nice, and walkable distance to all the major sites. It was pretty hot and humid, so Prashant really did not want to go outside. After finally getting out of the hotel we went to the Santa Croce Church, the Duomo, and the Duomo Museum.
Santa Croce Church: It is famous because it is the burial place for some very famous Florentines: Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiaveli to name the ones we were familiar with. After reading about them in books, seeing their tombs made them that much real. There was some construction going on inside the church. So it was not that peaceful...Entrance fee 6,00/pp.
Duomo: Wow..its huge..Designed by Brunelleschi and funded by the Medici family. We climbed the 463 steps to go to all the way to the top. The art on the dome is beautiful. The view of the city from here is very beautiful. While we were at the top, there was a on going mass, and people were singing, the sound was just heavenly. Totally recommend going there. Entrance fee 6,00/pp.
Duomo Museum: Some really nice sculptures and arts. It did not take us very long to see this museum, you can skip this if you are planning on going to the Uffizi or Accademia.
Thursday, September 11th> Firenze, Italy.... Michelangelo's David, amazing work...
Every guide book we read mentioned the line to Uffizi and Accademia can get very long, it is better to pay the extra amount (4,00 pp extra) and reserve these tickets by calling. I reserved the Uffizi tickets from home for 8:30 am, and the Accademia tickets from a pay phone while waiting in line for the duomo for 1:00 pm.
The Uffizi had a lot of nice paintings and sculptures , the most famous painting I recognized is the Birth of Venus. This museum has works of artists like: Botticelli, Titian, Raphael, Carvaggio and many more...After sometimes we were overwhelmed and could not tell the difference between paintings, so it was time to leave.
After Uffizi, we walked over to the Museo di Storia del Scienza (science museum), since we heard a lot about it. Unfortunately the two most important floors were closed for maintenance and there was not much to see. I really wanted to see Galileo's finger, but couldn't.
Next, lunch and Accademia to see David. We followed Rick Steve's suggestion to go to a local restaurant and I cannot even remember the name of the place, so very forgettable. After lunch, we entered the Accademia...David is amazing, beautiful, truly something to see. We spent about .5 hour admiring David. I cannot remember what else was in the museum, because David stole the show. By the way, booking ticket ahead of time was soooo worth it!
It was only 3:00 pm and our feet started hurting...sooo we decided to hop on a small electric bus and see where it would take us. We were not intending to go to the Pitti Palace. But the bus stopped near there, so we went there on a whim. We liked the various Medici collections here more then the museums. So if you have time, we recommend Palazzo Pitti. By the time we were done it was 5:00. We found an internet cafe right across the street and decided to check our e-mails and tried to reserve train for the next day. While doing this we also found the address of the one and only Indian restaurant in Florence called India. We took a bus to Fiesole, which is a town in Florence situated up on a hill. The town is peaceful and the restaurant turned out to be pretty good. If you reach the town before dark, the view of Florence is really nice from here.
Friday, September 12th> Bye Firenze, Euro Star very impressive, Venezia water everywhere..
Next morning we were leaving for Venice, but was too late to catch the train we wanted. We got lucky and got tickets on EuroStar Italy, direct train to Venezia Santa Lucia (main island). Eurostars is very impressive....wish we had them here in the states..
When were arrived in Venice, it was raining. We wrapped our suitcases and ourselves in plastic and caught the Vaporetto (Water Bus) to go to our hotel. The hotel was on the main island and turned out to be a two bedroom apartment walking distance to St. Mark's square. 149,00/night this was the most expensive place in our entire trip. After checking in we walked towards the St. Mark's square. By this time the rain stopped and a faint rainbow formed. Venice looked like a sinking city. Every where you look there is water. A gondola ride there costs 80,00/couple for 45 mins. We decided the Vaporetto was enough for us.
St. Mark's square is huge, it would remind you a lot of the Venetian in Las Vegas. The Vegas folks made a pretty good copy. Everything closed by the time we got there so we just walked around to see the city. For dinner we asked a local store owner (little old Italian lady) to recommend a good restaurant to us. She did not speak english, but motioned for us to follow her. She took us to a restaurant, and said bunch of things in Italian to the owners. Prashant had his favorite pizza here..kidding, they put french fries on top of pizza, Prashant was pretty annoyed by this. Lesson: don't ask local old lady, who don't speak english for a restaurant recommendation!
Saturday, September 13th> When will the rain stop? Good time to shop in Murano
Next morning we had our breakfast and decided to start at St. Mark's Basillica on St. Mark's square. 
Rick Steves had a really good tip to skip the line here, check in your backpack and get a fast pass. People had no idea about this. It is a very nice church. By the time we came out, it started to rain...So we decided to hop on the water bus and go to Murano. As soon as we got off the boat, we were ushered into one of the store for a quick view of how the glass works are made. After that we just went from store to store. We did not think the museum here was all that, so don't recommend the glass museum..but, we enjoyed the arts in all the stores.
Still raining...we decided to stay in doors and see the Doge's palace....to avoid lines here, we went to the correr museum and bought the ticket. Surprisingly both of the places turned out to be really good. We recommend these two spots if you like intricate work and art.
By the time night came..we were soooo ready to leave Venice, we just wanted to get away from the rain. Our overnight ticket to Rome was already booked (we booked it as soon as we arrived in Venice). The second class bunks for 55,00/pp was not bad, but I think I would have preffered a private room. Ours was a 4 people room.
Sunday, September 14th> Finally in Rome!!
Arrived in Rome bright and early. We had room booked in a bed and breakfast very close to the metro station. Aldo, our host, let us drop off our luggage and gave a quick guide to the city.
In Rome it is worth buying the Rome Pass (20 euros/pp). After breakfast, we headed towards the major historical sites. Colleseum, Palantine hill, Roman forums. In the Roman forum we saw the place where Julius Ceaser's body was cremated. There is a lot of history in this area. Temples, Court house, Theatres....Really nice.
Next stop Coliseum (Skip the line we Roma Pass, or buy ticket at Palantine hill). Wow, its massive..and the Romans loved blood and gore! Prashant rented the audio tour and tried to give it to me since it almost put him to sleep!! (Warning: Avoid the guys dressed as gladiators outside the coliseum offering to take pictures with you, they will rip you off and you can't argue with them).
After the Coliseum, we did go home and sleep for sometime.
When we got up, it was dark outside and we decided to do the Rick Steves recommended night walk.
That was lovely, an adventure, figuring out the streets and the landmarks. Rome is pretty lively in the night, piazzas filled with people, concerts, and some piazzas are so peacful. We enjoyed the walk very much. Also, somewhere along the way we had this desert called death by chocolate..YUM!!!
Monday, September 15th> Vatican....awe inspiring
The next morning we decided to leave for the Vatican pretty early....from all our research we understood, no matter when we go standing in line is must...Surprisingly, there was no line....We arrived there about the time St. Peter's Basillica opened. 
The Basillica is mind blowing, awe inspiring, grand, too great for words...it was more awe inspiring for me because St. Peter is buried here. He was one of the apostle of Jesus, and as kids we read many stories about him in the Bible. Again we climbed the dome to the top of the Basillica.
After waiting in line for 30 mins, we also went to the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel..It was extremely crowded...You didn't have to walk...The crowd pushed you along..All the fresco work is really nice here.
If you go to Rome...Vatican is must see (according to us)!
Tuesday, September 16th> Ostia Antica..over 2000 year old harbour city
After walking so much for the past so many days, our last day in Italy we wanted to take it slow. All we really wanted to see were 2 museums and a the Roman baths. The national museum was alright, I guess we had a museum overload. The baths of Diocletian is huge but most of it was closed to public due to rennovation/restoration. So, we took the last minute decision to go see the ancient city of Ostia Antica 45 mins outside of Rome.
Amazing!! Thats what we kept thinking as we walked through this 2000+ year old city. They had so much that just looked like what we have today: restaurant, apartments, college, temple, baths, gym (attached to the baths), a very well preserved auditorium. You can also see Tiber river from here. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to see each and everything, but was happy non the less to have gone there.
After coming back to Rome we went back to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps to take more pictures.
Wednesday, September 17th> Good Bye Italy....
Italy is wonderful. Beautiful landscapes, amazing art, rich history, exquisite architecture, delicious gelatos the list is long. We are glad that we got to do this trip.
View all our italy pictures here.
Labels: aosta, cinque terre, florence, italy, italy visitor visa, mont blanc, rome, venice
posted by prashant @ 8:35 AM
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