Italy
I travelled Europe in the beginning of November month and weather conditions are dated accordingly.
Italy is the country well-renowned for the Roman architecture. I visited four major cities of Italy namely, Venice, Pisa, Florence and Rome (the capital city of Italy).
While entering into Italy border, experienced a temperature of 1º C with a heavy snowfall watching the mountains and alpine trees. The road was covered by ice while the snow clearing machines were running to clear the highways. Temperature turned up a while from late morning at 12º C.
One can reach to Venice by boat bus, bus, train and flight. It took 4 hours by bus to reach the water taxi boarding Ferri point Tronchetto. I took a 15 minutes bus boat ride to reach Venice Island admiring the beautiful aqua blue sea. Venice has more than 100 small islands and it has no roads and only canals to cross each island. The aerial view of Venice is called as ‘Birds’ eye view’ as the entire Island looks like a bird from a higher altitude.
Landing on the island, I watched the historical monuments and found no vehicles except Gandola which is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat used as primary mode of transport.
I visited ‘Monument to Victor Emmanuel II’ which was built to honour the Kingdom of Italy’s first King.
The most popular point to visit in Venice is ‘Bridge of Sigh’ which is a white limestone arched bridge named for sighs of prisoners crossing the place to prison. You should definitely make your 'Sigh' standing at this point.
‘Doge’s Palace’ is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style and was the residence of the Doge (the supreme authority of the Republic) of Venice. The palace is beautiful with ornate ceilings and paneled rooms. This is a museum open for public now.
This is the 11th century cathedral church of Venice best known for Byzantine architecture. This is also known by the nickname ‘Chiesa d’Oro’ (Church of Gold) for its opulent design, gilded Byzantine mosaics and its status as a symbol of Venetian wealth and power.
One can visit ‘St. Mark’s Campanile’ which is the Square Cathedral tower and the bell tower of St. Mark’s Basilica. The current tower was reconstructed in its present form in 1912 after the collapse of 1902.
One of the world’s popular Squares ‘St. Marks’ Square’ which is the ancient square and gathering place of 12th century. The Square complex has 100s of stores and in the middle open space it can occupy thousands of people.
‘Two Columns’ stands tall as the meeting point for people during any emergency situations in Venice.
I took Gandola (boat) ride around the island and it was a joyous and pleasant ride. You can see ornamental masks in bazaar shops which the people of Venice wear for carnivals in Venice.
Day ended in hotel at Padova city, Italy. My next day started at a temperature of 8º C by 8 A.M. with a cool weather and the Sun was out too. I checked out of hotel and started my travel to ‘Pisa’ in Italy.
On reaching Pisa, I went to visit one of the World Wonders ‘Leaning Tower of Pisa’. The tower is the campanile or freestanding bell tower of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa, known worldwide for its nearly four-degree lean (after remedial work between 1993 and 2001). The lean is caused as a result of an unstable foundation. You can use escalator in this tower to reach the top level for the view.
Besides Leaning Tower, lies Pisa Cathedral which is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa. It is a notable example of Romanesque architecture, in particular the style known as Pisan Romanesque. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Pisa.
This is a large medieval baptistery praised for its acoustics with panels by renowned sculptor Pisano.
Around the tower place, you’ll have a market to do shopping and you can buy genuine leather products like, bags, wallets, jackets, etc. in some shops at a discounted price. There are a lot of shops selling fake leather products and beware of it while buying. You can also buy Souvenirs of magnets having images of Leaning Tower of Pisa and other architectures of Italy.
Florence is known as ‘Yellow City’ as the houses here are painted in yellow colour. Crazy Yellow lovers are going to love this city.
I visited the famous Michelangelo’s David Statue, a great subject in the art of Florence. David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created in marble between 1501 and 1504 by the Italian artist Michelangelo. David is a 17 feet marble statue of the Biblical figure David.
You can see the beautiful view of Florence city from Michelangelo’s David Statue point. This view has been reproduced on postcards and snapshots over the years.
After a good night sleep, it was my time to visit the city of beautiful architecture ‘Rome’ in Italy.
I visited ‘Trevi Fountain’, the world’s famous fountain of 18th century with many beautiful sculptures which attracts a lot of crowd and makes you click your photo with people from different parts of the world. However, you’ll love the flow of water even in the noisy surroundings. People of Rome believes that dropping a coin in the fountain makes your wish come true. You should try gelato near the fountain which is the real Italian ice cream and it’s divine.
You can walk around and reach the other architectures like, Trajan’s Column which is a Roman triumphal column.
Opposite Trajan’s Column is ‘Altar of the Fatherland’ which is a National monument built in the honour of first King of a unified Italy.
‘Roman Forum’ was the meeting place for elections, public speeches, criminal trials surrounded by demolished government buildings and the ‘Temple of Venus Genetrix’.
‘Temple of Venus Genetrix’ was dedicated to Roman Goddess by Julius Caesar which can be seen as a three-column structure. You’ll find the statue of Julius Cesar in the point along with the statue of other city heroes.
There comes the World Wonder ‘Colosseum’ which is an oval amphitheatre and largest at the time of construction and it was ruined because of earthquakes and stone-robbers. I was out of words to express this beautiful Roman architecture but exterior of this theatre was mostly unseen and not in a great condition.
