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Tag: italy

Where in Europe Photo Quiz

Can you match the picture to where in Europe it was taken? Comment below with how many you got correct and which ones you didn’t know. All photos were taken by me and can be read about in my blog posts 🙂

San Marino Travel Blog

Travel San Marino is a perfect destination to visit from Bologna. A lot of people go just for a day trip, but I read that it is nice to be there for sunrise and sunset as well, so I decided to stay one night. I am so glad that I did! One day would have felt super rushed. There is so much beauty in this small country, that I still feel like I didn’t spend enough time there. I booked all of my transportation tickets as I went. I don’t feel like there is much need to book in advance. I took a 9:45AM train from Bologna to Rimini and arrived in Rimini around 11:00AM. This cost 10 euros. I then purchased a bus ticket from the store right across from the train station. This cost 10 euros round trip. I do recommend getting the return ticket in advance because they are not time specific so you can catch any bus back with the same ticket.  Rimini The next bus to San Marino wasn’t until 12:15 because they have fewer buses that run on Sundays. Since I had an hour to kill, I decided to walk around the city for a bit. I headed toward the city center and passed the Tempio Malatestiano, Rimini’s most famous church.  Then I strolled through the market in the old town square, Piazza Tre Martiri. The square was very lively and would’ve been a great place to stop for a bite to eat since there were so many restaurants and cafes lining the streets.  I then headed toward Arco d’Augusto, Rimini’s most iconic monuments. The arch was built in 27 B.C. and is the oldest surviving Roman triumphal archway in existence. The gate’s principal function, aside from functioning as a city gate, was to support the lavish bronze statue of Augustus. It remained one of the city gates until the Fascist period, when the city wall was demolished, and the arch was left as an isolated monument. It is such an important symbol to the city, that it appears on their coat of arms.  Luckily, the bus to San Marino makes a stop at the Arco d’Augusto, so I didn’t have to walk back to the train station. However, this was a little risky if the bus had gotten full at the first stop. Thank goodness there were still seats. The bus to San Marino from Rimini took approximately 45 minutes so I arrived in San Marino around 1 PM.  Hotel I stayed at Hotel Joli, which was in an amazing location! Featuring panoramic views of San Marino and Montefeltro countryside, this hotel is just 300 meters from the entrance to the historical center. The view from my room was incredible. The staff was very friendly and helpful. They provided me with a city map and let me know about all of the Christmas activities going on. Since I was in town on December 29th, I thought that I was going to miss all of the Christmas festivities. Luckily, they were continuing through January 6th. The hotel is also only 100 meters from the main bus station and a car park where guests receive discounted rates. They also give you a discount card that will get you discounts on the main attractions, as well as in some shops. After dropping off my bags at the hotel, I stopped at a pizzeria right down the street from the hotel for lunch. I then set off to explore San Marino and all its beauty. I started by exploring the towers and then heading down to the lower streets which have plenty of shops, restaurants, churches, and museums.  Mount Titano Mount Titano is a mountain of the Apennines and the highest peak in San Marino. It stands at 739 meters above sea level and is located immediately to the east of the capital. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. Photos of this mountain is what made San Marino stick out to me. I knew I had to visit and see it for myself! Montale Third Tower The first tower I came to was Montale Tower. It was built at the beginning of the 14thcentury and meant to be used as a prison and surveillance tower. You cannot enter the third tower. Cesta or Fratta Second Tower Museum of Ancient Weapons The tower is located on the highest of Monte Titano’s summits. A museum to honor Saint Marinus, created in 1956, is located in this tower and showcases over 1,500 weapons dating from the medieval era to the modern day. It was constructed in the 13th century on the remains of an older Roman fort.  There are various prices for the towers. You can pay for each individually, get a tower pass, or get a pass to enter the towers, as well as some other attractions. Aside from the towers, it got me free entry to the Public Palace, State Museum, National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, and St. Francis Church and Art Gallery. I decided to go with this option for 7.50 euros. I thought it was well worth the money even though I didn’t go to each thing that was included. The attractions close around 6PM so I only had time to see the ones I was most interested in. Rocca or Guaita First Tower The Guaita fortress is the oldest of the three towers constructed on Monte Titano, and the most famous. It was built in the 11th century and served briefly as a prison. All three towers are depicted on both the national flag and coat of arms. It was registered as one of the World Heritage Sites in 2008. Basilica of Saint Marinus This church is situated in the Piazzale Domus Plebis and had the majestic Garland of Dreams. It made for a great photo opportunity. Entry to the church is free.  Public Palace Kingdom of Dreams  The Palazzo Pubblico is the town hall of the city of

Bologna, Italy Travel Blog

Accomodation: Hotel Holiday I stayed at Hotel Holiday, which is pretty centrally located. It’s about a 10 minute walk to the Two Towers and Piazza Maggiore, and a 15 minute walk to the central train station. It offers a small complementary breakfast buffet. The bed was large and the shower was amazing! I think the room was very decent for the price and location.  Two Towers These two leaning towers are the most famous towers in the city. Each towers name derives from the families originally credited with the construction. The shorter, more leaning tower, is called the Garisenda. Originally, 60m high, it was lowered to 48m for the unstable ground in the 14th century. The Asinelli Tower (the taller one) takes its name from the wealthy Asinelli family who built it. After it was acquired by the city of Bolonga in the 12th century, it served as a prison. You can climb the Asinelli Tower to get a nice view of the city. However, the timeslots are every 45 minutes and you must purchase your tickets in advance. I tried to go first thing in the morning, but when I arrived, I was told that I could not purchase tickets at the tower and had to go to the Welcome Center in Piazza Maggiore to obtain my ticket. When I got to the welcome center, I found out that the next available time was 5PM, which wasn’t ideal since the sunset at 4:30PM. However, I still wanted the experience so decided to purchase it anyways. The ticket is 5 euros. I’m glad that I did, because the view at dusk was still very nice. It was incredible seeing all of the city lights from above. It took 498 steps to get to the panoramic view at the top. Everyone with the same time stamp goes up the narrow steps together, so the pace is pretty slow. You then have about 15 minutes to explore the top before having to go back down.  Basilica of Santo Stefano Not far from the towers is the Basilica of Santo Stefano, which is located on Piazza Santo Stefano.  Piazza Maggiore This central square is one of the busiest areas of Bologna. The Northwest corner opens into Piazza del Nettuno with its Fontana del Nettuno, while the Northeast corner opens into the narrower Piazza Re Enzo. The Welcome Center is in this square, which is where you will need to purchase tickets to the towers and other tours and activities in the city. At night, the Piazza was filled with people walking around. This is where you can find street artists. I was lucky enough to be there on a night when a dance performance was going on. I enjoyed watching it as I ate my gelato, which you can get at a couple places right by the square.  Basilica of San Petronio (Terrace) This church dominates Piazza Maggiore. The basilica is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Petronius, who was the bishop of Bologna in the fifth century. Construction began in 1390 and its main façade has remained unfinished since. If you wish to take photos inside the church, you will need to pay 2 euros to get a wristband that allows you to take as many photos as you’d like. I highly recommend going around to the back of the church and paying 3 euros to go up to the terrace on top of the church. This offers an amazing view of the city! This was my favorite viewpoint in Bologna. You can take the elevator or stairs up. I decided to take the stairs, which wasn’t that bad.  Fountain of Neptune The Fountain of Neptune is a monumental fountain located in the busy square, Piazza del Nettuno, next to Piazza Maggiore.  Porta Saragozza This is one of the gates that was in the medieval walls of the city. It was built in the 13th-14th centuries, and by 1334 it was provided with a drawbridge crossing a moat.  Sancutuary of the Madonna di San Luca (Monastery)  The Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca is a basilica church situated at the top of a forested hill 300 meters above the city. While a road now leads up to the sanctuary, most people reach it along a 3.8 km monumental roofed arcade consisting of 666 arches, which was built in 1674-1793. It was meant to protect the icon as it was paraded up the hill. A yearly procession from the Cathedral of San Pietro in the center of Bologna to the Sanctuary goes along this path. It takes roughly 25 minutes to reach the base of the hill from the city center. From the bottom of the hill, it took me 50 minutes to reach the monastery, although I took 3 breaks to sit and catch my breath. The way down only took me 20 minutes. At the top of the monastery, you can pay to get a view of the city from the dome. However, since I was already seeing other city views that day, I opted not to. Basilica of San Francesco This basilica is a historic church, which was founded in the 13th century. When I went, they were having a market inside selling miscellaneous items. You should go through to the courtyard. The Glossatori Tombs Right outside of the Basillica of San Francesco, these 13th-century gravestones are dedicated to the first university teachers. Via dell’Indipendenza On the way to the railway station, I strolled down the main street of the city. It is packed with shops. Although they are all closed early in the morning, this was a nice street to walk down at night. The entire street is lit up with Christmas lights in December.  Montagnola Park The Park of Montagnola is a public park which was originally construction under Napoleonic rule. The base of the park contains the ruins of the 14th-century Castello di Galliera, which then leads to a scenographic staircase. The stairs are decorated

17 Days Around Europe with Eurail Passes Travel Blog

The first thing you want to do when planning for a EuroTrip is to decide which countries you would like to visit. I wanted to see as much as possible in two weeks. After knowing I had two weeks to travel, I purchased the 15 day continuous global rail pass on eurail.com (interrail.com if you are an EU citizen) and got 2 extra days for free since they were having a sale. https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-passes/global-pass This pass allows you the freedom to explore all your dream European destinations using the Eurail Global Pass. This convenient train pass gives you access to rail networks in 28 fascinating countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, although be aware that you will have to pay a reservation fee in specific countries or for night trains. Once I knew which cities I wanted to visit, I downloaded the Rail Planner app to see how long it was from each city and which cities would not be direct trains. I took notes beforehand and had a general idea of when I would be traveling but still had the flexibility to plan as I went if I needed more time in a specific location. The great thing about Eurail passes is you don’t have to worry about missing a train. You can hop on whatever train you’d like without a timed ticket. You can download the apps here – IOS, Android. Rail planner shows you all the available times, type of train and possible connections for the city of your choice. The application is done by Eurail and the cool thing about it is that it is available offline! I used the app the entire time during my travels and was fully satisfied with it! There are some cases when you will need to reserve a seat on your trip and pay a reservation fee. This can be done at the train station. For example, it is mandatory to book your seat on a night train. We did this a few times. The average cost of a bed on a night train is around 20-40 Euros. We had time to sleep while traveling, which was awesome to wake up in our next location! One example of when we did this was from Madrid to Lisbon. You will also usually need to book your seat when using a fast train that is marked with an R on the Rail Planner App. This can be as low as 3 Euros or as much as 30 Euros. Sometimes you will have the option to take the same route on a slow-speed train but I think it is worth it to just pay the fee in some instances. High-speed trains are common in France, Italy, and Spain. Additionally, you will need to reserve your seat on popular routes that may not have free seats. Stop 1: Amsterdam https://mandytravelstheworld.news.blog/2016/06/20/amsterdam-netherlands/ Stop 2: Berlin https://mandytravelstheworld.news.blog/2016/06/20/bamberg-germany/ Stop 3: Prague https://mandytravelstheworld.news.blog/2016/06/22/prague-czech-republic/ Stop 4: Vienna https://mandytravelstheworld.news.blog/2016/06/22/vienna-austria/ Stop 5: Bratislava https://mandytravelstheworld.news.blog/2016/06/23/bratislava-slovakia/ Stop 6: Budapest https://mandytravelstheworld.news.blog/2016/06/24/budapest-hungary/ Stop 7: Lake Bled https://mandytravelstheworld.news.blog/2016/06/25/bled-slovenia/ Stop 8: Florence https://mandytravelstheworld.news.blog/2016/06/27/florence-and-pisa-italy/ Stop 9: Nice https://mandytravelstheworld.news.blog/2016/06/30/nice-france/ Stop 10: Marseille https://mandytravelstheworld.news.blog/2016/06/30/marseille-france/ Stop 11: Barcelona https://mandytravelstheworld.news.blog/2016/07/03/barcelona-and-montserrat-spain/ Stop 12: Madrid https://mandytravelstheworld.news.blog/2016/07/01/madrid-spain/ Stop 13: Lisbon https://mandytravelstheworld.news.blog/2016/07/03/lisbon-portugal/ Stop 14: Porto https://mandytravelstheworld.news.blog/2016/07/03/porto-portugal/ Check out the links to each city’s blog for more information on the specific places. If you have any more questions about the Eurail pass or planning a EuroTrip, please comment below!

Rome, Italy and Vatican City Travel Blog

I was so excited to arrive in Rome! I was visiting my cousin who was studying abroad there for the summer. Well, my initial excitement only lasted about 40 minutes after arriving at the airport. How would you like to lose your passport on the first day of a week-long trip? That’s right, it happened to me. We took a taxi from the airport to my cousin’s apartment when we found out that the bus wasn’t running anymore that night. I had a suitcase, a small black back that contained all of my documents (passport, visa, IDs, etc) as well as my cosmetics/toiletries, and my purse. We were focused on paying the driver and getting out in the busy traffic that we totally forgot the little black bag that was sitting between us. It was only 5 minutes later that I realized what just happened. I panicked and started to cry. All that was going through my head at the moment was me thinking I would be stuck in Italy for a long time. There was no way I would be getting my bag back. There are a million taxi cabs in Rome. They all look alike and there is no lost-and-found for the companies. After many phone calls and filing a police report, I was told that there was a slim chance of me ever seeing my passport again, especially that week. This was not the way I wanted to start off my week! After calming myself down, I just wanted to think about something else and deal with the situation later. So, my cousin introduced me to her roommates and we went out to eat and have drinks. Walking around the city definitely calmed me down. There is so much history and beauty that it was easy to start focusing on having a good time.My advice to everyone: Always check and triple check that you have EVERYTHING before you get off of any mode of transportation. Count how many bags you have to keep track of. Every place I have gone after this, I am continually asking everyone I am with if they have everything. It gets extremely repetitive but I’d rather everyone be annoyed with me than them having to go through what I did. Luckily, there was a U.S. Embassy in Rome and they were able to get me an emergency passport. It wasn’t ideal taking a day out of our trip to deal with this, but I felt so much better knowing that it was taken care of and that I could enjoy the rest of my time in Rome. When I got back to England, I had to take care of the Visa process again. Okay, finally now onto my trip! It is hard to put this blog into a play-by-play since we spent a lot of our time relaxing and doing things with her friends. After all, they were taking college classes so had to spend some time every day studying. So, I am just going to tell you my favorite places in Rome. 1. Colosseum– I don’t think anyone should go to Rome without visiting the oval amphitheater located in the center of the city. Completed in 80AD, the Colosseum is the largest amphitheater ever built, holding between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators. The Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas. Although partially destroyed due to damage caused by earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is still an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome. The Colosseum is situated just east of the Roman Forum. You can get there by the metro stop Colosseo on the B line. Even in the middle of a summer day, I didn’t think that the line was too long to purchase tickets. My cousin visited numerous times during the summer and she said that the guided tour wasn’t all that great. Even when I was walking around without a tour, I could still hear what the tour guides were telling their tours. However, if you are really wanting to know detailed information or aren’t too familiar with the history of the Colosseum, go for the guided tour! I would suggest buying tickets in advance though if you know exactly what day you would like to visit. If you are a last-minute type of person, this is definitely a visit that I would want to save for a sunny day. Visiting the Colosseum is also something I would recommend doing in the day and at night if you have time to get the pretty view of it all lit up. Be sure to go up the stairs across from the entrance to get a great view. Adult Ticket €12 Child Ticket €7.50 (includes Roman Forum and Palatine Hill)Audioguide €5.50  Tour €5Hours: 8:30 AM-1 hour before sunset Additional Tips: Buy your ticket from the Palatine entrance or the Roman Forum to beat the queues Get the Roma Pass, which is valid for three days at a bunch of sites for €30 (free admission to two museums or sites (choose from a list of 45), as well as reduced entry to extra cites, unlimited city transport and discounted entry to other exhibitions and events) Book your ticket online 2.  Roman Forum & Palatine Hill  Holy ruins! This was crazy to look at. The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Many of the oldest and most important structures of the ancient city were located on or near the Forum. I was fascinated by the remaining structures. The site fell into ruin by the Romans after the Roman Empire. Palatine Hill offers a stunning view of the Forum. When I visited, no ticket was necessary to get into the forum although if you are going to the Colosseum it is included in the ticket. There wasn’t any information displayed so I was lucky enough to have my cousin with me

Capri, Italy Travel Blog

Are you visiting Rome and looking for a weekend trip? Are you just looking for a relaxing vacation in an exotic location? If yes, then Capri is the place for you! It is the postcard-perfect vision of shimmering crystal blue water up against tall cliffs. It is the most visited of the islands in the Bay of Naples that can be reached by ferry from Naples and Sorrento. The ferries dock at Marina Grande and from there it is a short ride up to Capri, the main town. Another bus ride takes you up to the island’s second settlement, Anacapri. If the bus line is too long, you can also take one of the cute convertible taxis. For the best view on the island, take the seggiovia chairlift up from Piazza Vittoria to the summit of Mt Solaro, Capri’s highest point. This was the best ride of my life! The single-seater chairlift is such a peaceful ride that allows you to take in the beauty of this island. Once you get to the top you can walk around, have a drink and snack at the bar and then head back down. The chairlift is open from 9AM-5PM Mar-Oct and 9AM-3PM Nov-Feb and costs €10.  If you have a good group of people, I recommend taking a private boat tour around the island. We had 15 of us (all American students studying in Rome with my cousin besides me). Even if you have a smaller group, you may be able to get a smaller boat or go on a boat with other people. Our driver showed us all of the Grottos on the island. When we approached the most famous Blue Grotto we realized that the line was too long and it would take at least two hours to see (downfall of going in the middle of summer). It costs €12.50 to take a boat into the Blue Grotto which is open from 9AM-3PM. Although we didn’t get to go in, our driver showed us pictures of the stunning sea cave illuminated by blue light. He explained that it was best visited in the morning. Also note that the grotto is not open when seas are rough or tides are high. If you ask, your driver may even take you to one of the best cliff jumping sites on the island. We went to two separate locations but only the boys were brave enough to climb the tallest cliff. There are a few beaches on the island. The two that we hung out on were the Marina Grande Beach and Faro. Marina Grande is the busiest beach because it is right by the main boating dock. This is the largest beach on the island and is suitable for children. Since this beach got noticeably crowded, we decided to try Faro, a beach by the lighthouse. Speaking to the locals, this was their favorite beach because not a lot of tourists know about it. This is also the only spot on the island where the gorgeous sunset over the Mediterranean can be enjoyed with a cocktail in hand. Although it isn’t very big, it was a great time to jump off the rocks and grab a few drinks at the cafes. Other things to see on your visit:Gardens of Augustus: Admission: €1 Hours:9AM-1 hour before sunsetEnjoy breathtaking views from the garden Jupiter’s Villa: Admission: €2 Hours: 9AM-1 hour before sunsetWas the largest of the island’s 12 Roman villas and was Tiberius’ main Capri residence. Gives a good idea of the scale on which the emperor liked to live.