Back to reality: Reflections on Italy
Posted 1 October 2007, by Aaron
I have returned from my travels to the Veneto and a wonderful time was had too. I tried to offset the excessive pizza and ice cream consumption with lots of sight-seeing and walking. I made a valiant effort but alas I think I’m still in debt to the lard lord.
We left Venice till last and to be honest with you I was a little disappointed with Venice. This was partly due to us being tired from squeezing so much in, but also to do with the fact it is absolutely crammed to the rafters with tourists. That’s not to say it isn’t a beautiful place - it is and it’s entirely unique. But it just felt a little Disney Land to be honest.
I’m sure Venice has a lot more to offer. We didn’t bother queuing to get in any of the ‘essential’ tourist traps, we just walked and took the place in. If anyone is thinking of going, it’s certainly worth stopping by Venice, but Italy does have a lot more to offer.
We based ourselves in Padua and I would highly recommend this much over-looked little sister to Venice. It’s actually fully of real Italian’s and has some fantastic markets to meander through. It’s also a University city so there is quite a cool vibe to the place.
We also visited Verona of Romeo and Juliet fame, which provided the comedy moment of the holiday. We were at the Capulet’s house taking the obligatory picture of the balcony when we overheard an American tourist saying, “I think it’s from a story…” ha ha!
Verona is a truly beautiful place to visit and it has a wonderful Roman amphitheatre - the third biggest after the Rome Colleseum.
Finally we spent some time at Lake Garda for a spot of lazy walking in the sun. There were lots of English tourists here but I can see why - compared to everywhere else we went in Italy, the lake was just so chilled and laid-back. Very nice indeed, and provided a much needed Sunday day of rest for us.
I’ve got one or two other posts lined up this week, plus something else I’m pretty excited about… so keep your eyes peeled.
Many thanks for the comments whilst I was away: johno, Shantanu, David, Randa and Paul.
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Paul Enderson
2 October 2007, 2:21 am