One week in Italy with 3 of my best friends.
Rome Florence Pisa Venice Milan
General impression: Rome is a tourist city (at least around the center of the city in the summer)
Tourists just rule the town jing jing. Much like how London's tube is infested by people who doesnt look least bit like Londoner. But the city itself is historic. Best time to come: probably around April as June was way too hot for us to stroll through the town without a bottle of water handy all the time. The ancient city was, just like in the vid you saw, ancient, dusty, bricky, much like what you'd see in Ayuddhaya except the structure is Roman, not Pagoda.
Street Italian food's taste didnt really meet my expectation. Originality is unquestionable as I dont think you can find any more original Italian food outside Italy. But I have to admit that Italian food in Thailand is more or less fusioned/adjusted so that it tastes somehow 'better' for Thais. They eat 4 courses (appetizer, first main course like pastas, second main course like steaks, and dessert). Of all the restaurants I went to, which according to a tour book was good, only 2-3 actually tasted good.
Forward to Florence. Beautiful city. No wonder whatsoever why renaissance originated here. Perfect atmosphere for inspiration. Pisa, on the other hand, disappointed me, particularly the leaning tower. I thought it was taller than that ! Yup, I did the tourists' pose at the leaning tower of Pisa to signify I was there once upon a time when it hasnt collapsed yet. Honestly, you can cut Pisa from the trip if you're planning to go to Italy and your time is not enough.
Venice is another city where Italians work to accommodate tourists. Besides making glasses and masks, I don't see how this city can live without millions of tourists visiting this city each year. Again, April is the best time to come around. Strolling around Venice under the sun doesnt feel that good.
Milan was a metropolitan city which I happened to see just a tiny bit before leaving back to bangkok. Nothing much to sightsee except that second biggest cathedral in Europe.
Overall it was a balanced good trip. Bit of shopping. Much of sightseeing. Eating was fab. The only part that sux was the train system.
