Monday, October 24, 2016

Our honeymoon in a (big, fat) nutshell: LUGANO


   After 9 days spent in Italy, Switzerland was the the second part of our honeymoon that gave me the exact same feelings I had in Italy and even more! 
   On the way to Zurich we decided to stop in Lugano. It was a must see because it's a sort of prolonging of Italy, being located in the Italian part of Switzerland, but in the same time it's still something else entirely. Lugano is a dream: mountains bordering beautiful lake Lugano that could easily be mistaken by a sea, georgeous old cityscapes and such a laid back atmosphere! It's Italy with a flair of Switzerland pride. I felt right at home ever since I got off the train! 


   Since we arrived a day before the national day of Switzerland, the famous white cross could be spotted everywhere. 



   People were wandering on the streets but they weren't rushing anywhere, the terraces were full but the city still didn't feel crowded at all. That's what I loved the most! Lugano was tremendously beautiful and still perfect for taking a walk without feeling like in New York!


   I LOVED our boat trip towards Gandria and our lunch there in a tiny balcony by lake Lugano (I liked it even more than the dinner by the sea in Genoa) and the feeling of accomplishment and peace I had there followed me in every corner of Lugano. 


   Hmmm... Lugano has its magic charm for sure! So green and lush and gorgeous! Definitely a Must See!


   Lugano will always stay in my memory as the city I MUST go back to. I fell utterly in love with it!






Sunday, October 23, 2016

Our honeymoon in a (big, fat) nutshell: MILANO


   Our trip to Italy came to an end with Milano. I have to admit I wasn't in the right psychological state to visit it at that point and even though I saw some amazing places there and I had one of the best restaurant experiences in the whole country, the first time when I say 'Milano' I have a bittersweet feeling, more bitter than sweet. All this because by the time we got there I was already very tired of switching cities so fast and carying my luggage with me every other 2 days. So after so much travelling I just wanted to stay in one place and relax. It was fun exploring so many new cities but by the time we got to Milano the exhaustion of always being on the road got to me. I therefore didn't have the energy to look for beautiful things in the city but luckily the beautiful things came to me. 
   We had dinner at the most impressive restaurant in Milano: L'immagine. Why impressive? Because they gave away so many free stuff it felt almost impossible to make money out of the whole experience. We felt like royalty! And the food was exceptional! And guess what? It was 5 minutes away from our accomodation :) Win-win-win!


   ... And then, I discovered a Lidl. Oh yeah, the Lidl love was hidden away all the trip before that but when I saw a Lidl sign I felt I really needed to go pay a visit 😀 So we went to search for it and find it we did and I felt more at home. 


   The funny thing is that the more I think about Milano I realize we actually had many good memories in it but the general feeling I have of it is the preconception I left home with: that it's big and fashiony and not my type. Hmmm... the Sforza Museum was DEFINITELY my type. So much history and beauty in one place! I wanted to move in there! 


   I also liked the English bookshop and the streets surrounded by old buildings, but it's true that I wasn't patient enough to discover Milano's other beauties which I think might have been different had I seen Milano at the beginning of our trip.


   I found the dome of Milano beautiful but somehow not as interesting as the Florence one (maybe I like baroque architecture more? Or maybe cos it was placed next to the fashion gallery?) so I didn't spent too much time in front of it... probably because the square was filled with people and by then I was already tired of seeing tourists. I remember really loving two performers in the square singing famous songs like angels. 


   Galeria Vittorio Emanuele was filled with BIG clothes brands that attracted the tourists but not me. I got that fashiony feeling I had when I left home, the Milano I expected to see, the fake life you gotta have to be appreciated by others. Even though, I loved the gallery architecture and the details around it so I focused on that more than the big brands :)


   The last dinner we had in Italy was also very pleasant so all in all Milano wasn't that bad, but being tired of travelling didn't help. So maybe it needs a second chance :)


   And this was Italy. A sea of colour and pasta and utter happiness and feeling at peace, sprinkled with tears of joy and dreams being accomplished, definitely an unforgettable experience that I want to repeat! More Venice and south of Italy next time! :) 




Sunday, October 9, 2016

Our honeymoon in a (big, fat) nutshell: GENOVA


   The 5th Italian city we visited was Genova: another amazing city that at first intimidated me with its size but which I soon ended up loving. I remember that while we were on the taxi going to our Airbnb I felt like a small girl in a very big and complicated town that I would never learn to get around of. Just look at these pictures and tell me you're not getting the same impression:



   It's funny how quickly I actually got to learn the main streets and our way home! I absolutely loved the view over the port from our room's window! It was gorgeous! Especially by night! So I'm really grateful for booking that Airbnb even though we had to climb a multitude of stairs with our luggages.




   On the first evening in Genova we went out for dinner to a restaurant that our host recommended. As we were walking around, I found a Romanian painting laying on a bench somewhere in the city. How random is that? I decided to take it home on the following day if nobody would take it. Luckily, somebody decided to give it a home.



   La Barcaccia, the restaurant we had dinner in, was absolutely lovely! An Italian man eating next to us was kind enough to explain the dishes on the menu (it was all in Italian since the restaurant wasn't targeting tourists) and while we were all eating he told us about his life. It couldn't get more Italian than that! We were immersed in the typical Italian atmosphere: people eating, laughing, drinking, talking and having fun while enjoying being together and the delicious meal in front of them. I loved La Barcaccia! 



   If I think of Genova I remember their scooters. They were everywhere! The most scooters I've ever seen all around Italy! Everybody had a personal scooter there! It was the easiest way to get around town, I learned later from our host.



   The next day we went to explore the city (the time was very short for the multitude of things we could have seen). At first we wandered in the old part of the city on Via Garibaldi. It brought me back to Cluj as the buildings were exactly the same type as ours, but they also had terraces on top! 



   We then wandered some more and reached some small piazzas and then finally we reached the port. The sea, finally! Very impressive and beautiful, filled with palm trees and big boats, the Genovian port is really a must see! While at the port, we had a funny experience with an African guy who was trying to make us donate some money for "Africa". So that's how we ended up with colorful handmade bracelets and African names (Oli wanted to be called Mombutu and I was his wife, WakaWaka). I won't forget that soon!



   When we arrived in Genova we heard focaccia is a must! And since I really LOVE pesto and Genova is its home, I wanted to eat focaccia con pesto. Little did I know that I would have to walk all around town and use my broken Italian to find out where I could buy something like that! But fear not, my search ended in success! I found foccacia con pesto and we walked some more until we found the Genovian Duomo. The steps in front of the church was the perfect place for eating my focaccia! The whole atmosphere was taken out of an old Italian movie where simple things are so beautiful and worth enjoying!



   After leaving the Duomo we walked to Piazza de Ferrari. What a view! A gorgeous water fountain right in the middle and then... the most beautiful sight ever: an exhibition of one of my favorite artists ever: Alfonso Mucha! We initially wanted to go visit Cristopher Columbus's house but we decided to give it up for this fabulous exhibition. Wow! It was so enriching and empowering! I got out of there feeling good to be a woman, happy and at peace with myself. 



   Then we went to a farmer's market to buy fresh made Pesto and we visited Genova Nervi by the sea for some relaxing time and dinner. I remember how calm and happy I felt there, sitting on a bench and watching the waves crash against the shore, feeling like my life couldn't get better than that, then the excitement of having seafood dinner by the sea and feeling like part of a romantic movie. 



   What can I tell you? Genoa was absolutely amazing. I expected to love it and I did. I had a very good feeling while I was watching pictures on my sofa before it all began :) Sometimes some places just click with you and until now all our honeymoon destinations clicked with me. Well, it was Italy, so it was only natural I would feel that way!