A Memorable Journey Essays Example

I didn't want to go to Europe. We have a lot of sights nearby, besides Mexico and Canada is closer and cheaper, so for god's sake why should I go to Europe? Old architecture was everything what I knew about Europe, but nature and animals were interesting for me much more than any dilapidated castles. But my partner almost begged me about this trip. If you want the nature: mountains, lakes and volcano you’ll get it, told partner. My defense has fallen and in two months we decided to go to Italy. I didn’t want to see 10 countries in a 21 day, so if I will go to Europe I would like to see everything in the chosen country. As for me, it is necessary to learn the country from the South to the North and from the East to the West, and whenever possible to steer clear of tourist tracks. As it turned, in Italy there are about 60% of all European sights. Having started studying their list, I wanted this trip more and more, estimating best routes and counting distances. I started studying the Italian phrases, and it was very amusing and as I found Italian is not so difficult language. "Beefsteak" on the Italian is “la bistecca", so I will not stay hungry for sure! We bought tickets and as we wanted to look and compare different regions of Italy, we decided to take a car.
Our first stop was Rome. In Rome, we ordered hotel “Sant Angelo”, located near the Vatican. The hotel was small and cozy; rooms looked like a small apartment. For the breakfast, we had hot croissants with chocolate, apple or jam, and, of course, well-known Italian coffee. I also found that tips are included in a payment for accommodation. We were so tired after a transatlantic flight that we decided to stay at the hotel and begin the study of Italy tomorrow.
Day 1. We woke up early in the morning because we were so excited to explore the city. Our first stop was Spanish steps. There were about a million of tourists, so we decided not to stay there for a while. For the next showplace which was “Colosseo”, we decided to use “la metro”. Here he is - the King of Rome Coliseum; we bought tickets and English guide. We were wandered about an hour at the Coliseum, I will remember this time for the rest of my life. After leaving the Coliseum, we went to the Baths of Caracalla. From a guide book, we learned that the ancient Romans went to the bath not only to wash but also for discussion of important policy issues. After the Baths of Caracalla, we were exhausted and hungry so decided to go to one of a million of small restaurants. We ate huge “quattro formaggi” pizza, drank homemade wine and as on the street darkened, we decided to stroll to our hotel.
Day 2. In ten minutes after the breakfast, we were at the “Piazza San Pietro”. Today places to visit were St. Peter’s Cathedral and Sistine Chapel. Besides the beauty, the Cathedral of St.Peter was impressive in size. A variety of stained glass, sculptures, paintings and mosaics were amazing. At the post office of the Vatican, we sent a few postcards with breathtaking views of Rome to our friends. The Sistine Chapel didn’t disappoint us, however having spent half an hour in a chapel, we went to an exit. From the quantity of the masterpieces, we felt a little bit dizzy and it was necessary to go to any quieter place. This quiet place was “Fontana di Trevi”; we ate the most delicious Italian ice cream “gelato” and, you know, sitting there near that fountain I understood that I love this city. The rest of the day, we decided just to walk around the city and enjoy its beauty and grandeur.
In the morning, we start our car trip from the south of Italy, province Campania and volcano Mount Vesuvius. With the road signs, we got to Naples. The road passed through hilly and very scenic area: hills, mountain lakes and a lot of greeneries has brought only pleasure, sometimes they reminded me of California. We drove probably at least hundreds of small Italian towns until we reached Naples. We thought it would be trivial to stay in Naples, that’s why we decided to go to “Ercolano”. “Ercolano” is the ancient Roman city which, like Pompeii and Stabiya, stopped the existence during eruption of Vesuvius. We examined the ancient Herculaneum just by walking on the streets and we noticed that excavation in the city still goes on. That was lunch time, and hearing about Italian "siesta", we decided to find a place where we can have a bite. Even American super-thin crust pizza can’t be compared to traditional Neapolitan pizza; after this trip to Italy I loved pizza even more. Meanwhile, the sun went down and we went to our hotel with the romantic name "Mare Blu". The hotel was a family business; husband, wife and children lived there. We were the only guests in the entire 50-seater hotel; our room was very clean and comfortable and of course we get the best room. In the morning in the dining room we saw an amazing breakfast. After a breakfast, we said goodbye to the owners of the hotel, got into the car and went further to explore Italy.
For today, we planned a visit to the republic of San Marino. San Marino is located on the high mountain Monte Titano. Quality of highways in Le Marsh above any praises but road on the mountain Titano is weary difficult, it is twisting and often crossed by crosswalks. Unfortunately, streets of San Marino are simply filled up with souvenir garbage. One of the few that was pleasant to us in San Marino - the landscapes and views from the mountain of Titano, and also the fortress of Castello di Guliano. Distinctive feature of local houses - red tile roofs which very picturesquely looked from a height of a survey platform. We decided to have a bite in a cozy trattoria with lovely little tables and ordered lasagna which I wanted to try in Italy. We stayed at the hotel "Alla Cedrara" which we booked here in US. It was the most unusual hotel in which I had ever been, it was in the middle of the vineyard, and environmentally friendly. I fell in love with this place, night there was like a miracle.
In the morning, we considered that travel across Italy would be not full if we passed Venice. So the next day we were on a long bilateral bridge SS 11 which is the only land route to the city. We had no movement route across Venice, but in general we knew what we wanted to see. We didn’t expect that this city would impress us so much. The water is quite pure with an unusual dairy-green shade, gondolier’s songs reached from everywhere, in the air there were not intrusive smell of ooze, along the Grand Canal gulls sat on posts. On San Marko Square pigeons sat down on hands, the head, and shoulders, pulling out popcorn from each other, and loudly bubbling. These memories of Venice will live in my heart forever. Venice was our last location in Italy.
I did not want to go to Europe, but this trip completely turned my world. I fell in love not only with this country, but also with it people, nature, food In Italy, I learned how to enjoy the simple things such as a glass of good wine, the sunset at the hotel in the vineyard or just a walk in the small town, where life is not hastily and measured. Do you remember I said I did not like the architecture; as you can understand now - I love it. This journey was the best time of my life!