A taste of Italy…our first impressions
Posted on 22. Jul, 2011 by Dany in Europe, Italy, Photo Essay, Photography, Top Lists
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Italy was one of the most anticipated countries on our travels through Europe. Both huge fans of wine, olives, pizza and pasta (who isn’t?!), we had been wanting to visit Italy together for years but for some reason, it never worked out. This year we finally made it – and had an incredible trip. We’ll cover our time in Italy more in subsequent posts, but here’s a taste of our time in Italy.
Italians love cats. There are cats everywhere.
Italian fishing villages are just so cute.
Italy has squat toilets. Who knew!
Italians make the best coffee drinks. Our favourites: Cappuccino, Macchiato, Espresso.
No tourist can leave Pisa without a funny Leaning Tower photo.
Including us.
Italians are proud to be Italian.
Tuscany really is as pretty as everybody says it is.
Italian pasta is scrumptious.
Cinque Terre is overrun by tour groups but when you visit these ‘5 beautiful lands’, you know why.
This is what Chianti wine looks like before it’s bottled.
Italian churches are beautiful. From the outside…
…and from the inside.
But they can also hold some pretty creepy stuff.
Even in Italy you can get your picture taken with a British phone booth.
Italian pizzas are giant and they taste perfect.
Italians invented pizza with truffles & zucchini. It’s delicious.
Pizza with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and pesto is even better.
Italian door-knockers are intricately decorated.
Boar is a culinary specialty in Tuscany. You will see boars everywhere. Dead or alive.
Italian mountain towns are bellissima.
In Italy, naked men are everywhere, standing very, very still.
Italians don’t like their train system and at times, passengers get out protest on the tracks.
There are as many scooters and vespas in Italy as you might think.
Italian gelato is addictive.
Italians take great pride in decorating their windows.
Italians really all hang their laundry outside their windows.
Pisa has much more to offer than just the leaning tower.
There is wine everywhere. And it’s cheap.
There are many expensive ’boutique’ wines, some of those are cheap in their own way…
Italians like garden gnomes in their front yards.
Italy has thought-provoking street art.
Italian pastries are worth every single calorie.
The sunsets in Italy are picture-perfect.
Milan’s cathedral has a beautifully decorated facade depicting some pretty cruel scenes.
Italian markets are bursting with mouthwatering flavors and bright colors.
Italy is a great place for lovebirds.
It is hard to take bad photos in Italy.
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23 Responses to “A taste of Italy…our first impressions”
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Jodi
23. Jul, 2011
Once again, I love your posts. This is rapidly becoming one of my favourite travel sites! Great job!
jess
23. Jul, 2011
Hey Jodi, thanks so much! Love the positive feedback, really appreciate it!
Lucie
23. Jul, 2011
Oh wow it looks amazing, i really need to get don there! You can find the same toilets in Frence….
jess
23. Jul, 2011
We had just heard so much about these toilets in parts of Asia, and then right there is tourist-central Cinque Terre, there was this toilet. Interesting that they are also in France!
Lucie
23. Jul, 2011
The good thing is that it’s less and less, i just hate them with passion!
Dalene
23. Jul, 2011
Omigoooodddddd….I can’t wait to go back. Thanks for rubbing that all in!!
Dani
24. Jul, 2011
Thanks Dalene – I hope you get to go back soon. We can’t wait to go back either, we didn’t have time to see all my favorite places this time (Rome, Amalfi & Venice for example) and we both haven’t been to Sicily yet.
Natalie
24. Jul, 2011
No Rome?? It looks like you had a great trip. Sorry you had to stumble upon the squat toilets..
Dani
24. Jul, 2011
The train strike intervened with our plans to visit Rome – bad luck
We were very disappointed. I have been to Rome a few times and absolutely love it, but Jess has yet to go and we hope to return to Italy soon!
Stefano
24. Jul, 2011
Great post!
As an Italian I love knowing what outsiders think of my country.
I give you mad props for pictures of the small details!
The labels of the wine are pretty gross though, they read “Wine Stefanello (diminutive of my name), good with everything, special with the pizzle” ahah.
Be sure to stop in Verona if you are going to Venice..apart from being Romeo and Giulietta’s city, there’s an awesome ice-cream shop near “Ponte Pietra”!
Dani
24. Jul, 2011
Hi Stefano, thank you for the translation
That wine store was definitely a tourist trap! We actually went through Verona, but didn’t have time for proper sightseeing – we will be back to see more for sure and that ice cream shop will be visited!
Faith
24. Jul, 2011
Lovely! The door knockers are really pretty! Squat toilets are in my nightmares. Truffle and zucchini pizza? You ladies have eaten well in Europe!
Dani
24. Jul, 2011
That’s true, we’ve eaten well in Europe… very well… our pants are pretty tight now
Stephanie - The Travel Chica
25. Jul, 2011
Wonderful photo summary! Makes me want to go spend a month or 5 in Italy.
Dani
26. Jul, 2011
Thanks Stephanie – hope you get to visit Italy one day, it is just such a beautiful country!
Susie
25. Jul, 2011
Seems like Italy is a good place to be in the summer!
Dani
26. Jul, 2011
Absolutely! We prefer spring or September though as it gets really crowded everywhere in July and August when half of Europe is on vacation.
Tuscany holidays
26. Jul, 2011
That’ s nice post my dear, congratulations, I wish you all the best!
jess
26. Jul, 2011
Hey Lauro, thanks so much. Belmonte Vacanze was still one of our ultimate highlights! Hope you are doing well and enjoying the summer…we miss Italy
Julia
27. Jul, 2011
Love this post. I really do need to go back to Italy as I haven’t been since I was younger, which is when I encountered my first squat toilet and didn’t know how the hell you were supposed to use it! lol. I love Italian food possibly more than any other (although don’t tell India, Mexico, China….) so would love to do a foodie tour of the whole country.
Dani
27. Jul, 2011
Thanks Julia! A foodie tour of the the whole country sounds fantastic – we’d join you for that!!
Jenna
06. Aug, 2011
WOW there is a lot to absorb in this post. A lot of GOOD to absorb, seeing as how usually people talk about the snobbishness and materialism of people in Milan and Florence, not to mention the ridiculous treatment of women in the media and the insane politics. A fresh positive perspective definitely balances things out. Lovely pictures!
Dani
08. Aug, 2011
Jenna – it’s true, we didn’t mention the insane politics in Italy once! I think that’s something you hear more about outside of Italy rather than within the country. While we were there, nobody wanted to discuss politics with us
Sure, Italy has its problems (economical / political) but our first impressions were 100 % positive. We fell in love with the country.