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It has been a dream to mine to visit Italy since I was in Junior High School. I studied the language back then as well as throughout high school and college. At last! I took this week-long journey with my two sisters. It was quite an adventure!
Here are the major cities we've visited for the week:
- Venice (Venezia) - It is made up of several islands all surrounded by canals, car-free narrow streets, and gondolas all over. It is pedestrian friendly with lots of boutiques, pastry shops, designer stores, gelaterias, pizzerias and tabacchi stores.
- Florence (Firenze) - I saw a lot of students and tourists more so than the locals. The streets were filled with major traffic of pedestrians, motor scooters, buses and Smart cars. The coolest thing was finding "1 Euro" stores. Everything walkable.
- Pisa - The Leaning Tower of Pisa is about 10-15 minutes away from the train station. It is basically a straight road ahead when you are on the right street that leads you across the bridge.
- Perugia - We mainly wanted to visit the Chocolate Factory (is located outside of town), but time was not on our side (Factory closes at 5pm?). Instead, we walked around this mountainous town, uphill, downhill and everything was very close together that wherever you go on the map, expect to get there within minutes.
- Rome (Roma) - This city was not built in a day. There are tons to see! The traffic here was 5 times as intense as it was in Florence... Feels like NYC minus the tall buildings, replaced with historic sites. You can probably see everything in 2 full days (ok, maybe not if you want to go inside everywhere). We rarely had to wait in line for a long time to various places since there aren't as many tourists as there would be in the summer. Although we walked everywhere, not everything is close together. There are plenty of buses.
The Weather:
It was sunny and beautiful for 7 out of the 8 days in January! The temperature ranges were about 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit. For one day, it was gloomy, but it did NOT rain!
Simple greetings:
Ciao! - Hello / Bye
Grazie - Thank You
Come stai? / Come va? - How are you? How's it going?
Sto bene - I am well
Sto male - I am not well
Sto cosi cosi - I am so-so (okay)
Buon Giorno! Good Day!
Arrivederci! - Bye!
Dove? - Where?
Quando? - When?
Chi? - Who
Parli inglese? Do you speak English?
Ho fame - I'm hungry
Ho sete - I'm thirsty
Dove il gabinetto? - Where is the bathroom?
Quanto? - How much?
Va Bene - It's going well
Attraversa la strada - cross the street
Che ora e' ? - What time is it?
Mi dispiace - I'm sorry
Scusi - Excuse me
Si' - Yes
No - No
Prego! - You're Welcome! / Please!
Useful words to know:
francobollo - stamp
ufficio - office
Stati Uniti - United States
spingere - push
tirare - pull
bibita - soft drink / soda
acqua - water
cibo - food
caldo - hot
freddo - cold
supermercato - supermarket
l'autobus - bus
treno - train
aeroporto - airport
via - street
palazzo - palace
piazza - square
Colosseo - Coliseum
museo - museum
mezzogiorno - noon
mezzanotte - midnight
tramezzino/panino - sandwich
vino - wine
birra- beer
duomo - cathedral
turistico - tourist
mappa - map
nord - north
est - east
sud - south
ovest - west
vicino - near
prezzo - price
albergo - hotel
cioccolato - chocolate
coniglio - rabbit
pollo - chicken
manzo -beef
fiori - flowers
fuori - outside
biglietto/biglietti - ticket /tickets
cassa/cassiere - cash/cashier
baci - kisses
metropolitana - subway
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