Not one who can sit down and relax, Geoff’s itinerary took us to many interesting places in Italy – from the Italian Riviera in the north to the Amalfi Coast in the south. We basically drove north from Rome airport to Certaldo to Santa Margherita, then move south to Montepulciano to Sorrento and finally back to Rome.
During our trip in Italy, I noticed a few interesting things:
Driving
Italian drivers are both impatient and daring - by my definition - CRAZY! No one adhered to the speed limit on the motorway. The limit is generally 100-110 kmph and I believe the average speed travelled is 160-180! Even a Fiat Panda sped down the motorway at over 150! And they do looove tailgating.
Added to this, the roads, especially those in historic towns are very narrow. What to me is a one lane road has to accommodate 2-way traffic plus pedestrians! To survive I will need to own a Smart car and learn how to side park. I am surprised we survived without a scratch on our rental car. I know I know, it’s Geoff’s superior driving skills (or so he claims), but to be fair, his driving is pretty good considering it was a manual car (who drives that anymore?!?!) and he had to drive on the other side of the road.
Gelato
Who goes to Italy and not have gelato? This is exactly the kids’ excuse. I think the kids had gelato everyday, sometimes twice a day. I figured we must have spent at least HK$1,500 on gelatos alone during these 2 weeks. Well, this qualifies them as little gelato experts. Where is the best gelato then? Tasha's verdict - the lemon gelato at Gilli's in Florence and the puffo gelato (a blue coloured vanilla tasting gelato) at a small shop at Piazza Lauro in Sorrento. Here are SOME of the gelato spoons they collected:
Food
Whilst the Italian food and wine is excellent, one cannot keep eating like a king everyday. OK, may be one can but only for the first few days. We were unable to find any cheap and light lunches. May be coz we were usually in some tourist spots at lunch time. I miss having wanton noodles or congee or dim sum for lunch. Even McDonald's can cost an arm and a leg. Coming from HK which has the cheapest McDonald's meals, it was a shock to have to pay Euro15 (HK$165) for 2 McDonald's meals! And don’t forget the extra Euro0.20 for the ketchup!!
Having said the above, we had a wonderful time in Italy. The full story of our Italian Journey will follow shortly! Ciao!
3 comments:
can't wait
please speed up the posting of photos and story. Ok no need to be a story, highlights of the day will do.
I think the most expensive McDonald's is at the Grand Canyon, I was told the reason for that, which is acceptable: because it took some effort to deliver all the ingredients up there. Will do a due diligence and report (my friend now work for the McDonald)..
I liked the Florentine gelatto as well.
Sophie would like to say a big "HI" to her new friends from Hong Kong - you never said you were collecting gelato spoons too !!!!!
One day daddy mistakenly put the spoon in the trash and had to go back and retrieve for inconsolable daughter - to much amusement of the locals.
She still misses the trampoline rides with her new friends.
Florida is very hot and humid too.
Sophie says 1234567890qwertyuiopas
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