Rome - the roman capital

We visited Rome for 3 days in Fall, 2010. Rome is a dream come true for people interested in ancient history, monuments, churches and palaces. It is like an entire civilization in a city. You can just keep walking and you are likely to encounter one impressive monument after another, e.g. Piazza Venezia in the pic below.



Even for people like us, who usually avoid visiting museums / churches, the monuments here are really impressive and you should plan for at least a 5 day trip to fully explore the city.

The downside is that Rome is almost always teeming with tourists, so expect long queues at touristic places. Hotels are expensive but food / public transportation are still quite cheap (as compared to say Paris). You will also find people selling stuff on the streets here, not only souvenirs, but also products like shoes, handbags, bangles, clothes, etc. This was definitely a novelty for us, as compared to other European cities. If you are one of those Indian tourists, who go looking for an Indian restaurant wherever they go, then fret not as there are plenty of Indian restaurants here. If you are the more adventerous type, and prefer sampling the local food, then there is of course no shortage of Pizzerias here. If you are vegetarian, try the Pizza Margherita - you will find it in almost every Pizzeria and it is definitely vegetarian.

Vatican City

Vatican city is a country in itself, and is probably one of the smallest in the world. The good thing is that you do not need a separate VISA or any additional documents to enter Vatican city. It is probably also a good idea to invest 50 Euros in a tour guide as they know the right entrances - avoiding the long queues sometimes - and also the city has a lot of things to explore in a day. You will probably not get lost but a guide is definitely recommended to make the most of your trip.

For the uninitiated, this is of course the place where the Pope stays. You are unlikely to see / meet the Pope unless you visit the Vatican on special (festival) days. The best you can hope for is to see the stairs leading up to his chambers (pic below).

Stepping outside, one can see the huge Saint Peter's Square - which you might have seen on TV whenever the Pope makes important announcements.



St. Peter's Basilica is an equally impressive church in the vicinity. Inside, you can find a number of masterpieces, each rivaling the other in beauty, e.g. Pietà by Michelangelo (pic below).

Colosseum

Everyone who has seen movies such as Ben-Hur or Gladiator, or is aware of the legend of gladiators, would be aware of the Colosseum in Rome. The structure is huge and although some parts of it have been destroyed, one can clearly see the prisons where gladiators / animals were kept, and how the whole proceedings unfolded. 

There is also a night tour that takes you much further into the Colosseum, than is usually allowed in the day, and also in smaller groups (of max. 25). However, the tours only run on specific days and they get booked months in advance. So be sure to plan for it in advance. You can get more details here.
There is also a lights display during evenings / nights that simulates the Colosseum burning. This is free, happens every night, and is quite impressive (pic below). So, don't miss it.

Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi)

Trevi is one of the largest and most famous fountains in the world. Try visiting it in the night and enjoy the atmosphere. The good thing about Rome is that almost all the touristic places are easily reachable by public transportation and are well marked.

 

Culture / Music

Rome was not only the political, but also the cultural, foci of an entire civilization. There are numerous magnificent auditoriums where you can enjoy and relive the music / opera of the bygone era. One of them is the newly constructed Auditorium Parco Della Musica where we had the pleasure of attending a Beethoven concert (Synphonies: N. 6  "Pastorale" and N. 7) by Kurt Masur. The performance was an extremely enriching experience, and we would highly recommend it even if (like us) you have never been exposed to western classical performances before.

Chamonix, Mont-Blanc, France

Chamonix is a picturesque French city in the foot of Mont-Blanc - the highest mountain peak in the Alps. It is also close to other mountain peaks, such as Aiguille du Midi. We visited Chamonix in Summer 2013.

Transportation

Chamonix is located very close to Switzerland, almost on the border. So it can be a good midway stop if you are on your way from France to Switzerland, or vice versa. It can be easily reached by train or bus form major cities like Geneva / Lyon. If traveling by train, be sure to check real-time info as there are often upgrades / repairs going on in the lines, and you might have to make part of the journey by bus. Some useful links below:

French trains: SNCF
Swiss trains: SBB
Geneva - Chamonix buses: Altibus

Both buses and trains usually arrive at Chamonix gare (train station in French). The gare is also the best place to stay in the city and it is both close to the main city hub (where most of the restaurants / shops) are located, and is also close to the lifts (cable cars) that take you to the different mountain peaks.

It is actually very close to Italy as well, though a cable or cross country skiing will be your only options to cross over here :)

City

The city is like one of those places that was  destined to be a holiday spot, and it serves this purpose very well. Everywhere you look, there are people enjoying, children playing, and absolutely stunning scenery - massive mountain peaks engulfed in clouds.



The city itself is very small and you can easily cover most of it by walking. Though almost the size of a village, Chamonix has all modern amenities from ATMs to grocery stores to a wide variety of restaurants. Most of the shops are open till late - 8pm and the restaurants till (almost) midnight. The best part is that almost all the shopkeepers speak English, which basically goes to show the International crowd visiting Chamonix. This also means that things here are in general more expensive than normal French cities e.g. Lyon, but still cheaper than Switzerland.







We were pleasantly surprised to find even an Indian restaurant here: Annapurna. We were initially a bit reluctant to visit the restaurant as we thought that it would basically be one of those exploiting the Indian name to cater to an European clientele (How else do you explain item like horse / beef curry in some of the Indian restaurants here?) But we were impressed by the variety / quality of food at Annapurna, and can definitely recommend it. There were actually a lot of Indian tourists here which probably explains how an Indian restaurant can survive here for so long (since 1993).

The city looks equally beautiful at night. Some pics below:

Things to Explore

There are many things to do and explore in Chamonix, irrespective of whether you are visiting Chamonix in Summer / Winter. Some of the common activities include skiing, hiking, paragliding, etc.

If you are only visiting for a couple of days - like we did - the absolute must see attractions include visiting Mont-Blanc / Aiguille du Midi peaks and the Mer de Glace glacier (the largest glacier in France). Of course, in both cases, the plan is to visit them by cable car and not really hike up there. The good thing about the cable cars is that they easily take you to heights of 2000/ 3000m, and allow normal people like us to experience the wonders of such high altitudes, without the daredevilry required to climb such high altitudes.       

Aiguille du Midi

The Aiguille du Midi cable car (one of the highest in Europe) takes you to the top of the Aiguille du Midi mountain peak (at 3777m) in 20 minutes. The cable car station can be reached by a 10min walk from city center / gare.  

From Aiguille du Midi, there is also a cable car that takes you to Helbronner on the Italian side. Unfortunately, this part was closed when we visited. In general, the cable cars are often not running due to high winds / bad weather conditions. So it is good to have a look at the extended weather forecast before heading up there. You can find real-time updates regarding the lift operation here: Aiguille du Midi lift (real-time info)

Montenvers / Mer de Glace

The Montenvers railway track takes you to the the largest glacier in France: Mer de Glace. Note that trains to Montenvers depart Chamonix, from a small railway station, located right behind the main SNCF gare.




 The train takes you to Montenvers in approximately 15min. From Montenvers, you can either take a cable car or hike to reach the Ice Cave located at the bottom of the glacier. Note that You will have to climb approx 200-300 steps to reach the bottom even if you take the cable car - so it might not be suitable for senior people.



The Ice Cave (pic below) is quite spectacular,  so it is definitely worth the hard work :)

Barcelona Cruise (Barcelona, Toulon, Palma de Mallorca) - Part II

Part I of this post appears here: Part I

Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Drach Caves

Having visited the Borra Caves in Vizag, India before, our expectation was of something along those lines. However, the underground Lake Martel housed within the Caves makes all the difference here. The lake is one of the largest underground lakes in Europe.
The tour also included a 5 min light and music boat show with live music (western classical) being played on the boat. The effect was quite impressive. Unfortunately, we do not have any pics of the event, not only because of the strict "No photography" restrictions but also due to the prevailing darkness that makes it extremely difficult to take pics.
To finish off, a few more pics of the caves themselves:



Shopping tip: Mallorca is famous for its pearls, aka Majorica Pearls. Though you can find them everywhere in the city, the best place to buy them at factory prices is in the Pearl factory located in Manacor.

Barcelona

The final stop was in Barcelona, Spain. We unfortunately got to spend only 1 day in Barcelona, which after passing the day, we realized is woefully inadequate to explore a city like Barcelona in its entirety. We really liked what we saw and hope to return there someday soon. So we will leave a detailed description of the city to a later post. Till then, enjoy pics of some of many noteworthy sights in Barcelona.

Barcelona port




Gothic quarters - Cathedral




Columbus monument

Las Ramblas

Las Ramblas is the most touristic street in Barcelona. It stretches almost 1km from Plaça Catalunya to the Cruise port terminal. The street is filled with street artists and small shops of all kinds and is a must visit. As we went there close to Christmas, the streets were beautifully decorated with colorful lights (collage below).

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year 2013 and Merry Christmas (Noël in France, Nadal in Catalunya, or whatever it is called in your part of the world)!

Barcelona Cruise (Barcelona, Toulon, Palma de Mallorca) - Part I

Serenade of the Seas

Our 3rd cruise was with Royal Caribbean (RC) on their "Serenade of the Seas" ship (pic above). It was a 4-nights cruise starting and ending in Barcelona with intermediate ports of call in Toulon, France and Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
The ship had undergone a lot of renovation just before our cruise and looked in pristine condition. We have given a description of RC cruise ships and the facilities to expect on board in one of our previous posts. So rather than repeating them again, here is a link to the post for anyone interested: RC Cruise ship. A few pics of the ship's interior for your viewing pleasure:

Toulon, France

Our first port of call was in Toulon, France. It is basically a French naval base, so you can see lots of warships at the port. The city itself is like most French cities - narrow streets with lots of cafes. Two tips here which would be helpful to Indian tourists who are not based in Europe but say come directly from India:

• It is much cheaper to buy souvenirs (gifts for families/friends) from the 1-Euro stores on the streets than from the souvenir shops at touristic spots. Don't worry as you do not need to speak French to buy from these stores as all the items have prices clearly marked on them and there is no bargaining. 
• Coffee: We have often found people complaining about the coffee in the "famous" french cafes. As Indians, we are used to drinking coffee with milk and the Indian Espresso also refers to such a coffee. Unfortunately, the French default or Espresso is really strong (bitter) as it is usually made directly from coffee beans rather than filtered coffee as we get it in India. So to be on the safe side, ask for "Cafe au lait" (Coffee with milk) or most cafes usually nowadays also serve Cappuccino. 

Palma de Mallorca, Spain

The next port of call was in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Palma de Mallorca is one of the Balearic Islands belonging to Spain. Often touted as the Spanish equivalent of (French) Côte d'Azur where the rich and famous head to during summer months, one can clearly see the strains of the current economic crisis with unfinished buildings everywhere. Moving on to more pleasant things, there is still a lot to see and explore on the island even if you go there during winter. Primary attractions include the Cathedral and Drach Caves.

Cathedral of Santa Maria

Having seen many cathedrals in and around Europe, we would rate the Cathedral of Santa Maria in Palma as one of the most impressive (probably right after the Saint Peter Basilica in the Vatican). The entrance is very high so you have to really crane your neck to see the top. The cathedral interiors including the Rose Window is equally impressive.