20111201 Romantic Verona

Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. - Psalm 30:4

THU - Reggio Emilia is a charming little town (when the fog is lifted, of course), but it was a cold morning.
We had our breakfast this morning the Italian way at Caffe Tostato. After an Italian-style breakfast, we headed to the romantic Verona via autostrada A1 and A22. We did not get lost this morning.

Verona is an enchanting town. The Arena resembled a miniature of the Colosseum in Rome. But it had its own charm standing in the middle of the piazza with charming shops and eateries surrounding it. We walked towards Piazza delle Erbe
and were greeted by a magnificent site

and Mercantini Di Natale Di Verona. .. our second Christmas Market in Italy.We had hot dogs, wood-baked pizza, waffles, and vin brule. We also bought 3 bottles of traditional vin brule so that we can reminisce this good time during Christmas at home.
The highlight of our day trip to Verona was the visit to Casa Di Giuletta, where the famous balcony scene of William Shakespear's "Romeo & Juiliet" and the movie "Letters To Juliet" were based upon.

There were many locks, love messages, etc.
A visit to Verona would not be complete without kissing your true love at Giuletta's balcony. We made our way from Verona to Venice via autostrada A4. We had to park our car at the garage near the port Roma (this is the furthest point one can drive into Venice) and the rest of the journey were by water transport. I could take a break from driving for the next 2 days.

We took a Vaporetto ride (€6,50 per person) to San Marco (slightly different from Angelina Jolie who cruised by style in an €80 water taxi in the movie Tourist) and checked into Hotel Castello - a very authentically-Venitian hotel. We had dinner at Conca D'Oro Pizzeria Trattoria (since 1947) near Hotel Castello(€18 for primi, secondi, wine, coffee and desserts). The food was fantastic!











My yummy cuttelfish in ink!

20111130 Bergamo & Reggio Emilia

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, 8from everlasting to everlasting you are God. - Psalm 90:2

WED - We checked out of Hotel Brunnelleschi after breakfast as we have decided to leave Milan a day earlier, but come back again before we depart for Singapore. We got lost again trying to get out of Milan and get on the autostrada ... not so easy to navigate in Italy after all! Finally, Michele found the autostrada A4, and we arrived in Bergamo one and a half hour later.

We visited our first Christmas Market in Italy at Citta Bassa (Lower City). Small but beautiful.

We had some roast pork and Vin Brule (Gluhwien) before driving up to Citta Alta (Upper City).

























Citta Alta was truly a beautiful site to visit.

We climbed up the tower of the Castel.





















The top of the Castel offered a postcard view of Bergamo - vinyard, casa on the hills, Citta Bassa, and clock tower against a setting sun in the winter's early afternoon.




Just before we leave Bergamo Citta Alta, we had coffee and some Polenta e Osei at La Marianna, a very lovely cafe overlooking the hill.

Polenta e Osei is a signature local desserts - sugar coated pastry with a sugar fashioned into a bird on the top - and they were delizioso!





Learn Italiano else you go to the wrong toilet.


Our planned Italian food trial from Parma to Bologna was disrupted by a thick fog along the autostrada A21. It was quite fascinating driving into the fog suddenly from bright sunshine, kinda like the scene at Isla Sona in Jurassic Park III. But driving in visibilty 50m and less on a highway can be rather stressful and frightening. We decided to head straight to Reggio Emilia for some nice pasta instead.

By the time we arrived, the factories making cheese, Parma ham, Prosciutto were closed. But we managed to buy different kind of pasta, desserts and gourmet stuff at cheap prices before eating dinner (we skipped the pizzaria at the corner of the mall selling pre-packed pasta) at a recommeded ristorante ... Trattoria Sipario.

We tried their signature pasta "Sipario" Dish (tortelli and cappellacci filled with penny bun mushrooms), Cappelletti (with capon broth home-made stuffed pasta twisted into a rounded form filled with Parmigiano Reggiano and meat), soup with pasta and beans, and my favourite vongole. Delizioso!As the fog was too thick and too dangerous to drive in, we decided to check in to Hotel Mecure after driving for about 2km in the less-than-5m visibility and leave for Verona the next day. The hotel staff were very helpful and friendly, and even surprised Sonya, Ethan and Nathaniel with their signature stuff toys for Christmas! Buon Natale.