I was somewhat disappointed by Bergamo as I had been very much looking forward to it, but found I didn't like it as much as I was expecting. My first impressions were good as I strolled through the lower town (città bassa) - despite being described as the "modern" part of town, it still featured the beautiful grand old yellow Italian terraces, narrow cobbled streets, piazze & al fresco dining that is so characteristic of northern Italy and is a good deal old...

Monday morning I caught the train to Desenzano del Garda, a town at the southwestern tip of Lake Garda. I paid €5 to leave my backpack at a hotel near the station and spent a couple of hours exploring the town. Desenzano is nice! It seemed pretty upmarket / expensive. The outer edges of the town are all big hotels with swimming pools & gyms, then the town centre itself is nice and old. Fairly typically Italian, nice piazze, steep cobbled streets and lots of...

My Airbnb was quite noisy Saturday night, with sounds from the bar below, but I was so exhausted after my late night at the opera that I slept like a log and had a lie in - didn't get up til 7am! On Sunday I took a day trip to Mantua (Mantova), a 45min train journey from Verona. Once again the Afro-Carribbean presence was very noticeable, with over half the people on the train being black. I don't know why but I had not expected to come to Italy and near Jamaica...

Off exploring website has been down for a few days so posting this a bit late!!I I spent Thursday in Padua (Padova). I arrived at 9am, dropped my backpack at my accommodation before heading into town. I had booked to visit Capella de Scrovegni in the afternoon but was able to bring my ticket forward. Cappella de Scrovegni is a chapel featuring frescos by Giotto that are said to be comparable to the Sistine chapel. I visited the Sistine in May and I have to say,...

I fell somewhat in love with Italy this year. I spent a week here in May (Rome, Florence & Venice) and loved it so much that within a month of getting home, I had booked to come back in August. This time I am doing the opposite trip, flew into Venice and will visit a few places in the Veneto, then the Lakes, down to Bologna before finishing in Rome. Tbh I cannot afford this trip, I've had to live off an impossibly small budget at home in order to be here. But...