ITALY: THE NORTH- PART 2

Italiaaaa mangiare, mangiare! Today, I will tell you about some other lovely northern cities: Pisa, Florence, San Marino and Siena. The parents of one of my best guy friends from high-school is actually currently in Pisa! 

So, in Pisa, you should probably see the Leaning Tower of Pisa...just a suggestion though...

1. Lean with the leaning tower of Pisa.

2. Visit Piazza dei Miracoli and the Baptistry. 

3. Walk around Knight's Square for a few minutes while taking cliche tourist pictures. 

4. Get holy Italian style at: Santa Maria della Spina; Santa Cornoa Vicenza; San Nicola; San Pietro di Grado; San Frediano Pisa; San Paolo Ripa d'Arno; San Francesco; Santo Stefano dei Cavaliero; San Michele in Borgo; San Pietro (Vinculis); Santa Caterina; San Sisto; Santa Chiara; San Zeno; San Silvestro; Church of St. Rocco; San Martino...if your sins are not forgiven at any one of these churches in Pisa...you are screwed.

5. Go look at the Pisa Griffin...why? Because it's cool and has been in Pisa since the Middle Ages.

6. Wander over to the Camposanto Monumentale.

7. Wake up and smell the flowers at Orto botanico di Pisa. 

8. Get spooky and visit the Cementary.

9. Party with the Italians at Leningrad Cafe, Temple Bar or Caffetteria Betsabea.

10. Grab some authentic Tuscan cuisine at Antica Trattoria il Campano, La Clessida, Osteria dei Cavalieri, La Grotta or Trattoria La Buca.

11. Not feeling Tuscan? Try either Babette Food and Art Cafe, Ristoro al Vecchio Teatro, Il Montino, Trattoria della Faggiola.

12. Get cultured at Palazzo dell'Orologio.

Floraaa, Florence!

1. Drink some organic wine at Vivanda.

2. Visit St. Mark's English

3. Be artsy fartsy at the Uffizi Gallery.

4. Head over to the Florence Cathedral to see some beautiful architecture.

5. Visit one of Italy's most famous bridges, the Ponte Vecchio. 

6. Just stop and stare at the beautiful Basilica of Santa Croce or the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore.

7. Snack on some Florentine steak at one of Florence's many restaurants.

8. Enjoy a cone of gelato in Piazza dell Signoria.

9. Grab a snack and pick-me-up coffee at La Terrazza...oh, and enjoy the view!

10. Frolick in the flowers at the beautiful Boboli Gardens.

11. Celebrate happy hour at Colle Bereto or La Dolce Vita.

12. Party the night away at Central Park, Oibo, Naima, Joshua Tree, Cabiria, YAB Club or Twice.

13. Grab a lovely Italian dinner at Il Latini, Trattoria I Fratellini, Il Chicco di Caffe or switch it up with some Middle-Eastern cuisine at Amon.

14. Bored of being outside? Head over to Galleria dell'Accademia, Museo del Bargello or Giardino di Boboli.

15. Surround yourself with local Italians and nature at Parco delle Cascine.
...there's so many other things to do in Florence but this just sums it up for all you Florence-bound wanderlusters!

 I definitely think once I visit Florence, it will be one of my new favorite cities in the world. I should try to make a trip out there sometime this year...

San Marino...I have always wanted to go there as well and just lay on the beach forgetting reality: 

1. BEAAACH. Lay there all day, get sunburnt, frolick in the sea; do what you please.

2. Mountains! Mount Titano, it's not hard to miss.

3. Climb to the castle, Guaita. 

4. Visit the skinny yet pretty building of town hall, Palazzo Pubblico.

5. Attend an Italian football match (soccer for you Americans).

 Siena...hey, one of the Double 007 movies was filmed there!

1. Make sure to check out the famous horse races twice a year, the Palio di Siena.
2. Breathe in the Italian culture while walking around Piazza del Campo with a gelato from Kopa Kabana in hand.
3. Visit the beautiful and historic Duomo Nuovo and Basilica of San Domenico.
4. Take a walk over to Palazzo Pubblico, Palazzo Comunale, Palazzo Salimbeni and Torre del Mangia.
5. Spend a rainy day in the national museum, Pinacoteca Siena Nazionale or at Museo Civico.
6.Now, this place is a stereotypical Tuscany scene: Villa Cetinale.
7. Visit one of Siena's many churches: San Martino, San Giuseppe, Santa Maria dei Servi, Santo Spirito, Basilica dell'Osservanza, San Giorgio, Basilica di San Francesco.
8. Smell the flowers at the University of Siena's botanical garden, Orto Botanico dell'Universtia di Siena.
9. Go underground to Siena's Crypt.
10. Be artsy fartsy at the Palazzo delle Papesse or at Pinacoteca Nazionale.
11. Grab a bite to eat at: Al Marsili, Osteria Le Logge, Enzo, Il Carroccio, Osteria Castelvecchio, Morbidi or La Pizzeria di Nonno Mede.
12. Ever play one of those video games with fortresses? Visit a real fortress, the Fortezza Medicea.
13. Be happy at the happy fountain, Fonte Gaia!
14. Make sure to stay until Wednesday so you can visit the Wednesday Market.
15.  Get your drink on at Caffe Ortensia, Enoteca Italiana, Caffe el Corso or Al Cambio.

The next post will be on the southern half of Italy. I will share some good places to go and eat with you in: Rome, Sardinia, Naples, Capri, Campobasso, Bari, Cantanzaro then Sicily. 

Travel on wanderlusters and have a lovely Sunday!

ARGENTINA

Argeeeeentinaaaaa, the land of beautiful mountains, nature, steak, leather, tango dancing and well, just about everything great! This South American country's capital is Buenos Aires...wow, I sound like I'm trying to sell you guys Argentina, sorry! Too much excitement for this place. Patagonia is one of my favorite backgrounds on my computer, so to be doing a post on the country Patagonia is shared with (it is also shared with Chile), is exciting! 

Anywho, Spanish is the main spoken language (obviously) and there are almost 41 million people living in this country. With Argentina being at the very end of South America, it neighbours with Chile, Antarctica, Uruguay (where I will be living in a year from now) and Paraguay. 

1. Buenos Aires
2. El Calafate & The Perito Moreno Glacier
3. Iguazu Falls (one of the new Seven Natural Wonders of the World)
4. Valdez Peninsula
5. Bariloche & The Seven Lakes Region
6. Quebrada de Humahuaca
7. Valle de la Luna & Talampaya
8. El Chaltén
9. Ushuaia & Beagle Canal
10. Antarctica

According to www.argentinastravel.com, these are the top 10 places to go when visiting Argentina. Buenos Aires is considered to be one of the world's largest cities and South America deems Argentina to have the best quality of life. Hmmm, sounds like a pretty good deal to me, it's kind of hard not to think that instantly when you see those awesome photos. Buenos Aires boasts European styled architecture, fantastic culture and a mass amount of theatres. Vivaa la noche, viva la vida loca en Buenos Aires!

The website TimeOut.com helped with me with the top 20 things to do when in Buenos Aires, I cringed a little at number 2 on the list though:  
1. Become a Boca fan
2. Eat intestines and even more glands
3. Frolic in a love hotel
4. Tour the eye of the Tigre 
5. Witness the social coming of Christ
6. Get lost among the dead
7. Dine in style
8. Mind your toes at a milonga
9. Snack on coffee and medialuna
10. Drink until the early hours (but that's everywhere else in the world too...)
11. Have a picnic and go bird watching
12. Visit Malba: Colección Costantini
13. D is for dulce de leche (YUMMM)
14. Pay homage to Evita
15. Go relic hunting in San Telmo (I do this in Sims 3 World Adventures...I'm guilty, I'm guilty, ok?)
16. Pick up classic souvenirs
17. See a polo match in Palermo (Olivia Palermo is my favorite style icon! No connection, I know)
18. TANGO
19. Groove to South America's best DJs
20. Turn fashion conscious at Palermo Viejo (hmm, maybe this is where Olivia Palermo really got it from...)

Now, let's talk about Patagonia...yay! This place is beyond beautiful, at least from the pictures I have seen because I have not been there yet. I am hoping though that in the next year I can say I have visited. Skiing, trekking, glacier trekking, fishing and whale watching are just some of the activities to do there...sounds like the perfect combination!

Now, I'm not necessarily a big fan of snow and cold but I would conquer the coldness to do these things in Patagonia. I'll definitely be putting on my big girl pants on when the time comes to visit Patagonia.

Patagonia and Buenos Aires are considered to be the most expensive part of Argentina, but you could most definitely find cheap accommodation throughout Buenos Aires and near Patagonia. If you know the travel guides/books and website Lonely Planet, you already know the excellent travel advice they give. I got some fantastic information from their Argentina page, including an upcoming festival in May: Día de Virgen de Luján on May 8th- a day where believers set foot on a 65 km pilgrimage to Luján to honor the Virgin Mary. Are any of you wanderlusters going to this festival or have ever taken part in this festival? The best time to visit is in their spring months, which is September to November, Buenos Aires that is. The best time to visit Patagonia for the non-cold lovers, like myself, is during their summer months, December through February. Sheesh, if only they knew what December-April was like in Eastern Europe!

Have yourself a lovely Easter Monday (for those who celebrate) or otherwise a lovely start of the week and of course, travel on wanderlusters!

The next post will be on: Democratic Republic of the Congo in Western Africa.

P.S. I came across this today, pretty interesting/cool. Who would've thunk it?! http://www.cracktwo.com/2011/04/25-abandoned-soviet-monuments-that-look.html

A DAY OFF

FINALLY!! I get to enjoy a full day off with no school, no plans, no work, no NOTHING. I spent a better half of my day sleeping, watching the new Game of Thrones, writing fashion articles for my internship, editing photos organizing a few things for interviews with InStyle and Cosmopolitan CZ and the travel magazine meeting on Wednesday evening.

I found these articles in the last few days and thought they were pretty interesting...for the first article, people who read it will call the guy different things: a freeloader  a homeless guy, an awesome guy or an inspiration. Whenever I read articles like this, I think it's pretty amazing that people can actually do this sort of thing and survive without any major issues (hunger, sickness, etc.) Pretty cool, pretty cool. Then again, that's just my opinion. For the second article, I was so happy to read it since I am a coffee addict and drink anywhere from 2 to 6 cups a day.

1. http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/russian-artist-sergey-balovin-and-the-in-kind-exchange-project--how-he-lives-without-money-202940946.html


2. http://healthland.time.com/2012/05/17/coffee-drink-more-live-longer/?iid=hl-main-feature

The rest of this lovely day...well, not in terms of the weather because it has been snowing then sunny on and off all day today...I will be finishing up the Argentina post, starting the next country's post, writing my book and just relaxing with my coconut water. Bliss.

Travel on wanderlusters!

P.S. here are some beautiful pictures I took a few weeks ago when we had a great sunset in Prague!

P.S. Traveling with Wanderlust is on Instagram if you didn't already know...traveling_with_wanderlust