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Pisa & Parma, Italy

27/6/2022

 
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Summary

Airport Rating n/a
Reception of locals *****
Cost: ££££ (Pisa) £££ (Parma)
  • Two cities located within a short distance from Florence making them perfect candidates for day trips
  • Pisa is a tourist town focused around the Leaning Tower of Pisa, although there are at least 12 historic churches dotted around the city
  • Parma has a decent sized Sikh community and is famous for its dairy, food and historical architecture
  • No problems in either city as a Sikh, and of the two, Parma is much better to visit
  • Main Sights: Leaning Tower of Pisa, Piazza del Duomo, Parma Cathedral and Baptistery, Piazza Garibaldi

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Florence, Italy

13/6/2022

 
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Summary

Airport Rating *****
Reception of locals *****
Cost: ££££
  • A culturally important city famed for its museums and art galleries.
  • No issues with airport security as a Sikh and its a small airport that is well connected to the city.
  • City is filled with tourists, which means a lot of tourist traps, an expensive city centre and a lot of queues - but so much things to see and do
  • Very walkable city with good public transportation
  • Main Sights: Uffizi Gallery, Accademia Gallery, Piazzale Michelangelo, Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore, Mercato Centrale, Ponte Vecchio, Battistero di San Giovanni

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Rome, Italy

30/5/2022

 
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Summary

Update: I originally posted this in 2018 but I've updated in 2022 following another visit
Airport Rating *****
Reception of locals *****
Cost: ££££
  • No issues with airport security when landing or leaving Rome Fiumicino airport on two different occasions
  • Saw only one other Singh during my 4 days in the city, but locals are welcoming and although not as multicultural as London or New York, it is still an open, cosmopolitan city
  • Capital and largest city in Italy with a history stretching back 3,000 years including being the foundation of the Roman Empire
  • Main Sights: Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Pantheon, Villa Borghese, Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps, Aventine Hill, Via dei Coronari, Trastevere
Known as the Eternal City, the Capital of the World and the first ever large metropolis, Rome as a city is almost unparalleled in terms of its history and impact on the western world.

I decided to spend a few days discovering the history and story of the city with tips from locals born and raised in the city and found Rome to be one of my favourite cities that I have visited - both as a general traveller, and as a Sikh.

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Amalfi Coast in pictures

26/8/2019

 
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The Amalfi Coast

This is part of a series of posts where I look back at some of my favourite pictures from different cities that I have visited. You can read the rest of the series here.

I'm not sure I've been to too many places more photogenic than the Italian Amalfi Coast. From houses perched on the sides of hills, to beautiful churches and cathedrals, all framed by an incredibly blue sea, the Amalfi Coast is picture perfect. It's probably not somewhere to go on your own like I did, and it isn't the cheapest place in the world either - but I can promise, you won't find much better scenery anywhere else. You can read about my full trip to the Amalfi Coat here, and my visits to Pompeii and Herculaneum here.

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5 things I loved about Rome

20/8/2018

 
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One of the most storied cities in the world, and home to an empire that helped shaped western civilisation. In many respects, Rome is without comparison. I spent the best part of a week in the Italian capital (and you can read about it in detail here, and my trip to the Vatican, which is not a part of the list, here) and it was one of the most absorbing weeks of my life. The history is unparalleled, the culture fascinating, and the food indescribable (my favourite pizza place was here, not in Naples or New York). I could list at least 10 things in Rome that I absolutely loved, but, with some creative accounting, here are 5 of my favourites.

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5 things I loved about Naples

4/6/2018

 
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It's difficult to do justice to a city as spectacular as Naples. It has a raw beauty that is refreshingly unique in an increasingly homogenised Europe. A city that combines traditional architecture with modern skyscrapers almost seamlessly. I'll never forget arriving into Naples and seeing scooters piling on top of each other, street vendors covering the pavements, the smell of food from road side stalls and shops floating over the cobble stoned streets. From history to food, to insta-worthy landmarks, Naples is a city that has it all. You can read my detailed observations of the city here, but below are my 5 favourite things about Naples.

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Amalfi Coast, Italy

12/3/2018

 
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Summary

Airport Rating N/A
Reception of locals ****
Cost: £££££
  • An area of outstanding natural scenic beauty between the cities of Sorrento and Salerno
  • The entire Amalfi Coast is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site
  • Extremely popular with tourists in the summer months, but no problems as Sikh travelling in the quieter winter months
  • Main Sights: Bagni della Regina Giovanna, Villa Comunale, Marina Grande, Spiaggia Grande, Duomo di Sant Andrea, Valle delle Ferriere
The Amalfi Coast is one of the most famous coastlines in all of Europe, located south of Naples and to the west of Salerno. The coastline is most famous for its dramatic cliffside drops that leave very little room for arable land, but create a stunning spectacle. In fact, as with the rest of my blog, the photos in these article are taken with an old school 8MP camera, but still look postcard perfect. Three towns in particular are heavily associated with the coast; Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi, and during my recent trip to Italy, I visited all three.

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Naples, Italy

26/2/2018

 
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Summary

Airport Rating *****
Reception of locals ****3/4
Cost: ££
  • Largest city in southern Italy and third largest overall after Rome and Milan
  • No problem as a Sikh going through airport security leaving the city and felt safe in the city itself, although I was the only Singh I saw in my four days there
  • Naples has had influence from a number of ruling dynasties over the past two and a half millennia: the Greeks, Romans, Germanic Kingdoms, Byzantines, Normans, French, Spanish and Italians
  • Has the largest historic city centre in Europe that is a designated UNESCO world heritage site
  • Main Sights: Spaccanapoli, National Archeological Museum, Catacombs of San Gennaro, Capella Sansevero, Castel Sant Elmo, Castel dell Ovo, Belvedere San Martino, Vomero, Stella
Chaotic, loud and dirty, yet with a raw beauty I haven't seen replicated anywhere else for a city its size. Naples is without a doubt one of my favourite cities that I have visited.

With a history stretching back almost three millennia, scenery that includes a volcano, a port and architecture rivalling Rome, and a culinary reputation surpassing most other cities, Naples should be near to the top of everyones must visit list.

In many ways the city is similar to the Barcelona of 15-20 years ago - that raw beauty and a local/traditional essence is still there and tourism is not yet the all encompassing feature that I am sure it will become. I visited Naples for four days, and below are my observations and reviews of a city that I think is comfortably in the top 5 of my favourite cities globally.

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Pompeii and Herculaneum, Italy

12/2/2018

 
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Summary

Airport Rating N/A
Reception of locals *****
Cost: £££
  • Two towns covered and preserved by a layer of volcanic ash and lava flows from nearby Mount Vesuvius
  • The towns show how life would have been during the heyday of the Roman Empire
  • Herculaneum is smaller but better preserved, Pompeii significantly larger
  • No issues for a Sikh travelling to, and in between, the two sites
  • Main Sights: Villa of the mysteries, Roman amphitheatre, Temple of Jupiter, Garden of the fugitives, 
Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by the story of Pompeii, a large town covered under a layer of volcanic material following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It was fairly recently that I first became aware of another town, not too far from Pompeii, Herculaneum that met a similar fate and it became a dream of mine to visit the two archeological sites and see for myself what life in a Roman town may have been like. My recent trip to Italy gave me that opportunity and my observations are below.

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Vatican City, Vatican City State

15/1/2018

 
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Summary

Airport Rating ***** (Rome Fiumicino)
Reception of locals *****
Cost: £££
  • A small, sovereign enclave completely contained within the city of Rome
  • Home of the Bishop of Rome (Pope) and the central focus of the world's 1.3 billion Christian Catholics
  • No hard border with Italy/Rome and therefore no extra checks or specific issues for Sikhs in travelling to the territory
  • Main Sights: St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Gardens
It seems pointless making the trip to Rome and not visiting the autonomous Vatican City, the home of the Holy See, residence of the Pope and home of one of the best views of Rome. It's a short walk from the city of Rome, and as I found out, the Vatican City is definitely worth a visit.

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    British Sikh, born in the Midlands, based in London, travelling the world seeing new cultures.

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Photos used under Creative Commons from Rob.Bertholf, wwward0, jasleen_kaur, tc_manasan, blacklerphotos, miguel_discart_photos, Vallausa, fabrizio-russo, free pictures of money, miguel_discart_photos, thedescrier, falco500, François Lacroix, falco500, frankieleon, Rareclass
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