Eusoff Keeping Up With Italia
Traveling as a single with friends and as a father and husband with family are two different matters altogether. The former tends to be more relaxed as you don't have to think much about others, its either you like it or not, feel free to do whatever makes you comfortable. The latter proves to be more challenging as you have to think about others. See the difference. Hahaha.
Italy is the most recent country crossed out from Rayyan Eusoff's checklist. Two cities in Italy to be exact, Rome and Florence.
Flown in to Rome via Alitalia from Prague. Alitalia has quickly became our preferred airlines. Super comfortable seats, convenient, collect Enrich points (partner Airlines for MAS) and lands in FCO (Rome's main airport) instead of Ciampano. This is an important point, please check which airport you are flying in. Big cities in Europe have more than one airport and usually low-cost airlines will land in a different airport. Be careful otherwise it will be a logistic nightmare especially if you pre-book the airport transfer in advance.
Took taxi from the airport to Via Isonzo, another good friend's apartment. Taxi from the airport to the city centre range from EUR55-70. Thank god that Eusoff has nice uncles and aunts who welcomed us to their home. Nice apartment surrounded by shops and near to public transport. Rest for the day and the next day the adventure continues.
The following morning we took an early train to Florence. Tips: First and Final train usually are the cheapest and children below 4 years old is free. Total train fare for the 3 of us was EUR70 return. Since we do plan to stay in Florence for the whole day, the price fits well into our plan. 2 hours later we arrived in Santa Maria Novella train station. Florence is relatively a nice city to walk. All the places of attraction are within walking distance. If you are not sure of your way around, just follow the crowd. You will end up to almost all place of interest. Our walking route were simple and uncharted. Just walk and walk, and we ended up in Duomo and Ponte Vecchio. Then we took a bus to cross the river up to Piazza de Michelangelo. The view was breathtaking. Had coffee at the nearby cafe and basked in the magnificent view.
One of the main attraction in Florence was the factory outlets. There are two of them. One is dedicated to high-end designer items called The Mall and another one is Designer Outlet similar to the ones in Bicester in UK or La Valle in Paris. We opted for the first. Took roundtrip bus from the bus station cost EUR12 return per person. For Eusoff, free again. En route to the Mall, once again we were granted with magnificent view of the italian countryside. Bought something for wifey and that's it. Here you can quickly do your tax refund, but you still need to have the tax refund forms stamped before leaving the EU. In our case, it has to be stamped in Prague airport as it will be our point of departure.
The latter part of the day, we went around town and have a rest in the train station waiting for our train. Stroller plays an important role in any of our trips nowadays. As Eusoff was tired out from excessive walking (not to mention running) around town and was deeply asleep by the time we were back in the train station. Took our train back to Rome and had a good rest before embarking on the final leg of the trip.
Rome is a city rich with its historical value. Lots of monuments and attraction. Planning is a must. The ones in our plan was of course the Colosseum and Fontana de Trevi. Bought one day transport pass for EUR8 which allows you unlimited rides on public transport around the city. Took the subway to Colosseum and walked to Fontana de Trevi from there, Both places were packed with people. Tips: Summer is a high season, if you really want to go inside the Colosseum, go very early in the morning. We spent most of the afternoon away in Fontana de Trevi then took a walk along via de corso, or the shopping street of Rome. Tips: Summer Sale is madness, beware of your wallet. Was planning to go further but since Eusoff looks a bit uncomfortable, we decided to go back to the apartment and had our dinner near the apartment. I have to say, the Rome experience was rather limited but that is the difference when you are on a trip with family, you prioritise and give further consideration on their limitations.
Next morning, we went back to the airport and took a flight to Prague. This time around we flew with Czech Airlines. Another comfortable flying experience as well and could collect the Garuda miles (Czech Airlines is part of Skyteam). Total cost for the flights were EUR370 for the 3 of us.
Italy is Italy. There is no word enough to really capture the experience. The whole country is an attraction and each city dignifies its own allure. It is really hard to truly experience Rome in one day. That is for sure. Florence is possible but not Rome. This has to be taken into account when one wants to travel to Rome. The last time i went to Rome, it was 4 days and 3 nights. Too much also. Hahaha. But one thing for sure, one really need to know what they want to see and do and from then further detailed planning needed especially to navigate around the city. The subway is connected to all the places of interest in Rome (but walking also needed), and always go to the farthest and detour back bit by bit back to the finish point. Summer is a high season so more extreme planning is needed. I had been comparing between the two seasons i have been to Rome (Winter and Summer), i rather enjoyed the Winter time. Less people and nice cool weather but of course it came with short daylight. Summer more people and more daylight but it was kinda hot. Whatever it is, it was a new experience for Eusoff and wifey (as it was the first time for both to Italy) and it was also a new additional experience for me to put into my own tips of traveling with family. I know that i will come back to Italy again in the future, to another city of course and it will be another new experience. For Eusoff, it will always going to be a new adventure for him and another place to cross out from the list. From the way i see it, Eusoff has been keeping up with Italia just fine.
T.Y.S
Italy is the most recent country crossed out from Rayyan Eusoff's checklist. Two cities in Italy to be exact, Rome and Florence.
Flown in to Rome via Alitalia from Prague. Alitalia has quickly became our preferred airlines. Super comfortable seats, convenient, collect Enrich points (partner Airlines for MAS) and lands in FCO (Rome's main airport) instead of Ciampano. This is an important point, please check which airport you are flying in. Big cities in Europe have more than one airport and usually low-cost airlines will land in a different airport. Be careful otherwise it will be a logistic nightmare especially if you pre-book the airport transfer in advance.
Took taxi from the airport to Via Isonzo, another good friend's apartment. Taxi from the airport to the city centre range from EUR55-70. Thank god that Eusoff has nice uncles and aunts who welcomed us to their home. Nice apartment surrounded by shops and near to public transport. Rest for the day and the next day the adventure continues.
The following morning we took an early train to Florence. Tips: First and Final train usually are the cheapest and children below 4 years old is free. Total train fare for the 3 of us was EUR70 return. Since we do plan to stay in Florence for the whole day, the price fits well into our plan. 2 hours later we arrived in Santa Maria Novella train station. Florence is relatively a nice city to walk. All the places of attraction are within walking distance. If you are not sure of your way around, just follow the crowd. You will end up to almost all place of interest. Our walking route were simple and uncharted. Just walk and walk, and we ended up in Duomo and Ponte Vecchio. Then we took a bus to cross the river up to Piazza de Michelangelo. The view was breathtaking. Had coffee at the nearby cafe and basked in the magnificent view.
One of the main attraction in Florence was the factory outlets. There are two of them. One is dedicated to high-end designer items called The Mall and another one is Designer Outlet similar to the ones in Bicester in UK or La Valle in Paris. We opted for the first. Took roundtrip bus from the bus station cost EUR12 return per person. For Eusoff, free again. En route to the Mall, once again we were granted with magnificent view of the italian countryside. Bought something for wifey and that's it. Here you can quickly do your tax refund, but you still need to have the tax refund forms stamped before leaving the EU. In our case, it has to be stamped in Prague airport as it will be our point of departure.
The latter part of the day, we went around town and have a rest in the train station waiting for our train. Stroller plays an important role in any of our trips nowadays. As Eusoff was tired out from excessive walking (not to mention running) around town and was deeply asleep by the time we were back in the train station. Took our train back to Rome and had a good rest before embarking on the final leg of the trip.
Rome is a city rich with its historical value. Lots of monuments and attraction. Planning is a must. The ones in our plan was of course the Colosseum and Fontana de Trevi. Bought one day transport pass for EUR8 which allows you unlimited rides on public transport around the city. Took the subway to Colosseum and walked to Fontana de Trevi from there, Both places were packed with people. Tips: Summer is a high season, if you really want to go inside the Colosseum, go very early in the morning. We spent most of the afternoon away in Fontana de Trevi then took a walk along via de corso, or the shopping street of Rome. Tips: Summer Sale is madness, beware of your wallet. Was planning to go further but since Eusoff looks a bit uncomfortable, we decided to go back to the apartment and had our dinner near the apartment. I have to say, the Rome experience was rather limited but that is the difference when you are on a trip with family, you prioritise and give further consideration on their limitations.
Next morning, we went back to the airport and took a flight to Prague. This time around we flew with Czech Airlines. Another comfortable flying experience as well and could collect the Garuda miles (Czech Airlines is part of Skyteam). Total cost for the flights were EUR370 for the 3 of us.
Italy is Italy. There is no word enough to really capture the experience. The whole country is an attraction and each city dignifies its own allure. It is really hard to truly experience Rome in one day. That is for sure. Florence is possible but not Rome. This has to be taken into account when one wants to travel to Rome. The last time i went to Rome, it was 4 days and 3 nights. Too much also. Hahaha. But one thing for sure, one really need to know what they want to see and do and from then further detailed planning needed especially to navigate around the city. The subway is connected to all the places of interest in Rome (but walking also needed), and always go to the farthest and detour back bit by bit back to the finish point. Summer is a high season so more extreme planning is needed. I had been comparing between the two seasons i have been to Rome (Winter and Summer), i rather enjoyed the Winter time. Less people and nice cool weather but of course it came with short daylight. Summer more people and more daylight but it was kinda hot. Whatever it is, it was a new experience for Eusoff and wifey (as it was the first time for both to Italy) and it was also a new additional experience for me to put into my own tips of traveling with family. I know that i will come back to Italy again in the future, to another city of course and it will be another new experience. For Eusoff, it will always going to be a new adventure for him and another place to cross out from the list. From the way i see it, Eusoff has been keeping up with Italia just fine.
T.Y.S
Comments
seronoknyer muda2 dah banyak tempat pergi bercuti...
semoga ada peluang nak bercuti tempat2 orang lain kali.. :)
Insya allah.