2x

respective shoe hauls

I've learned to judge traveling with someone else as a completely separate experience and not compare it to traveling solo. A trip with someone else is experiencing the place from the interactions between that person and me, which is the opposite of being immersed in the place when I'm alone. And not being immersed makes it hard to take interesting photos. But it's good having someone to eat with, more variety of food to try! Other benefits include not being bored waiting in line, and not having to be on guard all the time.

The best part about traveling with someone else is being pushed to try new things. Going to Italy would've never even happened if Jeff didn't just feel like going somewhere before starting work. This is very last minute by my standards even though it was a month in advance. It was fun trip planning in the midst of doing my assignments, I'd research a new city every time I finish a section of my reports. Shoutout to the blogger that did a roundup of all the best gelato places in Florence, we were not disappointed following your advice.

I'm also glad that we visited Bergamo, it was purely a financial decision to stay 2 nights there because hotels in Venice are so expensive while the cheap flight to Milan actually lands in Bergamo. We both enjoyed strolling through Bergamo's old town the most out of all the places.

Our trip was quite laid back. We slept in most days since shops and restaurants don't open early anyways, and went home early since it's quite cold once it got dark at...4pm. A big change for me is not eating somewhere new for every meal. We went back a second time to a couple of favourite places:

• Oesteria dell'orso (Bologna) - student packed, late-night eatery. 6EU for a tasty plate of tagliatelle bolognese is hard to beat.
• Sandwichic & Ara e Sicillia (Florence) - a panini and aracini (plus some desserts and gelato) makes for a good, cheap meal. The two shops are within a block of each other, and 3 blocks from our hotel. 
• Da Nerbone (Florence) - even closer to our hotel is the San Lorenzo market, and this is the most frequently recommended eatery in there. Lots of locals eat the lampredotto, but I'm not a fan of the stomach's texture so we stuck to the bollito. I'm still amazed at how flavourful this boiled beef is. 
• Mercato Central (Rome) - we ate a lot of pasta and trappezzino here haha, because it's only 1 block away from our hotel. 
• Que te Pongo (Rome) - Jeff's favourite restaurant of the entire trip. We had lunch here, and came right back for dinner on the same day.  

We also spent a while in London after Italy. I took this chance to tick off a couple of restaurants from my bucket list. How I wish I have a larger appetite, they were all so yummy ;_; It's actually a problem that I have trouble finishing a regular tasting menu. My overall impression of London is quite similar to New York, which is not really a surprise. It's so huge and full of things happening that  I'll forever want to revisit.