In beautiful Italy!

For realty entrepreneur Sammeer Sheth, the best holiday season is anytime when family is around. An avid traveller, Sheth prefers to travel with his wife Palak and daughter Tanisha. While friends are most welcome on his trips, he admits he prefers to travel in a smaller group while discovering new places.

Great weather
After a few days in London, in May, the Sheths decided to spend two weeks in Italy. It was a whirlwind romance with the Mediterranean country as the family travelled from Florence to Capri to Naples and finally Rome. Sheth says, “We now wish we could have spent some more time in Italy. However, we had to be in Toronto by the end of May. While exploring new countries, we prefer to travel by ourselves.  The weather was mostly sunny, though it was cloudy sometimes.” Sheth thanks the weather Gods to have kept the weather to his liking. A recent trip to Switzerland had given him quite a sun burn. He says, “That is why we prefer going abroad in May. By June, Europe gets quite hot.”

Gastronomic affair
While previous trips abroad have sometimes posed to be a little tricky for the Sheths as they are vegetarians, the situation is changing. Sheth points out, “We enjoy whatever food any region has to offer. Earlier it was difficult for vegetarians to travel across Europe. Italy is famous for its pizzas and pasta. In fact we came to know that the Pizza Margarita was discovered in Naples. They use a special kind of Mozzarella cheese and tomatoes that makes it unique.”
 
Picturesque settings
Florence, Sheth points out, has an old-world charm. “The place is full of churches. The whole age of Renaissance started there. It looks like time has stopped amongst the narrow by-lanes of the city,” says Sheth. He describes how the Isle of Capri is astounding in different shades of colour. Sheth explains, “It is very colourful, the surrounding azure of the sea and the beautiful lemon trees. Rome was a historical experience.”
 
Local sightings
“People are not overtly friendly maybe because of the language barrier. The nightclubs in Capri are rocking with the party scene going on till morning. There are wonderful museums to walk through that throw light on the first three dimensional paintings that had started in Florence,” says Sheth. People, he says, like to walk a lot. The drive along the Amalfi Coast took his breath away. He says, “The cities of Sorrento and Positano along the Amalfi Coast was picture postcard perfect. Visiting the ruins at the ancient city of Pompeii was an enlightening experience.”
 
Souvenirs too…
Palak’s quite a cook, laughs Sheth, and he says the family hoarded up on lots of herbs and extra-virgin oil. Italy is also famous for leather and they bought leather jackets, other branded leather items and ceramic curios. Sheth says, “There are a lot of ceramic factories there too. They do a lot of ceramic designs on tiles and wall decorations. We also took a wine tour to Chianti as the famous Chianti wine originated from there.” The Sheths are back content but say they would be heading back to Italy soon. Bon voyage!