"When we think of Italy, the name that strikes our mind would be Rome, Milan, Venice, Turin, Pompeii but ironically the first place in Italy we went was Ventimiglia, a small town located 7km located from the France-Italy border"
Things were so different even though Ventimiglia just 7km apart from the France border. In Nice, we read the train station as "gare" whilein Ventimiglia, we suddenly puzzled on the word "stazione", which carried the exactly meaning!
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| Facing the old town of Ventimiglia |
Having come unprepared totally to Italy and without WiFi access is not really disastrous, as Ventimiglia is a small town to wander. We walked aimlessly there, exploring bits of Italy, and knowing their popular market is closed during our visit (it only opens from 7am - 1pm on weekday and full day on Friday & Saturday) is kind of demotivating. Nevertheless, we still feel it is worth coming for a short visit for the sake of fun, and to fill the adventurous gap in our heart.
Getting into Ventimiglia
We were in a conundrum whether to purchase tickets to Ventimiglia after boredom strike us in Monaco. Supposedly, we wanted to come to Ventimiglia in the early morning from Nice but we overslept.
After some hesitation, we decided to go to Ventimiglia and reached here at 3pm. Tickets can be purchased at Monaco train station and the train runs on a frequent basis. It was not an expensive train ticket from Monaco to Ventimiglia, as it cost €18.40 for 2 pax for a 30 minutes ride.
Reminder to bring your passport with you as the French Police / Border Patrol / Immigration officials will conduct checks regularly in the train back from Ventimiglia. Failure to produce your passport might land you in big troubles, as French authority is practising strict border control due to influx of immigrants from Ventimiglia.
What We Did in Ventimiglia
We missed out the market (along the seafront of the new town) that offers great opportunity to shop for some cheap items, as the market only runs from 7am to 1pm on weekdays, and full day on Friday and Saturday. A Roman amphitheater built in the 2nd century is another iconic building of the city but unfortunately it was closed during our visit.
Such a demise means we can only wander around in the town.
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| Outside of train station |
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| Gardiani Pubblici |
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| Some random path |
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| Crossing the bridge of old town of Ventimiglia |
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| The bridge |
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| Some part of the old town |
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| The place where the market supposedly to be held |
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| The Italy Coca Cola! |
We had nothing much to do till we went to local grocery and bought some Italian milk and muesli for our next day breakfast.
What We Eat
Having no idea where to dine in, we simply pick a restaurant near to the train station and appeared to be frequented by locals due to presence of both youngsters and seniors there.
Piazza Caffe
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| Carbonara (€9) |
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| Risotto Al Frutti di Mare (€10) |
We thought Italian made good pasta and risotto thus we decided to give these a try. The Carbonara was cooked to al-dente, not so creamy as the one we usually had in Malaysia and appeared to be seasoned with more salts than usual. On the other hand, the Risotto was above average. Rice was cooked to possess each distinctive granules and tasted not bad overall, for us as an inexperience risotto eater.
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| Mojito |
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| Caffe Ginseng (€1.50) |
2. Gelato
On the way back, we spotted a Gelato shop marked by its iconic gelato at its entrance. The marketing gimmick appeared to be working as it managed to lure us into the shop! Perhaps Ventimiglia is a small town, therefore 2 scoops of Gelato only cost us €2. There was a distinctive difference of the gelato we had here over the one we had in France, as the gelato here was creamier.
Then, we headed back to the train station in order not to miss the train. Otherwise, we have to overnight in this small town!
Next, stay on our trip to Geneva, Switzerland!
~End~
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