Italy!

Italy! Quite nice. But scenery only. Compared to Singapore, only scenery n the things sold in Italy are different. Other than tt no fight already. First thing, everything there is damn ex. the currency already twice then the figure still higher. Like if something costs 2 bucks here, it'll cost abt 2.20 EURO there. Siao.

Then there also I think more than 80% of the ppl smoke. the air is thick with cigarette smoke. Even on the streets also can smell abit, wad more inside a station or sth. If you've heard those stories abt petty thefts or snatch thefts, they're most likely true, but heng heng nv happen to me. Italian is nice, but singlish is nicer. n the italians speak english v funny... like every sentence or half sentence must slow down then stop. then continue the next sentence.

And most of them have very black eyes. So they look v much like bad ppl.

ok this gonna b one hell of a long post

RomeRoma29-1Dec05
We reached Fiumicino Airport, then got direct shuttle to Sheraton Roma. Actually wondering y they call it Fiumicino. like some coffee name know. then dad kan cheong spider faster put the bags down in the hotel then chiong to look at Rome. Got another shuttle to the city, but its not much of a city. Alot of ruins n statues n buildings, mostly marble or stone. In Italy only got pizza n pasta... so for one whole week abit the sian. We visited some Vittoriano monument. Very nice church. Outside got 3 big statues, then got stone steps and all. Go inside is seriously Hogwarts campus-like arches n stairways, n religious paintings n statues everywhere. stupid camera cannot flash in the dark backgrd n make it sharp.

Then come out only start to rain. Already quite cold, rain summore. then dark falls fast also. Italy is 7am sunrise, 5pm sunset. Short day huh. So come out of Vittoriano, some umbrella man comes up and "Brello." us, then we buy the umbrella for €5. Later we found out they sell umbrellas in shops for €2. Asshole. but anyway 4 out of our 6 days in Italy was rainy. Lucky mum brought food along or else damn ex n damn sian.

Next day we went to Cittá del Vaticano. I WENT TO VATICAN CITY! The Piazza St. Pietro, with the St Peter's Basilica there... Majestic. And super crowded. Then I saw the Pope! He come out dressed in red then got alot of cameras flash here n there, then after quite a long while he went onto a car n sort of paraded the Piazza, not unlike Mr President at NDP.

We queued up to go into the grave-place of all the Popes before. Quite neat. Got lights n railings n plants, n each tomb nicely arranged. Just imagine going to an art exhibition, but in place of the artworks r the marble coffins. Then after tt go inside the cathedral. Its damn nicely decorated. I was like "whoa" when I stepped in. Domes, arches, paintings, statues everywhere. Italy's fine art is damn good. there was a service n a choir also. So everyone take alot of photos. after tt we siam liao. Went back to Sheraton.

FlorenceFirenze2-5Dec05
We took the inter city rail to Florence. Lotsa scenery to take in along the 2-hr ride. After checking into Hotel Rapallo, we took the train again- a 3 hr journey to...

PisaPisa
Of course on reaching there we made our way to the leaning tower. I WENT TO THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA!!! But sadly it was late... so cannot go inside. Hai... anyway, the tower was really leaning. It really look like anytime can juz tip n topple over. but really, other than taking pictures, there's not much else to do. just shops n restaurants around.

The 3rd had us roaming Florence. Went to another Piazza Del Duomo (some cathedral). the outside is like... damn nice. not only well decorated, it's intricate. Every column, line, border, arch had carvings of statues or some miscellaneous pattern. even the door- at every cross of the line pattern theres a statue's head. then there also happen to see some singaporean family- according to sis- she heard their accent. father mother n daughter. the gal quite chio, the father quite jap-looking, mother quite old school. hah...

Lots of pasar malam also, only not malam. its in the day. called sunday market or sth. but anyway its the same. And one thing: u could bargain, but its not common practice there. another thing: if u browse thru the goods long, they automatically have the impression tt u wanna buy, then if u dun buy they not happy. yeah. tts italy. or maybe its juz us. So dad bought some leather bag ("very gd calf leather quality", according to the man) n pouch, n mum got some stuff also. italy's famous for its leather goods, so every alternate stall sell leather stuff.

VeniceVenezia4Dec05
Again the train. 3hrs again. I WENT TO VENICE!!! the place is damn foggy- i think cuz of the flooded place. its really flooded. juz imagine singapore's bitumen roads were water. tts almost how venice looked like. only pavements, winding in n out. no cars, only boats. Alot of bridges. n the majority of the people there were wearing those rubber boots, so they wont wet their feet. and scrubbing water out of their shopdoors is quite common for the shopkeepers there. Venice also sell alot of masks also... dunno y. Most of the masks r clowns with those frills-like cloths coming out of the top. Im gonna hang on the wall next to my bed. Scary? nah. Mysterious? Yeah.

I think so far all the countries I've been to, I think Italy has the best artistic skills. but im not sure abt Paris- too young.

Wasted, too late to take a boat ride. Damn it know. Everytime too late. Went back to Florence after that, n in the blink of a friggin' eye, im going back to Rome.

RomeRoma6Dec05
Me n dad went to cover the rest of the places we havent visited in Rome. Mum n sis went back to the hotel first. So we first went to find the Sistine Chapel aka Cappella Sistina but when we got there, we found out it only opens in the morning. WTF. Sad. So near yet so far frm Michelangelo's masterpiece. So we made our way to The Spanish Steps aka Piazza di Spagna. well it wasn't as majestic as the postcards made it out to be, with the flora n everything. Maybe tts only in summer. its juz some grand stone 'stairs' with a little fountain in front.

But nothing compared to the Trevi Fountain aka Fontana di Trevi. Its one big, magnificent waterwork with great statues as a backdrop. tons of people were there. and there's something abt if u toss a coin over ur shoulder into the fountain n wish, then u'll one day return to Rome n get wadever u wish for. or sth like tt.

After tt we faster chiong to the COLOSSEUM!!! aka Colosseo. met mum n sis there, take photos only AGAIN, cuz it was @*$%@##$@%$*@#%*$%#@*! late AGAIN. to hell. after tt walking back to the bus pick up area, we passed the Vittoriano. n its damn majestic at night, with the lights n all. and one weird thing we noticed: there were birds flying around the 3 huge statues on the roof of the monument. they were just gliding randomly ard the statues, but going nowhere else. the photo i took of them showed them form an oval shape. i wonder.

along the way we passed a statue of a gold pharoah upright, with a golden bowl at its feet. many ppl juz walked past, but sis noticed it was breathing! its chest was moving slowly. hahah. cheaterbug. we tried to stare him down but he was quite gd. after tt i flashed the camera at him n he nodded! hahaha wth. then we went.

the next day, we were back at Fiumicino di Aeroporto aka Leonardo Da Vinci, and 12 hrs later, we were back at Changi Airport.

that was some Italy trip.