Trip to Italy

Italy!

I am really lazy to post a day by day account of my trip so i shall elaborate on each photos.

Hotel:

had continental breakfast everyday. hehe. so its cheese, ham, milk and croissants.

booked them through www.hotelclub.com and www.booking.com

Transport:

We flew by Lufthansa airlines, which was a German airline. So on the plane, the instructions were in German and in English. It wasn't in Italian cause we transit at Munich Airport. Everyone around us were westerners =.=

It was snowing in Munich! I think it looks so pretty, the white bed of snow on the ground. it was really cold. Tried their german sausage there. They provide free coffee and tea to those at the boarding gates. There was those coffee/ tea making machines thatt you find in pantries at every two or three gates. I learnt that wasser is water in german.

Upon reaching Rome, we took a train to the central station. The process of getting our tickets took long. Cause they didn't know we had our euro passes and we didn't really quite understand the meaning of reserving tickets.

At the central station, we had to run for our train. cause it was about to leave alr, and we didnt exactly know where to go. Luckily, we made it on time to catch the train. Took the first class seats so it was quite spacious and they even gave each passenger some biscuits and 1 drink.

Florence! (Firenze)

Artworks near Palazzo Vecchio. Didn't really understand them cause the words were in italian.

The street lamps. Nice right? The stands are three legs. This was taken.... idk whats the name of the place. lol. A statue of Michelangelo's David is located here though. Anyone know?

This is in the building Basilica di Santa Croce. This picture shows Dante Alighieri's memorial. Other funeral memorial includes Galileo Galilei. It is quite beautiful actually. There are stained glasses, other works, etc. Some are still in the process of preservation.

Side view of Ponte Vecchio. So pretty right.

Pizzas & Paninis!

They really have many different types of breads and different toppings for the pizza. At this place, we tried the pizaa with anchovies. It was quite salty though. Ate icecream there! don't know why I like to eat ice cream in cold weather. it was the same in london and in perth. Maybe i just like eating icecream (:

The streets there were really narrow. And cars don't really move very fast in the tourist areas, cause there are many people on the streets. The buildings aren't very tall, and I think they are old buildings, unlike Singapore where most buildings are new. For example, most still have those woodern doors and the windows have grills on them. hmm, am i describing it right? i think my english have gonne down the drain after As.

Michelangelo's David!

Note: thhe pics aren't in chronological order. This pic is taken at the same place where the street lamp was taken.

Gnocchi & Penne.

In some restaurants, they charge coperto. Which is cover charge. which is like service charge and GST. Some charge 1.50 euro per person, some charge 2.50 euro per person. I think the range is around there. This place has coperto. It was the first dinner we had in Florence, and since then, we tried to avoid places that has coperto.

View of Duomo & Giotto's Tower from the same place where David is located. It was quite high so we could get a good view of Florence from here.

Basilica di San Miniato al Monte. There was some church service inside.

Venice! (Venezia)

You can see the canals and the bridges and the boats. The buildings( houses?) are all very near each other. It was like this in Florence too. It is a really nice feeling to walk along the streets. Its quite a experiece, knowing that water is beside you, while you are walking on land. kinda like walking along the coast.

This was taken in the morning. It was really misty and cold. The buildings on the left are hotels. This particular stretch has many hotels located along it. The nearest boatstop is St Zaccaria. The vendor is selling souvenirs. Told you people! You can find souvenirs EVERYWHERE. so i didn't buy them. lol. cause i wanted to find nice ones.

The structure is St mark Square. It looks blur cause it was misty. So you can't see the top of the tower. It is really nice. Empty at night. And its really near my hotel.

Gondola rides! really expensive. This bunch of Chinese are rich enough to pay for it. Pfft.

During high tide, it may flood. So they have these planks for ppl to walk on. This is at St Mark Square there.

Same place. The water level is quite shallow. Some people walk through the water in their wellies.

At the hotel, to prevent water from entering, they have planks and some barricade-like structure.

This is the non tourist district. Near the bus interchange there. Selling veg and meat.

High tide. and thats how they park the boats. to the poles.

Passengers getting off the boat. there is always a boat attendant to help assist the passengers get on and off the boat. And tie the rope.

Boatstop (:

So people wait inside it while waiting for the boat.

From land to the boatstop. And there is a validation machine. which dad says work on a honext system.

Boats.

Boat platform thingy. lol.

Milan! (Milano)

My first thought when we came out of the train was: wa! finally in a city again!

lol. we see many retail outlets. The people are very fashionable, people moving quickly. There is this feel of.. busy-ness that you can feel in Singapore during peak hour. Like Singapore, there is shops in the MRT there. And there is advertisments on screens at the platform area. Kinda like SG, but with more heritage, better fashion, more developed(?)

Versace!

One of the street light display. cool right (: it think it was in a shopping district, near the one with the versace thingy. There were some others too.

This structure. magnificent. Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The shops there are high end boutiques. Like Gucci, etc.

Tada! Duomo di Milano! it is really magnificent. If you look closer, you can see the tiny details. There are many people there. I think some are on school trips or smth. Many tourists.

Side of the Duomo.

Rome!

the Altar of the Nation. located near the Colosseum and the Pantheon. It is really beautiful. The artworks.

Okay! finally done! (:

have been working since i came back from my trip.

and meeting up with friends for lunch and dinner (:

btw, Happy New Year people! (:

was walking along the canel on saturday and I did a good deed.

what struck me as surprising was not that i actually did a good deed, but the wave of emotions that came over me.

Its been a long time since old grannies and wheelchairs were in my life.

anyway, Mr. KK flying to Vietnam today.

have fun kid!

Oh My Friend

"If this world makes you sad,

say my name whenever, wherever.

i'm 119 emergency, for you only. "

slap me if i make the same mistake next year.


in no relation to the above words,

i just typed 1244 words for geography,
racked my brain punching keys into my calculator for maths,
and realised that being misunderstood is a routine.

hmmm.......
whatever happened to life?

Expectations

One normally starts of with very high expectations
but when they fall, they fall hard and they hurt themselves badly.
Normally, people would just keep trying and like little kids,
they would keep falling until they really learn the meaning of the word PAIN.
When it really hurts, you realise that actually, the higher your expectations, the greater the fall.
And you realise, hey, actually, i don't have to expect so much.
I know whats happening around me, and it hurts that this is happening.
But when i think about the past, i learn that i should be happy with what I have right now, and should just stop asking for more.
That why, I don't expect that much anymore.

Perfect Closure

If I wanted a closure, I think this would be the perfect closure.
The memories will remain in our minds forever,
especially in yours.
I truely enjoyed myself and i took in every moment of it.
The way we played and joked,
the way we poked fun at each other.
The true natural beauty of the place we were in.
Feels... so sincere.
Just so you know, to me, this is the best farewell gift we can give you.

Our interests would be different,
and some subjects would become taboo.
But I believe, that things between us wouldn't change.
You would still be that awesoe friend i've come to love and treasure.
I wonder how much you know that.

And i mean it when I said this is not the end.
It would just be the start of something new (:

falling apples

Picture a big apple tree.
plenty of healthy red apples hanging from it.
suddenly, a couple fall to the ground.
the healthy apples hanging on the tree can do nothing,
but stare.