Monday, May 26, 2008
2:54 PM

Ciao Bella!

20 to 25 May.

Twenty. Venezia. I knew that Venice would be filled with tourists. I thought that Venice would be sunny and romantic. Instead, rhe first day was a cold and rainy day. Everywhere was wet. I was cold. The water level was so high, the whole area was flooded with water from the canal I thought it was so ridiculous! There were fewer tourists than I thought in the area I stayed, and flooding with tourists in San Marco. Everywhere, stalls and shops sold Venetian glass and Venetian masks. Yet, Venice appealed to me with its narrow alleys, streets and buildings surrounded by canals and stalls selling beautiful ornaments.

Ponte Rialto

The Grand Canal

My initial impression of Venice came from my research on an influential woman – Coco Chanel. When she visited Venice in her signature pants, women of that time stared at her as if she dressed immodestly. These women in their corsets and umbrella skirts, of course, had difficulty getting off the gondola onto the street level. Thus, she decided to introduce pants to women of that time, creating a new fashion statement and thus ‘liberating’ these women.

1300-1530: Lunch and siesta

Pigeons outnumber tourists!

View from the hotel room

Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs)

Cicchetti

Locally produced white wine (with a cute waiter in the background)

Lasagna

One of the most heavenly dishes tried on the backpacking trip

Twenty-one. Venezia. As much as I would love to take the gondola ride in the narrow canals of Venezia and live the life of an aristocrat as of 200 years ago, it seems that taking the ferry is the more practical choice. The ferry is in fact the metro, and the ambulance is a speedboat! In fact I’ve not seen a car since I set foot in Venezia! A second day in Venezia just roaming the streets, narrow alleys and bridges across the narrow canals, and simply basking in the sun, tells me that this will probably not be the last time I’ll be in Venezia.

Twenty-two. Pisa & Firenze. First thing in the morning, we took a short walk to the Galleria Accademia. There were many museums in Firenze, all costing quite a bit, and so we decided on one to go, so we could see the original Michelangelo’s David. Several other amazing Madonna paintings. As we turned around the corner, I was wowed by the sheer size of David in the little museum. I didn’t expect David to be so big, though his privates weren't that large, though that was supposed to be the perfect size. Several other unfinished sculptures stood in the room, depicting the sculptures being released from the plasticine. Other sculptures, e.g. of Venus, were so beautiful.

We headed to Pisa, without going up the tower. When we first caught sight of the leaning tower, our reaction was “wow, it’s really leaning”.

Ponte de Vecchio. Great view of the real Tuscany and the Tiber River.

Bruschetta

Gelato

Despite having visited so many churches, Duomo didn't fail to 'wow' us.

Replica in the original spot. Original is in the museum.

View from below.

Beautiful view from Piazzale Michelangelo

The third David!

The Duomo is so big you can see it from here.

Twenty-three. Roma. I have never seen anything like this. A whole town dedicated to its archeological findings and ancient city. No wonder Italy is the most travelled place in the world. It boasts of its unique beauty, culture and history in Venice, living art museum in Florence, screwed-up-in-a-nice-way architecture in Pisa, glorious past in Rome and fashion capital in Milan. Italians are blessed with beautiful facial features and bodies, fantastic weather and strategic geographical location.

We visited the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Casa di Augusto, Roman Forum, Temple di Saturno, Fori Imperiali and even saw the tomb of Caesar, which I assumed was Julius Caesar. It’s amazing how something so ancient, of about 2000 years ago can exist and be in such reasonably good condition.

Like what was deciphered in Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, the Romans were a bunch of plebeians who loved to make merry and watch bloodshed. The Colosseum is in fact a place of entertainment where they watch slaves fight their way to fame (albeit short-lived).

Colosseum

Gladiator

Arch of Constantine

Casa di Augusto

Panna Cotta, an Italian dessert

Twenty-four. Roma. We wanted to wake up early in order to beat the queue at the Vatican museums, but the plan was thwarted as we had to eat our breakfast provided at the hotel.

The way to Sistine Chapel was awesome.

Sent a postcard home!

The Obelisk at St Peter Square

In St Peter's Basilica

At the biggest fountain in Rome, Fontane di Trevi, it was said that if you were to toss a coin over your back once, you’ll have a speedy return to Rome; if twice, you will fall in love in Rome, both of which I was not so keen, so I decided to save my 2 cents from being tossed into the fountain.

Fontane di Trevi

Though we had to find it in a maze of 18th century houses, the sight of the Pantheon still “wow-ed” me! Yet another amazing construction since more than 2000 years ago, used as a temple by the Romans. It was amazing how they could have done it during those times, considering they did not use pillars, ribs or arches to support the dome.

Pantheon

Used to be a water stadium, Piazza Navona is now a square, with a fountain by Bernini with 4 sculptures symbolizing the 4 river gods – Nile for Africa, Ganges for Asia, Danube for Europe and Rio d for Americas.

Castel San Angelo

Ponte San Angelo, which means bridge of angels. No wonder; it's blessed by many sculptures of beautiful angels.

I hereby name Rome the land of sculptures. Of course, Florence too, but you know, everywhere you go, you see sculptures, sculptures and more of them, and wonder why only Michelangelo’s David stood out and obtained such unrivalled fame.

Drivers exude the Italian madness everywhere on the streets, which meant that you had to cross whenever you think is okay. This also means that when it’s red man you could go, even when it’s green man, you may not be able to cross. Most of the time, when we cross the zebra crossing, we make sure there’s a safe distance. The drivers may not indicate intention to stop but surely they’ll brake and inch forward slowly when they’r really near you. In daily life, it seems that Italian are fun and friendly people, but one wonders the sincerity of it all. Imagine having so many guys coming up to us, and say “oh you’r so beautiful” blahblahblah, such that we get sick of it. Perhaps they are friendly with each other, but their straightforward nature also makes them seem a little brash and rude sometimes.

Twenty-five. Travel. Okay, we are constantly dreading the arrival of the end of this backpacking trip. I mean, we’ve been having so much fun we don’t remember how reality in Singapore feels like. On the other hand, I’m pretty excited about my internship in Hong Kong too. It seems so surreal that I’ve been leading such “hard life” here for so long. True that I’ve got great company, good food and fantastic views and trips so far, but by “hard life” I meant washing clothes on the move by hand, going through certain days without bathing, having to choose clothes from the small old pool, sleeping on the train in sitting positions instead of sleepers to save $, walking instead of bussing to save $, eating biscuits instead of proper meals on the go, having unpacking, packing and lugging the backpack wherever we go, and not having the comfort of our own beds, blankets, pillows and bolsters or even internet access! Honestly, I’m suffering from some bad back and leg aches. But, you know, I make do, I come to terms to these, such that I’m used to these and not upset at all. So I’m pretty amazed by how simple a life I could actually lead on the go and how much hardship I could take. Of course, when I return to civilisation I can’t live with just 4 t-shirts and 2 pants to choose from!

So today is the day we were to take an 18-hour ferry from Bari, Italy to Patras, Greece, before heading to Olympia/ Athens. Guess what, we slept so soundly on the train that when Xinyu tapped me, I woke with a startle to realize we’ve reached Bari Centrale. By the time, I tried to pull my backpack down, informed her we’ve reached the stop and better get off the train, and ran to the door, the train has started moving. So we reached Monopoli and took a train back to Bari Centrale, take a bus to the Ferry Terminal and started on the 18-hour loooong ferry to Greece…