The Italian Job (30 Apr - 10 May 08)

It was a tough choice between Germany or Italy. I was actually fine with either so we went with the group consensus. It was Wai Fong and Siew Chuin again and it went as far back to 2006 to Russia and 2007 to Czech Republic and Austria.

Some info:

Exchange Rate: 2.145

Price of Package: $3,820 with Pricebreakers (Tradewinds)

30 Apr: SG to Milan

9 May: Rome to SG

It was a gruelling 12 hr 45min flight. I was so tired and dazed from the day's work in order to save a day of leave. I couldn't sleep on the plane so I had a movie marathon of movies like Sex and the City, PS I Love You, Kung Fu Dunk and some others. Torturous!

Finally after the 12th hr we landed in Milan. First stop aws the Duomo di Milano - one of the most famous buildings in Europe. It is a particularly large and elaborate Gothic cathedral on the main square in the city centre of Milan.

Gelato, something which everyone is familiar with, originated from Italy. Gelato means frozen in Italian. It is a type of ice cream. The basic difference between gelato and the usual ice cream is that it doesn't contain as much air, and is therefore more intense in flavour. It is healthier than an ice cream as it is made with all natural ingredients and contains fewer calories and less butter fat. A scoop of 3 flavours typically costs about 3.50 Euro.

Next we visited the area of House of Juliet Museum , where the famous Shakespeare play was held in Verona (I think so!)

On Day 3, we headed for Venice! Known as Venezia in Italian, it is a city in northern Italy. Here, journey through canals lined with palaces, vibrant squares and numerous bridges linking the 117 islands of Venice in gondolas. A gondola is a traditional Venetian sculling boat which were for centuries the chief means of transprotation within Venice. It cost us about 25 Euro for a half hour ride. That's expensive I would say. But for the ocne in a lifetime experience, why not? Since Venice is made up of islands and bridges, it is a zero car zone. Travel to the ferry terminal via your regular transport, then hop onto the boat to get to Venice. There, you will see lotsa people, bridges and gondolas but just no car. Yeah no ERP speed cameras and TP too!

View of Venice from Rialto Bridge

Next we gathered at Piazza San Marco, often known as St Mark's Square which is the principal square of Venice. It is the central landmark and gathering place of Venice and is extremly popular with toursits, photographers and Ventian pigeons. The Piazza has always been seen as the centre of Venice. It was the location of all the important offices of the Venetian state, and has been the seat of the archbishopric since the 19th century. It was also the focus for many of Venice's festivals. The Piazza is dominated by the Basilica, the Doge's Palace and the Basilica's campanile,

You can find fresh fruits everywhere!

Day 4, there was an optional tour to the Factory Outlet where I got my Furla wallet for 36 Euro. There were also brands like Calvin Klein and PRADA. We didn't have much time to shop and there wasn't very exciting brands there.. and everyone complained. So the tour guide had no choice but to bring us to another factory outlet. Well, I guess you can't satisfy everyone. More shopping meant lesser time on sightseeing tours and travelling on the roads.

Next stop was Florence. We visited the Basilicia di Santa Maria del Fiore. It is the cathedral church of Florence. The basicilia is notable for its dome desgiend by Filippo Brunelleschi. This dome has a long history, which I shan't describe here, because I'm not very familiar with it myself!

Masks are very common in Italy but I'm not sure why.

While the local guide took us on a tour in Florence, we noticed that the streets were lined with goldsmith shops. The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) is a Medieval bridge over the Amo River, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common.

Butchers initially occupied the shops, the present tenants are jewellers, art dealers and sourvenir sellers. What we couldn't resist was the aroma of freshly baked waffles!

Carlo Lorenzini, better known as Collodi, was a Florentine children's writer known for the world-renowned fairy tale The Adventures of Pinocchio. So expect to see lotsa pinnocchio souvenirs around.

Here in Italy, you can find lotsa interesting Tshirts and lotsa fake soccer jerseys. Name it and you will have it! Also another common sight is the Italian branded aprons which are so cute to resist. I bought one pasta apron for my domestic helper. She was delighted.

Day 5 was a tour to Pisa, where Leaning Tower of Pisa is located.Pisa is a city in Tuscany, central Italy. Pisa was the birthplace of the important early phycist, Galileo Galilei.

Next stop, Sienna. Picture below was taken by Kar Mun, on our way to Sienna. Sienna is one of the beautiful cities in Tuscany where the colour, Siena Red got its name from as it is built mainly on bricks

The Palio is traditional medieval horse race that is run around the Piazza del Campo (main Square) each year.

Day 6 was a drive to famous walled city of Assisi where Mt Subasio is perched halfway up. (nothing much to mention).

Day 7 was an exciting day for us. We headed to Naples. Do you know that Pizza originated from Naples? It started way back in 18th century where it was common for the poor of the area around Naples to add tomatoes to their yeast-based flat bread. And so, pizza was born. The dish gained popularity and soon Pizza becasme a tourist attraction as visitors pronged to naples to try the local specialty.

We were off to Capri Island for the day. The first point of visit was the Blue Grotto. It is a sea cave on the coast of the island where the sea seems to be lit from underwater. It is a magnificent blue colour, hence the name. Apparently sunlight passes through an underwater cavity and shines through the mineral rich seabed, creating a blue reflection that illuminates the cavern. Not everyone can get a chance to get into the cavern at anytime. It is highly dependent on the tide level for the day.. we were so lucky then.

This was the highest of Monte Solaro, reachable by a chair lift (8 Euro for 12 min panoramic journey).

Al fresco dining on the hill top.

This was our dinner - pizza, fruits, fruit juices and roast chicken. Yum, Yum!

Day 8 - Pompeii was an optional tour which most of us opted for. It was a historic site that was truly worth visiting. It is the excavation site that provided extraordinary detailed insight into the lift of a city at the height of the Roman Empire. Today it is a tourist attraction of Italy and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was destroyed, completely buried by the ashes of the catastrophic euroption of Mt Vesuvius on 24 Aug 79 AD.

Day 9 was a tour in Rome. My impression of Rome wasn't a very pleasant one. I felt that the streets are stained with graffiti and so crowded. There was hardly any clean and quiet areas where one can stroll for a bit of sightseeing. It was congested like any other city. First stop was the Colossuem, originally the Flavian Amphiteatre. It is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the CIty of Rome, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. Capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests, animal hunts, executions and dramas based on classical mythology and public spectacles. It remained in use for nearly 500 years with the las recorded games being held there as late as the 6th century.

The Trevi Fountain is the largest and most ambitious of the Baroque Fountains of Rome. We tossed coins into the fountain and rumours had it that you will visit Rome again.

Last stop for our trip was the Vatican Musuem which is not to be missed. The museum is the public art and sculpture musuem in the Vatican City which displays works from the extensive collection of the Ronan Catholic Church. According to our guide, Vatican City is a city on its own, with its own system and legislation. What's interesting is it has its own postage labels, and surrounded by walls to demarcate from the rest of the city of Rome.

The Tapestry Gallery and the Gallery of Maps inside the Vatican Museum.

St Peter's Basilica is a great building in the center of Christianity. The opulence of the building's interior bears testimony to the wealth of the catholic church in the 16th century. The largest church in the world, it has a 218 m long nave. The basilica's dome, designed by Michaelangelo, is the largest dome in the world.

The famous Spanish steps.

While waiting for the plane at the airport back to Singapore, I actually bought a mini soccer table for 27 Euro. It was cute as I like playing the real socer table game. I can't find this in Singapore though..

The places I have fond memories of were Capri Island and Sienna. But I probably won't visit Italy so soon again. Food in general is expensive and I can't survive on pasta everyday..... but branded goods like Miu Miu, Prada and Furla are about 30% cheaper.