Thursday, January 03, 2008
.tired.
As 2007 went past me while I was in Rome, I thank God constantly for keeping me safe and healthy in these 4 months and surviving this exchange trip. Life has been a whirlwind and I am so grateful for all the experiences I had gained. I am in Florence,Italy right now and looking at happy teenagers/tourists on the streets, I wondered sometimes why travelling in such a beautiful city just doesn't seem to excite me much anymore. Like Christine loved saying : " I want to go home" , maybe, I really want to be back playing my frisbee, taking a swim in the hot tropical weather, wearing my t-shirts and jeans, spending time with my family & friends, going back to church, and eating all the gourmetttttts in Singapore. Gosh.
Chamonix holiday had been great. Spending time with the Asocians-on-exchange couldn't have gotten better. We snowboarded, ate a lot and slept quite a bit. Our comfortable luxurious apartment truly helped in making the whole trip so memorable. After which, we went Lyon which was good as well due to the accomodation. As we were all rather tired, we spent only a day touring around, and played poker throughout the 2 nights. Wondering how the guys are doing right now.
And so I went on next to Italy. Rome was my first stop. The ancient capital of Italy was really awesome, apart from the bad small cabin accomodation which we stayed in. It was so far away from the city area that it was so painful to even get back all the time as the transport system in Rome was quite bad due to some difficulities in expanding their metro system due to the ruins underground. The first day, we even got chased out by a bus driver because he decided to go on a strike! Goodness.
our really small cabin.
breakfast at Cornelia.
Visited the Area Sacred, Cheisa del Gesú, Venice Square situated at the Piazza Venezia(lots of bird flying in the skyy!!) and the famous Fountain of Trevi where all of us made a wish by throwing a coin into the river using our right hand over the left shoulder which signified that we would come back to Rome again. Myth or not, whatever man. Just do it! Walked around the Piazza Navona at night where we saw lots of pasar malem stores there. Ate lots and lots of 2 euros gelato too.
On Day 2, we visited the Colosseum which turned out really great. We beat the queue by joining a tour group which allowed us entry to the Colosseum, the forum and the Palatino. Nothing much to say, but you have to come here yourself to see the gruesome place where the gladiators and animals killed one another for the pleasure of 75,000 spectators (which the Colosseum could host). At night, we visited the Pantheon and the Fountain of Trevi again and had a good dinner at one of the restaurant around the area. J ordered the 15 euros set whereas C and I ordered the 10 euros set which was quite worth it - Coke, Roasted Veal and Tomato Pasta.
Pantheon and the inside.
Day 3 was Vatican Day. We woke up at 7:30 instead when we initially wanted to wake up at 6. Got up panicking and went straight to the Vatican City. By then, long queues had already formed up and we bet there were about 300 people in front of us! We only managed to get in at about 11 (3 hour wait) but it was worth it. During the wait, I went to get some pizza which turned out really delicious. Went on to visit the St Peter's Basilica after that and took some jumping shots. Really impressed by the sculpture and the buildings in Rome. As we were all tired and excited to attend a countdown party in Rome, we headed back to our accomodation for a short nap. Woke up at 8+ and took a bus down to Spagna to see the town. It was so packed as everybody was ready for countdown. We were famished then and we settled down at a self-service Pizzeria where we had pizza, fries and pasta for dinner. After which, J and I started a early celebration by opening the Corona he bought. We went to the Fountain of Trevi again to make a wish before heading to Piazza Venezia for countdown.
Colosseum, forum and Palatine Hill.
Vatican City.
St Peter's Basilica. Pope's home!
Countdown was great with many people squashing one another. Poor C was so squashed on many occasions that we had to rescue her. haha. The concert held was quite an experience although we didn't really understand what the singers/performers were singing. haha. After countdown, we walked back to our hostel as there were no more bus services. While walking back, I was so glad that I am leaving that shitty hostel man.
Took the 10:30am train to Florence on New Year's Day. Our accomodation in Florence was thankfully comfortable and near the city and train station! As everywhere was closed, we decided to head down to Pisa. It was a mad rush as the ticket machines were packed and the one in front of us was a granny who wasn't very IT-savvy. We met a lovely Indian couple on the train who work in San F. Very interesting as the guy, Joy, showed us how amazing his GPS works for him as we were finding our way to the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Us trying different poses.
Headed back to Florence at about 8 after a string of unfortunate events that happened at Pisa train station. First, our 20 euros was eaten by the machine. Then, our tickets got stuck in the machine the second time when we only had 5 minutes to the departure time. We were panicking all the way but realised it was all in vain as the train was delayed. (@$)*$#*#. haha. We had dinner in a traditional italian restaurant along Piazza Signoria. The service was horribly bad and food wasn't that fantastic as well. We were all very disappointed with the Carbonara we ordered, especially when it was the most expensive Carbonara for our trip so far! (*)#@@*#
And yesterday, we toured around Florence and realised how beautiful the city is. We went to the post office early in the morning to post some stuff back to Singapore. After which, we took some photos at Ponte Vecchio along the River Arno, Europe's oldest wholly stone, closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge. Do you know it was the only bridge in Florence that wasn't destroyed during the WW2? After which, we continued to take photos at the Duomo, Saint Croce, the Bell Tower and the fountain at Piazza Signoria. In the evening, we decided to queue to get in Museum Ufizzi, where it hosted many beautiful paintings by many famous artists like Leonardo and Raphaelo and sculpture collected by the Medici family. The queue took us for about an hour plus and during the wait, J and C went to get a portrait of both of them and it was so hilarious as the picture turned out disappointing. lol. At least we had a good dinner after that where I had Spaghetti with Mussels. I think all of us felt quite stupid as we were arguing over a really silly incident at the cloakroom in Ufizzi.
So tired right now and I can''t wait to get back to Bath somehow. Venice tomorrow and hopefully I can finally try my Nero Di Seppia which supposedly taste heavenly.
For now, I shall sign off and head to bed as J is snoring as usual again. zzz.
floated away at
4:00 AM
