3rd stop - Rome
Aside from the popular saying of, "When in Rome, do as Romans do" which probably will require me to walk around in a gladiator's outfit, white cloth and nothing else - oh are we talking about the modern times now? Rome will take my entire life to understand its rich and colourful history of Roman sculptures, cathedrals and its magnificent marble buildings. It was only after seeing the great city of Rome did I finally understand why the Romans commanded such great respect after so many years. Rome's highlights - the Colosseum and the Vatican. Listening to their guides narrate the story of might and glory, celebrating the strength of Man through battles of the "pop-stars" of their era - the gladiators, it was easy to sit (I mean, stand) on the marble stone seats and imagine a sporting event centuries ago. Climbing the steep steps of ruins scattered throughout the city, such strength and unity of the Romans can hardly be believed, what less the sophistication of the simple pulley system paired with pure human strength to build Rome as it was in the past?
The second day brought pairs of weary feet to the grander Vatican, the collections of Popes residing in the chapels and almost endless carvings of marble sculptures. Carved to its tiniest detail, characters of the Bible come alive under these sculptors' tools, etched in marble and a good thousand years to come. And what stood out like a precious gem was the Sisteen Chapel (not the 16th Chapel as popularly mentioned), its interior born out of a talented artist, Michael Angelo. And talented he was, having painted all 55 rooms of the chapel including the final (and at its grandest) St. Peter's Cathedral. Beautiful, majestic, mouth-gaping...I was stunned to silence at the pages of the Old Testament unfolding before me as I craned my neck to examine every inch and corner of the painted ceiling.
There was a stopover to Pompeii, Sorrento and Almafi Coast, but these were rather touristy in their own ways, with too many English people for my liking.
4th, 5th Stop - Florence, Venice
We ventured into the countryside of Florence and stayed in a camping village - Camping Il Pogetto. T'was a good change of accomodation and "feel" compared to Rome; it immediately felt more peaceful, more laidback and I appreciated the serenity of the entire place, even though it takes one bloody hour to get to the main town. 'Nuff said.
Venice took my breath away though. The sinking city has its own signature arched foot-bridges and gondolas, a city so small that it was walkable to anywhere we wanted to go. There were no vehicles (only boats) and the air finally smelled good. More delightful were the little gift shops we could venture in whilst walking down a normal street, and their colourful street markets selling fruits, souveniers to glassware. It was in Venice which I also saw a small army of individual blacks selling (what we suspect) fake branded goods. Bags with labels of Prada, Gucci and LV were laid on white cloths on the floor, only to be hastily bundled up and packed away upon the shout of "police!"
The last day in Venice was spent in typical Italian fashion - starting with good ol' Italian breakfast of cuppacino and croissants (donuts if we were lucky), strolling down the streets in search for a mystical "pussy" tie which Adrian was adamant on getting for his friend, and of course, dining it the Italian way in a restaurant. The last hour in Venice ended in typical Singaporean fashion - rushing into a restaurant, woffling down our meal in ten minutes (much to the disgust of our Italian waiter, who reckons meals should be eaten in 3 hours), running (imagine the stitch, ouch) back to our hotel to grab our backpacks and catching the train to Milan with probably only 5 seconds to spare.
Aside from the popular saying of, "When in Rome, do as Romans do" which probably will require me to walk around in a gladiator's outfit, white cloth and nothing else - oh are we talking about the modern times now? Rome will take my entire life to understand its rich and colourful history of Roman sculptures, cathedrals and its magnificent marble buildings. It was only after seeing the great city of Rome did I finally understand why the Romans commanded such great respect after so many years. Rome's highlights - the Colosseum and the Vatican. Listening to their guides narrate the story of might and glory, celebrating the strength of Man through battles of the "pop-stars" of their era - the gladiators, it was easy to sit (I mean, stand) on the marble stone seats and imagine a sporting event centuries ago. Climbing the steep steps of ruins scattered throughout the city, such strength and unity of the Romans can hardly be believed, what less the sophistication of the simple pulley system paired with pure human strength to build Rome as it was in the past?
The second day brought pairs of weary feet to the grander Vatican, the collections of Popes residing in the chapels and almost endless carvings of marble sculptures. Carved to its tiniest detail, characters of the Bible come alive under these sculptors' tools, etched in marble and a good thousand years to come. And what stood out like a precious gem was the Sisteen Chapel (not the 16th Chapel as popularly mentioned), its interior born out of a talented artist, Michael Angelo. And talented he was, having painted all 55 rooms of the chapel including the final (and at its grandest) St. Peter's Cathedral. Beautiful, majestic, mouth-gaping...I was stunned to silence at the pages of the Old Testament unfolding before me as I craned my neck to examine every inch and corner of the painted ceiling.
There was a stopover to Pompeii, Sorrento and Almafi Coast, but these were rather touristy in their own ways, with too many English people for my liking.
4th, 5th Stop - Florence, Venice
We ventured into the countryside of Florence and stayed in a camping village - Camping Il Pogetto. T'was a good change of accomodation and "feel" compared to Rome; it immediately felt more peaceful, more laidback and I appreciated the serenity of the entire place, even though it takes one bloody hour to get to the main town. 'Nuff said.
Venice took my breath away though. The sinking city has its own signature arched foot-bridges and gondolas, a city so small that it was walkable to anywhere we wanted to go. There were no vehicles (only boats) and the air finally smelled good. More delightful were the little gift shops we could venture in whilst walking down a normal street, and their colourful street markets selling fruits, souveniers to glassware. It was in Venice which I also saw a small army of individual blacks selling (what we suspect) fake branded goods. Bags with labels of Prada, Gucci and LV were laid on white cloths on the floor, only to be hastily bundled up and packed away upon the shout of "police!"
The last day in Venice was spent in typical Italian fashion - starting with good ol' Italian breakfast of cuppacino and croissants (donuts if we were lucky), strolling down the streets in search for a mystical "pussy" tie which Adrian was adamant on getting for his friend, and of course, dining it the Italian way in a restaurant. The last hour in Venice ended in typical Singaporean fashion - rushing into a restaurant, woffling down our meal in ten minutes (much to the disgust of our Italian waiter, who reckons meals should be eaten in 3 hours), running (imagine the stitch, ouch) back to our hotel to grab our backpacks and catching the train to Milan with probably only 5 seconds to spare.