Day 5: 8/12/08

Early in the morning, we board a water taxi (boat) to the city of Venice, the romantic city... It was very cold and windy.. with a temperature of minus 4 degrees... Venice was flooded just last week due to the continuous downpour... The water level was indeed very high.. was almost reaching the brink.. no wonder it will flood..

We visited ST Mark's square, Doges Palace and St Mark's Basilica. We also visited the glass blowing factory where we are able to see richly colored Venetian glass made to world class standard.





We also hopped on the gondola ride.. which cost 30 Euro (60 bucks) per person.. but it was a great experience.. but kinda disappointed coz it wasnt like wat was protrayed on tv.. where they will sing love songs throughout the gondola ride etc..

We had sandwiches for our lunch at one of the cafes.. we tried tuna, sauage, chicken, ham and chesse sanwiches which was not too bad... jh and I had a hot coco drink, which is really very thick, kinda like drinking a choc fondue.. while dad and mum had their espresso...





This is such a lovely place... the photos did a good job in showing rite?? i onli uploaded afew here.. can check out my photo albums for more pics.. "i'm loving it"

By late afternoon, its time to bid goodbye to Venice... the water taxi back made me abit seasick... We hopped onto out coach to proceed to the fashion city of Italy- Milan... where we stayed at the Grand Hotel for a night b4 exploring Milan...

Day 4: 7/12/08

We travel towards Pisa, the historic university city, famous for its architectural beauty.. We toured the Leaning tower and the cathedral.. Look at the architecture of Pisa and you will realise it is actually slanting.. this is due to weathering and erosion over the years.. and that the pillars are unable to withstand these...

Although we had our breakfast at Arts museuo hotel in the morning, we still tried the saugage bread and chix cutlet bun from the caravan.. having some hot stuff during the chill weather is awesome!

Took some pics while proceeding to Venice, a fabulous city of canals, gondolas and beautiful places erected on an archipalego of islands and characterized by its canals... The journey from Pisa to Venice was long long long.. 8hrs!! gosh.. oh btw, we had lunch at the autogrill station..

Our hotel for the nite was Antony palace hotel.. the rooms are real big and cosy..

Day 3: 6/12/08

We had our western breakfast at Holiday Inn hotel.. they served the standard croissants, scrambled eggs, bacon, ham and cereal..

Drove past Tuscany region and along the way, we drove past the region of Chanti where famous Italian wines were produced to the staggering riches of Florence.

It was sunny yet cooling (am I contradicting? haha) We made a photo stop at Ponte Vechio, a historical bridge for superb view of the Arno River.

After which, we proceed to the old town of Tuscancy. For today, lunch wasnt included. While hunting for a place to dine, I took many photos of the shops.. Very appealling.. We had pizzas and pastas for lunch..Everything was so ex! the pizza wasnt fantastic.. was not hot at all and the pizza crust was hard! the pasts was alright. Can u imagine.. a cup of large coke cost 5 Euros ~ S$10.. gosh... Our lunch cost us more than 100 bucks.. and we had just one pasta, 3 small diff flavoured pizzas, a large coke and a coffee.. tts all for 100 bucks! G.O.S.H! their SOL is real high.. wonder how much will their salary be.. i suppose it would be at least thrice of us.. otw how could they survive?


After the dissapointing lunch, we visited the 3rd largest Cathedral.. the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral. We also walked past the Door of Paradise.

Next, we tour the Piazza Signoria, the lordship square, unveiling sculptures done by famous Italian sculptors can be seen.

After dinner, we headed toward Arts Museo Hotel. We walked for many many hrs.. right from afternoon till evening.. luckily the weather was great. A cooling weather juz kept our mood good and made all the walkings fun.. (imagine I had to walk around in the afternoon with a temp of 30 degrees... tts maddness man)

Day 2 - 5/12/08

Early in the morning, at around 7am, we arrived in Rome, the capital of Italy, Rome.

First, we visited the Vatican City - St Peter's Basilica, the adminstrative and spirtual capital of Roman catholicism. This church is real impressive, the art works by many Italian artists were fantastic - the cravings and all... wow!!

After lunch at a chinese restaurant (was not bad), we headed towards the mighty Colosseum, one of the most magnificent monuments of ancient Rome. It once used to seat 50,000 spectators and was the chief circus of the Roman Empire where battles were held. Suddenly, there was a heavy downpour.. and the strong wind came.. most of our umbrellas were blown away.. this is what they call heavy showers!!! Singapore's downpour is really no big deal as compared to theirs.. no wonder the shape of their umbrella is diff from ours...

Next, we went to the fountain of Trevi, the filming site of Triumph in the skies. The sculpture beside the wishing pond was awesomely carved... there was this legend... throw 3 coins into the fountain.. First, one has to make a wish to revisit Rome again.. secondly, one has to make a wish to marry a Roman guy or lady.. last but not least, one can make ur own wish..

haha.. i onli make my first wish and therefore onli threw in a coin.. Although its still raining and the temperature was 2 degrees.. we didnt give our ice cream a miss.. yum yum.. grrr...

On our way to the coach, we walked past many boutiques.. din haf a chance to patroninze them though..

We stayed at Holiday Inn hotel. AFter 12 hrs on the flight.. we could finally catch some good sleep...

12 Days Treasure of Eurpoe (4th Dec to 15th Dec08)

Due to my pathetic pro-rated leave of 7 days onli.. i had to plan my this trip meticulously!!! Finally, we managed to find this tour package from SA tours. i had to make full use of weekends and public hols.. wahaha...





4th Dec 2008 (thurs)- Day 1

Mine is a midnite flight. As usual, i went to work.. headed right home after work.. Frankly speaking... i didnt feel the excitment and joy in me yet.. probably coz of work and oso the long flight journey. And i really think time flies... was still envying Adrian who went to USA and Canada in Sep and Mayling who went to Hokaido in Oct. during that time.. i rmb telling mayling i still have to wait for more than a mth b4 its my turn to fly... haha.. Anw.. sis n mummy felt the same way tooo.. din really have the excitment. weird.

Arrived at out changi airport T3 at 11pm. Our flight is at 1am. We had 3 big luggages plus 2 baggages. haha.. (da bao xiao bao).. Took a direct SIA flight. the journey was 12 hrs long.. and i was perfectly alright on the plane.. Thumbs up.